Hong Kong retirement protection debate prompts protests and criticism
Government is expected to announce way forward later this year or in early 2017, and it’s tipped to opt for a means-tested scheme
The public debate on retirement protection for the city’s elderly population reached a climax this week, with scores of Hongkongers taking to the streets last Sunday in a last-ditch attempt to voice their opinions before the end of a public consultation exercise on two contested proposals.
More than 1,000 people, including about 300 elderly or disabled wheelchair users, made their way from Central to Admiralty to pressure the government to back a universal pension scheme rather than a non-universal plan that will cover only poorer elderly citizens.
The issue has been around since at least the 1980s, when support for a universal pension plan was gaining traction. The government finally introduced the Mandatory Provident Fund system in 2000, although advocates of a full pension scheme were far from satisfied.
Retirement protection came up again early in the current term of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, resulting in the six-month consultation exercise which ended on Tuesday.
However, the consultation is controversial. One reason is that the government favours the non-universal approach which, if implemented, would come as a blow to many of the city’s one million elderly people.
