CE: HK govt to spare no effort to improve citizens' livelihood

Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam started to deliver her fourth Policy Address on Wednesday (Nov. 25) morning at the HK Legislative Council meeting. Lam underscores the government's aspiration and resolution to continuously improve residents' livelihood and build a more liveable city.

Housing and land

Lam acknowledges that the housing problem and shortage of land are the cruces of HK's many difficulties. She says that the government has identified all of the 330 hectares of land required for providing 316,000 public housing units to meet the demand for about 301,000 public housing units in the coming ten years.

Lam says the government will provide 15,000 transitional housing units within three years for families waiting for public rental housing (PRH) and residents in poor living conditions. A trial scheme to provide cash allowance for low-income families awaiting PRH allocation will be launched, which will start receiving applications in mid-2021 and disbursing cash allowance from July 2021 onwards, Lam adds, saying that the government will also work on tenancy control for subdivided units.

In addition, Lam says that the Executive Council approved this morning relevant amendments to the Stamp Duty Ordinance, and the abolition of the Doubled Ad Valorem Stamp Duty (DSD) on non-residential property transactions will take effect from tomorrow (Nov. 26).

Lam also mentions that the HK government will not give up on the Lantau Tomorrow Vision, which is the largest in scale and could provide the greatest amount of land among the many land supply options, and strive for the early commencement of the relevant studies.

Welfare

Lam says that the HK government's recurrent expenditures on social welfare and healthcare have increased from HK$65.3 billion and HK$62.6 billion in 2017-18 to HK$93.9 billion and HK$87.1 billion in 2020-21 respectively.

Lam announces that the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme will be extended by another six months, which is expected to guarantee subsidy amounting to one-third of the monthly public transport expenses in excess of HK$200, capped at HK$400 per month and to benefit around 3.8 million people.

Also, the MTR will continue to extend the 20 percent fare discount until March 2021. Short-term Food Assistance Service Projects (STFASPs) will be regularised and made a permanent service with an earmarked recurrent expenditure of HK$415 million and the Elderly Dental Assistance Programme will be widened, says Lam, adding that the government will lay out HK$300 million on the mental health front.

Employment

Battered by the global and local epidemic, HK's labor market has come under immense pressure.

Lam points out that the Financial Services Development Council has received an allocation of $180 million to launch the Financial Industry Recruitment Scheme for Tomorrow (FIRST), under which a monthly government subsidy of $10,000 will be provided to employers for each job quota, and nearly all the 1,500 quotas have been successfully taken up by eligible financial services companies within three weeks upon the launch of the scheme.

To encourage and support young people to work and pursue their careers in the GBA cities, as Lam indicates, the government will launch the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme, which will provide 2,000 opportunities.

On the side of supporting youth entrepreneurship, it is estimated that about HK$100 million will be provided for nearly 200 youth start-ups and supporting services to about 4,000 youngsters, Lam says.

Education

Over the past three years, as Lam reveals, the current-term government has increased the recurrent expenditure on education by a total of $13.5 billion.

Lam says that the Education Bureau (EDB) will initiate various activities to cultivate primary and secondary students' understanding of the nation's history and development, the Constitution and the Basic Law and the implementation of "one country, two systems", and teach them to respect and preserve the dignity of the national flag and the national anthem as symbols of our country. Such efforts, as Lam indicates, are aimed to foster positive values among students as well as develop in them a sense of identity, belonging and responsibility towards the nation, the Chinese race and HK society.

In order to further support schools and teachers in implementing this blended mode of teaching and learning under the pandemic, the EDB will set aside HK$2 billion in the Quality Education Fund to launch a three-year program to support the provision of ancillary facilities for e-learning and equal opportunities in accessing e-learning for all students, Lam adds.

To support students with special education needs, service places will be further increased to 10,000 in the 2022/23 school year with the goal to achieve zero-waiting time, Lam says.

Lam indicates that the training of teachers and principals upon their appointment will also be strengthened. The EDB will take stringent actions against teachers who are incompetent or found misconducted.

Living environment

In terms of building a more liveable city, Lam stresses the importance to promote urban development by emphasizing both development and conservation.

Lam proposes the implementation of the Invigorating Island South initiative to develop the Southern District into a place full of "vibrancy, vigor and velocity", featuring, among others, the revitalization of the Ocean Park, and the revival of the Jumbo Floating Restaurant as a historic landmark of HK. 

Lam also mentions measures on the revitalization of old industrial districts and urban renewal. 

Lam adds that the five-kilometer harbourfront promenade has been completed over the past three years, and the harbourfront promenade will be extended from the current 23 kilometers to 34 kilometers in 2028, and with an additional 35 hectares of quality public space with district characteristics on both sides of the harbourfront.

As for the cultural aspect, Lam says that the two museums in the West Kowloon Cultural District, i.e., the M+ museum of modern and contemporary visual arts and the Hong Kong Palace Museum demonstrating invaluable Chinese artifacts, will be completed and put into service in the next two years. 

Lam adds that HK has made various endeavors to reduce waste and carbon emissions to combat climate change, announcing the goal for HK to achieve carbon neutrality before 2050. The government will update the "Hong Kong's Climate Action Plan" in the middle of next year to set out more proactive strategies and measures to realize the goal.