bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Patsy Moy

The residency requirement for elderly citizens to qualify to receive 'fruit money' looks set to be relaxed amid pressure from the city's biggest union, which has threatened to ask for a judicial review of the rule. 
Elderly people must spend no more than 240 days a year abroad to be eligible for the full monthly old age allowance of HK$1,000. 
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung  told lawmakers yesterday it would be extremely difficult to completely lift the residency requirement and give out fruit money without any restrictions. 
That would lead to a flood of elderly people who had long since moved away from the city becoming eligible for the allowance, he said.
But Cheung said his bureau was investigating whether there was any leeway to relax the absence limit, which was increased from 180 days in 2005. 
Cheung was replying to a question from lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung  about a landmark court case last month in which the Court of First Instance struck down a government requirement that applicants for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance must have lived continuously in the city for a year. 
The Society for Community Organisation, which helped an elderly man to challenge the CSSA rule in court, said any relaxation of the residence requirement for the old age allowance would not impose a hefty financial burden on the government. 
It said it would benefit about 50,000 more elderly people who now live on the mainland without any welfare, but cost the administration only an extra HK$600 million a year. 
At present, about half a million elderly people receive the old age allowance.
Just days after the court's landmark ruling on CSSA, the city's largest union, the pro-government Federation of Trade Unions,  threatened to seek a judicial review if the government did not soon remove the requirement that elderly people stay in Hong Kong for a certain period to be eligible for fruit money.
In the Legislative Council yesterday, Cheung tried to differentiate CSSA from the old age allowance, which he said was part of the Social Security Allowance scheme. 
'The Comprehensive Social Security Assistance scheme is designed to provide financial support to families in need to meet basic needs, whereas the Social Security Allowance (SSA) scheme, made up of old age allowance and disability allowance, helps elders aged 65 or above and persons with severe disability meet special needs arising from their old age or severe disability respectively,' Cheung said. 
'I would like to reiterate that it is not the policy objective of the SSA to help recipients overcome financial hardship. 
'Nor is CSSA the only way to help those in need of assistance. When there are proven needs, and subject to the applicants meeting the relevant eligibility criteria, other forms of assistance and support are available.
'These include employment support services, emergency relief, temporary grants from charity trust funds, medical waivers, child care services, assistance in kind and placement in singleton hostels.'
Residence requirement
The most days in a year a person may stay outside the city and remain eligible for the full HK$1,000 in fruit money is: 240



Absence limit for 'fruit  money' may be eased