https://www.scmp.com/rss/275479/feed Commonly known as "fruit money", the old age allowance is a monthly cash subsidy the Hong Kong government pays to senior citizens aged 65-69 with low incomes, and all elderly citizens aged 70 and over. The Leung Chun-ying administration in 2012 proposed to introduce a new means-tested subsidy called the Old Age Living Allowance, which provides HK$2,200 per month for the needy only. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com This is the second part in a series that explores the current state of consumption across China, including a look at the expenses that many families find most pressing. In the span of just two weeks, Li Ying’s meagre monthly pension of 2,000 yuan (US$275) was gone – all spent on the alleviation of her chronic neck pain. Although she lives in one of China’s most affluent areas with relatively strong welfare benefits, Zhejiang province, the 67-year-old farmer opts to lead a frugal life and sees... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3231155/chinas-heathcare-costs-fuel-consumption-ageing-society-alarms-are-blaring-medical-insurance-fund?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3231155/chinas-heathcare-costs-fuel-consumption-ageing-society-alarms-are-blaring-medical-insurance-fund?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Aug 2023 22:00:16 +0000 According to the Hong Kong government, more than 1 million residents have been lifted out of poverty by its relief measures. But how poverty is defined has long been a point of contention. The latest annual Poverty Situation Report found that government intervention brought the 23.6 per cent poverty rate (or 1.65 million people) down by 15.7 percentage points. This is encouraging, but let’s not celebrate; there are still many living in poverty among us. In a city as affluent as Hong Kong, it is... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3179273/tackle-poverty-hong-kong-government-must-learn-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3179273/tackle-poverty-hong-kong-government-must-learn-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 May 2022 04:30:23 +0000 Separated from her husband and estranged from their seven daughters in Hong Kong, retired cleaner Chan Yim-chun moved by herself to the mainland Chinese city of Zhongshan in 2000. She bought a 600 sq ft flat in a rural area of the city in Guangdong province and had friends and relatives for company. Her monthly welfare allowances of about HK$3,700 (US$475) from the Hong Kong government covered her daily expenses. “It is hard to survive in Hong Kong, but things are different on the mainland,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3154989/more-space-lower-living-costs-lure-hong-kong-elderly-retire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3154989/more-space-lower-living-costs-lure-hong-kong-elderly-retire?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Nov 2021 00:00:23 +0000 About 50,000 elderly residents stand to benefit from a higher welfare cash subsidy set to cost the Hong Kong government HK$800 million (US$102.7 million), with another HK$32.9 billion (US$4.2 billion) earmarked to close a loophole in the pension system, the city’s leader has pledged. The measures were outlined in Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s final policy address of her current term on Wednesday, as she sought to provide a social safety net for those in need through income... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3151418/carrie-lam-policy-address-cash-subsidy-boost-elderly-hk329?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3151418/carrie-lam-policy-address-cash-subsidy-boost-elderly-hk329?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Oct 2021 13:55:36 +0000 Chen Yunfeng, the chief of Yancang village in Henan province, has grown dismayed by the disadvantages that ageing rural peasants face in Chinese society. “We plant grains, but grains are cheap,” Chen said while puffing cigarettes under a no-smoking sign in his little office. “And we are getting old, but there’s little welfare.” According to Chen, who is in his late fifties, a peasant from the village can receive a monthly pension of just 112 yuan (US$16) after the retirement age of 60 – a tiny... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3098328/chinas-ageing-rural-peasants-labour-their-twilight-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3098328/chinas-ageing-rural-peasants-labour-their-twilight-years?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Aug 2020 07:00:13 +0000 On Saturday, my Outside In column examined the shortcomings of gross domestic product, and how it mismeasured the progress we are making in our lives. And if our economists are right that we should not just be measuring our progress in terms of the stuff we produce and the stuff we consume, the next logical step is to ask what instead we should be measuring. The consensus answer starts with Aristotle’s eudaemonia, roughly translated as happiness with a bundle of virtue mixed in. In the 1700s,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3046685/hong-kong-can-lift-its-misery-making-happiness-serious-business?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3046685/hong-kong-can-lift-its-misery-making-happiness-serious-business?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Jan 2020 13:00:12 +0000 Hong Kong’s welfare chief admitted on Wednesday that the latest relief measures aimed at the city’s elderly and low-income groups would pose a financial burden on the government, but argued the pressure would ease over time due to slower expected growth in the elderly expenses from next decade. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong was referring to a plan to combine two old-age living allowance schemes into one subsidy worth HK$3,585 (US$461) a month, giving 50,000 recipients of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3046150/hong-kong-welfare-chief-law-chi-kwong-says-latest-relief?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3046150/hong-kong-welfare-chief-law-chi-kwong-says-latest-relief?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jan 2020 04:54:20 +0000 The story of Japan’s ageing population is often repeated like a tired old tale. “Ticking time bomb” and “demographic crisis” are the kind of phrases that usually feature as the country with the “world’s oldest population” is held up as a cautionary example of what Asia’s other developed economies can expect in their dotage. The chief bogeyman is economic decay. As birth rates fall and life expectancies grow, experts warn that Japan’s dwindling pool of taxpaying young workers will slowly be... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3042816/dementia-jobs-does-japans-ageing-society-hold-secret-growing-old?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3042816/dementia-jobs-does-japans-ageing-society-hold-secret-growing-old?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Dec 2019 01:00:08 +0000 The latest poverty report reveals that Hong Kong had 1.4 million people living in poverty last year, the second highest figure since records began a decade ago (“One in five Hongkongers living below the poverty line in 2018”, December 13). The Concerning CSSA and Low Income Alliance has suggested raising the minimum wage to alleviate poverty but this is the worst advice the government can get. A higher minimum wage will not only fail to alleviate poverty, it could leave people more... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3042354/why-poor-elderly-hong-kong-workers-may-not-welcome-higher-minimum?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3042354/why-poor-elderly-hong-kong-workers-may-not-welcome-higher-minimum?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Dec 2019 23:05:14 +0000 Are Hong Kong’s hotter summers driving more elderly people to suicide? A comprehensive study of data collected over decades has suggested a link between higher temperatures and the rate at which senior citizens are taking their own lives. According to researchers, the method of suicide could be related to different temperature thresholds, a study led by the University of Hong Kong found. The study reviewed almost 8,000 suicide cases involving city residents aged 65 or above between 1976 and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3012704/hotter-weather-linked-increase-suicide-among?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3012704/hotter-weather-linked-increase-suicide-among?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Jun 2019 05:00:05 +0000 A voucher scheme that gives elderly Hong Kong residents HK$2,000 a year to use for private health care has failed to ease overcrowding at public hospitals and not been cost-effective, the city’s former top health official said on Monday. Professor Yeoh Eng-kiong, now head of public health and primary care at Chinese University, said even years after the programme was adopted, 78 per cent of elderly patients still went to public clinics, while 73 per cent did so before the vouchers were... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3001151/former-hong-kong-health-chief-slams-medical?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3001151/former-hong-kong-health-chief-slams-medical?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Mar 2019 23:49:32 +0000 A voucher scheme that gives elderly Hong Kong residents HK$2,000 a year to use for private health care has failed to ease overcrowding at public hospitals and has not been “cost effective”, the city’s former top health official said on Monday. Professor Yeoh Eng-kiong, now head of public health and primary care at Chinese University, said even years after the programme was adopted, 78 per cent of elderly patients still went to public clinics, while 73 per cent did so before the vouchers were... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2189601/former-hong-kong-health-chief-slams-medical?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2189601/former-hong-kong-health-chief-slams-medical?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Mar 2019 23:02:23 +0000 I am writing in response to your article, “Forced retirement is ‘age discrimination’, Hong Kong cabinet member says”, October 7). The rapidly ageing society of Hong Kong has caused a labour and skills shortage, and it is indeed misguided of businesses to make retirement mandatory even for those capable of excellent work. Some analysts have suggested that the working lives of older people be extended through appropriate retirement, retention and recruitment policies. I am all for such policies,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2171401/why-must-hong-kong-elderly-be-taken-out-service-when-they-have-so?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2171401/why-must-hong-kong-elderly-be-taken-out-service-when-they-have-so?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Nov 2018 07:00:15 +0000 On Apliu Street in Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong’s poorest district, an elderly woman in a pink floral shirt and old trainers sits on a wooden stool before a cart of stacked sundries. She lays out a variety of second-hand goods on the ground. “These sunglasses look amazing. They’re only HK$15 dollars, brother,” says the woman, who only wants to be known as Hung. She beams at an elderly man perusing a pair of Sony 3D glasses that originally costs HK$100 (US$12.70). Neither seller nor buyer seems to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/2165018/poor-unskilled-and-unrecognised-hong-kongs-street-stall?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/2165018/poor-unskilled-and-unrecognised-hong-kongs-street-stall?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Sep 2018 04:02:16 +0000 For millennia, humans have been trying to defeat death, and some might say we are winning the battle. Through advances in medical care it has become easier to live longer and healthier lives. But while living to 100 may become commonplace in the near future, questions abound about how prepared we are for such longevity. Hongkongers already enjoy the longest life expectancy in the world – 81.7 years for males and 87.7 for females – according to government data released last year. The figure for... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2160533/hongkongers-live-longer-any-people-earth-what-use?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2160533/hongkongers-live-longer-any-people-earth-what-use?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Aug 2018 09:53:53 +0000 An age-friendly society is one where everyone can participate in community activities regardless of how old they are. It is a society that also makes it easier for the elderly to stay engaged. Therefore, Hong Kong should aim to build an age-friendly society that is by default a society for the aged. Hong Kong has been ageing rapidly, as is the case in many Asian societies. Currently, more than 14 per cent of our population, equivalent to more than 1 million people, are aged 65 or above. The... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2156093/how-hong-kong-can-make-its-ageing-society-age?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2156093/how-hong-kong-can-make-its-ageing-society-age?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Jul 2018 08:00:51 +0000 Apart from the nominal “old age allowance” and “old age living allowance”, can our government think about providing any other form of financial support to the elderly? In the 1980s, Hongkongers were mostly engaged in the secondary and tertiary industries. They have contributed a lot to this society and facilitated Hong Kong’s growth. Without them, this global metropolis may not have been as prosperous as it is today. The Hongkongers who built this city have aged now. Their health does not enable... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2151054/how-long-will-hong-kong-continue-fail-elderly-who-helped-build?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2151054/how-long-will-hong-kong-continue-fail-elderly-who-helped-build?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Jun 2018 02:45:50 +0000 Mrs Mak, 84, and Mr Wat, 87, live a frugal life together in their flat bought in the 1970s in Hong Kong’s Tai Kok Tsui neighbourhood.  They were happy with an extra two months’ worth of Old Age Allowance promised by Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po in his second budget. However, they said the one-off sweetener would not change their living standards much.  They called on the government to raise the standard rate of the allowance and remove all means testing for elderly... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/community/article/2135128/elderly-couple-lament-hong-kongs-strict-criteria-get?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/community/article/2135128/elderly-couple-lament-hong-kongs-strict-criteria-get?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Mar 2018 00:04:39 +0000 Once a month, Shirley Lam Cheuk-wing and her six partners from Idle Market, a non-profit organisation, will hold a charity drive in Sham Shui Po to collect reusable items to give away to street stalls in the area. Having grown up in the district, the 24-year-old Lam always had a strong sense of empathy for the less fortunate in the neighbourhood. She found the long-established night market culture in the area very appealing and was partly inspired by it to start the NGO last year. More... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/community/article/2130414/how-group-sham-shui-po-helping-poor-hong-kong-stall-owners?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/community/article/2130414/how-group-sham-shui-po-helping-poor-hong-kong-stall-owners?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Jan 2018 06:16:26 +0000 It takes the human body six nerves and 26 muscles to complete the process of swallowing, and while most people take this reflex for granted, it can be a Herculean task for some of the elderly inflicted with dysphagia, a lesser-known medical condition. Such patients have an inability to swallow, resulting in choking. The disorder affects older people because of age-related changes in the body, according to speech therapist Joshua Mak, who assesses and treats dysphagia patients. “The problem is... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2130426/why-we-should-pay-more-attention-lesser-known?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2130426/why-we-should-pay-more-attention-lesser-known?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Jan 2018 05:45:19 +0000 The latest Commission on Poverty report reveals that the poverty rate in Hong Kong – or the number of households earning less than half the median household income – went up slightly, from 19.75 per cent in 2015 to 19.9 per cent last year. The number of people in poverty rose by 7,000, whereas the city’s population increased from 7.29 million to 7.34 million in 2015-2016. Counting the government’s recurrent cash benefits, the poverty rate dropped from 19.9 per cent to 14.7 per cent in 2016. The... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2122395/how-hong-kongs-war-poverty-can-be-won?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2122395/how-hong-kongs-war-poverty-can-be-won?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Dec 2017 07:00:27 +0000 To still be working aged 70 is not a milestone many Hongkongers are necessarily proud of - yet in a city lacking much of a social safety net for those who toiled all their lives, it can be inevitable. Adding to the burden, the fact many companies enforce retirement at the age of 60 or 65 leaves some older workers turning to low-paid jobs or coping with insecure short-term contracts. "I'd do any work - apart from stealing," says Wong Siu-ying, who earns a few thousand dollars a month handing out... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1668833/elderly-work-through-lack-adequate-pension-wealthy-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1668833/elderly-work-through-lack-adequate-pension-wealthy-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Dec 2014 01:30:45 +0000 As many as 19,000 elderly Hongkongers living in Guangdong have applied to a one-off scheme that allows them to receive so-called fruit money without returning to the city, the Social Welfare Department said yesterday. Of those, more than 16,800 people are already receiving the monthly old-age allowance of HK$1,180 under the scheme for cross-border retirees that began on October 1. Previously, they could not receive the benefit unless they had lived in Hong Kong continuously for one year... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1556737/guangdong-retirees-collect-their-fruit-money?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1556737/guangdong-retirees-collect-their-fruit-money?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Jul 2014 22:20:54 +0000 The chief executive may not be universally popular, but that should not mean his policies should be disregarded. Since July last year, Leung Chun-ying has taken steps on each of the four key issues he promised to tackle: housing, poverty, ageing and the environment. None of these steps can fully resolve the chronic problems being addressed. Yet they do represent a fundamental change in policy stance; the government is now prepared to face these issues, and tackle them. Previous administrations... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1323723/its-us-all-bring-about-changein-our-lives?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1323723/its-us-all-bring-about-changein-our-lives?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Oct 2013 16:00:00 +0000 More than 310,000 elderly residents have begun getting a new HK$2,200 allowance since the scheme started in April, the outgoing social welfare chief says. The Old Age Living Allowance is double the Old Age Allowance of HK$1,100 a month - known as fruit money as it buys so little. All recipients of the new allowance must pass a means test, however. The newest data shows 270,000 fruit-money recipients were automatically transferred to the new scheme by the time of the first payment on April... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1255046/recipients-old-age-living-allowance-top-310000?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1255046/recipients-old-age-living-allowance-top-310000?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Residents who are eligible for the new elderly allowance are delighted to get some help to cope with the higher cost of living, but others with just a little too much money in the bank are not happy with the government's stringent means test. For Chou Shui, 88, the new HK$2,200 handout is double the original HK$1,090 in "fruit money" he has been receiving. Chou will use it to pay the medical bills of his wife, 77, who has been bedridden since a stroke three years ago, he says "My wife cannot... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1202754/elderly-allowance-welcome-help-some-others-are-not-so-lucky?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1202754/elderly-allowance-welcome-help-some-others-are-not-so-lucky?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Mar 2013 16:00:00 +0000 A problem in government computer records may mean some elderly residents eligible for the new old-age allowance will not receive the money next week as promised. Meanwhile, thousands of people who received letters saying they could get the HK$2,200 handout have replied that they are no longer eligible. People over the age of 65 who were eligible for the first phase of the Old Age Living Allowance scheme - those on record as having passed the means test for "fruit money" of HK$1,090 - were to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1202755/glitch-delays-old-age-allowance-payments-elderly?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1202755/glitch-delays-old-age-allowance-payments-elderly?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Mar 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The old-age living allowance to be introduced in April is expected to cover Hongkongers in Guangdong by the end of next year. Welfare secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said the government would extend the means-tested HK$2,200-a-month allowance to Hongkongers who retired across the border after the scheme had been in place for more than a year. The HK$1,090-a- month "fruit money" - means-tested for those aged 65 to 70 - is due to be extended to people living in Guangdong in September. But... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1151193/retirees-mainland-will-get-allowance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1151193/retirees-mainland-will-get-allowance?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Feb 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Set timetable for schools funding plan Some people were disap- pointed that, in his maiden policy address last month, there was no concrete plan by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to implement the 15 years' free education pledged during his election campaign ("Hope for free education gives way to frustration", January 26). Although most parents would like to see such a system introduced as soon as possible, I think there has to be a reasonable transition period. There are so many different... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1141486/letters-editor-february-2-2013?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1141486/letters-editor-february-2-2013?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Feb 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Financial support from relatives will not be counted as part of an elderly person's income, but will be considered assets when assessing his eligibility for a new government allowance, the social welfare chief says. Patrick Nip Tak-kuen, director of the Social Welfare Department, conceded for the first time that funds from such sources would be seen as "cash at hand" under the new scheme, due to start handing out money in April. "The 'yet-to-be-used' money [from relatives of an elderly resident]... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1140502/relatives-cash-elderly-be-treated-assets-allowance-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1140502/relatives-cash-elderly-be-treated-assets-allowance-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The HK$2,200 new, means-tested old age living allowance will be made available to some 290,000 elderly people starting from April, the government said on Thursday. The new allowance, which will be launched in three phases, comes after months of delays in the Legislative Council as lawmakers attempted a filibuster to demand that the government to scrape the means-test or ease its limits. At a press conference on Thursday, Director of Social Welfare Patrick Nip said the first phase would involve... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1140395/means-tested-old-age-allowance-launch-april?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1140395/means-tested-old-age-allowance-launch-april?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:10:07 +0000 Priority should be to help grass roots Young sandwich-class couples feel let down by the chief executive’s policy address. Leung Chun-ying pledged to increase the supply of housing in an effort to bring down Hong Kong’s skyrocketing property prices. But it seems some people think that the government has not done enough for those sandwich-class couples who, because of their financial status, are not eligible for subsidised housing. They complain that the policy address failed to offer these... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1139781/letters-editor-january-31-2013?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1139781/letters-editor-january-31-2013?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:27:13 +0000 Responding to the massive protests on New Year's Day calling for Leung Chun-ying to step down, a government spokesman said the chief executive was concentrating on preparing his first policy address, working on various areas, including people's livelihood and the economy, addressing deep-rooted problems, and promoting stability in society. But will Leung succeed in convincing Hong Kong people that, despite his irreparable integrity problems, he is capable of leading them in the next five... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1127173/policy-address-leungs-last-chance-show-hong-kong-he-can-lead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1127173/policy-address-leungs-last-chance-show-hong-kong-he-can-lead?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Laws designed to protect maids ignored I could not agree more with Geoff Carey's letter regarding the vulnerability of domestic helpers in Hong Kong ("Maids will be at mercy of agencies", January 1). I especially want to direct attention to his point that Hong Kong does have rule of law, "but its effectiveness depends on enforcement". Where is the enforcement by the labour and immigration departments regarding the abuses perpetrated on domestic helpers and their agencies? I asked the same... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1121617/letters-editor-january-7-2013?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1121617/letters-editor-january-7-2013?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Party is stuck in universal suffrage rut I refer to the report ("Democrats make Emily Lau leader", December 17). Emily Lau Wai-hing correctly identifies that her Democratic Party needs to rejuvenate. However the problem runs much deeper than just image and its ability to refocus on the younger generation and women. It has always been a one-dimensional party and the only issue for its members is universal suffrage. They need to get out of their offices more and into the real community, because... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1120831/letters-editor-january-6-2013?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1120831/letters-editor-january-6-2013?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Finally, there is good news for our elderly citizens. In a dramatic turnaround nine days ago, a means-tested HK$2,200 monthly allowance for those aged 65 and above was passed after the government changed its tactics in the legislature. Lawmakers were first asked to approve funding for new civil service posts to operate the scheme. The actual expenditure on the allowance will be passed later as part of the government's budget next year. By changing tactics, Secretary for Labour and Welfare... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1106382/people-suffer-when-theres-too-much-politicking?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1106382/people-suffer-when-theres-too-much-politicking?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Choice of what you wear is a relevant issue Angie Ng ("No skirting around sexual violence issue", December 5) is being either naive or disingenuous, in her criticism of the editorial ("SlutWalk and common sense", November 29). Her comments suggest that she read it with preconceived ideas of what it contained. Ms Ng's points about acts of sexual abuse committed by persons known to the victim, and the legal system not favouring victims, certainly have substance, particularly relating to previous... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1103226/letters-editor-december-12-2012?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1103226/letters-editor-december-12-2012?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000 72-year-old man dies in fire at home A 72-year-old man died in a fire in his public housing flat on Kai Yip Estate, Ngau Tau Kok, yesterday. About 25 residents were evacuated when the fire, which was declared suspicious, broke out at 5.30am. Firemen broke into the flat and found the man unconscious. He was declared dead at United Christian Hospital.   Vote on allowance 'reflects public's view' The approval by Legco's finance committee of a new old-age allowance reflected public opinion, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1101606/city-digest-december-10-2012?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1101606/city-digest-december-10-2012?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Chairman of the Executive Committee on the Community Care Fund Dr Law Chi-kwong said the sudden approval of the old age allowance by the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council reflected public opinion. “Many of the legislators did not have time to read the document. They did not even know what questions to ask,” Law said in a radio programme on Sunday morning. “It was a bit of ‘hard luck’ but [the decision] followed the wishes of the society.” Law added that although some legislators... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1101347/old-age-allowance-approval-reflects-public-opinion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1101347/old-age-allowance-approval-reflects-public-opinion?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Dec 2012 06:46:24 +0000 The man 300,000 needy old people have to thank for overcoming a block by lawmakers on a new HK$2,200-a-month allowance is Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, says a government source. It was Cheung who came up with the idea of withdrawing a request to the Legislative Council's finance committee for funding for the allowance, and to include the funds in next year's budget. Because Legco traditionally approves government budgets as a whole, rather than seeking to veto... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1100988/welfare-minister-broke-deadlock-over-funding-new-old-age-allowance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1100988/welfare-minister-broke-deadlock-over-funding-new-old-age-allowance?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Lawmakers on Friday endorsed funding to open new posts to handle the proposed old age living allowance, a move that would likely make over-due payments to 290,000 senior citizens available by April next year. The move saw the end of a 29-hour series of discussions held by the Legislative Council finance committee which had met seven times since October. The twist came as the government withdrew a previous funding request at Friday’s meeting and submitted a new request for some HK$23 million in... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1100158/lawmakers-back-plans-fast-track-old-age-allowance-payments?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1100158/lawmakers-back-plans-fast-track-old-age-allowance-payments?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Dec 2012 14:01:20 +0000 Lawmaker "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung, who has been filibustering to block the proposed old-age living allowance, says he wants to set aside discussion of the issue to allow other funding requests to move forward. The funding request for the old-age allowance appears unlikely to be passed this year as Leung, of the League of Social Democrats, vows to continue filibustering to force the government into making concessions. The delay in passage of the funding request - which will be scrutinised... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1099282/long-hair-leung-kwok-hung-offers-set-aside-old-age-allowance-fight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1099282/long-hair-leung-kwok-hung-offers-set-aside-old-age-allowance-fight?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The government's proposed Old Age Living Allowance has still not been approved because some lawmakers on the finance committee demand the scrapping of a means test. This test would include an asset assessment to determine if an elderly person is eligible for the allowance. I fully understand the rationale of those pursuing the abandonment of the asset assessment requirement. However, if, as they are proposing, all elderly Hong Kong citizens over the age of 70 could get the allowance - whatever... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1099394/stop-blocking-old-age-payments?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1099394/stop-blocking-old-age-payments?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000 A pressure group has accused the Education Bureau of creating panic among ethnic minority students by not spelling out how or when an examination subsidy stalled by a Legislative Council filibuster will be paid. The proposed extended subsidy for four international Chinese competency exams popular with minorities is unlikely to be presented to Legco's Finance Committee as scheduled tomorrow because of the delay. This has left students waiting to be told how they can bridge the gap between the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1098353/filibuster-old-age-allowance-plan-leaves-minority-test-takers-limbo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1098353/filibuster-old-age-allowance-plan-leaves-minority-test-takers-limbo?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Intended beneficiaries of the government's proposed old-age living allowance have lost another HK$2,200 each after a lawmaker's filibuster prevented a vote on whether to approve funding for the measure. Had the allowance been passed when an attempt to reach a vote on it was first made two months ago, payments would have been backdated to October. It is government practice to backdate payments to the first day of the month in which lawmakers approve them. The allowance is meant to help the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1094719/vote-old-age-living-allowance-delayed-again?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1094719/vote-old-age-living-allowance-delayed-again?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Strengthen accountability commission The Department of Health has come under fire for its failure to adequately regulate private hospitals. The latest report of the Audit Commission revealed that the department had not conducted inspections of private hospitals promptly and had failed to maintain proper documentation of checking performed. It also noted that the department did not issue advisory or warning letters to the concerned private hospitals in some cases of irregularities. This... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1088551/letters-editor-november-23-2012?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1088551/letters-editor-november-23-2012?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Backing down on the Old Age Living Allowance proposal would hamstring the administration's ability to govern, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor fears, according to the radical pan-democratic lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung. Leung, the League of Social Democrats' chairman, better known as "Long Hair", said Lam phoned him on Tuesday, asking him to be "magnanimous" when the finance committee cane to scrutinise the government's proposal again tomorrow. Last Friday, the government's application for... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1087909/lam-fears-effect-pension-surrender?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1087909/lam-fears-effect-pension-surrender?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 An angry crowd of more than 1,000 people, including the elderly and their families, marked Senior Citizens Day yesterday by accusing the government of failing to give a commitment to the long-awaited universal pension scheme. Their anger did not let up even as top officials reiterated that the Legislative Council should pass the proposed Old Age Living Allowance as soon as possible and that the handout - which as it stands would be subject to means testing - was not a substitute for a future... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1085694/elderly-march-universal-pension?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1085694/elderly-march-universal-pension?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 For those who enjoy suspense or drama, there is no better performance than the current debate on the Old Age Living Allowance. In the political arena, protagonists in the drama are officials of an executive-led government on the one hand, and opposition in the Legislative Council on the other. Early in October, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung announced a means-tested old age allowance to help those over 65. In the midst of prosperity, many old people still scavenge... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1085536/old-age-allowance-debate-continues?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1085536/old-age-allowance-debate-continues?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Hard-working expats add vitality to city In his column Jake van der Kamp says expatriates who can't afford to send their children to an expensive international school should go home ("ESF sense of entitlement an antiquated school of thought", November 11). Hong Kong would lose nothing, he says. I have no children, but I beg to differ. The authors of our "Asia's world city" brand line rightly identified Hong Kong's international qualities as its most marketable asset - and that includes... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1084892/letters-editor-november-18-2012?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1084892/letters-editor-november-18-2012?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000