70pc of Hong Kong elderly want a pension with no strings attached
Final demands and opinions issued on final day of government’s public consultation on retirement protection plan
A survey of Hongkongers who have recently retired or are about to shows a clear preference for a pension that is not means-tested, as various groups submitted final demands and opinions on the last day of a public consultation.
Over 70 per cent of the 115 elderly people questioned – many living in squatter housing – deemed the government’s plan of establishing a means-tested scheme with an asset limit of HK$80,000 as unacceptable. Social workers said this was a group whose views were not often canvassed as their access to consultation forums and meetings was limited.
Caritas social worker Wesley Man Siu-chun said: “We have two suggestions: one is to abandon all plans for any means-tested pension plans. Second is to work out how to implement a universal scheme.”
Former security guard Ivy Lo Wah-ying, 67 and long-time petrol station cashier Kwong Tat-on, 68, both had less than HK$100,000 in their Mandatory Provident Funds when they retired.
Lo was especially angry about the government’s retirement protection plan.
“If you don’t want to do retirement protection, then open up opportunities for us elderly to work,” she said.
“If you do, I won’t ask you for money of course. And in that vein, give us the choice of euthanasia and spread my ashes in a park instead of paying for a columbarium. We don’t need you to care for our end of life.”
Lam Man-cheung, 63, said he hated the idea of relying on his daughters to make ends meet after he was forced to retire from his renovation job at the age 55 due to an injury.
“I understand the pressures of having to support parents while raising children. And I don’t want that for my girls,” Lam said. He and his wife sold their flat when he stopped working to pay for their children’s education and for their retirement living.
The flat was originally an investment so they could rent it out and get monthly income. Lam said the government “obviously did not want to do anything” regarding retirement protection and was therefore making things hard with means tests and a drawn out consultation.
The Caritas survey was handed to the government on Tuesday.
The Society for Community Organisation, known for its work with the grass roots section of the population, also released a report on retirement protection, calling for a non-means-tested pension of HK$3,500 for everyone over the age of 65. This would be funded by employees, employers and the government.
The NGO also called for an overhaul review of the MPF, which has been widely criticised for its high administrative fees and an offsetting mechanism that allows bosses to settle severance and long-service pay using employees’ savings.
The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce expressed support for a means-tested plan but said the HK$80,000 asset limit was “too low to be meaningful”. It also called for reform of the MPF system.
