With all due respect to our headline writing department, I thought Monday's announcement that the coming budget would 'please all' was a bit optimistic. No doubt there is some difficulty in condensing government-speak such as, 'Mr Tsang intended to share the fruits of the strong economy with all the people, while also helping the needy through specific measures'.
That sounds like good news, but in practice this is not how things work. If, for example, the budget abolishes the duty on wine, that will certainly please some people, including me, the wine industry, hotel operators, restaurateurs and so on. But it will displease local puritans, one of whom opined on the letters page the other day that wine was 'just another drug'. Less volubly, the news will probably not be welcomed by the beer industry, because it will cut the price difference between the most expensive beers and the cheapest wines. People who just want to get plastered cheaply may change their tipple of choice.
No doubt some people will bewail the absence of a goods and services tax, though it is difficult in the present circumstances to see why the government needs a new tax of any kind.
A more knotty problem is going to be the matter of help for the aged. At the moment, if you are over 70 the government pays you the princely sum of HK$705 a month on a no-questions-asked basis. There is also a slightly less munificent HK$625 a month for the 65-plus age group, but this is means-tested. You have to prove an acceptable level of poverty to qualify.
According to the nameless official who always appears in stories of this kind, the new arrangement will probably include an increase in both allowances, but the new levels will be means-tested. Rich people over 70 will still be able to claim the HK$705.
Mr Nameless went on to say: 'We cannot let the elderly enjoy a rise in their so-called fruit money regardless of their wealth.' He added that the administration had to take a prudent (this is the usual budget euphemism for parsimonious) approach because the city faced an ageing problem.
