Political situation
Written by: Lin Jian
2021-03-03 14:00
Last update date: 2021-03-03 14:00
The "Subcommittee on Studying the Establishment of an Unemployment Assistance System in Hong Kong" under the Legislative Council's Human Services Panel held a meeting today (March 3) to discuss the unemployment assistance system in Hong Kong.
Many committee members continued to demand that the government set up unemployment assistance, tit-for-tat the officials of the Labor and Welfare Bureau who attended the meeting.
The Deputy Director of the Labour and Welfare Bureau, He Qiming of the Federation of Trade Unions mentioned in response to a member’s question that workers do not have to get CSSA when they are unemployed, because some people may still have assets, which aroused dissatisfaction among some members. His party members and the Federation of Trade Unions Guo Weiqiang was even more merciless, and directly reprimanded He Qiming's statement: "Human 嚟㗎?"
Guo Weiqiang questioned his party mate He Qiming, and pointed out: "The Secretary has so much confidence in the people of Hong Kong. There are no questions about how many years he is in the field, and he is all ready to eat. People are screaming?" (Photo by Li Zetong)
Ko Chongsheng criticizes the government for "accepting opinions and acting as usual
The Legislative Council Secretariat first introduced the results of the research report and mentioned the unemployment insurance systems in the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and Japan, but they are mainly long-term unemployment insurance and involve contributions from both employers and employees. The government will "underwrite" when losses occur.
In addition, no country has cancelled relevant systems due to excessive planned expenditures. As for emergency unemployment assistance under the epidemic, the Secretariat has selected four countries, including Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. Four of them involve economic review or Have contributed to social security.
Many committee members continued to ask questions about the unemployment assistance system in Hong Kong. They specifically pointed out that as of 2020, only 9.6% of the over 200,000 unemployed people have received unemployment CSSA. They questioned that the current unemployment protection system does not cover most of the unemployed.
He Qiming pointed out that the unemployed may not necessarily live in hardship. They may have assets, or they may have relatively rich and high salaries. They may fall into the protection net of working family allowances, food banks, etc. If the situation is the most difficult, they will Fall into the lowest level of CSSA.
He said that if the government is required to conduct a comprehensive review of the entire unemployment protection system, it cannot be done in a short time. The government will listen to opinions.
In addition, after repeated "forced questions" by members, He Qiming admitted that the government has not established a project to deal with research on related systems.
He Qiming's reply caused dissatisfaction among some members. Guo Weiqiang asked, "Party members have no face to face", and asked: "The Secretary has confidence in the people of Hong Kong. There are no questions about how old they are, and they are all ready to eat. People? He said that even if the unemployed have assets, it is always impossible for the unemployed to sell their properties to repay debts, or sell other assets to "get a meal."
Guo mentioned that many times when citizens lose their jobs, even if they have their savings, they may not want to spend them all at once, because people save money in the hope of upward mobility, but the government's attitude is like asking them to move downwards.
The DAB Ke Chongsheng also criticized that the government "accepts its opinions and acts as usual" for the unemployment assistance proposal.
The Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong criticized Ko Chongsheng that the government has "accepted its opinions and acted as usual."
Lu Songxiong: Do you understand the spirit of Chairman Xi? He Qiming: I am very moved
The chairman of the committee and the Federation of Trade Unions Lu Songxiong also joined the battle group. He quoted President Xi Jinping’s speech at the end of last month when he presided over the “collective learning” activity of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee on the improvement of the social security system covering the whole people. He said that the social security system is the governance of the country. The big question is whether the bureau really paid attention to the feelings of the citizens and truly understood the spirit of the central government.
He stated that there is room for negotiation on a loose and reasonable economic review for emergency unemployment assistance.
He Qiming emphasized that after listening to President Xi’s speech at the time, he said that he was "very moved," but reminded that the mainland of China dealt with the problem of "absolute poverty", which is different from the calculation method of "relative poverty" in Hong Kong.
After Pakatan Harapan Liang Meifen had another meeting at the same time, he entered the meeting room at the end of the meeting.
She said that the government's thinking should be "activated", with a little empathy. Don't just repeat a bunch of rules and systems, but need to truly understand the needs of the public.
In the end, Lu Songxiong also said that He Qiming is an official who is "close to the ground and down-to-earth." He hopes that the Director of the Bureau of Labor and Welfare, Luo Zhiguang, can be invited to attend the next meeting.
In the end, Lu Songxiong finished off and praised He Qiming for being an official who was "close to the ground and down-to-earth."
I was bombarded by Mai Meijuan last month: if you don’t know me, just ask the quarantine director
On the 18th of last month, the Human Resources Committee of the Legislative Council convened a meeting. The Federation of Trade Unions Lu Chung-hsiung submitted a private bill requiring the review cycle of the minimum wage to be changed from every two years to once a year.
He Qiming, the deputy director of the Bureau of Labor and Welfare who was present, was fired by a group of party mates.
Lu Songxiong, who joined the Legislative Council on behalf of the labor sector at the same time, asked He Qiming to remember his original intentions.
Mak Meijuan of the Federation of Trade Unions pointed out at that time that Lu Songxiong's private bill did not involve government public funds and could not see any infeasibility in the policy.
He Qiming said that the government’s decision is not a matter for a single person, and that it respects the bills proposed by members. When the Legislative Council consults the authorities according to the mechanism, the bureau will study in detail the impact of the bill on public expenditure, government operations and policy constitution, and will formally submit the legislation to legislation at that time. Will confirm.
Mak Mei-juan heard the words and immediately blasted, "That is, you are playing with us and come home, don't you answer? Do you have a meeting? Do you not support the meeting before the meeting?", He Qiming "ask the quarantine director if you are not familiar with it", saying that even if the bill involves public expenditure, as long as the government supports it, it can be promoted by the government.
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