Four months ago, the full-term "compulsory testing for all people" was suddenly shelved. The then Chief Executive Carrie Lam quoted experts from the central government's aid to Hong Kong's anti-epidemic to explain that "the ability of Hong Kong's community to organize is weak."
But in fact, the strength of Hong Kong social organizations is not weak. There are more than 50,000 associations that have reported to the Societies Ordinance alone, covering all walks of life, covering labor, fellow township, professional, and regional associations.
The new crown virus epidemic has lasted for more than two years, but the SAR government has completely ignored this force, never established a mechanism to quickly organize civil forces, and never mobilized them to fill the official shortage in time during the most severe fifth wave of the epidemic.
After this epidemic, the current Chief Executive, Li Jiachao, promised to strengthen ties with local organizations and set up "district service and care teams" in all 18 districts of Hong Kong. This is certainly the first step to improve the effectiveness of district governance, but if we want to strengthen the grassroots society The ability to supply services should do more than that.
Associations have three major advantages: sufficient resources, consistent interests, and strong mobilization.
(File photo/Photo by Gao Zhongming)
The density of associations is high, the influence is broad, the power is large, the
government does not study, does not sort out, and does not pay attention
According to information from the Police Force, as of June this year, there were 37,837 societies that had been registered or exempted from registration under the Societies Ordinance, a decrease of more than 1,000 from the 39,146 societies provided by the then Secretary for Security, Lai Tung-kwok, in 2017 in response to a written question by the Legislative Council. .
Li Dongguo revealed at the time that if the names contained individual words for simple classification, there were 1,181 alumni associations, 523 hometown associations, and 285 chambers of commerce; in addition, there were 13,240 companies related to associations.
Based on the above data, there are more than 50,000 associations in Hong Kong. Based on the population of about 7.5 million in Hong Kong in 2020, the association density will reach 66.7 per 10,000 people, compared with 49 per 10,000 people recorded in the United States in 2015. Not much.
According to the nature of associations or group attributes, these social groups other than political parties are roughly divided into 11 categories such as industry and commerce, labor, professions, culture, education, academic charity, friendship, youth, women, and ethnic minorities.
However, the research on associations in Hong Kong has been neglected by the government and academia, and has never been systematically sorted out.
Li Xiaohui, president of the Hong Kong Cultural Association Advancement Think Tank, edited "Hong Kong Associations: Theory and Practice". She analyzed the three major reasons for the large number of associations in her article "The Important Functions and Future Development of Associations in Hong Kong, which love the country and Hong Kong."
First, Hong Kong is an immigrant society, and such a population structure has contributed to the vigorous development of the Association.
A research report once estimated that nearly 85% of Hong Kong's population are immigrants from the Mainland or descendants of immigrants from the Mainland.
Second, the colonial rule of the British Hong Kong government alienated the Chinese, and some social functions were handed over to the Chinese associations. At the same time, many Chinese elites became the spokespersons of the Chinese community through association affairs in all walks of life, gaining the opportunity to dialogue with the colonial government and influence politics. and enhance status.
Third, Hong Kong is accused of not encouraging the development of "party politics". Political parties generally have a short history, small numbers and small scale, and associations can just fill the vacancies, expressing demands, providing services, and safeguarding rights and interests.
Societies have many advantages.
Looking back on the history of Hong Kong, whenever faced with a social crisis, associations can always play an important role in mobilization, rescue, mutual assistance and advocacy.
For example, in the outbreak of SARS in 2003, various associations with different backgrounds are voluntarily providing protective measures to the community, cleaning the elderly living alone and street sleepers, and distributing supplies to residents in need, all calling for Hong Kong citizens to take action.
However, the government is accustomed to allowing society to solve problems on its own. The outbreak of the new coronavirus, which is much more serious than SARS, has continued for more than two years. The authorities have only allowed associations to play their own role in fighting the epidemic, instead of actively leading this civil force. epidemic time.
Shi Lishan, deputy director of the Hong Kong Community Organization Association, who once participated in community self-help, believes that the government should take the initiative to deploy and communicate with the community to improve the ability of community organizations.
Huang Ziqian said that the anti-epidemic work is urgent and arduous, and how to rationally allocate resources, how to operate logistics efficiently, and how to stabilize the work mode, we can only "cross the river by feeling the stones".
If the government can take the lead in coordinating and providing support, it will help the rapid integration of supply and demand.
(Huang Ziqian FB picture)
The government has not taken the initiative to build social capital and
private anti-epidemic can only "feel the stones"
During the epidemic, when the government did not intervene and lead the anti-epidemic work of the associations, many social groups exerted their mutual help on their own.
Among them, the "Hong Kong Community Anti-epidemic Link" (Link), which has been established for two years, has distributed more than 60 million supplies, covering at least 4 million citizens.
Huang Ziqian, director of the National Hong Kong and Macau Research Association, who participated in the coordination of "Connect" volunteer services, summed up his organizational experience and believed that the authorities must take the initiative to take the responsibility of building and leading "Social Capital" (Social Capital), in order to make good use of non-governmental organizations to improve the effectiveness of regional governance.
According to the definition of the World Bank, “social capital” in a broad sense refers to the sum of the resources or capabilities accumulated by the government and civil society for the mutual benefit of an organization through collective actions; from an individual or micro perspective, social capital refers to Economic resources, information, or opportunities that an individual obtains through social connections with others.
"Social capital" is an important governance concept. If the government understands how to attach importance to the construction and application of social capital, and cultivate three forms of social capital: cognitive, relational, and structural, it will enhance mutual trust among citizens, community belonging and social responsibility in all aspects. When necessary, the resources and strength of different organizations can be assembled more quickly to assist the authorities in fighting the epidemic more effectively.
Huang Ziqian explained by taking anti-epidemic volunteers as an example.
"Connect" has three types of volunteers: the first type is a community service team from traditional organizations that love the country and Hong Kong, with about 10,000 people; the second type is corporate volunteers who are co-ordinated by him, with about 2,000 people; the third type consists of citizens with unorganized backgrounds composition, about 3,000 people.
Huang Ziqian believes that the government should fully mobilize the social capital condensed by these three types of people, and take the lead in normalizing the trend of citizens participating in volunteer services, so as to coordinate the volunteer force and maintain regional organizations, instead of being in a hurry every time a public crisis breaks out. Regroup strength.
Although the SWD had promoted the "Volunteer Movement" in 1998, the Chief Secretary for Administration was appointed as the "Chief Volunteer Leader" to promote volunteer services through different government departments, institutions, schools, and the business sector.
As of 2018, the number of registered volunteers in Hong Kong exceeded 1.3 million, and there were more than 3,200 organizations participating in the movement.
However, after a review, the SWD considered that the "Volunteer Movement" had completed its historical mission. In order to avoid duplication of work with other organizations, it retired at the end of last year.
At present, the SWD continues to gather volunteers in various districts through its 11 district coordinating committees for the promotion of volunteer services, maintain the network, and take care of the disadvantaged.
Shi Lishan often takes the initiative to visit subdivided households after get off work to solve their urgent needs in life.
(Photo by Zheng Zifeng)
Insufficient community support network resources, lack
of power linkage culture in areas
Chief Executive Li Jiachao proposed in the "Election Platform" to establish a volunteer network of "District Service and Care Teams" in all 18 districts in Hong Kong, hoping to systematically support the government's district work.
Although the Hong Kong government has led or funded community support networks in the past, these services have long been under-resourced.
In 1978, the British Hong Kong government officially launched the NLCDP. Initially, in some transitional communities with lagging community facilities and poor living environment, non-governmental organizations organized residents to pay attention to community problems, improve community quality, and promote the spirit of mutual help and build harmony among neighbors. Community, assist residents to understand public policies, enhance their ability to solve community problems on their own, provide different types of services according to residents' needs, and enrich community life.
In its heyday, there were 54 NLCDP teams in Hong Kong.
However, the size of the NLCDP has been slashed as the number of poor communities has dwindled as tha houses have been demolished.
According to the NLCDP list published on the SWD website, there are currently only 17 teams in Hong Kong, which are located in 10 of the 18 districts.
Another familiar community support network is the Mutual Aid Committee Scheme (Mutual Committee) under the "District Administration Scheme" implemented in the 1980s to encourage residents to participate in district affairs. Cleaning and general management matters, aimed at promoting neighborly relations, developing a spirit of mutual help, and enhancing communication between the government and residents.
But at the beginning of this year, the Home Affairs Office sent a letter to all the mutual committees, pointing out that the functions of the mutual committees were declining day by day, and asked them to dissolve in batches.
The then Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs, Chan Chik-chi, explained in the Legislative Council's response to a question by New Thinking Di Chi-yuan, a member of the social welfare sector, that with the development of society, there have been many changes in the communication between the government and the people and the building management model. Information technology directly contacts residents, and the latter can employ property management companies to manage the buildings or set up other residents' organizations. Therefore, the number of mutual committees has been reduced by nearly half in the past 15 years. It can be seen that the role of mutual committees has gradually declined. When the plan is terminated, the authorities will continue to maintain contact with the residents of the authorities through regional organisations such as zoning committees, district fight crime committees and district fire committees as necessary.
However, many people in the social welfare sector have emphasized that the importance of mutual committees cannot be ignored. Once cancelled, the relationship between the government and the region may be greatly reduced.
Wu Kunlian, vice-chairman of foreign affairs of the Hong Kong Community Development Front, said that the government has significantly reduced the number of NLCDP teams.
(Photo by Chen Weici)
A hundred flowers bloom VS the decline of Xishan
community service needs to balance the private and the official
Wu Kunlian, Vice Chairman of External Affairs of the Hong Kong Community Development Front, has been engaged in community work for many years. He believes that building a community network and improving residents' spontaneity and initiative in solving problems can help reduce government expenditures. This is also the direction and value of community work itself.
Shi Lishan also felt the same. Regarding Chief Executive Li Jiachao's commitment to set up a service and care team in the 18 districts, Shi Lishan agreed that the government must establish a community support network in the long run, and suggested that the government invite social workers or social welfare organizations to visit the volunteer team regularly and provide professional coordination and training. and guidance, so that volunteers can establish long-term connections with residents and continue to play a supporting role, not just for establishment.
Shi Lishan mentioned that the main community services provided by the government today are only family service centers, but they are small in scale. Even if there are occasional outreach visits, they are not at the neighborhood level. Moreover, due to insufficient resources, family service centers are facing a serious shortage of manpower. .
According to the SWD website, there are currently 65 family service centres in various districts in Hong Kong, of which 41 are run by the Social Welfare Department, accounting for more than 60%, while the rest are run by NGOs such as Caritas Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Association.
Although the Integrated Family Service Concern Group of the Hong Kong Federation of Social Workers (HKCSS) has repeatedly suggested to the authorities to review the role and staffing of the Integrated Family Service Centres under the SWD, there has been no response, nor has the Legislative Council discussed it. .
Urban development changes the shape of the community, and inevitably disintegrates the regional network built by the government and the private sector for many years.
Wu Kunlian, Deputy Director of External Affairs of the Community Development Front, has been a social worker for more than ten years. He often hears from his colleagues who are engaged in community work. In the past, Hong Kong's community was more closely formed, and residents' participation in the community, community interaction and community mobilization ability were higher; With the popularization of the Internet and the improvement of information circulation, residents can set up concern groups, collect opinions and express their demands through the Internet. The cost of obtaining information is greatly reduced, and the closeness between communities is also reduced.
The alienation of community networks will inevitably weaken social capital.
On the other hand, as the community matures and develops, the government gradually reduces its investment in constant resources for community development, and the subjectivity and diversity of non-governmental organizations increase accordingly, which should not be underestimated.
Wu Kunlian used "a hundred flowers bloom" to describe the power of various communities, and believed that the government should strengthen integration, invest in trust, and take the initiative to build bridges between the community network and the government to bridge the gap.
He explained that various civil organizations are using different methods to combine resources to facilitate the gathering of people from different professional sectors, and to promote different possibilities for social work, thereby increasing the diversity of community organizations and saving public funds.
The current Secretary for Youth and Home Affairs, Mak Mei-juan, was born in Hong Kong's largest trade union union. She must have a lot of experience with the SAR government's long-standing lack of social services. The outside world also expects her to help the Li Jiachao government to strengthen the supply capacity of grass-roots social services.