Stocked Public Fridges for the Poor

A public fridge where people can freely take what they need 

More and more people are starving in Hong Kong thanks to the coronavirus pandemic that has forced them to lose their jobs and businesses and scrounge for food.

Wong Wai-kit tried to help some by giving them his takeaway meal.

"I tried not to make them feel they were a bunch of poor and miserable people waiting for my almsgiving. They had their dignity," said Wong, 40, who has founded several social enterprises that help the underprivileged and unemployed.

He came up with the idea in August of setting up stocked-up fridges in various public locations for anyone in need, for free.

The growing number of poor rises each year

The "Gift n Take" fridge project began in places like Dragon Centre shopping centre in Sham Shui Po and Eaton HK hotel in Jordan. A group of 20 volunteers fill the fridges every two to three days with dry food and provisions donated by NGOs, individuals and retail outlets.

As soon as the project started the fridges were cleaned out as fast as the volunteers could fill them, and now there are fridges in 40 locations across Hong Kong, including restaurants, schools, shopping centres and retail stores.

"I noticed a rising number of people who suddenly lost their livelihoods because of the tough social-distancing curbs. They feel helpless without anyone to turn to," Wong said.

"I hope to let them know people do care and are willing to help."

He has also helped some people find part-time work.

Charities and NGOs are seeing a spike in people looking for free meals, including young people.

In 2020, 19,438 people sought help getting food, a 48 percent increase from 13,142 in 2019. The number rose to 21,987 last year.

One of Wong's partners is Martin China Ka-shun, founder of social enterprise Amity, which distributes provisions to the poor in Sheung Shui, including those staying in sub-divided flats and elderly people living alone.

A public fridge can be found at Eaton HK hotel

"Most don't want to apply for social welfare or support from food banks as the application takes at least eight weeks," he said. 

"They don't have the money to pay for food, so we hope to help them survive this difficult period."

Fifty-eight-year-old Tong Shing-choi lost his job as a casual cleaner and delivery worker in late January when the companies he worked for temporarily closed.

Divorced and living alone in Mongkok in a sub-divided room that costs HK$2,700 (US$344.83) a month in rent, Tong said he had to borrow money from friends to get by. For him the fridge project, along with meal coupons he received from NGOs have made him less miserable about his situation.

"I rely on free meals from a charity group for survival. I got to the fridge from time to time for some canned food, cakes and instant noodles to fill my stomach, but I don't want to ask for more as I feel ashamed," he said.

Tong said he didn't want to apply for welfare help, as he hoped he could get another job again.

"I really feel gloomy and depressed, but help from Brother Kit [Wong] and other NGOs let me know that at least I don't need to worry about my daily meals."

Where is Lam's compassion for those in need?

Thank goodness for these NGOs and social enterprises for stepping up and helping those who were living pay cheque to pay cheque and now the pandemic has made their lives a daily struggle for survival.

Meanwhile what is the government doing to help these people? They did not become poor out of choice - it's up to the authorities to give them the help they need. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has a background in social work and yet has no compassion for these people, whose population is growing by the day.

If Hong Kong is going to pull out of this pandemic -- and Lam will drag the city out if she has to -- she needs to also make sure people are not starving to death before then.

Have we really reverted to the real meaning of 吃饭了没有？

By the way the number of cases has gone down to below 8,000 at 7,860 today and 168 deaths, of which 143 are new, 25 backlogged.

Children in Poverty are Stressed and Tired

A sister looks after her younger sibling in a cramped flat

It is heartbreaking to read a report that in some impoverished families in Hong Kong, children help supplement their parents' income by collecting cardboard and other paper, or cannot go out and play because they need to look after younger siblings and do housework.

One 15-year old spends an hour a day finding discarded cardboard in Sham Shui Po so that he can earn HK$25 (US$3.20) a week for 5kg.

He also prepares lunch for his 10-year-old sister and tutors her, as his mother, a 39-year-old divorced cleaner is too busy working.

Impoverished families usually have single parents

"When I think of how hard my mother works, I think it's all right to help out a bit," said the secondary three student. 

"There are people who ask, 'Why are you gathering cardboard at such a young age?' I think it's OK to help my mother when she earns so little."

According to the Hong Kong government's Poverty Situation Report, there were 274,900 children under the age of 18 living in poverty.

The city's poverty rate is 23.6 percent, or 1.65 million people, a 12-year high.

An individual whose income is lHK$4,400 or less per month or a family of three with a total income of HK$16,000 or less is considered poor by the government.

A survey by the Society for Community Organisation (SoCO) between June 2020 and September this year found 80 percent of 201 poor children between the ages of three and 17 had to do housework or look after their family members.

Children are usually too tired to do homework

Nearly one-third spent more than eight hours a week helping at home, and nearly a fifth more than 16 hours a week. Their parents were either at work, ill, or had to return to the mainland to renew their visas.

Fifty-seven percent of children took care of family members, including bathing or feeding them, and nearly one in 10 sold waste paper and cardboard to help their families make ends meet.

As a result of doing so much housework and looking after family members, the children felt exhausted, helpless or stressed, and had attention issues and muscle aches. They also didn't have enough rest, or lacked time or energy to play and meet with friends.

"We sometimes see these children quitting school because they have to make money for their families, or they are absent from our [extracurricular] classes because they have to cook for their younger siblings or take care of sick family members," said SoCO deputy director Sze Lai-shan.

Does the government not care for these children? Why squabble over the definition of poverty and help them instead?

Some children collect cardboard for extra money

They deserve to at least have time to do their homework, and play with friends as a bit of stress relief. 

With hardly any pan-democrats like Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung and Leung Kwok-hung in the Legislative Council to shed attention on grassroots social issues like these, it's not surprising the government isn't interesting... though almost 275,000 children who are poor cannot be swept under the carpet either.

Hong Kong cannot afford to have children suffering from the yawning wealth gap when the city is so rich. 

Hong Kong Fudges Poverty Numbers

A record 1.65 million people are in poverty in Hong Kong

Hong Kong has a record 1.65 million people living in poverty in 2020, since the government kept records 12 years ago. The latest number was released in its annual Poverty Situation Report released today.

That's over one in five Hongkongers live on HK$4,400 a month or less, or a three-person family at HK$16,000 or less. 

Govt says handouts made poverty stats smaller

However, instead of being concerned about the situation, the government preferred instead to add that it has given residents lots of subsidies and handouts so the actual number of people in poverty is 554,000, at just 7.9 percent of the population, better than the 9.2 percent recorded in 2019.

Huh?

In its tally, because the government gave several cash handouts and public housing, the people who fit its definition of "poverty" is actually less than 1.65 million.

But campaigners and experts say the numbers are too high, masking the reality of how the coronavirus pandemic has financially impacted not only individuals but families as well.

"Poor people have been hit the hardest during the year of the pandemic, from job losses to underemployment and homelessness. The government must not turn a blind eye to the serious findings in its own report," said Sze Lai-shan, of the Society for Community Organization (SoCO).

Sze says poor hit hardest during pandemic

In 2020, the government gave out HK$316.4 billion (US$40.6 billion) in four rounds of subsidies from its anti-epidemic fund to support businesses from closing due to strict social-distancing rules, as many of them had to shut for months.

But unemployment soared to a 16-year high of 6.6 percent in the final quarter of the year, with some 245,800 people out of work during the fourth wave of the pandemic.

Wednesday's report saw Hong Kong's poverty-stricken population rise from 1.49 million to 1.65 million in one year. 

While the government claimed in the report that its interventions helped prevent an even sharper poverty rate, SoCO's Sze said last year's mass unemployment was a direct result of the government's tough policy on social distancing, and that relief measures fell short of supporting those most in need. For example, relief measures for businesses did not trickle down to employees.

What will Xia think of the poverty report?

One wonders what Xia Baolong thinks of this report and if he believes it. The director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office has singled out poverty and wealth inequality as deep-rooted issues that need to be tackled by the next leader.

He and his staff have done several home visits, so they have seen on the ground how some of Hong Kong's down-and-out live -- and those are the ones with roofs over their heads. Has Bao seen the homeless people living on the streets and asked them how they are doing?

Meanwhile at the other end of the spectrum, it was reported today one buyer bought two luxury flats on The Peak for a record HK$1.2 billion (US$154 million). The two flats next to each other are at Mount Nicholson, at HK$134,000 per sq ft and HK$140,800 per sq ft.

How will the next leader resolve this is anyone's guess. 

HK Govt Blames Protests for High Poverty Rate

Law Chi-kwong says the poverty rate is lower than reported

 

Yesterday the government said Hong Kong's poverty rate reached a record high last year, and the protesters were to blame.

In its annual poverty report, the government said 21.4 percent of residents were considered poor last year, up one percentage point from the year before. It said 1.49 million of Hong Kong's total population of 7.52 million were under the poverty line -- which is calculated at 50 percent of the median monthly household income before government allowances and subsidies.

The median monthly household income in 2019 was HK$28,900, which is difficult for a family to live on, and half that at HK$14,450, even worse.

Govt report says 1.49m are below the poverty line

Nevertheless, the government had the gall to blame the situation of the poor on the anti-government protests last year and the trade war between China and the United States, saying the "double whammy" caused the SAR's first economic recession in a decade.

"The unrest caused severe disruptions and battered sectors related to consumption and tourism that involved substantial lower-skilled jobs. Grassroots families were particularly hard-hit," it said, adding that the labour market worsened in the second half of 2019.

How can the government blame poverty on the protesters, when it was the government that came up with the extradition bill in the first place and refused to listen to 2 million people protesting against it that caused the months-long protests that rocked the city? 

And in any event, why does the government even allow employers to pay its workers such low wages to start with? It is the government itself that does not value these grassroots families to start with.

Perhaps after receiving a lot of heat for this weak explanation of why there are so many people in Hong Kong, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong hit back, and began interpreting the numbers differently.

On a radio show today he claimed it was wrong to extrapolate there were 21.4 percent of people living below the poverty line in Hong Kong, based on the report his administration published.

Critics say report only tells half the story

"It doesn't tell us how many people are actually living below the poverty line. It tells us how many people would be living in poverty if the government does nothing at all," Law said.

He explained that after factoring in various social security allowances and government relief subsidies, the poverty rate was only 9.2 percent, or 640,000 people. That meant the so-called post-intervention poverty rate marginally improved by 0.1 percentage points from 9.3 percent in 2018, he said.

Law added the efficiency of the government's social welfare programs helped 850,000 residents out of poverty through Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, and Old Age Living Allowance.

However, in many cases the government makes it very difficult to be eligible for CSSA, and the allowance for seniors is a very small sum each month, less than HK$1,500.

Ng Wai-tung, community organizer for the Society for Community Organization, said the welfare chief's analysis also did not reflect the whole picture.

"It's only half correct," Ng said. "On the one hand, it reflects the scale of low-income groups before any government assistance, but on the other hand, it underestimates the harsh reality that so many people are not even earning enough to make ends meet."

White elephant projects like Kai Tak waste money

Perhaps one thing Law and Ng can agree on is that the poverty rate could climb higher next year due to the coronavirus pandemic that greatly impacted areas such as tourism, hospitality, retail and construction.

Law said the government has already rolled out multiple poverty-alleviation schemes this year.

While the effort is appreciated, the government's investment in the poor is pittance compared to how much it throws into white elephant projects like the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, and Disneyland.

If the government put more effort into really helping the poor, it would benefit Hong Kong's economy even more. Social mobility is what makes an economy stronger and gives hope to people.

But it seems the Lam administration is keen on blaming others for high poverty rates, when it is those in the position in power who have caused this problem of inequality in the first place.

 

China's Rich Get Even Richer

The poor might be less poor, but still not catching up to the rich

A quick follow-up to yesterday's blog post about Ted Hui Chi-fung's financial predicament -- suddenly -- on a Sunday -- HSBC unfroze his bank account and that of his family and the latest report is that they have moved their money elsewhere.

However, as many have pointed out on social media, the trust in the bank has broken, making them wonder how safe their money is.

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China announced late last month that it has eradicated extreme poverty, a goal President Xi Jinping had pledged in 2015, to complete this year.

832 counties are not in extreme poverty anymore

He made it in the nick of time on November 23, with the 832 counties that were identified as extremely poor are not in dire straits.

However, Caixin reports this does not mean these counties are completely poverty-free. 

"Because the policies are based on raising average incomes, the results often smooth over the circumstances of individual families or communities that continue to live in penury."

Meanwhile on the other end of the spectrum, China's rich have gotten much richer thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, according to lists compiled by Forbes and Hurun Report.

"The world has never seen wealth created at this speed before," said Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of Hurun Report that tracks China's richest.

Nongfu owner Zhong is US$52billion richer

Forbes reports China's 400 richest people now have a total wealth of US$2.11 trillion, a 64 percent surge from US$1.29 trillion last year.

By comparison, America's 400 richest are now worth US$3.2 trillion, only 8.2 percent more than a year ago, according to Forbes numbers.

How China's rich became many times more richer is thanks to IPOs and stock market jumps. Other factors are post-epidemic economic recovery, and fast-booming digital and technology industries. 

One company that profited from its IPO is Nongfu, the water bottle brand. When it went public in Hong Kong in September, founder Zhong Shanhan became US$52 billion richer, which made him the third richest in the country.

The pandemic resulted in a surge in sales in the e-commerce and healthcare industries. Wang Xing, founder of food delivery company Meituan, quadrupled his wealth to US$25 billion. 

Meanwhile Chongqing-based vaccine producer Zhifei saw the wealth of its chairman Jiang Rensheng almost triple, after Chinese regulators approved human trials of the company's Covid-19 vaccine.

Li of Winner Medical prospered during pandemic

And Li Jianquan, the head of Winner Medical that makes PPE and face masks, saw his wealth grow a staggering 11-fold to US$5.6 billion.

Not only those areas are doing well, but also the automotive industry, such as electric vehicles and autonomous driving companies.

Electric vehicle or EV startup Xpeng's IPO in New York this summer helped its founder He Xiaopeng grow his wealth by 80 percent to US$6.6 billion.

And China's biggest lithium battery producer CATL's head, Zeng Yuqun, tripled his wealth to US$17.6 billion this year.

So while Xi met his goal to lift 832 counties out of extreme poverty, that doesn't mean the wealth gap has narrowed significantly...

Carrie Lam is Like a Broken Record

Carrie Lam (with an new hairdo) hoping for a better 2020 for Hong Kong

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has observed 2019 was a tough year and hopes to restore order and harmony in the new year in a three-minute video the government released on New Year's Eve.

Protesters battled tear gas, pepper spray and violence in 2019

"In 2019, we experienced challenges not seen before. The unrest triggered by the introduction of the extradition bill has lasted more than six months," she said. "We all want to see an end to this predicament. This situation has caused sadness, anxiety, disappointment and even rage.

"As chief executive, I will not shy away from my responsibilities. I will listen humbly to find a way out," she said, adding the government will handle the problems at hand and acknowledge the shortcomings in the system as well as deep-rooted conflicts in society.

"I will listen humbly to find a way out," says Chief Exec. Carrie Lam in a New Year's message alongside top officials. "We can begin again together."#HongKong has been rocked by over six months of protest, with a fresh rally set for January 1. https://t.co/kmLJLFCnSX #2020 #NYE pic.twitter.com/siFsYwj8Pq

— Hong Kong Free Press (@HongKongFP) December 31, 2019

 

The video includes footage of protest marches, some damaged street signs and walls with graffiti, but not violent confrontations between protesters and the police.

She ends by saying: "I believe we can once again overcome our current challenges and rebuild Hong Kong. Let's start 2020 with a new resolution to restore order and harmony in society," Lam said.

Did she seriously procrastinate until the last day of 2019 to again pledge to find a solution to the political crisis that has plagued the city for seven months?

Millions of people came out to protest the extradition bill

It just demonstrates how Lam still has no brilliant ideas to break the impasse in this political crisis that has seriously impacted the city's economy.

Also featured in the video are financial secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, Law Chi-kwong, secretary for labour and welfare, and Frank Chan Fan, secretary for transport and housing.

Law pledges the government will "substantially improve" the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) and Working Family Allowance Schemes without many details, while Frank Chan says his department is working hard to find land to boost land supply and reduce the time it takes to build houses.

The latter promise is a broken record we have heard over and over... there have been so many suggestions to use brownfield sites to redevelop, and forcing developers to help build social housing. What are they waiting for? And ways to build homes faster? Architects and designers have already created various pre-fabricated homes... why aren't these tried out yet? Or at least engage these experts and pick their brains on creative housing solutions?

Will the government really help the poor this time?

And what is Law's pledge of an improved CSSA? They are typically pathetic handouts that are difficult to qualify for and the financial amounts aren't very much to live on considering Hong Kong is such a wealthy city (and expensive to live in).

When the government finally acknowledges that most people in Hong Kong want political reforms and establish an independent inquiry then we can really begin to mend the massive rift. Otherwise protests will continue for sure in 2020...

Review: Parasite

South Korean film Parasite has reverberated among critics and viewers

I finally saw the highly acclaimed Korean film Parasite by Bong Joon-ho with much trepidation. It was the first South Korean film to win a Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

It's not an easy film to watch and leaves you thinking about how this story is any different from how people in reality function: Are we all parasites in one way or another?

Director Bong Joon-ho winning the Palme d'Or for Parasite

The story starts off showing the Kim family in dire living conditions, in a sub-basement and trying to use the wifi from the upstairs occupants. They eke out a living folding cardboard pizza boxes, but even this simple task they can't do well and their pay is docked. How will they ever survive?

Luckily the adult son Ki-Woo (played by Choi Woo-shik) gets a recommendation from a friend to tutor the daughter of a rich and successful couple, Mr Park (Lee Sun-kyun) and his pretty wife Yeon-kyo (Cho Yeo-jeong).

Ki-Woo proves to be a good tutor and discovers the Parks' younger son needs an art tutor and recommends his sister (Park So-dam), but of course doesn't say they are related. Soon they con their way into getting the chauffeur job for their father (Song Kang-ho), but replacing the Parks' longtime housekeeper with the Kim matriarch Chang Hyde-jin) takes ingenious planning.

The Kims' ability to seamlessly slide into the Parks' lives and take advantage of this wealthy family shows not only the immense gap between the rich and the poor, but also how desperate people can be to get ahead.

The Kim family survives by folding cardboard pizza boxes

It is an amusing, but also pointed observation that turns to a shocking and sad ending. The reality is, becoming rich can only be a dream for most of us.

Bong explained to the New York Times that father Kim (Song) is a very famous actor in South Korea, while the son Choi is an up-and-coming actor. And so the scene where the son rehearses with the father about what to say to Mrs Park is amusing for South Koreans to watch -- like watching a young novice telling someone like Robert De Niro how to act.

But what also got a lot of buzz in South Korea about Parasite was how the wealth gap was portrayed in the movie. Remember in 2014, Air Korea CEO Cho Yang-ho's daughter Heather Cho Hyun-ah and vice president of the airline flew into a rage when nuts were not served to her on a plate on a flight from New York to Seoul.

The Park family holds a lavish birthday party for their child

The "nut rage" incident also echoes another one that was more tragic that year -- the Sewol ferry disaster in which 304 people drowned, of which 250 were students on a field trip. The ship was owned by the Yoo family, which investigators later found had siphoned off millions of dollars while encouraging its managers to cut corners and flout safety rules.

While Parasite does not directly refer to these incidents, they came to mind afterwards while analyzing the film, in that it mirrors reality, though with a macabre twist.

Another way to emphasize the rich-poor gap is through the excellent cinematography by Hong Kyung-pyo. Notice the Kim family is always together in the frame to emphasize not only their cramped conditions, but they are a close-knit group, while the Park family members are hardly together in the same shot, their home on the hill so large and spacious.

Bong (in grey suit) with the cast of Parasite at Cannes

Parasite is a film that makes observations about how money affects human nature, and is this the kind of world we want to live in?

Parasite (2019)
Directed by Bong Joon-ho
Screenplay by Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won

Fact of the Day: Almost US$1 Million Parking Spot

The Center in Hong Kong's Central district has a really expensive parking spot

Hong Kong can proudly say that even though its economy is tanking because of five months of anti-government protests, the city is still having record-breaking property transactions.

The latest is the world's most expensive parking spot in Central for US$969,000, or US$7,205 per square foot for a space that measures 134.5 square feet.

The price of the parking spot is US$7,205 per square foot

Yep a parking spot. It's located in a prime area, an office building called The Center, a building that also has the record of being the most costliest commercial building ever sold at US$15.5 billion last year.

The price of the parking spot, HK$7.6 million, is more than three times Hong Kong's median home price, which itself had topped the global rankings for nine consecutive years, according to CBRE.

Keep in mind that about one in five people in Hong Kong live below the poverty line, and so this property transaction underscores the immense wealth gap in the city.

"Good times or bad times, there are still ultra-rich people paying whatever needed to get what they like," explains James Mak, Midland Commercial's district sales director.

Many live in spaces smaller than a parking spot in Hong Kong

There are only 402 parking spots in The Center for 1.2 million square feet of office space, and the average price for these spots is HK$6 million.

Guess whoever bought that HK$7.6 million parking spot really, really needed it...

Lives of Cardboard Grannies in Numbers

More than 80 percent of recyclable collectors are elderly women

Old women pushing trolleys stacked with flattened cardboard, or dragging around bundles of cardboard are common sight in Hong Kong, but they are still shocking reminders that there are some people in the community who are scraping by in one of the most prosperous cities in the world.

Most do not want to depend on the government for help

They are called "cardboard grannies" and concern group Waste Picker Platform has done a survey of 505 of these people. The findings are good background information for us to know more about them.

* They make on average HK$716 a month

* There are an estimated 2,900 people on the streets collecting rubbish daily

* 80 percent of them are women, where 82 percent are over the age of 60, the oldest 96

* More than 60 percent have scavenged for more three years

* They spend on average five and a half hours a day collecting recyclables

* Each time they pick up 35kg of cardboard and go to recycling shops 1.9 times per day

* Including financial aid and wages from other jobs, they still make less than HK$5,000 per month

* Almost 90 percent of respondents collect recyclables for economic reasons

* 25 percent rely on collecting garbage to meet basic needs

On top of these statistics, the cardboard grannies have to contend with being chased away by the government's hygiene staff and 9.5 percent of those surveyed experienced having their belongings confiscated.

Most cardboard collectors are over 60, the oldest is 96

How can we solve this issue? Many of these elderly women refuse to receive handouts from the government, and at the same time they are helping the city recycle, one cardboard sheet at a time.

The government really needs to learn more about these cardboard grannies and talk to them and find out their needs and concerns. Waste Picker Platform has started the ball rolling with insightful statistics, but meaningful dialogue needs to take place.

How can we help them understand they are entitled to fringe benefits as an elderly person, but also allow them to keep their dignity of earning their keep?

That is the question that needs to be asked.

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.

Ice Boy's Woes Continue

Wang Fuman at home and back to where he started, but with much more cash

Remember "Ice Boy", the eight-year-old from Yunnan province who had to walk to school for over an hour each way and his hair and eyelashes were covered in snow?

After the boy and his father were taken on a free trip to Beijing, a private school with boarding accepted him, as the headmaster took pity on the boy and took him in.

However, after one week in the school, the headmaster told Wang Fuman's father to take him home because of the intense scrutiny from the authorities and the media.

Zhuanshanbao Primary School is an hour away by foot

It was hoped that by enrolling in Xinhua School Fuman could try to catch up on his studies, but his father Wang Gangkui was told to come pick up his son and put him back in the state school.

"i'm illiterate and I don't understand why this school has kicked us out," the frustrated father said Wednesday.

Fuman was confused as he liked his new school.

"The teachers taught better than those at Zhuanshanbao Primary School. Pupils don't talk in class and everyone is focused on studying," he said.

"I ate better too. Unlike at home, when my grandma is busy, my sister and I need to find food for ourselves... because we don't know how to cook, we just boil potatoes, but at Xinhua School I ate so many different things."

The headmaster of Xinhua School, surnamed Yang, said he offered to take the boy for free because he wanted to "do some good".

But the intense media attention and scrutiny from authorities put the school under a lot of pressure.

Fuman with his sister (left)

"At first, I didn't know... but later, I found out that Fuman had been identified by the Ministry of Education as a key figure to be helped in the government's poverty alleviation efforts. There are very few such pupils in the whole Yunnan province," Yang said.

"As a result, during these days of having him in my school, we have received numerous requests from various levels of government departments to inspect us. Many media outlets also insisted on interviewing us."

He said the school could not cope with the extra demands placed on it because of Fuman's attendance.

Yang said he still wanted to help the boy, but in a more low-profile manner.

When Yang sent the boy back, he gave his father 15,000 yuan and offered to help the family if they encountered more problems in the future.

Meanwhile Wang Gangkui isn't doing well either. He had been promised a job at a state-owned construction company in Zhaotong, But the company says it doesn't have any work for him at the moment.

It's really sad to hear Ice Boy isn't getting the help he really needs, let alone his entire family. It's understandable that while the headmaster wants to help, he doesn't want to be constantly monitored because he has such a high profile student. There were probably lots of expectations for Fuman to do well so that he could be used as a poster child for a poor kid who did well.

Wang Gangkui was promised a job and then no word

But surely someone can help the boy get a decent education -- at least he sounds interested in learning, which is not what could be said of some students these days.

And also how can a company at first claim to offer a job to his father and then later rescind it? How professional is that? Sounds absolutely ridiculous and a publicity stunt on the part of the state-owned construction company. Wang Gangkui had quit his job in Kunming because he had been promised work and now he has nothing to do.

So now the family is back to where it started, though it does have donations pouring in. But it's not money they need, they want jobs and an education. Is it that hard to help in that way? This fiasco proves that throwing money at the problem doesn't really solve it.

"Ice Boy" Reveals Plight of "Left-Behind" Children

"Ice Boy" Wang Fuman (centre) visits Beijing for the first time

Over a week ago there was an uproar in Chinese cyberspace with the story of "Ice Boy".

Wang Fuman, an eight-year-old boy from Ludian county, in a poor area of Yunnan province became famous overnight when he was photographed with his hair, eyelashes and eyebrows covered in frost and he wasn't wearing enough clothes to keep warm. It took him over an hour to walk 4.5km to get to school everyday.

The picture went viral with many in China feeling sorry for the boy, who is a "left-behind child", because his parents have to leave home to work elsewhere, while Wang and his older sister are raised by their grandparents.

This picture of "Ice Boy" went viral

An outpouring of sympathy led to donations of over 300,000 yuan (US$46,900), but apparently not all the money went to the child -- apparently the local government only gave the family 8,000 yuan, saying it was not good for the boy to become "rich" overnight, which led to questions of where the rest of the money went.

State broadcaster CCTV reported 100,000 yuan went to Wang's school, Zhuangshanbao. So where did the over 202,000 yuan go?

Maybe it went towards his "free" trip to Beijing this past weekend for three days with his father and older sister. But the propaganda website China Peace, run by the Party's Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission claims to have shelled out for the trip.

It was the first time Wang had ever been on a plane, left his hometown and gone elsewhere. He also marveled that people in the Chinese capital had indoor heating, which probably led to him wondering why he didn't have that at home.

"It's very cold at home, but very warm in Beijing. At home, we have to burn charcoal at night for warmth. In Beijing, the rooms are so warm -- I only need to wear one layer of clothing. This is the first time I've come across heating, it really is a miracle," he said. "I want to see how children in Beijing go to school, and whether they need to walk a long way everyday."

He and his sister in their bare home

He might also be shocked to find kids in the big city get driven by car or take the bus, not many actually walk to school -- let alone 4.5km -- to get to class.

And apparently to make life better for Wang, his father has been given a job in his hometown so he doesn't have to be away from his children. Is he really going to earn enough money to support the family? And what about the other parents of "left-behind" children? Is the government going to offer them jobs too?

These stop-gap measures hardly solve the problem of "left-behind" children. It wouldn't be a surprise to find after six months to a year that Wang's father needs to leave again to support his family.

The government really doesn't seem to care or understand the plight of these people and that the economy is dependent on migrants like Wang's father to work in big cities. However, the sacrifices they make are a big impact on the family's emotional well-being.

"When I saw the photo, there was pain in my heart," says Wang's 28-year-old father. "I couldn't stay home and look after my children -- I had no choice. If I didn't leave and find work somewhere else, my two kids would've have had nothing to eat."

How is Xi Jinping going to solve this problem? With "left-behind" children, their education level is lower which leads to less opportunities later in life, stuck doing menial work and unable to further improve their situation.

If China values these 60 million children, then it will do something, but so far not much has been done for them. If Xi wants to eradicate poverty by 2020, these children need to be on the priority list.

Xi's Look Back at 2017

Xi Jinping gives his New Year's address with two red phones on his desk...

On New Year's Eve, Chinese President Xi Jinping read out an 11-minute televised message where he went over the country's achievements in 2017.

He praised the Chinese people's "great creative forces that have burst forth" (迸发出来的创造伟力 bèngfā chūlái de chuàngzào wěilì) and listed accomplishments, such as the high-speed rail, the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai bridge mostly completed, military progress, and increased health insurance coverage.

This picture was spotted on the shelf behind him

Xi repeated his commitment of promising to lift all rural residents living below the current poverty line out of poverty by 2020, and said China would "resolutely uphold the authority and status of the United Nations", be a responsible global actor and keep its promise on climate change and actively move forward on the Belt and Road initiative.

Interestingly he also observed people have encountered frustrations and admitted the Party could do more, saying the government needed to deliver on education, employment, income, social security, healthcare, elderly care, housing and the environment.

But throughout the video broadcast, viewers were more interested in the pictures he had on the bookshelves behind him than what he was saying. What were the pictures of?

Three showed him posing with different groups in the military, three were of him visiting the poor, one was about the Belt and Road, one had him posing with young Hong Kong people to mark the 20th anniversary of its handover to China, and one showed him retaking the Party oath

This photo showing his love of football was not there...

Xinhua news agency said Xi's global vision is to chart out a more prosperous and peaceful future for humanity with the joint efforts of the Chinese people and people from other countries, and the photos behind him were meant to reinforce this message.

A friend of mine who covers sports in China noted in Xi's other New Year speeches in 2014, 2015 and 2016, there were football-related pictures on the bookshelves, but this time there were none.

However, I'm more interested in the two red phones on his desk...

HK's Bank of Stationery

Joel Chung wants to help students get the supplies they need

I love stories where grassroots individuals come up with creative ways to help the community in a big way.

The Bank of Stationery is the latest one I've come across.

Joel Chung Yin-chai loves collecting stationery and usually scours old shops that sell old exercise books, pencils and such.

But the 52-year-old believes that underprivileged children may not have the right school supplies, hindering them from doing their best academically. And that's how he started Bank of Stationery last December.

Boxes of pencils and pens are collected

"One night I was thinking that Hong Kong has different types of banks for the underprivileged, such as food banks, clothing recycling banks and toy banks, but what about a stationery bank?" he said. And then he immediately set up a Facebook page called Bank of Stationery.

Chung has a 4,000 square-foot warehouse in San Po Kong where he collects items that donors have given him and packs items for those who want them. About 90 percent of the stationery are brand new, from big offices that have left over office supplies to individual donors.

One donor was a mini storage operator who gave boxes of pens after confiscating them from his tenant who was overdue in rent.

He claims in the past year some 100,000 students have benefited from his charity, using some 400,000 items.

Browsing through the Facebook page, there are pictures posted of packets of pencils, bundles of pens, staples, hole punches, exercise books, magazine holders, calculators and even mannequins for dressmaking, printers and a violin!

People reply back if they want the items and he holds them for the person until they come to pick them up.

Even a violin was donated and given away for free!

Chung hopes that he can help low-income families same some money on school supplies every month, though there is an environmental benefit too.

"I wouldn't say the stationery bank has been very successful, but at least tens of thousands of these brand new stationery items that would have ended up in landfills are now in good hands, benefiting those in need," he said.

So wonderful for students to have someone like Chung who wants to make sure they have what they need, and for people to have a place to donate these kinds of items. He's right -- there isn't a place to recycle stationery items and so glad he's made it a reality.

Several mannequins for dressmaking

Bank of Stationery

Block B, 1/F, Unit 1B, Wing Chai Industrial Building

27-29 Ng Fong Street

San Po Kong.