Lawmakers yesterday passed a non-binding motion calling for a comprehensive review of the Mandatory Provident Fund on the fund's 10th anniversary.
Many criticised the fund as offering inadequate retirement protection for people to rely on.
'Unfortunately, there is no celebration for the anniversary in society or the government, [you] can tell how well the MPF is received,' unionist legislator Leung Yiu-chung said.
Admitting there was room for improvement, Secretary for Financial Services Professor Chan Ka-keung said the fund was only one of several pillars to protect people planning for their retirement.
'The original aim of the scheme was not to cover all the needs of retirement,' he said. Many lawmakers criticised a provision in the fund that enabled bosses to dip into the employer contribution section of a worker's account to make long-service or severance payments.
'It is exploitation. Such an arrangement contradicts the idea of offering retirement protection to workers,' Civic Party legislator Ronny Tong Ka-wah said.
According to MPF figures, employers have taken out more than HK$12 billion from employees' MPF accounts to make severance and long-service payments since the fund was established.
