Source:
https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2183537/hong-kong-lawmakers-walk-out-meeting-no-2-official-matthew
Hong Kong/ Politics

Hong Kong opposition lawmakers walk out of meeting with No 2 official Matthew Cheung as row over controversial welfare change rumbles on

  • Pan-democrats had asked for a meeting with the city’s leader Carrie Lam
  • They wanted to discuss rise in age threshold for elderly Comprehensive Social Security Allowance scheme

Six pro-democracy lawmakers walked out a meeting with Hong Kong’s No 2 official on Thursday to protest against an unpopular change in welfare payments.

They had asked for a meeting with the city’s leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor but the chief executive, attending the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, sent her No 2, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, to discuss a controversial rise in the age threshold for the elderly Comprehensive Social Security Allowance (CSSA) scheme, from 60 to 65.

Welfare sector lawmaker Shiu Ka-chun described the meeting with acting chief executive Cheung and welfare minister Law Chi-kwong as unpleasant, calling the pair stubborn.

He said they were unmoved by the lawmakers’ calls to cancel the change, which comes into effect on February 1.

Shiu Ka-chun said the government officials rejected all the lawmakers’ suggestions. Photo: Winson Wong/SCMP
Shiu Ka-chun said the government officials rejected all the lawmakers’ suggestions. Photo: Winson Wong/SCMP

“Not only did they refuse to shelve the change, they rejected all our suggestions to improve the new cash handouts scheme,” Shiu said, referring to a supplement to compensate senior citizens affected by the policy revision.

He said they hoped the government would hand out more allowances to those affected.

Last week, lawmakers across the political divide joined forces to rebuke Lam in the Legislative Council over the age change but the chief executive managed to pacify her political allies by announcing a new monthly cash handout of HK$1,060 (US$136) – the exact difference between the rates that adults and those over 65 will be getting under the changed policy.

But welfare groups and pan-democrats were worried that people aged 60 to 64 would still lose out on allowances exclusively for elderly CSSA recipients, including money for eye glasses and dental services.

The Civic Party’s Kwok Ka-ki said: “We were humble enough to spend more than an hour with the officials … but we have achieved nothing, unfortunately.”

Shiu said they walked out of the meeting 15 minutes early after getting sick of listening to the officials’ repeating themselves for over an hour.

He said they still wanted a meeting with Lam, who was expected to return on Saturday.

“It is not only a welfare policy issue but also a governance problem related to the relationship between the executive and legislative branches.”

The welfare sector would hold a rally on Sunday expressing its dissatisfaction with the policy, he added.