How far should government intervention go to reduce poverty?

The Old Age Living Allowance comes out of good intentions - the new government wants to do something to help our elderly living in poverty. But the means-testing of recipients has aroused fierce opposition, and the asset limit has also been criticised for being too low, thus screening out the deserving poor.

The debate has not ended. This controversy goes beyond politicking, and touches on the deep-seated issues of government intervention in the redistribution of society's resources. Should assistance be universal or just targeted at those in dire need?

We all know that poverty among the elderly is serious and will worsen because we do not have adequate retirement protection for old age. In Hong Kong, we have 12 years of free and compulsory education for all school-aged children and a heavily subsidised public health-care system serving all citizens with a Hong Kong identity card. These are universal social benefits to which even the rich are entitled. So why shouldn't retirement protection be universal?

The non-governmental sector has been advocating government intervention in universal pension protection for years. This idea has been mocked by people who favour lower taxes and prefer to keep the money in their own pockets, with minimum government meddling in their lives.

At issue are our values as a society. We've long held the idea that it is the individual's responsibility to prepare for old age, if not the children's responsibility to support their aged parents, and the government steps in only when the line of defence fails.

What is the role and responsibility of government versus that of the individual and family? The government redistributes wealth through the tax system. It also sets rules like the minimum wage to ensure economic gains are shared. If people did indeed benefit from the trickle-down effects of economic growth, their livelihoods, including those of the poor, would improve. But this is not the case. Our per capita gross domestic product rose to about HK$264,000 in 2011, while an estimated 1.15 million people were living in poverty. This is obviously a market failure. Many people simply cannot make a decent living and support their parents, even with a job.

The government needs to step in. Access to public housing, welfare and health care are essential programmes for poverty mitigation. Yet the poverty problem has not improved and has even worsened, especially for elderly people who have not benefited from the improved economy and minimum wage measures.