Sometimes, good intentions may not be good enough. This year's budget is a good example. With a handout amount double that of last year, it still drew a barrage of criticism instead of praise.
A one-off injection of HK$6,000 into each MPF account, costing the government HK$24 billion, turned out to be the most criticised measure. Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah must have least expected that.
The government introduced a similar measure in a previous budget when it injected HK$6,000 into the MPF accounts of people earning less than HK$10,000 per month. That measure benefited 1.7 million people and was well received by the public. It is rather puzzling, then, that this year's scheme has garnered such a different response.
There are a few reasons for this, the most important being the principle of fairness. The previous MPF injection was clearly aimed at helping low-income earners; it was a poverty relief measure. This year's measure covers every member of the workforce without a clear focus.
In theory, a sum of HK$24 billion is enough to benefit 4 million people, but in reality only 2.5 million people have MPF accounts. Even if we include the 380,000 employees on the Occupational Retirement Schemes, who will get the handout if they open an MPF account, fewer than 3 million people will benefit. A lot of people in the workforce will be excluded.
First to hit out against the MPF handout were some 120,000 civil servants, including public school teachers, who receive government pensions. The government later clarified that these teachers will be covered but workers with public bodies such as the Hospital Authority will be excluded. The rationale is unfair, giving people an excuse to bash the administration.