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Written by: Chen Yunlin
2020-06-08 18:00
Last update date: 2020-06-08 18:00The social movement has come to this day, and "the five major demands are indispensable" is still the persistence of many people, and even subtly becomes a value. Only a year later, the anti-revision laws have become unstoppable, and the government’s various policy areas have stalled-the surrender of the people is far off, the housing policy is still dominated by home ownership, etc.-the deep-seated contradictions accumulated by society are like snowballs. As it grows bigger and bigger, the reform cannot start...if the five major demands are turned to housing, medical care, education, labor benefits, and universal surrender, what is the future of Hong Kong?
After one year, how many of the five appeals have been fulfilled? The picture shows the National Human Rights Day parade held by the Democratic Front on December 8 last year. (Information picture/Photo by Lu Yiming)
Withdrawing amendments to the "Fugitive Offenders Ordinance", withdrawing the demonstrators' qualities, releasing all arrested demonstrators, establishing an independent investigation committee and implementing universal suffrage. During this year, the five major demands have become the consensus of some Hong Kong people and become an anti-amendment movement The main theme. But after one year, how many of the top five appeals were realized? In addition to the Secretary for Security's Li Jiachao formally announcing the withdrawal of the revised draft of the "Fugitive Offenders Ordinance" at the Legislative Council meeting on October 23 last year, the remaining four appeals are still unfulfilled slogans.
The five major appeals have not been fulfilled, but Hong Kong has already suffered from bruises and bruises. In the past year, Hong Kong society was full of hatred. Not only did it not go in the ideal direction, but it was more like a derailed train. Overburden, unequal education resources, uneven working hours, standard working hours and universal surrender are still far away. Under the circumstances of abnormal life, economic trauma, and people's livelihood issues, the improvement of Hong Kong's governance has become a long-term and complicated task.
Society needs more economic reforms
"Hong Kong needs not only a freer society, but also a fairer society." Liu Haodian, professor of public policy practice and director of the senior training program for leadership and public policy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said that the current five major demands are clear but narrowly defined. Opposing the "Fugitive Offenders Ordinance" and requiring the government to respond to demonstration demands are related to attempts to strive for greater democracy and political reform. Liu Haodian bluntly stated that democratization is not completely planned by the Hong Kong government and cannot be achieved in the short term, but it does not mean that Hong Kong cannot move towards democratization. "Democracy has different forms, such as direct democracy in which one person and one vote are chief executives. Strive for consultation and democracy, solve problems with the people, and discuss Hong Kong's problems and future with mutual respect."
Liu Haodian agrees with the pursuit of democracy, but he believes that this may not be practical in Hong Kong at present, or it may take ten years to achieve. He believes that in the short to medium term, the government has a better chance to respond to demands related to social inequality.
Under the circumstances of unhealthy life, economic trauma, and people's livelihood issues that need to be resolved urgently, improving the governance of Hong Kong has become a long-term and complicated task. (Profile picture / Photograph by Zeng Ziyang)
Times are changing, and citizens, especially young people, not only consider the immediate livelihood issues, but also care about democracy in the political system, social justice, fairness, etc. It's just that in the absence of social security, how can citizens manage their political rights all day long?
The Hong Kong Association of Community Organizations (referred to as the "Society Association") held a press conference on the eve of the government's announcement of the "Administrative Policy Report" in mid-October last year, and made "ten appeals" to the government, in addition to "establishing an independent investigation committee" and "implementing true dual universal suffrage." The remaining eight major appeals cover areas such as housing and education subsidies: including increasing the supply of land and housing, establishing rent and rent management; establishing a national surrender, optimizing on-the-job allowances; reforming the CSSA system and reviewing special allowances; stopping outsourcing services and improving labor protection ; Equal rights to education, increase education funding, etc. The Association of Social Welfare believes that Hong Kong is currently facing an unprecedented political and social crisis since the reunification, and the long-term accumulated deep-seated social problems and contradictions still need to be resolved. The government should make drastic structural and institutional reforms to restore people's hearts and reunite society And address the needs of grassroots residents.
The "Society Association" put forward the "Top Ten Appeals" to the government in mid-October last year. In addition to "establishing an independent investigation committee" and "implementing true dual universal suffrage", the remaining eight appeals cover areas such as housing and education subsidies. (Profile picture / Photo by Xiao Yunrui)
Whether it is political or economic livelihood, the government must face it squarely. Part of the five major appeals is the pursuit of democracy and justice, but the essence of democracy also lies in the rights of fairness and justice. The appeal cannot be separated from the people's livelihood. In the eyes of Liu Haodian, "there is no clapping with one hand." The scale of social mobilization represents the people's attitude towards issues. Political reform is important, but now it is "misaligned" with the people's livelihood. Social reform is obviously not everyone's. First choice, but if the Hong Kong society can mobilize for this, I believe the situation will become different: "The government will think that when there is no social mobilization to put pressure on these issues, why should I pay attention to these issues?"
Liu Haodian bluntly said that the amendments are related to politics, but Hong Kong cannot stop there, and the society needs more welfare and economic reforms: "Improving social inequality is the most important, but how many related discussions are there in society? For example, unemployment security, society Guarantee, I think there is no one talking about it now."
Unfulfilled livelihood commitments
On the other side, the government has only introduced some minor repairs. At the beginning of this year, the government held a press conference to announce ten measures to improve people's livelihood (see table), including lowering the current threshold for two yuan rides for seniors from 65 to 60, reforming the elderly subsistence allowance scheme, and increasing the statutory holiday to 17 Japan, etc., the various measures are expected to involve 10 billion yuan in recurrent expenditure, that is, government recurrent expenditure will increase by 2%. At that time, Chief Executive Lin Zheng Yuee denied that the measure was to "make up the wok" for the administrative errors of the past six months.
(Hong Kong 01 Cartography)
The intentions are hard to figure out, but how about the progress of the measures after nearly half a year? Among the ten livelihood measures, although the government said early that the implementation time varies, in addition to the faster cash grant process, many measures require time to study, and many are far from being implemented. For example, the increase in statutory holidays was in fact discussed by the Labour Advisory Board last year, but there was no consensus and the Government did not consult the business community; instead, a 5% MPF for low-income people could be fully implemented by 2024.
More importantly, the fiscal budget and social policy should be based on long-term benefits to the public and deep-seated structural contradictions. If the government fails to solve the problem of social distribution, it will not be able to buy back political funds by simply sending money or small-scale reforms. Lost popular support. For example, in the case of retirement protection, according to the latest government figures, even after the policy intervention, the poverty rate of the elderly still reached 30.9%. However, the government still adopted the censorship-type longevity system to deal with the matter, and said nothing about the surrender of the entire population. Moreover, some scholars worry that the government only relies on taxation* to support Changshengjin’s expenditure. In the long run, public finances will be unsustainable.
*Note: Some civil society organizations have proposed a tripartite contribution to the universal retirement protection scheme. Through social shared responsibility and wealth redistribution, the public can still obtain a stable basic income after retirement and alleviate the poverty situation of the elderly.
Turmoil is the mirror of social problems
Fear does not help the government to govern. Liu Haodian believes that social mobilization, resistance and pressure are not bad for the government. The government should not be afraid of social mobilization, but should learn how to face social pressure and move in the right direction. Hong Kong's economic structure is simple, and it is even more vulnerable when faced with shocks. He said that Hong Kong's economy has always relied too much on tourism, and has largely tilted towards mainland tourists and capital. Therefore, Hong Kong needs a more diversified economy. He believes that in the next five years, large-scale social security reforms, unemployment assistance, retirement protection, housing security and other measures to reduce social inequality, as well as repositioning the Hong Kong economy, should be realized: "The Hong Kong government has the ability and Willingness to promote reforms will benefit society and the public in the long run."
At the beginning of this year, the government announced ten measures to improve people's livelihood, involving 10 billion yuan in recurrent expenditure, but the implementation progress is not good. (Information picture/photo by Luo Junhao)
It's just that whenever talking about drastic reforms, the government will move away from saying "increased financial burden." "The government has a wrong concept of welfare and does not view it as an investment." Liu Haodian explained that if the government improves housing security, citizens will have more confidence in the future; if the government provides retirement protection, it can actually stimulate the economy. These benefits are all It is a necessary factor for creating a prosperous and dynamic society. He said: "Before the outbreak, European countries often lobbied to cut expenditures on health care, education and welfare, but after the pandemic, they revealed that their medical systems had lost their capacity to handle it."
Liu Haodian conjectured that other regions will also start reforms after the epidemic. The same reasoning applies to Hong Kong. Social unrest and the epidemic have exposed Hong Kong’s deficiencies in social welfare and security, giving the government an opportunity to reflect on Hong Kong issues.
If Hong Kong wants to be a successful free market, the government needs to be supported by strong social spending, "welfare is not just spending, but welfare transfer. I would be surprised if government officials still think that these are unnecessary The expenditure will only reduce the surplus, which means that they have not learned from the past and learned from the 2008 (financial tsunami). If they still think so, it is really worth a protest in Hong Kong." Liu Haodian added, if the government still Adhering to outdated ideas, the free market will only continue to bring about social unrest.
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The above is published in the 217th issue of "Hong Kong 01" Weekly News (June 8, 2020) "Will there be five new appeals in Hong Kong after the epidemic situation and social unrest?" ".
More weekly articles:【01 Weekly News Page】
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