Hong Kong lawmakers united against government’s ‘heartless’ decision to raise age threshold for elderly welfare payments
- Welfare secretary Law Chi-kwong stands firm but suggests possible measures to ease process for those most affected
- Government again accused of being out of touch, days after city’s leader Carrie Lam had defended policy and drawn criticism
Lawmakers across Hong Kong’s political divide have snubbed the welfare chief’s offer of additional support for senior citizens to compensate them for the loss of allowances they will no longer be entitled to under a controversial change in the age threshold from next month.
In a rare show of unity as the controversy intensified on Monday, legislators accused the government of being heartless and demanded a delay, but Secretary for Labour and Welfare Dr Law Chi-kwong stood firm, insisting it was almost impossible to revise a policy that was decided two years ago.
“This would require a decision to change the policy,” he said. “The chances of that are quite low.”
"The definition of elderly will need to be changed sooner or later. When people are all 120 years old, being 60 years old is just reaching mid-middle-aged,” Law said on a Commercial Radio programme.
Facing an escalating public backlash, including a legal challenge, Law promised to include measures to make it easier for applicants to qualify for regular welfare payments by raising the mark for disregarded earnings.
Another proposal he raised was to streamline the application procedure so those in poor health could get the equivalent of elderly welfare payments under the Comprehensive Social Security Allowance (CSSA) scheme.