Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s last Policy Address is being consulted. Deng Jiabiao, a member of the Poverty Alleviation Committee and the Federation of Trade Unions, sent an open letter to Carrie Lam, hoping that the SAR government’s poverty alleviation work should not only use data and government resource allocation to downplay it. For Hong Kong’s poverty problem, on the contrary, “target-oriented” practical poverty alleviation measures should be implemented.
He pointed out that every year the Poverty Alleviation Committee publishes a poverty report in Hong Kong, the government hopes to fight a "war of public opinion." In the new era of turning chaos back to righteousness, chaos and governance, a good "war of public opinion" is worse than a good "war of poverty alleviation"!"
Refers to the government not knowing the actual poverty situation in Hong Kong
Deng Jiabiao pointed out that the government has always used the official definition commonly used in widely developed areas to assess the number of poor people. This "mechanical" statistical method has fallen behind. The calculation has mixed people with economic income and poor income, and finally the poverty line has changed. It is very different from economically active families with employability, resulting in the inability to understand the actual poverty situation.
He emphasized that the current "relatively poor" statistical methods ignore the "necessary living expenses" factors. For example, a single person earning 5,000 yuan a month does not belong to the poor under the poverty line according to the current calculation method, but in fact His income can't afford the rent of Hong Kong's housing at all. Unfortunately, this situation is not classified as a poor person.
The government should set poverty alleviation goals
Deng Jiabiao pointed out that the government should set poverty reduction targets for various poverty groups and implement targeted poverty alleviation measures.
In response to the seriousness of the ageing population, he suggested that the government should focus on poverty reduction with the poverty of the elderly as the starting point.
He also suggested that through the implementation of policies to encourage the elderly to have the opportunity to live with their families, encourage inter-generational co-living, so that they can obtain a larger area or lower rent subsidized units.
In terms of families and communities, Tang Jiabiao pointed out that the government can use some areas with a high proportion of poor people to focus on poverty alleviation work. For example, Kwun Tong has always been the area with the largest number of poor people, and Sha Tin has the highest increase in the number of poor people.
Deng Jiabiao pointed out that the two regions have large populations and concentrated administrative departments. It is recommended that poverty alleviation work be combined with regional administration, and a poverty alleviation office and responsible personnel and teams should be established to coordinate, integrate and direct relevant departments.
The Poverty Alleviation Commission allocates an additional 286 million yuan to subsidize primary and secondary school students to buy computers to assist in e-learning under the epidemic. The government should promote the Poverty Alleviation Commission as soon as possible.
