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Written by: Commentary Editing Room
2021-02-20 07:00
Last update date: 2021-02-20 07:00
A cleaning lady was attacked on a public toilet on Apliu Street in Sham Shui Po on Wednesday (17th). The incident has aroused widespread public concern.
The 81-year-old Maid who was attacked was still injured and continued to work after she was discharged from the hospital the next day. She revealed to the reporter of "Hong Kong 01" that she was responsible for two jobs and went to work more than 12.50 hours a day.
Granny Mai suffers from cataracts. Her husband passed away more than 20 years ago and is currently living with her 60-year-old daughter.
She refused to receive CSSA because she hoped to be able to renew herself.
The incident of Granny Mai makes us reflect on how many grassroots like her are struggling to survive through hard and long work every day?
The 81-year-old mother-in-law was forced to work for more than 12 hours a day. Even when she was attacked, her cataract eyes could not even see the appearance of the murderer.
After the attack, she couldn't even get time to rest for a while, so she had to continue to work the next day to avoid "stopping her hands".
Qiu Xuxin said that her mother-in-law fell to the ground after the attack, "swollen and swollen with eggs."
(Picture of Qiu Xuxin Facebook Page)
Negative label is difficult to solve CSSA can't do anything
The CSSA system was originally set up for the grassroots who have a difficult life. I believe that if the 81-year-old Granny Mai, who suffers from eye problems, goes to apply for CSSA, no one will say anything.
However, society has always had a negative impression of "CSSA". Many people think that this is not a self-renewal, but a "spread out" to receive assistance.
The case of Granny Mai just allows us to see that the CSSA system is scaring the grassroots away instead of offering a helping hand to help them.
Professor Zhou Jili of the Education University of Hong Kong conducted a study on the negative labeling of existing welfare policies in 2020. He interviewed 3299 elderly persons aged 60 or above in face-to-face interviews and found that among the eligible elderly persons, more than one adult did not apply for the elderly. CSSA or elderly living allowance.
The research found that it is not only that the applicant feels inferior to apply for welfare, but also the people around the applicant and even the applicants during the application process.
Government officials have repeatedly emphasized that the CSSA system is sufficient to help the grassroots, and they have been asking the society not to label or discriminate, but why can't the status quo be changed, so that there are examples like Granny Mai?
The incident of Granny Mai makes us reflect on how many grassroots like her are struggling to survive through hard and long work every day?
(Data Picture/Photo by Yu Ruijing)
When can Hong Kong people retire when they are 81 years old and still have to work?
In the final analysis, what people need more is retirement protection.
High-ranking officials may think that CSSA is similar to retirement protection, but the two actually represent completely different ideas on labor value and resource allocation: the spirit behind retirement protection is that citizens should enjoy their twilight years after working for half their lives. That is what they deserve , The society should give them resources.
The CSSA means test just shows that the government believes that it is because the people are poor and their livelihood is a problem, so they lend a helping hand.
Granny Mai is 81 years old this year, and she still cannot retire after she has passed the retirement age. Her figure also represents a large number of Hong Kong people and teaches us that we have to reflect on the ineffectiveness of Hong Kong's retirement protection system.
The first is that most of the life is hard work, but the salary is often meager, and it is already difficult to meet the three meals and housing expenses.
In addition to the lack of a comprehensive retirement protection policy in Hong Kong, the CSSA system’s stigma of "raising lazy people" deterred the grassroots. Even if the elderly are eligible and willing to apply for a high elderly living allowance, they still only earn $3,815 per month.
What if the grassroots elders want to spend their old age with dignity and do not work?
According to the labor force statistics of the Statistics Department, the working population over the age of 65 is increasing year-on-year, from 137,000 at the beginning of 2018 to nearly 170,000 at the end of last year. The statistics tell everything.
The "Budget" will be announced next Wednesday (24th). A lot of news has pointed out that the government is "receiving water" this year, and many of the usual social welfare measures such as CSSA double pay will not be implemented.
In addition to looking at financial statements, Financial Secretary Chen Maobo also needs to look at the difficult life of the poor grassroots. Under adversity, the grassroots are still reluctant to apply for CSSA. They are still forced to go to work in the year of retirement. The budgetary deficit should not be used as an excuse to compare the appropriation for the grassroots level—not to mention that the warehouse has 800 billion reserves, which is by no means lack of money.
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