Paul Chan's Short-Term Sweeteners

Chan's budget aimed at fighting Covid, helping businesses

Following Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's announcement that universal testing will happen next month, those with means started booking the next flight out of Hong Kong. In the coming weeks there will be a massive exodus of people -- local, expat -- who have had enough of the government's half-hearted measures in dealing with this exponentially rising fifth wave and want out.

Why not, when the leader of Hong Kong has declared that as of next week children are on "summer break" and back to school in late April and will finish the rest of the school year in August, and a week or two later begin the new academic year.

Lam announced universal testing last night

The next generation have been hurt the most by this pandemic, now in its third year. And their long suffering parents having to work from home, now have to some how find things for their brood to do on their "summer break", but not meet any friends or take any classes.

Ah but wait -- Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has come up with some sweeteners for people today in his longest budget speech.

One of the first things he announced was all permanent residents 18 years and older, and new immigrants from the mainland will get HK$10,000 in electronic vouchers -- but in two stages. While that is great, again it will not benefit the small mom and pop shops, nor the wet markets. 

And it also sends a confusing message, as one economist says: "On the one hand, the government tells everyone to stay home for social distancing, but on the other, it asks you to go and spend. The policies are conflicting."

Permanent residents will get HK$10,000

There are many businesses that are on the verge of shutting down and giving out these vouchers will not save them.

Chan will make it easier for first-time home buyers to get a mortgage on 90 percent of the property's value, the maximum amount is HK$10 million, but who is left to buy them? Does anyone have the appetite, unless they know they are going to stay in the city for the long term?

To fight the pandemic, the financial secretary earmarked HK$22 billion to bolster its screening capacity and purchase rapid antigen tests, while another HK$10 billion will be invested in life science technology.

The city's 340,000 small and medium-sized enterprises will get access to a special loan scheme for another year from June, but is that enough to keep them afloat?

But meanwhile the police get to beef up their resources even more with HK$508 million for more gear and vehicles, while a whopping HK$5.1 billion will be spent on prisoners. Currently that amounts to HK$677,000, or maybe the government is expecting more people will be behind bars in the coming year?

More money spent on fighting Covid-19

As the government depends on land sales to fill its coffers, it is reasonable to see Chan propose a progressive rating system where those buying pricier flats will pay more in property rates. This, he says, could bring in HK$7.6 billion annually.

But what about education? Children have lost so much in the past two years. What is the government going to do for these students in terms of helping them get the resources and teaching they need? And in terms of healthcare, was there any talk of hiring more people to come to Hong Kong to help with caring for the sick?

Some economists felt the budget while it may help in the short term, does not have any long-term foresight in how the government will help Hong Kong's economy get out of the pandemic and restore its status as a financial hub.

"Some senior management of multinational corporations are leaving Hong Kong and they have alternatives, such as Singapore," said Simon Lee Siu-po, of Chinese University. "As far as the economic outlook in the medium term is concerned, it really depends on whether Hong Kong can restore free flow of people."

Not many are waiting around to find out.

Lam's Doomsday Message

Unmasked Lam announced the need for universal testing

Today is February 22, 2022, or 22022022.

The next time this date comes around will be in 200 years.

For us in Hong Kong it is a horrific date, the one where Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor told the city's residents this evening that everyone will undergo mass testing in March without a lockdown, that schools will go on "summer" break from early March for six weeks, social-distancing measures will continue till at least April 20, and flight bans from nine countries will be extended to that date as well.

Testing will be called according to HKID

And at the end of her hour long speech she said that we should all have hope.

What hope is there left?

It's a dark tunnel that seems to have no end.

Universal testing seems to entail testing 7.5 million people in three rounds of testing. People will be called out to be tested according to their HKID card number. After they are swabbed, the residents' specimens will be sent to Shenzhen to be tested. 

When a reporter asked about the legalities of this as it involves people's DNA, Lam replied that her administration should not be bound by the law when it comes to fighting Covid-19.

"In this wartime environment, this emergency, we cannot let existing laws stop us from doing something we should do. This is not the mentality for fighting a war," she said.

"I trust you have seen many war movies. In war there is no sense in talking about procedure."

Rapid antigen tests will be handed out to people

Those who test positive will be sent to isolation facilities, though at current projections, that could mean hundreds of thousands of people. Where are they all going to be housed?

So far there are about 20,000 hotel rooms, housing estates and gymnasiums (with zero privacy). There needs to be ten times that at least.

And she didn't even address the urgent matter of not enough healthcare staff to deal with all the serious cases. Doctors and nurses are not only burned out, but 873 of them so far have become infected themselves. 

Lam also reiterated her goal that 90 percent of the population would get at least one jab. How is she going to make that happen without vaccine mandates? When people go for universal testing, the authorities cannot make those who are not yet jabbed to do so. 

In fact her latest measures will make people refuse to cooperate even more. It's all stick and no carrot. 

Medical staff are burned out and getting infected

Upon hearing Lam's latest pronouncements, many people were left despondent, some, according to my friend YTSL posted pictures of the hard liquor they were drinking this evening. Others announced it was time to leave Hong Kong.

With school now in "summer break" during the coldest days of 2022, this will give families a reason to leave the city perhaps temporarily, but most probably permanently. Everyone's patience has pretty much worn out now. 

Restaurants have to maintain strict social-distancing by only serving breakfast and lunch, though most people are too scared to eat out, no one is in the mood to dine out anyway. Shopping malls are dead by 8pm. Lam and her administration have singlehandedly decimated the local economy because of their inability to prepare for the severity of this fifth wave, and tomorrow is the budget speech! How lovely!

If we are in a wartime, then Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po had better be prudent with taxpayer money. People need hope because it's not coming from Lam.

 

More Questions on HK$5K Handout

Chan (centre) on the phone-in show talking about the budget

 

As part of the budget, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced every permanent resident and new immigrants from the mainland will receive HK$5,000 -- in the form of an electronic voucher that will be distributed five times at HK$1,000 each. The amount cannot be accumulated and must be used within a certain period of time.

Cashless payments will be set up at wet markets

Chan explains this is a way for the money to be used locally to stimulate the economy and to help small businesses. 

While he has good intentions, it doesn't seem like Chan thought through his idea, or his advisors did not explain that many local shops, particularly wet markets don't use electronic payment, and many who actually need the HK$5,000 don't necessarily know how to use electronic banking, particularly on their smartphones -- if they have them.

During a phone-in radio show, Chan received a lot of calls regarding this, and the financial secretary said the government would help wet market stalls setup cashless payments to use Octopus.

"We will take these suggestions into consideration when implementing [the e-voucher], and follow-up on those concerns," he said, while conceding many details of the roll-out still needed to be ironed out.

Sze says the poor need the HK$5K handout asap

Sze Lai-shan, from the Society for Community Organisation (SoCO) that works with those in poverty, said the government should step up implementing electronic payments in wet markets as those with lower incomes would rather spend their money on necessities.

In addition, she said this segment of people would like to get the HK$5,000 in one go so that they can purchase badly needed big-ticket items such as washing machines, rice cookers and water boilers.

Smart callers pointed out there could be people who buy something using the electronic vouchers and then return the item for cash, or use the vouchers to buy insurance. Did the financial secretary think of that? 

Another question was how Hong Kong residents living outside of the city could use the vouchers. 

Chan said the government would examine how to prevent people from abusing the scheme.

It doesn't sound like it was completely thought out... did any of his advisors raise red flags before Chan put this in his budget? Or did they think they would just deal with it later?

Has Chan (centre) thought of all the loopholes?

Other callers wondered if encouraging people to shop was the right thing to do when some were scraping by. However, if this money can be used in wet markets, then that would probably help a large number of people put food on the table, though probably only for say half a year depending on the time limit of each voucher. Is it a month? Six weeks? Two months?

Simon Lee Siu-po, co-director of Chinese University's international business and Chinese enterprise program, said the consumption vouchers would only have a small stimulus effect on the economy. While HK$36 billion is earmarked for the scheme, Lee projected only about HK$7.2 billion would be injected into local retail, catering and service sectors.

To compare that to before the anti-government protests in 2019 and the coronavirus pandemic last year, monthly retail sales in 2018 was HK$40 billion and HK$9 billion in catering.

"[The government still needs to focus on helping the heavily affected sectors," Lee said. "Otherwise the money will go to big retailers and major supermarket chains."

He also hinted retailers could get around the staggered vouchers by allowing customers to buy big-ticket items in installments.

Has Chan thought of that too? Would that be allowed?

So many questions, not enough answers... yet.

More Questions on HK$8B for National Security

The budget did not mention HK$8 billion for national security

The controversy over the HK$8 billion (US$1 billion) for national security continued today with no signs of abating since Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po refused to give clear and straight forward answers about the staggering amount of money considering Hong Kong is HK$257.6 billion in deficit in this year's budget.

First of all he didn't even mention it in his budget speech, but it was later discovered to be listed in a separate 1,000-page document that listed estimated revenues and expenditures of various government accounts.

Chan refused to divulge what the money was for

On a radio program, Chan refused to divulge what that money was for, but dismissed a suggestion the expenditure was equivalent to "military spending", reiterating only it was a necessary expense.

"[Some] may say that Hong Kong is very safe and we do not need to spend money on this area, [but] in 2019 we experienced half a year of social unrest. Such circumstances exposed the gaps in national security. This HK$8 billion will be used over a number of years... it is necessary," he said.

With the national security law in place, what was experienced in 2019 will never happen again. So again, what is the HK$8 billion for?

He also insisted the funds for national security spending were already disclosed in government accounts last October, but apparently it did appear in a document called the "Consolidated statement of assets and liabilities as at December 31, 2020" gazetted by the government on February 5.

In addition, the HK$8 billion is not listed under any specific department, and was described as "non-recurrent appropriation to a special fund to meet the expenditure for safeguarding national security" -- the same wording used in the budget document.

The national security office is covered by Beijing

Apparently this practice is similar to other countries, which also regard this kind of expenditure as "confidential".

Even more curious is that none of this money is being used to fund the operations of the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People's Government, which was set up last July in Tai Hang, near Causeway Bay. Their expenses are covered by the central government.

However, Article 19 of the national security laws says the city's financial secretary, on the approval of the chief executive, shall "appropriate from the general revenue a special fund to meet the expenditure for safeguarding national security and approve the establishment of relevant posts, which are not subject to any restrictions in the relevant provisions of the laws in force" in Hong Kong.

So Hongkongers will never know where their hard-earned HK$8 billion will go towards, except for "national security"... a catch-all phrase for "none of your business"...

Hong Kong's Budget Hopes to Jumpstart Economy

Paul Chan delivered his budget today with a green tie

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po delivered a sobering budget today with only a few sweeteners in a bid to jump start Hong Kong's economy after a year of recession because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The city fell into a record deficit of HK$257.6 billion (US$33.14 billion), and Chan warned Hong Kong would continue to have deficits in the following years. Nevertheless he forecasts 5.5 percent economic growth in the coming year.

Permanent residents get HK$5K in vouchers

There are a few main highlights from the budget:

While last year the government handed out HK$10,000 to each Hong Kong permanent resident and low income non-permanent residents, this year Chan said only HK$5,000 that would be given out to every adult permanent resident and new immigrant from China -- but in the form of electronic vouchers, and incrementally, to be used by a certain date each time. There were no further details on how that would work and what that could be spent on, but some speculate it will be for food, which makes supermarkets, or rather the conglomerates that own them -- even richer.

For those who have been unemployed, with proof of paperwork, they can take a one-off low interest loan of up to HK$80,000 and borrowers would only have to repay the interest in the first year, and the balance within a maximum of four years. Those who pay back the loan on schedule will be reimbursed the interest.

As the unemployment rate is now at a 17-year high at 7 percent, Chan has earmarked HK$6.6 billion to create 30,000 jobs for the next 12 months. 

The government will create 30,000 new jobs

Seeing as Hongkongers are stuck in the city because of the pandemic and many have turned to hiking, the financial secretary has pledged HK$500 million to spruce up country parks, installing new washrooms, barbecue pits and picnic sites, including HK$55 million improve 10 hiking trails with the potential of promoting for tourism.

Speaking of tourism, Chan has allocated HK$934 million into that sector, perhaps in a bid to get the city ready when the pandemic calms down and people can start traveling again. The Hong Kong Tourism Board is probably salivating over that money it gets to play with.

Those playing the stock market were shocked to hear the government will raise the stamp duty to 0.13 percent from 0.10 percent on stock trading, the first hike since 1993 that could help the public coffers grow to HK$92 billion.

The response was immediate on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with the Hang Seng Index plunged as far as 9.3 percent before finishing the day down 3 percent to 29,718.24. Investors didn't see that announcement coming and many feel this hike on the stamp duty is bad for the financial sector. 

Money will be used to upgrade hiking trails

But perhaps the most eyebrow-raising news that Chan did not announce in his speech is that a whopping HK$8 billion will be spent "to safeguard national security".

In a press conference with the media following his budget speech, Chan said he did not include this figure because it has already been accounted for, and that Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had already approved the amount.

Also suspicious was that Chan did not explain where the money came from and how it would be spent. 

In a separate budget document, it says the HK$8 billion is a "non-recurrent appropriation to a special fund to meet the expenditure for safeguarding national security". During the press conference, Chan only said that the money would be used over the coming several years and did not clarify how the money would be spent and on what.

One reporter on Twitter has pointed out this amount is almost three times the budget in 2018-2019 on "internal security", just before the anti-extradition bill protests erupted. 

A whopping HK$8 billion on national security

There is also HK$3.5 billion that will be spent on prison management, up from HK$3 billion last year, while "constitutional and mainland affairs" will receive a budget of HK$200 million, twice as much as it got five years ago.

Jeremy Tam Man-ho, former lawmaker and vice-chairman of the opposition Civic Party, said the funding allocation for national security was equal to "dumping money into a dark hole", and called on the government to explain. 

"It is a large amount of money," he said. "But there is no transparency at all. The people have no idea how the money is to be used. I think the government owes Hong Kong people an explanation."

Indeed. 

HongKongers Sign up for Vaccine Jabs

Lam got the Sinovac jab yesterday in front of the media

With a slew of cameras watching, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was among the first to get the Sinovac vaccine yesterday.

Her other senior ministers also got the jab, but interestingly Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, commerce chief Edward Yau Tang-wah, and environment minister Wong Kam-sing were conspicuously absent. Chan's office said he was too busy working on the budget...

Over 60,000 have signed up for the vaccine

Today it was reported over 60,000 people have made appointments online to get the same jab. 

Secretary for Innovation and Technology Alfred Sit Wing-hang said the enthusiastic response overloaded the system for a short period after the bookings opened at midnight, but is now running smoothly.

Some 2.4 million people are deemed to have priority to get the vaccine first, including those over 60 years of age, residents in care homes, healthcare workers, essential staff, pilots, flight attendants and cross-border workers.

There are skeptics who wonder if the government will be able to vaccinate at least 6 million Hongkongers within six months.

For those doing the math, if every one of the 6 million people gets two shots each, then that means 67,000 jabs will have to be administered daily. How will that be achieved? There are 29 Community Vaccination Centres across the city, and then 18 general out patient clinics of the Hospital Authority, as well as 1,200 private doctors and 1,500 medical clinics that will offer the vaccines.

Pilots are among those to have priority to get jab

Looks like administering the jab will be like a factory, where perhaps people walk in with their arms exposed ready to be jabbed and come out with a band-aid one minute later.

Meanwhile the BioNTech vaccine arrives at the end of this week, and then AstraZeneca later.

At least it's finally happening. Hong Kong is playing catch up to places like the UK and the United States where they are vaccinating tens of thousands of people everyday.

And by the way the LeaveHomeSafe app? While 97 percent of the 2.8 million downloads are local, apparently people in Fiji and Niger are even downloading the app! Technology chief Sit says perhaps there are people working or studying overseas there who may need to use the app later. 

Right...

 

 

 

 

Carrie Announces More Relief Measures

Carrie Lam announced more relief measures for businesses to stay afloat

So many things to write about today, but perhaps most importantly a belated response from the government for more bailout measures to keep Hong Kong's economy going.

It is spending HK$137.5 billion (US$18 billion) on a raft of measures, including helping employers pay their employees HK$9,000 (US$1,160) of their monthly wages for six months. Only those companies that contribute to the Mandatory Provident Fund are eligible and they must promise not to lay off any workers.

There were questions from the media about possible loopholes, but Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said if the list of employers was made public then employees could expect that money. This means 1.5 million workers would benefit from this scheme.

1.5 million workers could get HK$9,000 from the government

She stressed this was the third time the government was making an effort to buoy the economy, though it will cause the budget deficit to surge to HK$276.6 billion, equivalent to 9.6 percent of  gross domestic product.

"We have to try our best to prevent the closure of businesses or large-scale job cuts," Lam said as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases reached 960.

"In these unprecedented circumstances, the government must have some unprecedented responses -- to help businesses to survive, safeguard employment, and minimize the burden on businesses and citizens."

And about that controversial pay raise? Lam announced she and her senior ministers would take a 10 percent paycut for a year, which means she will be making HK$390,000 per month, or HK$4.68 million a year.

It took her long enough to decide to do that, but perhaps better late than never?

Almost 450 police officers quit last year, up 38.5 percent

Another interesting piece of news was reported that is protest related: Almost 450 officer quit during the eight months of unrest, while new hires fell short of targets.

The police force claimed it was not surprised by the large number, and added it still received some 10,000 applications.

In his budget announced in February, the financial secretary approved a 7 percent budget increase in police manpower for the next financial year, including an extra 2,543 posts created.

The Security Bureau defended the proposed budget increase, explaining that 446 officers not expected to leave the service had quit between June and February this year, an increase of 38.5 percent from the same period last year.

"For these officers, their reasons for leaving include resignation during training, early retirement, family and personal reasons," the bureau said in reply.

Were some of those "personal reasons" related to the protests?

And finally, today the lockdown on Wuhan was lifted, and as expected, some 55,000 people left the city by train, and on 100 commercial flights. People were definitely fleeing Wuhan after being shut at home since January 23.

Lots of people fled Wuhan today with the lockdown lifted

However... where are they going? There are a lot of fears many of them to show up in Hong Kong and the media pressed health officials about why they let passengers from Wuhan go home with a plastic bottle to collect the saliva sample and not have them stay at AsiaWorld-Expo to conduct the saliva test and wait for the results.

But health officials insisted that the risk assessment was low.

"Among the first batch of returnees from Wuhan earlier, only one person tested positive among some 400," Dr Chui Tak-yi, Undersecretary for Food and Health said.

However reporters in the press conference were not impressed, as anyone from anywhere could have the virus; perhaps health officials will change their mind tomorrow?

Compensating Her Misery

Today Carrie Lam sidelined the question of whether she would take a pay cut

A few days ago we found out that Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor got a pay rise of HK$120,000 (US$15,480) to HK$5.2 million annually. Calls from all political stripes for her to consider the Hongkongers who have lost their jobs or been furloughed, and business owners whose enterprises are in dire straits because of the coronavirus as well as months of anti-government protests, but she ignored their pleas.

Even Liberal Party honorary chairman Michael Tien Pei-chun, who owns the fashion label G2000 wrote a letter to Lam, saying he was "shocked and dismayed" that she still found it conscionable to increase her salary at this time.

Michael Tien wrote a letter to Lam urging her to cut her pay

He goes on to say: "Compared to senior officials of other governments, Hong Kong leaders' pay has always been extremely generous. We believe the people of Hong Kong would consider an increase in salary for your team at this time to be most inappropriate. In fact, the community would be reasonable to expect your team to take a pay cut so as to demonstrate your togetherness with the community to wrestle with this crisis that is presently threatening all of us, as never before, physically, emotionally and financially."

The letter was also signed by Miriam Lau Kin-yee, Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee, and Felix Chung Kwok-pan.

However, when asked again today by reporters about taking a pay cut, Lam preferred to focus on something else.

"My first priority right now is to finalize as early as possible the package of relief measures under the second round of anti-epidemic funding," she said.

Lam's campaign slogan back in 2017... times have changed

Lam also pointed out (as we did the other day) that she and other politically appointed officials had donated one month's salary to the Community Chest of Hong Kong for charity purposes, adding she would consider similar ways in future "to demonstrate solidarity with the people of Hong Kong".

The Legislative Council is currently scrutinizing the budget that was unveiled in February, which will be voted on in early May.

The chief executive doesn't seem to care about anyone else -- for all the criticisms and heat she is getting from all sides, she believes she deserves this increased compensation.

How far she has veered from her campaign slogan of "We Connect".

Perhaps it should be "So Disconnected".

Carrie Lam's Disjointed Administration

Financial Secretary Paul Chan says he needs to readjust his budget

This week Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor went rogue, announcing a slew of measures worth HK$10 billion in the hopes of assuaging concerns of the elderly and disadvantaged in the current tension-filled climate.

However, Lam didn't consult anyone about her plans, not even advisors in Exco, let alone her colleagues in her cabinet. If Lam thinks this is leadership, she's got it all wrong.

Carrie Lam announced a raft of measures without consultation

As a result, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po hinted he will have to scale down his plans for the upcoming budget in order to pay for Lam's announcement. In a forum today organized by RTHK, Chan said he had to find resources to fund the 10 new welfare measures his boss unveiled, which would impact the one-off sweetners he was going to put in his budget to be released next month.

"Year after year, we have rolled out one-off relief measures, be it salaries and profit tax rebate, rates rebate, or other expenditure items," he said. "The total amount ranges from HK$20 billion to more than HK$60 billion, which is quite substantial.

"Some of these may perhaps be adjusted to accommodate the funding requirements of some additional measures as recently announced by the chief executive," Chan said.

It makes one wonder how Lam can make such big fiscal announcements without telling anyone beforehand. While Hong Kong does have a lot of reserves (and is saving tens of millions of dollars from cancelling not just one but two fireworks for New Year's last month and Chinese New Year), it doesn't mean that money can just be spent without consultation beforehand.

Chan ruled out giving cash handouts to residents

Some of the 10 measures include lowering the age for using public transport for just HK$2 per ride from 65 to 60 years old, and giving out housing subsidies to those who have waited for a public flat for more than three years.

Not many people were impressed by Lam's announcement, from opposition lawmakers to ordinary folk. Will she go back to the drawing board and reconsider her sweetners or trudge on?

During the forum, some people asked for a cash handout, with one young man even asking for HK$10,000 per eligible resident. However, Chan seems to have heard this request more than once.

"People may get angry if the handout is too little... We have to consider that very carefully, taking into account the fiscal burden."

Hong Kongers will continue to protest for their demands

At this point people don't seem to care what fiscal burdens the government is going through since it has no qualms paying a massive HK$950 million overtime bill to the police for their work since the anti-extradition protests started last June.

Of course Chan got an earful from some people in the audience about how the government has handled the protests that have gone on for over seven months. He also reaffirmed Lam's response that there would not be an independent inquiry into police brutality since she didn't think the police mishandled protesters.

Following the November District Council elections with a landslide victory for the pro-democracy side, it's kind of a bizarre situation where the leadership is not in concert with what most citizens want. 

We're looking forward to what Chan has in store for us in his budget... not.

Government Doles out Carrots... then the Sticks

Financial Secretary Paul Chan doles out sweetners, but hardly substantial

This afternoon Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced a raft of economic measures worth HK$19.1 billion (US$2.4 billion) in what he claims are meant to prepare for the possibility of a technical recession (two successive quarters of negative growth) in Hong Kong.

The relief package includes a reduction in the salaries tax, extra allowance for social security, old age, disability and working family allowance recipients, students from kindergarten to secondary school will get subsidies, and low-income tenants will get one month of free rent.

The announced sweetners won't benefit protesters much

Perhaps even more interesting is that Chan can't even bear to say the word "protests" and instead says "recent social incidents".

It's just as well Chan is talking in euphemisms because he can't even face the reality that Hong Kong is in the midst of 10 consecutive weeks of serious government discontent.

But sorry Mr Chan -- the protests aren't about the economy.

And if the government doesn't get that, or doesn't want to recognize that fact, then we continue to exist in parallel universes.

The one bright spot today was the release on bail of 2014 Occupy co-founder Benny Tai Yiu-ting.

Will Sunday's rally be as big as this congregation?

He was given a break from jail by the appeal court after serving three months in jail.

"I am very proud that I can stand with you all together at this very moment. So many people love Hong Kong so much. But, the road ahead is very unclear and very tough," Tai said outside the court.

"But I am still confident that Hong Kong's future is bright. The golden era of our city is yet to come. And I believe that time is not too far away."

Tai and another Occupy co-founder, sociologist Chan Kin-man were both sentenced to 16 months in jail after they were convicted for the unprecedented civil disobedience movement five years ago when several areas of Hong Kong were occupied for 79 days.

Benny Tai fresh out of jail earlier today

During his time in jail, Tai said he was particularly touched reading the news about the protesters who came into the Legislative Council at the last minute to collect their four die-hard comrades out before the police cleared the complex on July 1.

"I cried when I read the news," he said.

While there are several marches planned for this weekend, the police have again refused to give them the green light, restricting them to only rallies. In the case of a march that was planned from Victoria Park to Chater Garden, how is the park going to be able to hold so many people at once?

More frustration is just going to build...

How is this Benevolent?

Tens of thousands of poor elderly people will miss out on government benefits

Financial secretary Paul Chan Mo-po is making the tough decisions of who gets what in Hong Kong's budget for the coming years.

He's already hinted there won't be many handouts this year because the government didn't make much money from land sales. The surplus is expected to be one-third of the HK$138 billion (US$17.6 billion) last year.

But the government does still have over a trillion Hong Kong dollars in reserves.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan has hinted a smaller surplus

Nevertheless, the government has decided one of the cuts will be to impoverished seniors between the ages of 60 and 64. From February 1, those who are 65 years old and over and are poor will be eligible for the elderly comprehensive social security assistance (CSSA), up from the current 60.

Those who are not yet 65 and already receiving CSSA payments will not be affected because of disability or ill health, but it will impact those who are about to turn 60, are down and out, and were hoping for more government subsidies.

Roy Kwong Chun-yu, the chairman of the Legislative Council's panel of welfare services, criticized the move, which will affect about 25,000 people.

The elderly rate is HK$3,485 (US$445) per month, while those who about to turn 60 will only get HK$2,455. This money is meant to cover basic expenses, which is barely enough as it is.

Some elderly prefer to try to earn money than get handouts

"Many have left the workplace after they turned 60 due to age or health problems," Kwong said. "But besides the elderly CSSA, other elderly welfare measures are for those 65 and above, leaving a gap in support for those aged 60 to 64."

He added only HK$100 million is needed to fund the current arrangement.

Does the government not care about these 25,000 people who will need this government subsidy? The monthly handout is so pathetic that you have to wonder why the age range has increased -- there are many poor elderly who are collecting cardboard because they are too proud to receive help from the government, and Hong Kong can afford to help these tens of thousands of people.

Or does Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's administration think these impoverished people are just going to go away?

Hong Kong Government Hypes White Elephant

It cost Hong Kong HK$84.4 billion to build this high-speed rail station

When I visited the Hong Kong West Kowloon Railway Station last weekend, it looked quite busy with a number of passengers wandering around, buying tickets, or checking in.

But according to figures from the MTR Corporation, the numbers are down for the second month in a row since it opened.

About 1.5 million passengers per month used the high speed rail between September 23 and November 22. That means the average daily passenger number was around 50,000, which is 38 percent less than MTR's estimate of 80,000.

It cost taxpayers HK$84.4 billion to build the much-hyped project, and before the opening, the government boasted the high-speed railway would be profitable from day one.

There are 38 percent fewer passengers coming through

Uh huh.

Today the MTR Corp claimed it would take some time for people to get used to the service, and the company was continually working to upgrade services.

"The MTR Corp has been using various sales strategies to reach out to different customer groups... including by offering more promotion and partnering with industry players to expand sales channels," the firm said.

Before the high speed railway opened on September 23, Hong Kong transport minister Frank Chan Fan was "pretty confident" the service would be profitable from the outset, saying it would not incur losses, based on official projections for passengers and "competitive" ticket prices.

He probably said that in the hopes of getting consumer confident about the service. It has been revealed the government is contractually bound to step in and absorb 70 percent of financial losses if the difference between projected and actual passenger numbers is more than 15 percent.

We taxpayers have to pay for the government's inability to more accurately forecast how many people are going to use the service? Wouldn't it be better to underestimate than over estimate?

Many Hong Kong people have complained about how inconvenient the routes are -- as the stations in the mainland are not located in central business district areas and instead near suburbs; they would rather fly or take the slower trains to get to the city centre.

The clean-up following Typhoon Mangkhut continues

There seems to be a pattern here -- when it comes to projecting the Hong Kong government's revenues, the finance minister is almost always way off the mark when delivering his budget. How can they get this wrong by several hundreds of millions of dollars?

And then the government doesn't prepare with how to deal with the aftermath of Super Typhoon Mangkhut. The government was great in insisting everyone stay at home and be prepared before the super typhoon came, but afterwards there is a lot of criticism for insufficient transport links for people to get to work, and the mess is still being cleaned up.

Now we have a giant infrastructure project that cost tens of billions of dollars, and it's not reaching the passenger numbers the government had in mind -- even expecting the high-speed rail to pay for itself on the first day of service!

Tall order...

Hong Kong officials are completely clueless about what is really happening in the city. They really need to get out of their ivory towers and experience what life is like for ordinary people. These civil servants seem completely out of touch with reality.

Scary, isn't it?

More Benefits for the Rich

Some of the top landlords own thousands of properties in Hong Kong

In this year's budget Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po tried to give more benefits to the middle class, and for the most part they were little concessions here and there, like waiving government rates that are paid quarterly.

He raised the waiver from a maximum of HK$1,000 per quarter in the last financial year to HK$2,500 per quarter for a full year.

Property owners can save up to HK$10,000 a year (whoo hoo!) on each flat, but it looks like the uber rich will have the last laugh because they not only own hundreds of properties, but thousands of them, saving millions of dollars from paying these government rates.

Paul Chan thought taxpayers would like the rates waivers

The top 10 landlords in Hong Kong own over 40,000 properties among them and so they will benefit from waivers worth HK$256 million (US$32.8 million) this financial year.

According to figures from the Financial Service and the Treasury Bureau on Monday, the top ratepayer alone was expected to receive a concession of HK$102. 6 million from the 15,645 rateable properties owned.

Can you imagine owning that many properties? You and your extended family never have to work, just collect rent and live very well for the rest of your lives.

Then the next nine ratepayers will save between HK$8.9 million to HK$23.3 million for the 1,258 to 5,038 properties they hold.

Democratic Party lawmaker James To Kun-sun believes the landlords are property developers, and the government is just helping them become even more rich.

But James To believes it's the developers who benefit the most

"It is utterly inappropriate to offer over HK$102 million to someone who owns over 15,000 units," he said. "That's returning the wealth to the wealthy."

He said properties owned by companies should be considered as investments and so they should not benefit from these rates concessions.

"These investors do not need help from the government... Why should the government benefit these big conglomerates," he said.

"Even if middle-class citizens use a company [they set up] to buy a flat for self-occupation, the rates waivers should only be limited to one unit."

Also, most tenants don't benefit from the rates waivers as their landlords usually paid them, which means these properties are for commercial use, not for private use.

So once again the government hasn't clearly thought out this rates waiver and done enough research to realize that the biggest benefactor are those who own thousands of flats, while those who are only allowed to own one (or can only afford one), the benefit is a small gesture.

The ones who really need help -- renters and first-time home buyers -- are shut out.

Where is the love?

HK$4K Windfall for Whom?

Financial Secretary Paul Chan has yet to clarify how people can get the cash

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has finally bowed to public pressure and will now be handing out HK$4,000 to 2.8 million people. The ones receiving this cash handout are those who did not benefit from tax rebates and increased allowances in the budget that was announced late last month.

It will be given to those who are permanent residents aged 18 years and above as of December 31 this year, who do not own property, do not receive any government allowances and will not pay income tax for the financial year ending March 31.

How about a more long-term approach to helping the poor?

However, it's not clear how people can get this money and how are they eligible. Lawmakers are criticizing Chan for not being clear on if people need to apply for this money, or government databases will have them on the list and they just have to wait for the handout.

Ng Wai-tung, a community organizer for the Society for Community Organization said, "The handout does not embody any new fiscal philosophy, but is a one-off measure to cope with the mounting pressure from the political parties."

He believes the scheme will benefit housewives, low-income employees and N-nothing people -- those who earn too much to qualify for subsidized housing or welfare assistance, but not enough to buy their own homes or benefit from tax breaks.

"If the government is devoted to using the fiscal surpluses wisely, why don't they come up with some long-term policies to support these people," Ng said.

What about helping those who think they can't afford a flat?

We have talked about this many times before -- how short-sighted the government is when it comes to long-term initiatives to help give a leg-up to those who are financially challenged, ranging from those who live on less than HK$100 a day to the N-nothing people.

Is the government so blind not to see the reality these people are going through? There are children going hungry daily, while many young people have given up any hope of buying a home here.

Surely the government has given more than enough assistance to the tycoons of this city? It's urgent to address those who are falling through the cracks. Yes, HK$4,000 would help these people immensely from paying off debts to saving a bit for a rainy day. But as many critics have said, this is a pathetic band-aid measure. More needs to be done. Now.