Handout hope for needy Handouts should only be given to people in need, not across the board, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said yesterday. Leung was responding to a resident at a regional forum in Sha Tin who urged him to commit to cash handouts in his policy address. Many grassroots children may need a better computer for their studies, and cash handouts would be the most direct way to benefit them, Leung said. If the government has to give handouts, they should go to the hands of those in need. Handouts became a hot issue after Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai-on again announced sweeteners, including 9,000 patacas (HK$8,730) for permanent residents, in his policy address earlier this month Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Ceajer Chan Ka-keung, who was with Leung at the forum, said handouts may have been welcomed in Hong Kong in the past but the government hopes to use limited resources for those in need. Leung also said the government is studying extending the HK$2 special MTR fare for the elderly to green minibuses. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu estimated the budget surplus this year at HK$29.9 billion, compared to Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wahs prediction of a HK$4.9 billion deficit. The forecast is still less than the HK$64.8 billion surplus recorded in the last fiscal year. Leung said he will tackle four major issues in his January 15 policy address - poverty, an aging society, housing and the environment. The forum, held at Sha T in Government Secondary School, started 10 minutes late amid protests. There were chaotic scenes outside as Scholarism members attempted to push over police barricades. Two students were hurt while a newspaper photographer fell onto the ground. The two students were sent to the Prince of Wales Hospital. Sha Tins acting deputy district commander Clinton Ko Yu-on said some protesters crossed over the barricades and endangered themselves and the public. Leung will hold two more forums on December 7 and 8.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 01:38:48 +0000
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