The Legislative Council election was held on the 19th of this month. In the past, three people from the democratic social welfare sector competed. The focus of the outside world is on the new thinking of the non-establishment group Di Zhiyuan and the DAB Zhu Liling. Another candidate , Ye Zhanxi, chairman of the Hong Kong Forces for Rehabilitation, received the least attention.
Compared with two opponents with party backgrounds, although Ye Zhanxi has no political support, he is both a pioneer and a long-term advocate in promoting the integration of the disabled and barrier-free facilities. Therefore, he has cooperated with different organizations in the social welfare sector.
Interview Series with Candidates from the Social Welfare Sector of the Legislative Council
Ye Zhanxi runs for election in the social welfare sector of the Legislative Council.
(Provided by interviewee)
Disabled people experience a job affecting the whole family
Ye Zhanxi established the Hong Kong Rehabilitation Force in 1995 and has been helping the disabled to join the society. He also suffered from polio before the age of 1 and paralyzed his lower limbs. He has deep feelings about the experience of the disabled in society.
He pointed out that the biggest problem of people with disabilities in social life is employment: "Employment can construct their self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-reliance. It is very important for them to feel self-reliant. The same is not only for him, but also for people in the house. , Parents, and partners are so important.” He explained from his own experience: “When I had no job before, my mother didn’t want to mention me in front of relatives and friends. I’ll tell people: "I’m a young man, I’m so beautiful! Although he’s disabled, I can do a lot and help a lot of people."" Ye Zhanxi said, this experience reflects the impact of a job on the disabled. The importance of not only affects oneself, but also affects the whole family.
Millions of people with disabilities and caregivers
The willingness of enterprises to hire disabled persons has been increasing. Ye Zhanxi attributed it to many aspects. Firstly, more companies joined under the propaganda of big companies; secondly, disabled people are more willing to step out of society than before; thirdly, they are now knowledge-based The economy, extensive use of computer work, and more suitable jobs than in the previous labor society; forth, there are more organizations in society to assist in matching employment, and the government also provides subsidies to support employers in hiring the disabled and improving the barrier-free facilities in the office. Therefore, the employment situation has been improved. Improved earlier, but still not enough.
Insufficient is due to the fact that the group of people with disabilities is actually very large. There are about 580,000 people with disabilities in Hong Kong, and there are more than one million people with caregivers, which is equivalent to one-seventh of Hong Kong’s population. The society and the government still need to introduce more supporting facilities. , CSSA is an indispensable part of it.
Advocate to improve CSSA to make people with disabilities more assured of employment
People with disabilities who cannot find employment need to rely on the government’s CSSA. Ye Zhanxi believes that the CSSA system needs to be improved: “Sometimes our members don’t want to do something, but when they do, they will cancel the CSSA. It will be troublesome to apply again as soon as the employment situation changes, so many people are deterred." He hopes to improve the flexibility of the CSSA system so that people with disabilities can be more assured of employment. This is the focus of his political platform.
In addition, the basic living index for determining the CSSA level is currently based on the situation last year, which is already a lagging data. It is recommended that the amount of CSSA be adjusted in consideration of inflation.
The first-level staircase is an obstacle that cannot be overcome for the disabled. Ye Zhanxi said that the promotion of barrier-free facilities is the focus of service organizations for the disabled: "I am another organization that has served for 16 or 17 years. Government departments and shopping malls have also consulted us for obstacles.” In recent years, the government has installed lifts on flyovers across Hong Kong. It turned out that Ye Zhanxi was the main driver. More than 20 years ago, the Hong Kong Rehabilitation Force promoted the installation of lifts on the flyover of Kai Yip Village in Kowloon Bay. Lifts have been spread across all flyovers in Hong Kong, bringing convenience to users.
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Reform Lump Sum Grant to Promote Equal Pay for Equal Work
Participating in the social welfare sector represents the entire industry, and social welfare services are extensive, and social workers have their own professional projects.
The institutions Ye Zhanxi serves are closely related to social welfare workers. He sees that the lump sum grant has a great impact on the operation and resource utilization of social welfare agencies. Reforming the lump grant and equal pay for equal work has also become his goal.
He said that the Lump Sum Grant system is not without its advantages, but some provisions need to be revised. For example, the practice of referring to the median salary as the funding benchmark needs to be changed, emphasizing the importance of manpower and resources: "The morale of the social welfare sector is good. People) get quality service first."
The government's social welfare expenditure budget for 2021-22 will reach 105.69 billion yuan, an increase of 61.7% compared to 2017-18. It is also an indisputable fact that the demand for social welfare expenditures due to the ageing of the population has increased.
Ye Zhanxi said that although the government spends a lot of money, many plans are not in place.
He suggested that the government should conduct a detailed study to explore the details of the poor population and introduce more effective policies for different situations.
Ye Zhanxi said that the social welfare sector has a large scope and social welfare policies have different stakeholders. After entering the Legislative Council, they need to collect extensive opinions before dealing with the government.
Candidates for the social welfare sector of the Legislative Council include Zhu Liling, Di Zhiyuan and Ye Zhanxi.
For the list of candidates from all sectors in the Legislative Council election,
please click here to refer to the "Hong Kong 01" election website.
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