Hong Kong archbishop pleads for action on poverty in Christmas message
Paul Kwong says ‘strategic and creative policies’, as well as acts of kindness among residents, needed to address the problem
The head of the Anglican Church in Hong Kong has urged the government and residents to address the city’s poverty problem with “strategic and creative policies” and acts of care.
Archbishop of Hong Kong the Most Reverend Paul Kwong focused on poverty in his Christmas message this year, in sharp contrast to his annual statements from 2012 to last year, in which he lamented the city’s political divisions and touched on other sensitive issues.
Last year he warned of a “breakdown of social values” revealed by Hong Kong independence advocacy and the controversy in the city’s legislature over spoiled oaths of office. In 2015, Kwong addressed political divisions over democratic reform.
Separately, Bishop of Hong Kong Michael Yeung Ming-cheung, leader of the city’s 389,000 Catholics, acknowledged in his maiden Christmas message that it is “a great challenge” for Hong Kong’s younger generation to establish a family.
On the political front, a contentious atmosphere has persisted in the Legislative Council since Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor took office in July, with opposition lawmakers wrangling with their rivals over proposed changes to the chamber’s rule book to curb the opposition camp’s filibustering.
