More Protests Coming Tomorrow

Parents will be out protesting with their children at Tamar in Admiralty

After embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor gave her apology on Tuesday, not everyone was satisfied and six student unions demanded she meet four of their stipulations by 5pm on Thursday otherwise things would escalate to the next level.

The demands were to withdraw the extradition bill, withdraw their characterization of last Wednesday's clashes as  a "riot", drop all charges against protesters and investigate cases of alleged police brutality.

Civil Human Rights Front holding a press conference today

However, the deadline of 5pm today came and went so now people are mobilizing for a silent and peaceful protest surrounding government headquarters at Tamar starting at 7am tomorrow.

Not only the students will be descending on Tamar, but also parents, the organizer of the previous mass protests, Civil Human Rights Front, lawmakers and the public.

There are also plans for actions of non-cooperation, such as picnicking outside the Legislative Council complex, the Chief Executive's Office, the police headquarters, or Government House, Lam's residence.

Protesters can also choose to strike, boycott classes or "pay attention to road safety when using public transport or driving", or those in the judiciary can follow up on filing cases of police brutality.

Meanwhile, some 20 members from 11 social groups and two lawmakers, Dr Kwok Ka-ki of the Civic Party and Labour Party's Dr Fernando Chung Chiu-hung, stood in the heat outside of the Chief Executive's Office and called on Lam to meet with the young protesters and answer to their demands.

Students gathered at Tamar at an earlier protest

They also urged her to prevent further clashes between the police and protesters.

Tomorrow may be another day filled with tension, frustration and hope. As one colleague pointed out, the system is broken, and the only way we can voice our opinion is by going out into the streets. The government has no choice but to listen to the people... right?

The Annual July 1 March

It took us over an hour and a half to walk out of Causeway Bay

Today is Canada Day and HKSAR day... the 21st anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland. The best way to celebrate? March in protest against the Hong Kong government!

When we arrived at Victoria Park from the Tin Hau MTR station, the football pitches were set up for a pro-Beijing Hong Kong Celebrations Association featuring a lion dance exhibition with many tents, but hardly anyone there. There was a joke that people were being paid to show up there.

Calls were made to free Liu Xia from house arrest

Meanwhile next to the pitches is a lawn area that wasn't full, but had a few thousand people already gathered. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was there -- in the form of a cardboard cut out, while other people held up banners for their specific causes. A significant one demanded that Liu Xia, the wife of Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo be freed from house arrest.

Almost as soon as we arrived, organizers encouraged us to leave at 3pm on the dot, walking towards Tin Hau and then turning right onto Hennessy Road. Getting out of Victoria Park was OK, and at the beginning we walked quite quickly.

But soon we came to a complete stop and crawled along Hennessy Road. In fact it took an hour and a half just to walk out of Causeway Bay and into Wan Chai. Weather-wise it was slightly overcast, with periodic breezes which was nice. For a few seconds some raindrops fell.

Carrie Lam made a flat appearance...

When we were near the shopping mall Hysan Place, we could actually feel the cold air from the air conditioning blasting from the mall! There were some policemen who posted themselves right by the mall entrance to benefit from the air conditioning...

Periodically someone on loud speakers would encourage marchers to chant slogans, but for the most part the street was lined with political parties and social groups soliciting for donations which got a bit too much.

We saw people like Lee Cheuk-yan of the Labour Party, League of Social Democrats' Lau Siu-lai who was ousted from the Legislative Council, and Joshua Wong Chi-fung of Demsisto give speeches and then less than an hour later we saw them again in Wan Chai. It wasn't just political parties, but every other cause under the sun, from human rights, to animal rights, saving Lantau, to recycling and stop shopping. Domestic helpers demanded more money and there was even a group supporting North Korean defectors.

The constant barrage of voices on microphones was nauseating, combined with the heat and having to walk slow wasn't much fun. We were also joined by the Falun Gong which was awkward.

Strangely the Falun Gong joined us with drums

We could hear a marching band behind us and it was a coordinated group of people in blue and yellow satin outfits, banging on drums and playing trumpets, clarinets and saxophones wearing white gloves. We didn't want to be associated with them, but they were marching at a good pace that made us jealous!

Nevertheless, by the time we got to Admiralty, things were looking up and we were walking at a good pace to the border with Central and then we turned right to make a loop towards Tamar. Here we were stopped so that cars could go by and behind me I could see lots of people waiting like us.

Organizers estimated around 50,000 people, lower than last year, but my friend YTSL begs to differ as she has marched every year in the last several years. She says definitively that this year there were many more people than last year, which organizers had said 60,000 people showed up.

So how could this year only be 50,000?! The police had the gall to say only 9,000 people marched.

When we reached Tamar, we were actually allowed to go into Civic Square, which was a strange sensation as it had always been locked up during then leader Leung Chun-ying's time. It was a bit of an anti-climax ending the march here and then having to wait for the rest of the marchers to come before a rally would be held.

I decided to leave early and went home, sweaty and tired, but happy to be counted with the discontented.

Word of the Day: Lang Qing

At lunchtime today and colleague was telling me about slang words he had learned from the media and asked me if I knew them.

Not being able to read Chinese or watch Chinese TV I didn't know what he was talking about.

One of the words he taught me was lang4 qing1 浪青.

He explained that in China there are young people who have jobs where they don't have much to do all day. Some try to act important and look like they are "working", but really aren't busy, partly because they don't need the money, or they are doing these time-wasting jobs to get the benefits. Many state-owned enterprise jobs are like this, or government positions.

As a result, talent and brain power of young people are wasted, which is why they are called langqing.

Fact of the Day: Over HK$16B in Cost Overruns

The Sha Tin to Central rail link is still being built and going to cost much more

Hong Kong's taxpayers are reeling from the total cost of the MTR rail link being built between Sha Tin and Central, as it will cost a whopping HK$87.32 billion, making it the most expensive in the city's history.

The 17 kilometre cross-harbour rail line is HK$16.5 billion above the original HK$70.82 billion budget, and when it's finally completed, it could cost more than HK$97 billion.

The link that will be shown later on the MTR map

An MTR Corporation source denied there was a miscalculation regarding the overrun, saying it was caused by numerous factors, including unfavourable ground conditions, and the requirement for additional work.

"Engineers are not God. They can't predict everything," the source said. "The complexity of the underground work is not something that can be fully controlled."

The unforeseen extra costs include preserving heritage sites uncovered near the new Sung Wong Toi station, labour shortages, poor ground conditions and design tweaks, like the need for more bridges and elevators.

Doesn't sound like the project was well thought out from the beginning...

Artifacts dug up added to unforeseen costs of the link

Jeremy Tam Man-ho of the Civic Party criticized the government for its failure to foresee that the city had insufficient manpower to handle its multiple ongoing large-scale infrastructure projects, resulting in surging labour costs as firms tried to lure workers.

This is what happens when bureaucrats have no clue of the economic pressures in Hong Kong and think throwing money at problems will solve them. When it's said and done, this 20-minute ride into town better be worth its weight in gold.

Property Tycoon Questions Migrant Worker Crackdown

Property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang questions why China uses hukou system

Property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang has been known for speaking his mind, and last year he got into trouble when he criticized Chinese President Xi Jinping's call for the media to show loyalty to the Communist Party.

He was back voicing his opinion on Wednesday, comparing China to North Korea over its rigid household registration system called hukou.

A migrant worker takes last look at where he lived in Beijing

At an annual conference of financial magazine Caijing in Beijing, Ren, 66, said the registration system was "adopted only by a limited number of countries, including China and North Korea", and that Beijing's ongoing eviction of migrant workers was a deluded way to solve the city's problems.

The government is currently getting rid of thousands of migrant workers in mostly the outskirts of the capital, either knocking on doors late at night and giving people 15 minutes to clear out all their stuff before demolishing their homes, or cutting off water and electricity as a sign to move on, just as the cold winter sets in.

The evictions are part of a campaign to address safety threats in the aftermath of a residential fire that killed 19 people last month.

Thousands of migrant workers evicted from Beijing

While the government may think this is an effective way to quickly get rid of people it doesn't want in the city, these migrant workers are crucial cheap labour doing menial jobs that need to be done. Most recently hundreds were evicted from an area near Beijing Capital International Airport where they work.

"The Beijing government once boasted that there was no family with housing problems in the city -- but it was only talking about locals," said Ren, the former chairman of Huayuan Property, a company owned by the Beijing government.

"The biggest problem with China's [housing] market adjustment and control policies is that they are illegitimate," he said.

Ren said there was no law giving the authorities the right to interfere in property prices, but in reality all local governments could cap these prices at a level they deemed appropriate.

A fire in Daxing prompted evictions of migrant workers

However, he added, land sales -- a key source of revenue for local governments -- were left alone, even though they were the main reason property prices had skyrocketed.

"If China doesn't solve the land problem and change the household registration system, all of its so-called long-term [market] mechanisms will be built on sand," he warned.

For years Ren has openly criticized the government's policies to control the property market and other political and social issues. He had 37 million followers on Weibo before his account was deleted in February last year when he questioned why the media should be loyal to the party when news outlets were funded by taxpayer money and so they should serve the public, not the party.

"When did the people's government turn into the party's government? [Are the media] funded by party membership dues?" he wrote at the time.

Following his comments, Ren came under attack by state media, and a news site linked to the Beijing municipal party committee declared he was spreading "anti-Communist Party" thought, and he represented capitalists who sought to topple the party's rule. He was then placed under a year's probation by the party in May and has kept a low profile -- until now.

Will he get in trouble for his criticism of the country's hukou system? Looks like so far so good...

Hong Kong's Growing Poor Population

Over 1 million people in Hong Kong live on or below the poverty line

Following yesterday's news that someone paid a mind-boggling HK$1.16 billion for two flats on The Peak, today's story is another whopping figure -- the number of poor in Hong Kong could be over 1 million next year, even after taking into account cash handouts from the government.

The Hong Kong Poverty Situation Report for 2016 was released a few days ago and showed that 1.35 million of the city's 7.35 million residents were living below the official poverty line. When taking into account cash handouts, the number drops to 996,000.

Law claims the government is doing its best for the poor

To determine who is poor, the authorities only look at income and not assets. The poverty line is decided at half the median monthly household income according to household size.

Last year the poverty line was set at HK$4,000 per month for a single person, HK$9,000 for a two-person household, and HK$15,000 for three people.

"If income rises quickly and the [increase in] inflation is slower than that of income, then the poverty gap becomes bigger," said Secretary for Labour and Welfare Dr Law Chi-kwong on two radio programs.

Also last year the Low-income Working Family Allowance Scheme was launched -- cash handouts for people living below or near the poverty line. They could get from HK$300 to HK$1,000 a month for adults, and HK$400 or HK$800 for children.

However, only 30,000 people benefited from the scheme.

Many of the poor are elderly with not enough savings

Last year the poverty figures were the highest since the city began measuring in 2009, with 7,000 more impoverished people than in 2015.

Law disagreed with criticism that the government made matters worse for the poor because there were more living near or below the poverty line despite the handouts.

"It's not that the government has not done more [to help], but that what it has done is not enough to close the gap," he said.

For someone who used to be with the Democratic Party and then quit in order to serve Carrie Lam's administration, this response is troubling. The government does not seem to realize that it's crucial to lift people out of poverty otherwise their numbers keep growing as we are seeing now.

The way to do that is to raise the minimum wage as Labour Party lawmaker Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung has suggested, as well as a non-means tested universal retirement scheme to help the elderly, as many of them are financially challenged due to inflation.

Some supplement their savings with collecting cardboard

Hong Kong is a very wealthy city, though the gap between the rich and the poor is widening so much that it's staggering how great the chasm is. And yet the government doesn't do enough to help the poor. Small amounts of handouts here and there are barely enough to feed people let alone help pay their rent.

There are a few who may own flats that are worth a lot, but if they sell, where are they going to move to? Or their place is so run down they can't afford to have it fixed up, so they are stuck in a dilemma too.

Decades ago, as long as one worked hard, they would be eventually pay their dues and be able to establish themselves. Nowadays working hard isn't enough to get ahead because of inflation and salaries remain stagnant.

Is the Hong Kong government really that blind to the situation? Piecemeal handouts are barely a band-aid solution to the issue. There needs to be a systematic way of accounting for every poor person in Hong Kong, figuring out their needs and finding an effective way to tackle them, be it low-income housing, social welfare, finding jobs or retraining.

The sooner this is done, the better, otherwise there are going to be many more people on or below the poverty line next year.

The Uphill Battle for Minimum Wage

Fighting for minimum wage in Hong Kong depends on the economic climate

The Hong Kong government wants to do something about poverty, and yet it still caves into the business sector.

Minimum wage was finally made law in July 2010 and enacted in May 2011 set at HK$28 per hour. The rate is reviewed every year, and there were some decent increases in the past years.

Hong Kong has over 150,000 employees on minimum wage

This year, the proposal is only to increase it by HK$2 to HK$34.50 an hour, far less than the HK$41 union representatives had been asking for.

Employer representatives had asked that the wages be frozen at HK$32.50 citing the challenging climate.

If Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and his cabinet approve the new wage increase, it will be in effect May next year and affect 154,500 employees in the city.

The raise is only 6.15 percent, compared to 8.3 percent last year and 7.14 percent in 2013.

Leung Chau-ting, a member of the Labour Advisory Board was disappointed with the low increase, saying it was not ideal for employees at all.

Many cleaners are in their 60s and not well educated

"When we agreed to the minimum wage when it was first enacted, we were willing to give in to a low rate because we understood employers needed time to accept it. But after five years, we, as labour representatives, still always seem to be in a weaker position in all the bargaining," Leung said.

This seems strange, considering labour -- ones in mostly in restaurants, delivery, fast food, convenience clerks, cleaners and such -- are in low supply, one would think their value would go up.

Why do the employers get the upper hand?

In the case of dish washers, things have really come to a head. Not only can restaurants not find someone to wash dishes, they won't even take the decent salary offered that is up to HK$20,000 per month -- higher than minimum wage.

Dish washers are in demand but no one wants to do it

It is a physically tough job, working in very hot conditions and pretty thankless really.

Is this a sign that Hong Kong's work force now expects job satisfaction? Or that the "ah sum" or middle-aged women, typically not well educated in their late 50s and 60s who would have done these jobs before are all employed or don't want that work?

Perhaps it's a sign of the times when restaurants now hire companies to wash dishes for them overnight and get the clean ones back in the morning...

More Drama on the Hustings

Are you clear on who you're going to go vote for on Sunday?

This year's Legislative Council elections are already shaping up to be a wild ride -- and we haven't even voted yet.

First of all the Election Commission barred six people from becoming candidates because of their pro-independence views.

Then Ken Chow Wing-kan of the Liberal Party claimed a higher force was threatening him and people close to him -- a force so strong that it is even more powerful than the Liaison Office or the triads.

He was so scared he fled Hong Kong and doesn't plan to come back from the UK until after September 4.

Five pan-democrat candidates have suspended their campaigns

Now we have five pan-democrats pulled out of the race in the hopes of consolidating the pan-democratic vote.

The five are: Paul Zimmerman, Kalvin Ho Kai-ming, Sumly Chan Yuen-sum, Chu Chi-kin, and Suzanne Wu Sui-shan.

It seems so strange -- and desperate -- to do it three days before the vote -- why couldn't they have coordinated among themselves earlier? Surely they would have known that the sheer number of political parties was going to further dilute the vote especially for democratic-leaning parties, compared to one big pro-Beijing one (the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong).

And also, on Sunday, their names will still be on the ballot, so stopping their campaign isn't going to really help the situation at all, but further confuse people about who they want to vote for.

The chain of events started when Labour Party chairwoman Wu, contesting the Kowloon East constituency, said she wanted to set an example for her pro-democratic allies to "focus on the whole picture".

Zimmerman and fellow independent Chu, who beat DAB lawmaker Christopher Chung Shu-kun, stopped electioneering.

"I hope you will all consider your vote for democrats who are almost in," said Zimmerman in a statement, suggesting his supporters switch to Demosisto candidate Nathan Law Kwun-chung.

Then when it came to the functional constituency, where voters can also choose one candidate, two others dropped out, Civic Party's Chan, who funded his own campaign, as the party initially opposed his electioneering, announced he would stop campaigning after he had canvassed the Central area.

"[We] urge voters to utilize their wisdom and ensure that the pan-democrats retain three super seats," said party chairman Alan Leong Kah-kit.

Ho of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood also quit the race for a super seat.

The latest poll figures show the pan-democrats could only win 11 seats in the geographical constituencies, which is down from 18 in 2012, meaning they could lose their veto power.

Perhaps it's an indication the public is tired of the pan-democrats' filibustering, which caused a major backlog of bills from being passed in a shorter period of time.

From an observer point of view, this latest twist to the otherwise already exciting race, is making it hard for all of us to catch up, but also who do we vote for?

What else is going to happen from Friday evening to Sunday morning?!

Remembering Harry Wu

Harry Wu was a tireless critic of China after he became an American citizen

I read in the International New York Times yesterday that human rights activist Harry Wu had died last Tuesday. He was 79.

Wu had a very compelling story -- at the age of 23 in Shanghai he was accused of criticizing the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956 and being insufficiently supportive of Mao Zedong's regime.

He was forced into hard labour in farms, mines and prison camps for 42 years and was released three years after Mao died.

A picture of Wu paraded on TV in 1995 after he was arrested

In 1985 Wu moved to the United States and after becoming an American citizen in 1994, he began exposing the laogai or "reform through labour" system. He compared them to the Soviet gulag and Nazi concentration camps, claiming hard labour caused the deaths of many political prisoners.

A year later he returned to China undercover many times to expose prison conditions as well as the sale of organs from executed inmates. He was originally sentenced to 15 years in prison, but thanks to pressure by human rights advocates and then First Lady Hillary Clinton, Wu was released after 66 days.

Soon after he was released, I was in Vancouver trying to bide my time as my Hong Kong employer applied for my work visa. To keep myself occupied, I tried to pitch the odd story and one of them was an opportunity to interview Wu.

I called long distance to ask my colleague if someone would be interested in the story and I could hear him relay the message to a senior editor.

One of two books Wu wrote about China

That editor said something to the effect that Wu was not a big deal -- that even he had Wu's number in his wallet and could call him at anytime.

I just remember my heart sinking, because I had thought it would have been a good story, and it was shot down as a silly notion.

Was it because Wu was overexposed in the media? Did he make comments that people considered were outrageous and over the top?

And so reading his obituary, I remember wanting to do a story on Wu, but was denied the opportunity. It's one of the few times I regret not being able to talk to him.

Wu may have been what journalists call a "media whore", for doing whatever it took to get press attention, but no one can deny that he made the world more aware of human rights violations that happened then and are still continuing in China.

Quote of the Day: Tung Chee-hwa

Tung Chee-hwa was "shocked" to hear a woman's housing plight - really?

Hong Kong elites are really out of touch with reality.

We have the Financial Secretary claiming that paying HK$12,000 a month for a dishwasher is outrageous, when in reality no one is willing to do this tough job and so the wage has to be that high or even higher.

And now we have our former chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa very surprised at how expensive housing is in Hong Kong.

Hello? Do we not live in the same city?

Grandpa Tung now runs Our Hong Kong Foundation, a think tank. And he said he was "shocked" when a woman told him she planned to buy a 170-square foot home for more than HK$3 million for her family of three.

"It was shocking to me -- a small flat to live in does have a negative effect on a person's dignity," he said, recalling the encounter with her when he was strolling around The Peak.

"I think people in Hong Kong are facing a difficult choice," he said. "Should we make sacrifices to have a more decent life?"

Uh yeah, but that's the reality of the situation.

These government officials (and former ones) are working for us, the taxpayers, and yet these bureaucrats are completely clueless about how difficult it is to buy a decent-sized flat.

They obviously don't visit the everyday man to see what challenges they are going through, let alone care.

And they wonder why the Umbrella Movement exploded impromptu last October?

Instead they are condescending towards young Hong Kong people, telling them to temper their rebelliousness, and that more Communist doctrine will keep them in line.

Being completely out of touch with what's really going on is going to be the Hong Kong government's downfall -- its arrogance and preference for the rich and powerful will further increase the wealth gap.

The government can very easily impose regulations on the minimum size of flats, or that developers must build a certain number of low-income flats, but it doesn't, citing Hong Kong is a capitalist society.

But we need more low-income housing for people. They need decent places to live in. Cramped quarters like what Tung said, is a detriment to one's psychological outlook.

For Tung to realize this now is sad and pathetic.

We need help now and fast.

Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Still out of Touch

John Tsang and Gregory So (right) attending the Wine and Dine Festival

Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah is at it again.

On his latest government blog post, he wrote in Chinese despairing that entrepreneurs in Hong Kong were hamstrung from making profits because they had to pay more money for low-skilled labour.

He wrote that workers like dishwashers were making HK$12,000 ($1,548) a month, but that put pressure on small and medium-sized businesses.

Tsang came up with this latest notion after visiting the Wine and Dine Festival which closes tonight at the Central harbourfront.

While he observed the city's low unemployment rate at 3.3 percent this quarter, and for all of last year at 3.4 percent indicated stable employment, but he expressed concern for small and medium-sized businesses in the dining, retail and recycling sectors.

"Hiring staff was their greatest difficulty," Tsang wrote. "A restaurant owner said he couldn't find anyone to do a dishwashing job in the city centre even if he offered HK$12,000 a month.

"The market has a huge demand for such low-skilled labour, causing a continuous rise in salaries for these jobs, and increasing the burden on entrepreneurs."

He warned that businesses could not survive the rising labour costs and the adverse economic situation could collapse, which would lead to an increase in unemployment and less spending power.

Uh, excuse me -- how about telling greedy landlords that they are charging so much rent that they are the ones who are killing these businesses?

It's not the labour costs -- this is the market rate for dishwashers because no one wants to do this job. It's hard work, having to stand in a hot room, cleaning dishes non stop. Oh maybe Tsang has never had to do the dishes in his life and doesn't understand how laborious it is.

Can he blame people for wanting to find less back-breaking work for almost the same salary?

Perhaps Tsang should wash dishes for that restaurant owner for a day to see what it's like, and maybe he'll appreciate why dishwashers have to be paid at least HK$12,000 a month.

Does he not understand that as Hong Kong becomes more of a service industry, particularly in hospitality, that we will need low-skilled workers in restaurants, hotels and retail outlets who can serve guests, prepare food, open doors, and clean up after them?

He is only hearing one side of the story, and not bothering to hear what workers in retail, hospitality and recycling have to say about the long hours they have to work and at times how tedious their job nature can be for little pay.

Can someone explain to me again why Tsang is our financial secretary?

More Falling Below Poverty Line

Hong Kong's working poor are barely making ends meet due to inflation

Oxfam Hong Kong has released a report saying the number of working poor families -- households living under the poverty line with at least one family member working -- has increased by 10 percent in five years to 190,000 families.

During this period another 18,100 families have fallen into poverty so that the total number of working poor households is 647,500, accounting for half of Hong Kong people living below the poverty line.

Meanwhile Hong Kong's richest 1 percent owned half the city's wealth last year.

Twenty-five richest people in the city amassed HK$1.513 trillion -- yes TRILLION -- which is incidentally more than the Hong Kong government's own reserves at HK$1.5 trillion.

"Since [the government] was supposedly dealing with the poverty issue in the past few years, the number should be on the decrease. To have a double-digit rise is quite a lot, and means that what we've done so far is not enough," said Oxfam program manager Wong Shek-hung.

Wong said this was because minimum wage was not high enough to meet people's basic needs as well as inflation, and that the mandatory provident fund was hardly enough, nor did it benefit employees.

From next year the government will hand out low-income family assistance to working poor families with children, but Wong said while it was welcome, it wasn't enough to adequately deal with the situation.

Associate professor of social work at Chinese University Wong Hung said the 10 percent increase was an obvious surge and evidence that Hong Kong had changed. He noted that having a job did not necessarily mean a person let alone a family could make enough to cover basic needs.

"In the past five years, our economy hasn't been bad and the unemployment rate has been low, but the jobs available do not pay well, and there is low labour protection," he said. "Most are contract or part-time jobs. This explains why there are more working poor."

Of the number of working poor, only 7.5 percent are on welfare, called Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA), while 53.6 percent live on a monthly income of less than the average welfare payment.

Some people do not qualify for CSSA because their income may be a bit more than the requirement, or some are too proud to take handouts.

There are around 1.34 million Hong Kong people who live below the poverty line. While Leung Chun-ying's administration has finally tackled the issue of defining poverty line, how about actually doing something to help these people? They are going to fall further behind, especially the children when it comes to education and opportunities for them to learn.

Everyone deserves a chance at a decent education, and that also means good health so decent food to eat too. There are NGOs who are trying to fill in the gaps, but really, with a government so rich, and 1 percent of the population outrageously wealthy, how can nothing be done for those who need help the most?

10 Chinese Cities to Watch

Of all the Chinese cities, Chengdu is considered to have a booming economy

It's interesting to discover Chengdu is considered to have the most successful economy in China, according to a US-based think tank, considering such factors as job growth, foreign investment and high value-added industries.

Shanghai and Tianjin were second and third respectively, while the Chinese capital was 13th in the Milken Institute study.

Shanghai is in second place in the Milken Institute study

Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province was praised for its "human capital, central government support, established industries in high-end aerospace and aircraft design, and a more recently developed electronics manufacturing sector".

The study said mainland cities were developing in two ways: For Shanghai and Tianjin it is about urbanization, industrial clustering and infrastructure investment bolstering larger regional economies.

The other way, due to the slowdown in economic growth, was the focus on technology, private investment and consumption.

This is the first time the institute has ranked mainland cities, assessing 266 at the prefecture level and above, and divided them into two categories -- 34 first and second-tier cities, and the rest as third-tier cities.

Tianjin comes in third with lots of potential for growth

The study didn't just look at economic growth, but also job and wage growth, gross regional production, foreign direct investment and the strength of high value-added industries.

Chengdu may have done well in the study due to having several respected universities and has lower labour costs.

Interestingly Shenzhen just made number 10 on the list, and seven of the top 10 third-tier cities were in Jiangsu province, which has a strong transportation network of airports, highways and high-speed rail links.

The top 10 cities are:

1. Chengdu

2. Shanghai

3. Tianjin

4. Dalian

5. Nanjing

6. Hefei

7. Xiamen

8. Changchun

9. Chongqing

10. Shenzhen

There should be lots of information to be gleaned from this study and potential investors and entrepreneurs should take note.

Generational Divide

Many fresh graduates have high hopes, then see the reality of the job market

Government figures show that fresh graduates in Hong Kong are only earning HK$1,800 more than those who finished tertiary education 20 years ago. That means today's university graduates aged 20-24 are earning a median income of HK$10,800 ($1,393) in 2014 compared to HK$9,000 in 1994.

Data from the Census and Statistics Department show a 20 percent rise in median income, which compares to a 45 percent increase in the Composite Consumer Price Index, 75 percent in tuition fees, and nearly triple of property prices.

Simon Lee Siu-po, assistant dean of undergraduate studies at Chinese University's Business School says employers could be less willing to make attractive job offers because he believes there are so many more university graduates each year.

All families want their children to do better than the previous generation, and many believe education is the way out. However the sheer numbers of graduates each year means a flood in the labour market, thus lowering the value of a university degree.

Some employers prefer to hire graduates from the mainland

Lee then took a dig at young people today, saying, "Youngsters nowadays, compared to the last generation, are less skillful and are reluctant to learn. Many employers are disappointed by the young generation."

He even went so far as to say employers would rather hire mainland graduates because their English and Putonghua skills were much better than locals.

Ouch.

This touched of a maelstrom of comments, at first illustrating how wages have not kept up with inflation at all, but also how it was practically impossible for young people to save with salaries that are so low.

Then the issue of young people not as hardworking as the previous generation is a perennial comment older people like to say. While many of us may have come across students or young people we don't think are as diligent as they should be, there are many others who maybe putting in more hours than we know of.

Nevertheless, many employers are frustrated that a lot of young people believe they are not being paid what they are worth and so they decide their own work output. It's an interesting perspective that employers haven't encountered before, but it is kind of a chicken-and-egg conundrum -- bosses don't think they can give pay raises unless the employee can demonstrate their worthiness, while employees think, pay me better and then I'll do more work.

But perhaps the last problem of employers looking to expand overseas are choosing to hire more mainland graduates than local ones hits a sensitive spot, particularly with the Occupy movement last year, as well as nativism that is ongoing.

Part of the problem is that students have been screwed around by the Education Department, using them as guinea pigs to see which language is the best medium of instruction. Before 1997 it was English, and then it was Cantonese and now it's becoming more Putonghua in the classroom.

If you keep changing the regulations, students get very confused and don't really learn much of anything effectively. Is it surprising that this has impacted graduates' skill sets to help them land a job?

I would hazard to guess that the majority of fresh graduates are keen to make a good start on their careers, and like us before, will find it's not that easy to find a job, or discover there's no such thing as a dream job.

They just want to be given a chance to prove themselves and from there it's how determined they are to make something of their lives and to contribute to society.

Granted the economy is slow these days, we should at least give young people the opportunity to demonstrate their Lion Rock spirit. They may not have the exact skills needed, but if they have the right attitude, then why not give them a chance? They are our future, the city's future.

Will There be Justice?

DSC boss Hui Ming-shun returned to Hong Kong was arrested yesterday

We are glad to hear the boss of defunct furniture and home electronics retailer DSC and his wife were arrested yesterday from arriving from Macau, a week after they disappeared. They conveniently covered themselves up with face masks, baseball caps and hoods.

One wonders what they were doing in Macau -- perhaps trying to double down to win back more money?

Hui Ming-shun, 61, and his wife and co-founder Lin Wai-yin, 55, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and still remain in police custody.

Meanwhile the staff are still waiting for their unpaid salaries and marched to Hong Kong government headquarters at Tamar to demand the authorities speed up the process of getting their money.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung came out to speak to the 70 or so DSC employees, but he didn't give them much good news.

"This morning we contacted the lawyer of Mr Hui to demand him to sign a declaration of insolvency and to determine as soon as possible the amount of money he owed to his employees," Cheung said.

"Once we receive Mr Hui's declaration, the Labour Department will help the employees to apply for legal aid to petition to wind up the company."

What happens if Hui doesn't care to declare bankruptcy? Does that mean he doesn't have to pay the staff what they are entitled to?

In the meantime the government says it will start determining how much money each employee is entitled to receive from the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund, with a maximum of HK$289,000 per person.

It seems Hui and Lin owe some HK$10 million in wages, and another HK$10 million to landlords and suppliers. They recently sold their Kowloon Tong flat, but who knows what other debts they have, or if they have squirreled their money away elsewhere.

The Labour Tribunal hearing on this case will be on August 21. It will be interesting to hear what Hui has to say in his defense...

An Unfortunate End

There were 14 DSC stores in Hong Kong, selling furniture and home ware

The police, customs and labour officers are all investigating what happened to the demise of DSC, that sold furniture and electronic products from washing machines to televisions.

It closed down as of Monday morning when hundreds of staff arrived at work to find all 14 shops in Hong Kong were shuttered.

Not only are the staff out of work, but there are at least 348 customers who still haven't received the items they ordered.

There is no sign of where Hui Ming-shun (left) has gone

It also turns out the owner of DSC, Hui Ming-shun sold his home in Kowloon Tong a few months ago and could not be reached. He owes the staff one month's pay as well as severance pay.

In addition, there were signs that DSC, or Direct Sales Centre was in financial trouble, as the retailer had been sued by landlords for unpaid rents totalling about HK$3.3 million.

The Labour Department is figuring out if it can criminally prosecute Hui for not paying staff their finally pay cheque and severance, but one employee said that even though DSC comprised of some 900 staff, only 200 to 300 of them were permanent employees; the rest, like delivery workers, were hired by contractors and did receive their July pay.

This is too bad, as when I arrived in Hong Kong over five years ago, I furnished my tiny flat in Sheung Wan with furniture from DSC.

A friend had recommended I go check it out, and compared to Ikea, DSC offered many more options and styles that seemed more solid in construction, and pretty good service.

Notices posted on Monday said DSC stores were shuttered

My round wooden dining table for four people was only a few hundred dollars complete with chairs, while a mattress could be customized to fit the tiny one-bedroom space I had. The closet too was the right size and price, as well as a decent cushion stool.

From purchasing these items, I was invited to pick up some free items, such as a cutlery set and power bar.

It was annoying at the time to find out there were different delivery dates for different items, but the guy who came in to build my closet did so in less than 30 minutes. That to me epitomized Hong Kong.

But now hard economic times have also come to epitomize the city.

It's frustrating to hear shops going out of business, employees being laid off and people struggling to make ends meet.

We don't know the full story behind the demise of DSC yet, but we wish the laid off employees find themselves back on their feet soon.

Migrant Labour Crossroads

Young people in rural areas are lured into factories hoping for good pay

When I lived in Beijing from 2007-2010, there was a lot of work for people with little education -- restaurants, factories, security guards, retail. But there didn't seem to be enough work for educated people.

Millions of graduates out of universities were keen to start their careers and wean themselves off of their parents, only to find their wages hardly matched their expectations. They were soon ground down psychologically and for some physically by the monotony of their work. Many were depressed to find they were a tiny cog in a massive machine that kept churning mindlessly in one direction.

When I first arrived in the Chinese capital, my boss enthusiastically said China's economy would continue to boom for sometime because there was a limitless supply of migrant workers from the countryside who would be lured to the city to work.

Many migrant workers find it hard to move up in society

They really are the ones doing the mundane work. There is a steep learning curve in the beginning, not only in how to do their job, but adjusting to city life and hoping not to be taken advantage of. But once they understand the lay of the land and where they fit in society (near the bottom), it's a near impossible climb up.

My boss' prediction was completely false as I predicted, and these days fewer migrants are taking the gamble of moving to the cities. The good thing for them is that factory wages have increased significantly in the last few years, but can migrant workers keep up with factory work becoming less labour intensive and more mechanized?

Do they have enough education to keep up with labour demands?

Development economist Scott Rozelle at Stanford is concerned about this issue.

He and other co-authors have written a paper and found that China does not have a very well educated workforce. From analyzing census data, Rozelle found far fewer migrant workers completed secondary education, contrary to Ministry of Education official figures.

One of the reasons they may be dropping out of school is because the lure of getting a relatively high-paying job, and also many kids of migrant parents living in cities are unable to get a decent education because of hukou or residency permit issues.

Development economist Scott Rozelle

As a result the next generation of migrant workers are going to miss out on job opportunities because there will be a demand for more educated workers.

The paper says:

Wages are rising and low-wage manufacturing is moving out. China is already making plans to become an economy that will be based on higher value-added, high-wage industries. This will mean, of course, that there will be a high demand for skilled labour. International experience demonstrates that individuals will need to have to have acquired skills taught at the level of high school or above if they hope to be competitive in these higher value-added industries. If China fails to endow its labour force with such skills, not only will many individuals have a difficult time finding employment, the newly emerging industries may also falter from a short supply of skilled labour. The whole economy may experience slower development.

This may not be a prediction China's leaders want to come true, but they have not done anything to help migrant workers and their families get a leg-up on society through education and other social benefits.

The authorities seem to purposely keep this segment of the population at the bottom rung of the ladder, thinking China always needs to have cheap labour. They close down schools for migrant children and because of hukou issues, they cannot go to the same schools as Beijing residents, thus creating an even greater social and economic divide.

But if Beijing wants the economy to develop, then its people need to have the right tools to progress along with it. And if migrant workers are left behind in the next step of China's economic development, there will be lots of unhappy people who could spark civil unrest -- the last thing senior officials want to hear.

So why not give migrant workers a chance? It's a win-win situation.

The MTR's Domino Effect

Seems like the MTR's expansion projects are spiraling out of control

The MTR is in everyone's bad books now.

First it was the delay of the high-speed line to Shenzhen and Guangzhou, then the Sha Tin to Central link, next the extension of the Kwun Tong Line, then the South Island Line and now they are saying on the West Island Line too.

Officials are saying the Sai Ying Pun station is having problems and may not meet the December opening. Apparently there are problems with one of the exits and so the entire line will be delayed until the first quarter of next year or temporarily omit the stop.

The latest development has critics wondering if the MTR has bitten off more than it can handle, and then on top of that, the chronic labour shortage and unpredictable weather that apparently caused some of these delays in the first place.

For most people it's about the bottom line -- how much more are these large infrastructure projects going to cost and who's going to have to pay for it? But more importantly how much longer do we have to wait for these lines to fully open?

The construction of at least three apartment complexes are being built now in Kennedy Town and two in particular are banking on the MTR opening by the end of the year. Already the buses are heaving during the morning rush hour. How can they handle several thousand more residents in six months or less?

MTR officials claim they know what they're doing, but with this domino effect on these five projects, it seems like things are unravelling... Interestingly not a peep from MTR CEO Jay Walder these days...

Singapore's Talent Flow Concept

Could Hong Kong have mainlanders shuttling into the city daily to work?

A Singaporean has come up with a way for Hong Kong to solve its labour woes and housing shortage -- allow workers from the Pearl River Delta to commute to the city to work.

The brilliant plan comes from Paul Cheung, who was director of population planning in Singapore from 1986 to 1996. This is what the Lion City does at the moment -- 150,000 workers commute daily from Malaysia.

He says this idea is doable since transport links between cities in the Pearl River Delta region will be even better in 30 years.

"Importing labour is a very outdated concept, especially for Hong Kong. It should look at it as talent flow across the Pearl River Delta region," Cheung said.

"The core problem for Hong Kong is urban pressure. If the city adopts the flow concept, the loading on Hong Kong will be less," he added.

The Hong Kong government had planned to import more overseas workers to beef up the labour force which is expected to contract in 2018.

Cheung also gives the example of when he worked in New York as director of the United Nations Statistics Division, he said some workers commuted from the neighbouring state of Connecticut to Manhattan.

"There is no travel restriction between New York and Connecticut. People in Connecticut now can freely move to New York and work there and move back in the evening. The same can be true for Zhuhai and Shenzhen down the road," he said.

He is obviously unaware of the rising tensions in Hong Kong between locals and mainlanders. If they did cross the border to work in Hong Kong everyday, how would they be able to integrate?

While the majority of those living in the Pearl River Delta already speak Cantonese, there are so many cultural issues between Hong Kong and mainlanders that even trying to iron them out in a rational way would be overwhelming.

Cheung seems to have a simplistic view of the situation, just looking at it from a numbers point of view. Workers commuting between Connecticut and Manhattan is different from those crossing the border from Shenzhen or Zhuhai to Hong Kong to work.

Nevertheless he made an interesting observation after reading Hong Kong's consultation report.

"I don't get a good sense of what Hong Kong will be like 30 years down the road. There is no vision for the urban environment of Hong Kong, the liveability... as a home. It focuses only on... 'human capital' but ignores... other key issues, like pensions and elderly housing."

At least Cheung has that right.