“Striving ahead, Rekindling hope” Fairly appraise the Policy Address
14 October 2018
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The Chief Executive delivered her second Policy Address titled “Striving ahead, Rekindling hope” last Wednesday (10 October).
This Policy Address shows the bold and progressive leadership of the Government, which is determined to sustain our achievements and chart a new course for the future with a forward-looking and action-oriented approach. Building on the implementation efforts and work progress over the past year, it presents 244 new initiatives and 470 on-going initiatives.
An all-encompassing range of policy areas are covered, including good governance, housing and land supply, diversified economy, nurturing talent, improving people’s livelihood, liveable city, connecting with young people and promoting upward mobility. Addressing people’s needs in every aspect, it fully demonstrates the current-term Government’s new style and new thinking in governance – to rise to challenges and be proactive.
Since the Policy Address was unveiled, public discussion has focused on housing and land supply, especially the Lantau Tomorrow Vision. There are, however, many more other new and on-going initiatives for various areas in the document, which form a comprehensive package to benefit all quarters of society.
For any policy measures, an optimal balance is essential to ensure the best possible outcomes for Hong Kong’s development. Take labour issues as an example. The Government cares for employees’ welfare, but it also understands that employers’ affordability varies. So, in an innovative and decisive move, it commits resources and steps in proactively. A series of new labour measures are put forward to enhance workers’ interests and at the same time alleviate employers’ financial burden, which are conducive to mutual understanding and hence better harmony between the two sides.
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The initiatives include, inter alia, abolishing the arrangement for “offsetting” severance payment and long service payment with Mandatory Provident Fund benefits. This is a significant breakthrough in labour policies. According to the new proposal, support for employers, especially those in small and medium-sized enterprises, will be further strengthened and the period of government subsidies will be extended to 25 years. The Government’s financial commitment for this is estimated to amount to $29.3 billion.
Besides, following the Government’s people-oriented principle, we propose to extend statutory maternity leave from the current 10 weeks to 14 weeks. This will apply to employees entitled to maternity leave pay under the Employment Ordinance. The cost for the extra four weeks’ maternity leave pay will be funded by the Government, subject to a cap of $36,822 per employee, by way of reimbursement to the employer concerned. Such government-initiated financial intervention in labour relations is unprecedented. It illustrates our commitment, courage and resolution in governance.
Nothing about people’s livelihood is trivial. The current-term Government attaches utmost importance to people’s well-being and strives to build an inclusive and caring society. A number of new initiatives of great relevance to the community are introduced in the Policy Address in the spheres of education, healthcare and welfare.
On education, in order to nurture quality future generations for Hong Kong, substantial resources are injected to enhance the quality of education further and address the concerns of teachers, principals and parents by, for example, implementing the all-graduate teaching force policy in public sector primary and secondary schools, which involves additional funding of about $1.5 billion, and introducing a recurrent learning grant.
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On healthcare, to enhance district-based primary healthcare services, we will set up District Health Centres in various districts using the first centre planned for Kwai Tsing as the blueprint. Besides, through subsidising defined Chinese medicine services, we are working on the incorporation of Chinese medicine into the healthcare system of Hong Kong.
To benefit more elderly persons with financial difficulties, the Government will expand the Community Care Fund Elderly Dental Assistance Programme in early 2019 to cover all elderly persons receiving Old Age Living Allowance by lowering the age of target beneficiaries from 70 or above to 65 or above, and refine the service scope of the programme. This initiative is expected to benefit 150 000 elderly persons, each receiving a subsidy of $15,025 at most for dental services.
Measures are also introduced to strengthen support for children, persons with disabilities and the elderly. They include more service places under the On-site Pre-school Rehabilitation Services, additional quota under the Enhanced Home and Community Care Services, enhanced social work services for pre-school children with special needs and their parents, further additional vouchers under the second phase of the Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly, increased supply of subsidised residential care places for the elderly, etc.
Furthermore, in response to public demand, the Government made a prompt decision to launch the Lift Modernisation Subsidy Scheme with a provision of $2.5 billion to help property owners in need to modernise aged lifts. There are about 66 000 lifts in Hong Kong and their safety is highly relevant to our daily lives. Many owners of older buildings welcome the news and are preparing to undertake the modernisation works.
Among all the livelihood issues, housing problems are the most acute, thorny and complex. We task ourselves with changing that. Determined to identify and produce land and build a land reserve, we will make bold decisions to develop land resources in a resolute and persistent manner with a view to increasing housing supply. A series of measures are put forward to ease the housing strain and improve people’s living conditions.
Our community must forge a consensus in order to push Hong Kong forward. I am hopeful of joining hands with Legislative Council Members across the political spectrum and finding common ground despite our differences to get things done in the best interests of the people. Otherwise Hong Kong will become stagnant while idling away the time.
The SAR Government will, with an open mind, listen to voices from all sectors and collect public views of people from all walks of life in taking forward and implementing various policy measures. Let us strive ahead to rekindle hope for the community.
