Population policy is crucial to Hong Kong's development. Our population is lagging expected growth, and ageing. The proportion of the working age will become smaller and older and that over 65 greater. This raises economic, quality-of-life and health issues for young and old alike that call for consensus in policy development.
The Council for Sustainable Development seemed to have this in mind when it launched a consultation on population policy. It collected views from 26 public meetings and nearly 1,700 comment cards. Polytechnic University analysed them as a basis for recommendations to the government. The findings included 60 per cent support for encouraging people to retire later to bolster the workforce, and support for civil service paternity leave as an incentive to families to have children and to encourage other employment sectors to follow suit.
Such specific contributions from the public, however, are missing from the council's final report. So is a suggestion from experts who helped draft the consultation document of flexible hours for working women as an incentive to have children. Instead of making specific recommendations, the report generalises about what the government can do to make Hong Kong a more attractive place to live, lift the fertility rate and cater for an ageing population. Examples are promoting family-friendly employment measures, encouraging retired people to work part time, reviewing immigration policies, promoting community health and increasing open space.
Few would disagree with the sentiments, but they lack detail and the context of public opinion. This has surprised some members of a council subcommittee that ran the consultation exercise. Experts on a support group have complained to the council that the report does not fully reflect public opinion.
This situation is disappointing. The council is to be commended for adopting a bottom-up approach to policy consultation that is consistent with Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's pledge to listen to the public.
Few policy areas lend themselves as readily to consultation with the public as population - or people policy. We all have to live with the outcomes. It is a pity, therefore, that the final report did not embrace specific suggestions that appear to enjoy a measure of public support. That does not mean, however, that the government has to ignore them.