It seems obvious that the government will adopt whatever tactics it can to try and convince the Hong Kong public that a universal retirement pension scheme is unattainable.
I believe the government is manipulating the statistics that came from the study on pensions led by University of Hong Kong social work professor Nelson Chow Wing-sun to meet its own ends.
It is also about social responsibility and what is ethical, and about basic human rights. It is about so much more than mere poverty assistance.
The government says, of two proposed retirement plans, one is a proposal for “those regardless of rich or poor”, versus one for “those with financial needs”. This is a very cheap tactic, which is aimed at diverting the attention of the public away from the real issue.