Cranky Seniors Want their $5K

Seniors swarmed the voucher scheme office in Mongkok today

It is not a good idea to piss off elderly people in Hong Kong. They get very cranky.

And in this case understandably so.

They tried to apply for the HK$5,000 voucher scheme, and found out their applications failed when they tried to load their Octopus card.

They demanded an easier way to get the money

Today hundreds of them swarmed the spending voucher scheme office in Mongkok demanding answers.

"It's a mess! It's so crowded here and I've been waiting for hours. I almost fainted," said one woman. "Those who fail to get the vouchers are all elderly people. We are not youngsters who know how to use the internet. I deserve to get the money!"

Indeed. But it's the Hong Kong government that's trying to push everyone to go digital... but now there's major backlash from seniors.

One man who was shouting outside the office said poor elderly people were shortchanged by the government.

"Why make it so complicated? Just let us show our identity cards and get the money from the banks!"

If only it were that simple, but the government wants people to spend the HK$5,000, not leave it in their bank accounts. 

Not everyone knows how to apply online

The pro-Beijing DAB said more than 1,000 applicants, may of them elderly people, had sought help from the party. 

It said many people had missed text messages sent by the government telling them their application had been unsuccessful due to things like incorrect information and a lack of relevant documents. Some also missed the deadline for submitting additional documents.

DAB lawmaker Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan held talks with officials and later said the government agreed to extend the deadline for submitting additional documents by two weeks to September 15.

However the crush of hundreds of people today at the Mongkok office was overwhelming, with some seniors waiting an hour in the queue. 

Hong Kong wants people to spend the vouchers

"The arrangement is bad. Elderly people can't stand for too long. We easily feel tired," said an 87-year-old woman surnamed Li. 

Another man in the line said people should be able to redeem the money as long as they can prove their identity, even if they made mistakes on the application form.

"Everyone here is over 70 years old. The top officials should come and have a look!" he said.

Indeed! Would Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu care to come by to see the queue?