Hong Kong cannot afford to leave its middle class behind

Some of Hong Kong's middle class are upset because Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's annual policy address did little to help them. Others warn Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah not to give them handouts in his forthcoming budget proposals.

The phrase "middle class" can describe all sorts of things, like attitudes and aspirations that are unconnected with material wealth. But, in quantifiable and meaningful terms, let's define it as that part of the Hong Kong population - the majority - with enough income to cover basic needs, with some left over for savings and non-necessities. In other words, people who do not need handouts, and probably do not want them, either.

However, that does not mean all these people are happy or satisfied. I know that some middle-class people think the poor get too much. But many also agree that the chief executive should give priority to those in need. That is why we hear conflicting messages.

If much of the middle class agrees on one thing, it may be a sense of unfairness.

We rightly see the widening wealth gap in terms of a growing number of people in poverty. We also know that it increases the share of wealth going to a narrow band at the top. What we tend to overlook is that this leaves a large (if shrinking) sandwich group in between. This is the middle class who, in many cases, increasingly see themselves as being left behind.

Being middle class should be about having choices in life. For the middle class in Hong Kong, choices are drying up. The sort of spacious homes they would like to live in have become unaffordable. The sort of schools they would like their children to attend are out of reach. Public hospitals are under great strain, but the private ones cater mainly to the wealthy elite.

These people are educated, and they pay tax - yet they don't feel significantly better off than the grass roots, who get far more attention.