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Sing Pao Daily News narrowly averted court action to close it down after management settled outstanding Mandatory Provident Fund payments just 90 minutes before a deadline set by the fund's watchdog.
The company had been warned by the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority that it would face a winding-up petition in the High Court if it did not clear defaulted payments of HK$4.2 million by 5pm.
A spokesman for the authority said HK$4.9 million was paid at about 3.30pm - the extra HK$700,000 being MPF contributions in arrears for the period from October to December last year.
Sing Pao Newspaper Management Limited said the board of directors had made every effort to settle the payment. 'The money we pay does not fall from the sky,' the company said in a statement. 'The money comes from the completion of our financial restructure and effective use of resources.
'We insist on publishing our daily newspaper under such difficult circumstances for the sake of fulfilling our social responsibility. We do not want over 100 Sing Pao employees to become unemployed.'
However, editor-in-chief Alvin Poon Hee-chung said some workers still had not received their wages for February and March.
The authority issued a statutory demand to Sing Pao Newspaper Management on March 18 giving it three weeks to pay HK$4.2 million by the end of office hours yesterday. The authority planned to file a winding-up petition to the High Court if it did not meet the deadline.
'The authority is still trying to recover about HK$300,000 in MPF contribution in arrears for the period of January and February. We will closely monitor this company to see if it makes the MPF contribution,' the spokesman for the authority said.
The authority also said it would not rule out filing a winding-up petition against the company in the future if it failed to make its MPF contributions.
The authority has received complaints from Sing Pao workers since 2005. The paper has been fined in three cases. About HK$6.3 million in arrears has been recovered through civil actions and prosecutions.
The Federation of Trade Unions, which has been helping former Sing Pao employees recover unpaid wages and MPF contributions, urged the government to strengthen legislation to punish employers with a record of paying workers late.



Sing Pao pays up with 90 minutes to spare