Hong Kong government’s elderly services forum fails to engage participants
Concern groups stage protest during first of 18 consultation sessions, criticising organisers for showing ‘no sincerity’ towards stakeholders
Participants of an elderly services public engagement forum lashed out at government-commissioned planning consultants on Monday for a poorly organised consultation.
It’s a very painful process for us to go through such as rigorous mechanism. I hope you can review procedures and improve next time
Inside Monday’s forum, Ernest Chui Wing-tak, consultant team leader from the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Social Work, presented the Formulation Stage report on the plan to around 80 attendants. But the briefing lacked interaction and failed to engage many of the participants.
One participant, surnamed Fung and almost 80 years old, said she had a hard time concentrating.
“It’s a very painful process for us to go through such as rigorous mechanism. I hope you can review procedures and improve next time,” she told Chui.
Many participants also voiced their frustrations over the text on the big screen being too small to read, and having no time to read the report before giving feedback.
Meanwhile, some 30 people from 14 different concern groups staged a protest outside the forum, accusing organisers of showing no sincerity or respect to the older people by releasing a 152-page report just days before kicking off consultations.