Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam, who heads the Commission on Poverty (Commission), said at a meeting of the task force that the HK$15 billion extra funding for the Community Care Fund (CCF) included in this year's budget plan is meant to boost poverty-relief efforts. The reality, however, is that the public hopes the government not only relies on the CCF but makes and carries out poverty-relief policies as well. Lam said after the meeting that the Commission has decided the baseline of the "poverty line" will be one-half of the median of a household's income. All told, poverty relief requires a complete policy package from the government, which should provide specific assistance to the needy according to the locations and characteristics of the population below the "poverty line", including direct living allowance for low-income households.

Since its founding in 2011 the CCF has launched 19 assistance projects that benefited more than 100,000 people in need. The CCF started with HK$5 billion from the government and hoped to receive the same amount in donations from local businesses. Law Chi-kwong, chairman of the CCF Task Force, said recently that the fund still welcomes donations from members of the public as well as corporate givers.

It is a shame the business circle has not matched the government's offer so far, with some HK$500 million to HK$600 million in promised donations yet to be delivered. This situation warrants a policy review by the government to find ways to improve the results of poverty-relief projects and heighten the supervision and transparency of the operation of the CCF to boost public confidence in the fund.

The objective of the CCF is to provide residents in need with financial assistance that the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) does not cover, while playing the role of a scout to identify temporary measures that should be turned into routine exercises. Therefore poverty relief should not rely purely on the CCF but on specific policies made by the government as well. The baseline of the "poverty line" agrees with the definition of the "international standard on poverty line" and "relative poverty" and should qualify as a reference for the government in the poverty-relief policymaking process.

However, decision-makers should keep in mind that many Hong Kong residents belonging to the "low-income" category actually own assets such as real estate, bonds, stocks and/or taxi licenses. This unique feature must be factored into poverty-relief assistance eligibility tests.

This is an excerpted translation of a Wen Wei Po editorial published on July 23.

(HK Edition 07/24/2013 page1)