Listen to #Hashtag Hong Kong every Sunday morning at 8.15
Focussing on issues affecting civil society, we'll hear from representatives of NGOs, associations, statutory bodies, and non-profit groups.
(Sundays 8.15am - 8.25am)
It is the eighteenth year I have been working at Oxfam Hong Kong. I have dedicated my passion here because Oxfam is courageous enough to speak the truth and advocate for a just world that narrows the poverty gap. Each year, we launch our Hong Kong Poverty Report based on the data from the Census and Statistics Department, providing in-depth analysis of the poverty situation in Hong Kong to develop policy suggestions for alleviating poverty. Looking back, this marks the tenth year since we launched the poverty report. Unfortunately, I must say that this year's report reveals the largest income gap and the highest poverty rate to date.
According to our latest report, it found that the poorest decile earned 81.9 times less than the richest decile in the first quarter of 2024. Over 1.39 million people now live under the poverty line. Of this total, about one million individuals are poor non-economic active population, having left the labor market for different reasons. Even more alarming is the rise in poverty among our elderly; more than 580,000 individuals aged 65 or above were living in poverty, including approximately 260,000 singleton and doubleton elderly households.
Government has just released the Policy Address and I am glad to see that the Policy Address aligns with our calls to activate the non-economic poor population, including the elderly and women, to re-engage with the community with different forms of support. However, the establishment of a poverty line has not been addressed.
Since 2022, the government has stopped publishing poverty reports and associated poverty lines, adopting Targeted Poverty Alleviation instead. This strategy supports single-parent households, elderly households, and those in sub-divided units. However, it's crucial to retain a poverty line to analyze and monitor Hong Kong's overall poverty situation. This data enhances the design of effective poverty reduction policies tailored to different target groups. We understand the concerns in society regarding the accuracy of the poverty line, noting that it may overestimate poverty situation, as some individuals may own properties and other assets. In July of this year, we finished another research report regarding the poverty line and we suggest analysing households that include elderly individuals independently and converting the assets of these families into monthly income through annuitisation methods. We are open to discussing the measurement of the poverty line and hope the government will reconsider it, as it serves as crucial evidence for designing targeted poverty strategies.
The Policy Address proposed the set-up of a Working Group on Promoting Silver Economy. Oxfam expects that the Committee will design its policy suggestions focusing on 'enabling' and 'active ageing' strategies to address the issues arising from population ageing.
We previously suggested the Government create a database for singleton and doubleton elderly households by integrating data from different departments. We’re pleased that the Policy Address mentioned creating an interdisciplinary database for caregivers of the elderly and disabled. We hope this database's scope expands to include singleton and doubleton elderly households and is shared with social welfare agencies. This would help match appropriate social welfare support to these families.
Above all, early intervention and preventive measures are crucial for reducing health risks among the elderly. I welcome the government's proposal in the Policy Address to develop primary healthcare solutions. We further suggest that the government utilise telemedicine and technologies to provide suitable medical care. It should also promote elder-friendly exercises such as dance and stretching, combining programmes with online platforms to enable home training. The government could consider expanding medical vouchers to include online/offline health courses on exercise, allowing elderly to manage their health independently.
For those young old who are still willing to join labor market, we need an elderly-friendly environment. Hong Kong's poor elderly labor participation is only 3.8%, far lower than Mainland China (25%) and Norway (22.2%). The significant discrepancy is largely due to the intensity of pull factors in policy. We advocate the government should encourage employers to hire elderly through simplified application procedures of the Employment Programme for the Elderly and Middle-aged by directly providing subsidies based on the number of new elderly employees hired, as well as enhancing elderly’s willingness to work by lowering the threshold for elderly applicants in the Working Family Allowance Scheme. Even if they engage in part-time job, they could still enjoy full subsidies.
Population ageing doesn't have to lead to a social crisis. Long-term, by promoting Active Ageing and creating elder-friendly environments through technological and social innovations, society can address elderly needs. With government incentives to help re-engage motivated elderly in society and the job market, they can become valuable social capital. We all play a role in supporting each other. With vision and cooperation among public, private, and community stakeholders, Hong Kong can overcome challenges and build a more inclusive future.
This morning, I would like to dedicate a song “Imagine” by John Lennon to all of you and hope we will make a better world together.
Good morning. The Hong Kong E-Vehicles Business General Association (“HKEVA”) was established in 2017. “Promoting innovation, nurturing support and professional colleagues” has become our goal. We comprise of a group of elites from the automotive industry, power supply and distribution service providers. In addition, various universities professors and academics are also invited to be our advisory team. We strive to establish a solid platform for discussion as well as providing information and advice to facilitate the building of SMART CITY BLUEPRINT particularly in Smart Mobility with Green environment for better using and running of green vehicle technologies in Hong Kong.
Up to August 2024, there are over 98,000 electric vehicles registered in Hong Kong. It is a noticeable increase in the usage of electric vehicles, especially among private cars. However, comparing with the traditional fossil fuel vehicles, electric vehicles only account for around 10% of the total registered vehicles in Hong Kong.
The “One-for-One Replacement” scheme and the tax concession from the Transport Department are effective measures to move Hong Kong people to switch to electric vehicles. Back in 2018 when the schemes started, there were only around 10,000 electric vehicles in Hong Kong. Therefore, HKEVA would like the Government to continue the “One-for-One Replacement” scheme. The overall electric vehicle penetration rate in Hong Kong is still low at around 10%.
Transportation sector is the second largest carbon emission source in Hong Kong, just behind electricity generation. It accounts for around 18% of carbon emission in Hong Kong. Using electric vehicles can significantly reduce the roadside emission. Therefore, adoption of electric vehicles plays an important part in the carbon neutral policy of the Government.
Another benefit of using electric vehicles other than zero roadside emission is that electric vehicle is efficient. With the relatively low electricity cost in Hong Kong, drivers can enjoy lower fuel cost. In terms of maintenance, with fewer moving parts in the electric vehicles, for example, no gearbox, the maintenance cost for electric vehicle is relatively lower too.
However, charging electric vehicles remains the biggest concern for drivers to switch to electric vehicles as we only have around 9,000 public chargers in Hong Kong. Therefore, it is clear that there is NOT enough public chargers in the city.
For the future electric vehicle development in Hong Kong, HKEVA would like to suggest the following to the Government.
1. Continue the One-for-One Replacement and tax concession schemes. We suggest the Government to relax the requirements on Ownership and Licensed Periods for “Old Private Car” in the scheme so that drivers can join the scheme more easily. Although we recorded significant increase in the number of electric vehicles in private car, the conversation of commercial vehicles to electric remains slow. Commercial vehicles include light goods vehicles, taxis, mini-buses and buses etc... The usage for commercial vehicles is high but there are not enough models in the market for the drivers to choose. Therefore, more direct financial attractiveness is necessary from the Government to encourage manufacturers to develop and import more electric models for commercial vehicles.
2. Build roadside public charging stations over all 18 districts in Hong Kong. This infrastructure enhancement can help solve the charging concerns from the community. It involves works and approvals from different government authorities. Therefore, we encourage the Government to set up an Inter- departmental Working Group to solve the issues arising from the charging infrastructure development. We understand that there is a similar Working Group on Using Hydrogen as Fuel. We suggested the Government to make use of this Working Group to solve the issues arise from electric vehicles development.
3. Battery is one of the key components in electric vehicles. The manufacturing and disposal of used battery are very controversial topics in encouraging the society to switch to electric vehicle. Therefore, the battery recycling industry is a very important element in the electric vehicle supply chain. HKEVA urges the Government to implement the Producer Responsibility Scheme on Retried Electric Vehicle Batteries as soon as possible. We support the Government to manage retired batteries centrally and locally. We also encourage the Government to setup a battery registration and identity system, record all imported battery. This measure increases the battery traceability and encourage recycling and re-proposing. Especially on re-proposing, it gives “second life” to battery and motivate different industrial and commercial innovative applications.
4. With more and more electric vehicle running on the streets, repair and maintenance support on electric vehicles becomes a concern for drivers to switch to electric vehicles. Therefore, it is important for existing vehicle maintenance mechanics to acquire new knowledge and skills on electric vehicles. On training and education, we encourage the government to put more resources in the newly enhanced Voluntary Registration Scheme for Vehicle Maintenance. Organise more relevant training programs and help existing vehicle maintenance mechanics and workshops to pick up the maintenance and repair works for electric vehicles.
And now I would like to dedicate to all of you a song "獅子山下” by Roman.