https://www.scmp.com/rss/311670/feed Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying makes his second address. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Lawmakers heaped criticism on the government’s inability to improve the city’s housing crisis, as the Legislative Council entered the second day of a three-day debate on the motion to thank Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying for his policy address. The annual ritual allows legislators to voice their approval or disapproval of the leader’s blueprint. Labour Party lawmaker Cyd Ho Sau-lan proposed introducing regulation along the same lines as that introduced in the 1970s – when Hongkongers faced a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1427046/return-rental-caps-legco-debate-leung-chun-ying-policy-address?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1427046/return-rental-caps-legco-debate-leung-chun-ying-policy-address?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Feb 2014 04:44:02 +0000 Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying beat his rival in the popularity race and hence won the support of Beijing to take the top job in Hong Kong, mainly by blowing his own trumpet over his land and housing policies. He also managed to fool a lot of people, including intellectuals and the professional elite, into believing he had the will and the ability to resolve the two thorny issues at the heart of our deep-rooted social conflicts and widening wealth gap. But as a famous saying goes: "You can fool... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1422101/cy-leungs-housing-policies-have-made-situation-worse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1422101/cy-leungs-housing-policies-have-made-situation-worse?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Feb 2014 10:30:15 +0000 The chief executive's policy address lacks a child perspective and fails to present a comprehensive child policy for the 1.1 million children aged 0 to 18 in Hong Kong. A proactive child policy serves as a cornerstone for population policy and poverty alleviation. A child cannot wait and we as a community must see the fundamental value of investing in the upbringing of a healthy child. Many countries around the world recognise the need to ensure that children are visible in all major policy... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1420231/policy-address-neglected-needs-children-city?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1420231/policy-address-neglected-needs-children-city?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Feb 2014 21:30:30 +0000 What happens to a government when its leader and its financial chief seem to be at odds; not about anything personal, but due to conflicting views on government spending? Does it represent a power struggle similar to that seen between former British prime minister Tony Blair and his chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown years ago? Or does it simply reflect a division of views, not only between the two, but among the public. It could be either or both, but what matters is whether it is... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1414389/conflict-between-leung-chun-ying-and-john-tsang-chun-wah-can-spur?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1414389/conflict-between-leung-chun-ying-and-john-tsang-chun-wah-can-spur?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Jan 2014 20:30:35 +0000 An arbitrator and a surveyor has cast doubt on a pilot scheme to bring arbitrators into negotiations over the premiums developers must pay to rezone land. The scheme was announced by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in his policy address earlier this month, with the aim of shortening land premium negotiations - during which a developer can sit on land set aside for redevelopment for years. Research by the Post shows a significant drop in the number of such redevelopment cases - involving lease... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1414559/cy-scheme-shorten-land-premium-negotiations-open-graft-lawyer-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1414559/cy-scheme-shorten-land-premium-negotiations-open-graft-lawyer-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Jan 2014 20:30:30 +0000 I'm going to call it: the biggest loser of the policy address is the middle class. But it's not because they got "nothing" from the policy address, as Voice of the Middle Class chairman Alvin Lee Chi-wing claimed. It's true we didn't get any handouts. But since when did the middle class expect handouts from the public purse? And if people who perceive themselves as middle class actually need handouts from the government to make ends meet, then we have a new set of problems. The reason the middle... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1412624/dont-take-hong-kongs-middle-class-be-misers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1412624/dont-take-hong-kongs-middle-class-be-misers?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Jan 2014 19:21:18 +0000 Ever since Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announced the new provisions of more than HK$10 billion a year for the poor and grass roots in his policy address, the fiscal hawks have been coming out of the woodwork. His finance chief frets that our mountain of reserves may be frittered away in 20 years. Then a member of a government-appointed working group on long-term fiscal planning disclosed it had reached a consensus on the need to ring-fence revenue from land sales. A prominent local... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1412917/proposed-accounting-rule-public-spending-would-tie?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1412917/proposed-accounting-rule-public-spending-would-tie?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jan 2014 20:10:12 +0000 In his policy address last week, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying made it clear that "Hong Kong needs sustained economic growth to address issues such as poverty, housing, an ageing society, environmental protection and the upward mobility of our young people". Sound familiar? Yes, it is an elaboration of Deng Xiaoping's famous saying, "Development is an absolute principle". Did Leung mean that "sustained economic growth" is the magic pill to solve Hong Kong's problems? Or was he trying to say... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1411856/hong-kong-cannot-afford-false-luxury-wasting-water?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1411856/hong-kong-cannot-afford-false-luxury-wasting-water?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Jan 2014 19:15:30 +0000 Business leaders have expressed concerns about the city's ability to sustain a multibillion-dollar welfare package rolled out in Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's policy address last week. The leaders yesterday asked Leung for details on how he intended to shore up economic growth to fund the splurge on poverty alleviation. "Without economic development, we cannot sustain the nice social policies," Chow Chung-kong, chairman of the General Chamber of Commerce, said. Chow, also an Executive... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1411787/business-leaders-quiz-leung-sustainability-his-welfare-package?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1411787/business-leaders-quiz-leung-sustainability-his-welfare-package?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Jan 2014 08:15:30 +0000 After reading and listening to various responses to Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's policy address last week, I am convinced some people are impossible to please. I am not talking about those who say the middle class or small business should get more, or who are impatient for solutions to big problems like housing or pollution. To some extent, these people have a point. I am thinking of media outlets and groups that say they want something, but still criticise when they get it. For example,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1411622/cy-leungs-policy-address-deserves-praise-thoughtful-anti?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1411622/cy-leungs-policy-address-deserves-praise-thoughtful-anti?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Jan 2014 08:15:15 +0000 Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor persuaded her boss to ditch a plan to abolish the mechanism allowing employers to offset severance pay against their contributions to employees' Mandatory Provident Fund accounts, according to a person familiar with the issue. She urged Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to remove the proposal from his policy address, saying it would be "impracticable" because of the political pressure from big companies it would generate, the person said. There had been... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1411402/lam-convinced-leung-shelve-plan-scrap-mpf-offsetting-mechanism-source?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1411402/lam-convinced-leung-shelve-plan-scrap-mpf-offsetting-mechanism-source?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Jan 2014 19:30:15 +0000 The middle class grumbled that there was nothing for them in the chief executive's policy address. The greenies probably feel the same way, given the lack of powerful initiatives from Leung Chun-ying to tackle our major environmental challenges, from poor air quality and ever-growing waste, to ridiculous energy wastage and the conservation of country parks. Leung has moved to improve air quality by lowering the sulphur content of marine fuel and requiring ocean-going vessels to switch to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1411137/cy-leungs-vision-hong-kong-fails-environmental-test?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1411137/cy-leungs-vision-hong-kong-fails-environmental-test?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Jan 2014 19:18:00 +0000 Dissatisfaction with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's second policy address has soared in the days since he delivered it last week, new poll results show. Just 23 per cent of Hongkongers are satisfied with the policy address despite the announcement that more than HK$10 billion will go towards new measures to help the poor, a University of Hong Kong survey showed. More than two-thirds of the 519 respondents said Leung did too little to help the middle class. The public's dissatisfaction rate... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1410593/more-express-dissatisfaction-leung-chun-yings-policy-address-new-poll?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1410593/more-express-dissatisfaction-leung-chun-yings-policy-address-new-poll?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Jan 2014 20:34:58 +0000 Interest in new homes in Discovery Bay is on the rise as potential buyers are lured to the area by the prospect of capital gains resulting from the construction of the East Lantau Metropolis an artificial island that is to be built to the east of Lantau. "We have seen more flat viewers over the weekend as potential buyers want to learn more about Discovery Bay, which will be the closest residential area serving the future East Lantau Metropolis," said Simon Lee Wai-ling, an assistant associate... https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/1410451/buyers-look-discovery-bay-property-after-metropolis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/1410451/buyers-look-discovery-bay-property-after-metropolis?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Jan 2014 20:30:30 +0000 Next month's budget should feature higher tax allowances and bigger deductions to make up for the fact the middle class got "nothing" from last week's policy address, the Taxation Institute said yesterday. The institute, which represents 2,700 taxation professionals, also suggested that Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah should consider reforms to broaden the tax base, including taxing luxury goods and introducing more green levies. The institute has submitted budget suggestions every year... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1410592/give-middle-class-tax-breaks-urges-taxation-institute?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1410592/give-middle-class-tax-breaks-urges-taxation-institute?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Jan 2014 20:30:00 +0000 Housing may be Hongkongers' No 1 priority - but only four of the 27 lawmakers serving on a Legislative Council panel managed to make it to a discussion on the hottest issue in town. The housing panel was due to discuss measures announced in the chief executive's policy address last week. But chairman Wong Kwok-hing called off the meeting after 15 minutes yesterday when the quorum of eight members had not been met, as required by its rules. Secretary for Transport and Housing Professor Anthony... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1410170/hong-kong-lawmakers-snub-debate-citys-hottest-issue-housing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1410170/hong-kong-lawmakers-snub-debate-citys-hottest-issue-housing?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Jan 2014 03:30:00 +0000 A backlash against the billions of dollars spent on the poor in the policy address means the government will be able to avoid handing out sweeteners in next month's budget, a government source says. Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying was accused of neglecting the middle class in his blueprint last week while promising more than HK$10 billion a year on initiatives for the underprivileged. "[Financial secretary John] Tsang Chun-wah has all along disagreed with handing out too many one-off sweeteners... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1409975/middle-class-backlash-over-cash-poor-could-stop-budget-sweeteners?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1409975/middle-class-backlash-over-cash-poor-could-stop-budget-sweeteners?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Jan 2014 20:45:00 +0000 The government is printing fewer copies of the chief executive's policy address these days. The move raises the question: is the administration's effort encouraging people to read the policy blueprint in a more environmentally friendly way, or are they just not reading it at all. Copies of the address are printed in both English and Chinese for distribution at the district offices of the Home Affairs Department. The department also provides leaflets which summarise the key points of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1409576/has-hong-kong-governments-cutback-policy-address-print-copies-been?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1409576/has-hong-kong-governments-cutback-policy-address-print-copies-been?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Jan 2014 03:45:15 +0000 Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah warned yesterday that fears public spending was rising too fast were "not without reason" - doing little to ease talk of a split with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying. Leung used his policy address last week to announce a huge increase in recurrent spending, much of it on welfare, and insisted that the government could afford the bill of up to HK$20 billion per year. Writing on his blog yesterday, Tsang (pictured) said that while the government could afford... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1409229/hong-kong-could-out-money-within-20-years-warns-john-tsang-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1409229/hong-kong-could-out-money-within-20-years-warns-john-tsang-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Jan 2014 21:15:00 +0000 The public should not expect Leung Chun-ying to implement all of his election pledges within his five-year term, a key adviser to the chief executive says. Instead, according to Executive Council member Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun, Leung could be said to have lived up to his promises by starting to research the changes. Law made the remarks in the midst of a row over Leung's failure to announce legal changes to stop bosses dipping into employees' retirement savings. Her comments were immediately... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1409210/adviser-says-cy-leung-living-promises-starting-research?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1409210/adviser-says-cy-leung-living-promises-starting-research?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Jan 2014 21:08:58 +0000 Education concern groups across the political spectrum staged a rally yesterday, slamming Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying for failing to honour his election pledge to introduce free kindergarten education in his policy address last week. Organisers said about 2,500 kindergarten teachers and pupils attended the demonstration outside the government headquarters in Admiralty. The rally was organised by the pan-democratic Professional Teachers' Union and two Beijing-loyalist groups, Education... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1409211/rally-calls-leung-chun-ying-fulfil-15-year-free-schooling-pledge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1409211/rally-calls-leung-chun-ying-fulfil-15-year-free-schooling-pledge?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Jan 2014 21:08:58 +0000 Who belongs to the middle class? A joke doing the rounds in political circles has it that the person who solves the conundrum could be wise enough to become chief executive. While the government defined the poor when it set the city's first poverty line last year, there has never been an official definition of the middle class. But when Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying finished his second policy address, he might well have realised that his "spend what must be spent" push to alleviate poverty... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1409218/middle-class-finds-its-all-give-no-take?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1409218/middle-class-finds-its-all-give-no-take?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Jan 2014 21:08:58 +0000 The immaturity of some of our politicians shows no sign of abating, as is evident from their responses to the policy address delivered last week by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying. In his first address a year ago, Leung concentrated on the housing situation, which, on any sensible analysis, is the most serious problem facing Hong Kong. We have some of the highest prices on the planet, alongside some appalling living conditions that would shame a third world country. This time, he gave an update... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1407724/middle-class-shouldnt-begrudge-doing-good-things-poor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1407724/middle-class-shouldnt-begrudge-doing-good-things-poor?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Jan 2014 19:31:30 +0000 The fact that the chief executive isn't the life and soul of any party isn't news. He's not the type to dazzle, so when the time came for his second policy address, there wasn't a lot of pre-address fanfare, which was really kind of nice. Opinion polls leading up to the address showed that public expectations were low. That may be the most striking thing Leung Chun-ying did right with the address. Low popularity ratings can never be a blessing in disguise but Leung made expectation management... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1407723/sweetener-free-policy-address-just-what-hong-kong-needs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1407723/sweetener-free-policy-address-just-what-hong-kong-needs?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Jan 2014 19:31:30 +0000 Every year, in the run-up to the delivery of the policy address, political parties make a mad dash to meet the chief executive or demonstrate outside the government's headquarters to press their demands for sundry measures to improve people's livelihood. Demands for affordable housing have topped the list, followed by demands for more support for the working poor, more hospitals, more homes for the elderly, and more public funding for preschool education, to name a few. The long wish list is to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1407694/policy-address-lacks-vision-transform-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1407694/policy-address-lacks-vision-transform-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Jan 2014 19:00:15 +0000 Despite repeated reassurances that the generous welfare package rolled out in Wednesday's policy address is "financially sustainable", top officials appear unsure of what the total bill will be. Confusion lingered yesterday over whether the splurge on allowances and welfare funding would cost an extra HK$10 billion or HK$20 billion a year. The HK$20 billion figure was quoted on Wednesday by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah. But yesterday Chief Secretary... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1408078/hk10-billion-discrepancy-over-welfare-bill-after-policy-address?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1408078/hk10-billion-discrepancy-over-welfare-bill-after-policy-address?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Jan 2014 20:00:30 +0000 Satisfaction levels with the policy address are lower than last year despite an increase in approval for the measures to combat poverty. In a poll by the University of Hong Kong's public opinion programme, the address delivered by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying on Wednesday scored 54 per cent, two percentage points lower than last year's. But the poverty-alleviation segment rated 56 per cent, five points up. Measures aimed at improving social mobility for young people received a thumbs-down... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1407875/satisfaction-policy-address-down-last-year-says-hku-poll?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1407875/satisfaction-policy-address-down-last-year-says-hku-poll?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Jan 2014 20:00:30 +0000 As environment officials struggle to force through the legislature plans for landfill expansion and a waste incinerator, the environment minister yesterday said it was time for the city to examine its waste infrastructure for the next three decades. While any mention of long-term planning for waste infrastructure was absent from the policy address, Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing revealed that the government was looking towards reducing the city's dependence on its rapidly filling... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1407872/environment-secretary-offers-few-details-long-term-waste-plans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1407872/environment-secretary-offers-few-details-long-term-waste-plans?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Jan 2014 19:58:37 +0000 An extra 5,000 government-subsidised places at elderly-care homes will be provided within the term of this administration, the welfare chief says. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung pledged to provide 5,000 more of the coveted spaces, but declined to set an optimal waiting time for the roughly 30,000 applicants. "The waiting time is long," Cheung admitted yesterday. "But we are trying to tackle the issue." The current administration serves until 2017, when the next chief... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1407620/plan-subsidise-5000-more-places-homes-elderly?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1407620/plan-subsidise-5000-more-places-homes-elderly?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Jan 2014 06:15:00 +0000 Speculation that Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying was planning to abolish the much-criticised offsetting mechanism in the Mandatory Provident Fund was a "misunderstanding", the city's leader said yesterday. "Alternatives" will be considered before a decision is made, Leung said, in the face of calls from unionist lawmakers, including some from the Beijing-loyalist Federation of Trade Unions, to do away with the mechanism. The process allows employers to offset severance and long-service payments... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1407582/no-plans-scrap-mpf-offsetting-mechanism-says-leung-chun-ying?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1407582/no-plans-scrap-mpf-offsetting-mechanism-says-leung-chun-ying?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Jan 2014 04:45:30 +0000 The new poverty alleviation initiative for working families could be a more effective way of spending public funds in the long run as it “prevents or slows down” people from falling into the social welfare net. This is according to Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, who explained on Friday morning the HK$3 billion-per-year Low-Income Working Family Allowance announced in Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s policy address. “We want to encourage those with jobs, but also have to nurture... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1407516/carrie-lam-defends-hk3-billion-poverty-allowance-after-criticism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1407516/carrie-lam-defends-hk3-billion-poverty-allowance-after-criticism?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Jan 2014 03:00:00 +0000 Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has brushed off concerns over the city's rising welfare expenditure, offering strong support for the headline poverty alleviation measure announced in the policy address. The HK$3 billion-per-year Low-Income Working Family Allowance would pull 38,300 poor working-class families above the poverty line and would not break the bank, Lam said yesterday. "The allowance is unlikely to generate a large fiscal burden on the government," she said. "Unlike the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1407202/welfare-support-working-families-affordable-declares-carrie-lam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1407202/welfare-support-working-families-affordable-declares-carrie-lam?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jan 2014 20:15:45 +0000 A judging committee will be set up to ensure that top pupils awarded a new scholarship for studying at renowned overseas universities will return after graduation, the education minister said yesterday. The scholarship, announced in the policy address, will award up to 100 secondary school graduates each year a maximum of HK$250,000. Another means-tested grant of up to HK$200,000 a year will be added for those in financial difficulties. Concerns were raised as soon as the measure was announced... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1407205/eddie-ng-vows-ensure-students-overseas-scholarships-return-serve?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1407205/eddie-ng-vows-ensure-students-overseas-scholarships-return-serve?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jan 2014 20:15:00 +0000 Yesterday's question-and-answer session in the Legislative Council showed that, for some lawmakers, what Leung Chun-ying didn't say in his policy speech on Wednesday was just as important as what he did. Top of their list of subjects under-represented in the chief executive's speech was political reform. Independent pan-democrat Wong Yuk-man questioned Leung's sincerity in trying to tackle reform, as evidenced by his having devoted "only 126 Chinese characters" to the topic in his second policy... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1407204/lawmakers-question-lack-political-reform-measures-leungs-speech?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1407204/lawmakers-question-lack-political-reform-measures-leungs-speech?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jan 2014 20:15:00 +0000 Land supply and housing may not have been the focus of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's policy address, but they are just as important as poverty and helping the poor. His pledge to have 470,000 flats built over the next decade to end an acute shortage is as challenging as it is ambitious. Creative ways have been formulated to attain the goal and there are already objectors and sceptics. The plans are pragmatic and focused, and deserving of our every support. High property prices and rents have... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1407203/pragmatic-and-focused-housing-policies-deserve-our-full?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1407203/pragmatic-and-focused-housing-policies-deserve-our-full?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jan 2014 18:41:41 +0000 This week's policy address was fairly comprehensive in its attempt to deal with Hong Kong's most pressing issues. While it did not explicitly refer to women other than to announce a new study by the Labour and Welfare Bureau and the Women's Commission on why women leave the workforce and how we can attract them to return, the government's new initiatives - to improve the supply of housing, alleviate poverty, ease the burden of care for the elderly and enhance the upward mobility of the younger... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1406756/hong-kong-women-have-reason-cheer-policy-address-point?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1406756/hong-kong-women-have-reason-cheer-policy-address-point?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jan 2014 09:00:15 +0000 Click to launch interactive in full-screen mode Get the raw data used to make this graphic https://www.scmp.com/infographics/article/1406796/geography-cy-leungs-policy-address?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/infographics/article/1406796/geography-cy-leungs-policy-address?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jan 2014 04:30:00 +0000 Lawmakers are currently grilling Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying on his latest policy address, with some of his usual allies attacking him for failing to realise his election pledges. At a Legislative Council on Thursday, Leung was cornered by an ally over his determination to abolish the offsetting mechanism for the Mandatory Provident Fund. The pro-government Federation of Trade Unions lawmaker Tang Ka-piu said the federation could not approve of Leung’s policy address as he had failed to make... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406758/live-cy-leung-undergoes-grilling-lawmakers-policy-address?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406758/live-cy-leung-undergoes-grilling-lawmakers-policy-address?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jan 2014 03:15:30 +0000 Middle-class Hongkongers turned up the heat on Leung Chun-ying yesterday, taking to the airwaves to berate the chief executive for neglecting their needs in his policy address. The state of the middle class was the main topic raised by callers who questioned Leung on a radio phone-in organised by RTHK, Commercial Radio, Metro Radio and DBC, one day after the policy speech. A poll by the University of Hong Kong found that Leung's address was less well received than his maiden speech a year ago,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406749/middle-class-feel-leung-chun-yings-policy-address-neglected-their?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406749/middle-class-feel-leung-chun-yings-policy-address-neglected-their?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jan 2014 02:57:17 +0000 The middle class and operators of small and medium-sized enterprises were disappointed by the lack of immediate measures in the policy address to help them - raising concern that tensions between the poor and the middle class may worsen. "The words 'middle class' and 'small and medium-sized enterprises' were not even mentioned. But their contribution to Hong Kong cannot be ignored," Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, lawmaker and leader of the Business and Professionals Alliance, said. "I hope that these... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406452/middle-class-and-sme-owners-bemoan-lack-sweeteners-them-policy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406452/middle-class-and-sme-owners-bemoan-lack-sweeteners-them-policy?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jan 2014 23:15:15 +0000 Boosting land supply, helping the poor and enhancing Hong Kong's long-term economic competitiveness were at the core of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's policy address yesterday. After criticism that his maiden speech 12 months ago boasted grand visions and slogans but little detail, Leung unveiled initiatives that will cost taxpayers more than HK$10 billion a year. Expensive measures include the HK$3 billion-per-year Low-Income Working Family Allowance, which will benefit 710,000 people from... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406478/help-poor-chief-executive-reveals-hk10b-spending-spree-policy-address?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406478/help-poor-chief-executive-reveals-hk10b-spending-spree-policy-address?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jan 2014 23:15:15 +0000 An "East Lantau Metropolis" could rise from the sea between Hong Kong and Lantau islands over the next 50 years, with the government looking at the possibility of reclaiming more than 1,000 hectares of land, government sources said. One said the new metropolis would be similar in size to the city's airport island. A real estate adviser said it could house outlet malls. The sources made clear the scale of the plan after Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying unveiled the idea in his speech. He said: "It... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406451/new-east-lantau-metropolis-set-become-core-business-area?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406451/new-east-lantau-metropolis-set-become-core-business-area?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jan 2014 23:15:15 +0000 The government's ambitious target for new housing has allowed fresh ideas to flourish, analysts say, but it could also affect Hongkongers' quality of life. And despite claims by government sources, after Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's policy address, that the administration had secured enough land to meet its goals, a professor of real estate warned that uncertainty could yet undermine the target of building 470,000 new flats in the next decade. A government source said 80 sites - which will... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406449/cy-leungs-building-bonanza-could-cost-hongkongers-quality-life?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406449/cy-leungs-building-bonanza-could-cost-hongkongers-quality-life?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jan 2014 23:15:15 +0000 The government is once again proposing an innovation and technology bureau as it looks for long-term solutions to sustain economic growth. "I hope we can create an atmosphere that respects the sciences," Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said. The Innovation and Technology Commission and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer would be transferred to the bureau, he said. In 2012, Leung shelved a plan to set up three new bureaus, including an IT and a cultural bureau, after lawmakers... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406454/policy-address-revives-plan-technology-bureau?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406454/policy-address-revives-plan-technology-bureau?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jan 2014 23:15:15 +0000 The chief executive used his policy address to introduce a new initiative to help working poor families who have been suffering for decades. The low-income family supplement, a secondary safety net advocated by grass-roots organisations since the handover, shows a fundamental change in the way the government views wealth distribution. It is a step by the administration towards tackling one of the deep-seated contradictions in our society. According to statistics from the Commission on Poverty,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406450/low-income-family-supplement-step-forward-more-needs-be-done?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406450/low-income-family-supplement-step-forward-more-needs-be-done?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jan 2014 23:11:15 +0000 Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has vowed to pour HK$1 billion into a new fund to support recycling and tackle the looming waste crisis. Another HK$1 billion fund will help find new uses for 18 hectares of land at six closed landfills. Organisations such as sports associations and charities will be able to submit proposals for use of the sites. The two initiatives come with politicians and lawmakers at an impasse over funding requests by environment officials to extend the city's three... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406383/hk1-billion-each-funds-boost-recycling-and-reuse-old-landfill-sites?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406383/hk1-billion-each-funds-boost-recycling-and-reuse-old-landfill-sites?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jan 2014 23:11:15 +0000 CY Leung's policy address yesterday contained lots of small things to welcome, and a couple of big ones to worry about. CY's good intentions of helping Hong Kong's poor, and especially the elderly poor, are highly commendable. More generous kindergarten vouchers, and free school lunches and fatter textbook grants for the children of poor families are both good ideas. So is doubling the amount of healthcare vouchers given to old folk, although at HK$2,000 each, the value is still nugatory. But... https://www.scmp.com/business/economy/article/1406425/cys-policies-will-exacerbate-citys-coming-down-cycle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/economy/article/1406425/cys-policies-will-exacerbate-citys-coming-down-cycle?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jan 2014 18:30:00 +0000 It would be easy to dismiss the chief executive's latest policy address as just the usual staff New Year party - everyone gets a prize - except for one thing. Hunt and peck through that speech as I might, I could find no reference to opening the borders wide to migrant workers in order to address employer complaints about critical labour shortages. I thought I might find it under the heading of Development of the Construction Industry as our government bureaucrats have occasionally sung the... https://www.scmp.com/business/economy/article/1406413/leung-chun-ying-successfully-resists-employers-migrant-labour?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/economy/article/1406413/leung-chun-ying-successfully-resists-employers-migrant-labour?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jan 2014 18:30:00 +0000 Few expected any surprises from the chief executive's second policy address. In fact, many had no expectations of any kind; a Chinese University survey showed that as many as 45 per cent of people polled were in that category. But, given the year of disquiet we have been through, there was a sense of urgency about this year's unveiling of Leung Chun-ying's plan of action for Hong Kong. Leung has been vilified in some quarters, unfairly in my view. Compared with his predecessor, who was known for... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1406250/cy-leungs-policy-address-delivers-goods-most-departments?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1406250/cy-leungs-policy-address-delivers-goods-most-departments?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jan 2014 16:45:45 +0000 It's that time of year when many of my colleagues go into spasms of ecstasy and excitement because they get to report on something sacred called The Policy Address. I confess I used to be one of them but over the years, as the annual ritual systemically degenerates both in terms of the quality of policy formulation and visions and ideas shared, the speech in the Legislative Council and the document released afterwards become little more than inducements to sleep. The latest address has not... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1406416/if-youre-middle-class-annual-policy-address-ritual-not-you?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1406416/if-youre-middle-class-annual-policy-address-ritual-not-you?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jan 2014 16:43:51 +0000