The financial tsunami has swept across the globe, sparing no one in its path. Every economy is still being battered; Hong Kong is no exception. In his policy address last year, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen pledged that the government would throw its support behind the financial sector as well as the business community and would do its utmost to create and protect employment. To fulfil that promise, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah, in last month's budget address, earmarked HK$140 million to subsidise the hiring of university graduates by companies as interns for between six and 12 months, on a guaranteed salary of no less than HK$4,000.
The internship scheme, for some 4,000 university students who graduate this summer, will provide a monthly subsidy of HK$2,000 to local employers for every intern they hire, or HK$3,000 for those working on the mainland. Strictly speaking, it is not a job-creation scheme, but a way to provide training opportunities for fresh graduates and ease the tensions in a shrunken labour market.
The internships allow newcomers to learn first-hand the tasks and techniques to prepare for the future, as well as being a natural part of career development. Once equipped with the skills and experience, these interns will be more employable.
However, cynics seem to have ignored the true merits and value of the scheme and claimed that it's a ploy to exploit graduates and provide cheap labour for employers.
It's understandable why unionist legislator Lee Cheuk-yan and the League of Social Democrats have bashed the scheme. These labour representatives are concerned that the scheme would set an unfair minimum-wage benchmark for graduates in future. But it's bewildering to see legislator Lam Tai-fai, who represents the industrial sector and the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong, jump on the bandwagon.
He warned that the scheme would provide a means for the government to massage the unemployment figures. He said it was an insult to university graduates, and offered no immediate relief for the ailing job market or help for the graduates. And, in the long run, it would be a serious drain on public coffers.
His criticism was baffling. No wonder, then, that rumours circulated in the political arena of an ulterior motive behind the comments.
