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Written by: Commentary Editing Room
2020-11-26 07:00
Last update date: 2020-11-26 07:00
The "Policy Address", which was postponed for more than a month, was released on Wednesday (25th). The Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, announced that 200 new measures would be proposed to provide citizens with "better services" without using new resources.
However, in terms of taking care of the disadvantaged groups, the "Policy Address" still only sees minor corrections in the details, which is still far from the goal of giving hope to the disadvantaged groups.
In recent months, there have been many tragedies in Hong Kong. A 46-year-old mother of three children in Kwai Chung Village has strangled the eldest son of a mentally retarded son; a 51-year-old depressed woman and a pair of children in Lang Chui Garden in Sham Tseng were found in their home for nearly a week.
The support for people with disabilities in Hong Kong, assistance to caregivers, and the current state of public mental health services all cause public concern.
However, there is still considerable room for improvement in the "Policy Address" on the above two aspects.
Carrie Lam attended the press conference on the policy address.
(Photo by Gao Zhongming)
Short-term caregiver support lacks specific planning
In terms of supporting people with disabilities and their carers, the "Policy Address" proposes a number of additional measures, such as the provision of additional respite service places through the "Private Bought Places Scheme for Residential Care Homes for Persons with Disabilities"; and provision of temporary dormitory offices in special schools with surplus places Provide accommodation services; and, if there is sufficient space, arrange for roommates who need to go to the day matching activity center to receive services in their dormitories for the severely mentally handicapped.
However, many measures are limited to the allocation of existing surplus resources. Even if the immediate emergency can be solved, the government always needs to start with the manpower support of caregiver services, as well as the existing supervision and licensing system of residential institutions, to fundamentally change the current shortage of residential places, rotation The long-term issue of waiting time.
However, the "Policy Address" only stated that the authorities are conducting research and a complete plan for future development is still pending.
Compared with the sharp deterioration of the mental health of Hong Kong people due to social incidents and the new crown epidemic last year, the response of the Policy Address is obviously out of proportion.
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Mental health worries report insufficient ink
In terms of mental health support, the "Policy Address" also only briefly mentioned that the "Beat Drugs Fund" will provide 300 million yuan in additional resources to strengthen community support for people in need and raise the community's attention to mental health.
Compared with the sharp deterioration of the mental health of Hong Kong people due to social events and the new crown epidemic last year, the government's response is clearly out of proportion.
In August this year, a research team from the University of Hong Kong found that among 11,000 citizens, more than 70 adults had moderate to high levels of depression, while more than 4 adults had moderate to high levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms.
The government responds to the problem by increasing the manpower of psychiatric services in public hospitals from the medical system, or providing subsidies to the public, so that people with lower financial conditions can also seek help from private doctors or counselling centers.
The government has allocated an additional 300 million yuan and lacks detailed support policies. The emotional health problems of Hong Kong people, which are currently rapidly deteriorating, will be difficult to solve.
The fact that the Hong Kong Observatory can provide weather information in eight minority languages in 2021 is indeed an improvement, but the government is still far from complacent.
(Photo by Gao Zhongming)
Minorities lack support "Report" seems to be written for writing
In addition to the increasing pressure of the disabled and their carers, the mental health of Hong Kong people, which is deteriorating this year, is worrying. Ethnic minorities are also one of the vulnerable groups in Hong Kong.
However, this year's "Policy Address" only mentions the activities and policies that the government has carried out in the past, and even the observatory's addition of language for weather reports is included in the "Policy Address."
It is not difficult for the public to worry about all kinds of phenomena whether the government's minority support policy is already lackluster.
Language barriers are indeed a major obstacle to the interaction between ethnic minorities and communities, but the government should not stop at the language of weather reports while cooperating with the lives of ethnic minorities.
In addition to the government’s future need to allow more departments to meet the needs of ethnic minorities, as stated in the “Report”, the education authorities can still actively cooperate. In the regular middle school and primary school curriculum, even starting from the early childhood education policy, Minorities will have more opportunities to learn Chinese and cultivate a context suitable for ethnic minorities to learn Cantonese, helping them to interact with local communities when they grow up.
The fact that the Hong Kong Observatory can provide weather information in eight minority languages in 2021 is indeed an improvement, but the government is still far from complacent.
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