'Government should be looking after everyone' and not just youth, critics urge ahead of Hong Kong poverty summit

But critics say officials are playing politics and neglecting root issues

JENNIFER NGOjennifer.ngo@scmp.com

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 10 October, 2015, 7:00am

UPDATED : Saturday, 10 October, 2015, 7:00am

Underprivileged families call for Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah to strengthen the poverty alleviation programme outside Central Government Offices in February, 2015. Photo: David Wong

The government's decision to focus on youth mobility at the city's second poverty summit today is taking heat from critics who say the event is misreading the source of discontent and neglecting more pressing issues.

A source close to the Commission on Poverty said senior officials including Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and chief secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will officiate at the poverty summit, which will highlight youth mobility problems as the city's third poverty report is due to be released.

The commission's first summit took place in 2013, when the poverty line was drawn for local households. But the event was suspended last year due to the pro-democracy Occupy protests in which young people played a leading part.

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying chairs the Commission on Poverty Summit to discuss the poverty situation in Hong Kong in 2013. Photo: K.Y. ChengThe summit features David Johnston, a commissioner of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, a public advisory body in the UK. Johnston will speak on solutions to social mobility challenges facing young people in Britain.

Wong Hung, an associate professor at Chinese University's department of social work, said this year's summit had put politics ahead of addressing real needs.

"It seems the government wants to solve a political issue of young people not supporting the administration by focusing on social mobility, but they probably misread recent political instability as solely an economic issue."

Wong added: "The core issue is ... young people are not happy with how the government is dealing with constitutional reform and with its relationship with the mainland government."

READ MORE: Working poor households increase alarmingly despite Hong Kong government's attempts to reduce poverty since 2013

University of Hong Kong Professor Paul Yip Siu-fai said the city's young people were not the only ones affected by stagnating income levels.

The city's median household income was around HK$9,000 in 1991, and doubled to HK$18,000 in 2001, Yip said. But between 2001 and 2011, the figure only grew to HK$20,000, despite rising inflation and higher property and rental housing market prices.

"The government should be looking after everyone," he said.

Wong added, "Deprivation sometimes can be solved with money, but sometimes not. If you give an elderly person some money, but they still have no access to a good dentist, the problem is still there."

http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1865909/government-should-be-looking-after-everyone-and-not-just