The compact size of Hong Kong has served to dramatize the wealth gap, as we see stooped old men and wizened fragile elderly women struggle with their pushcarts laden with recyclable discards; and the priciest luxury sedans wheezing by them transporting our billionaire tycoons.

You might say they should be a wake-up call for the government to better prioritize how it spends our vast reserves. So I would venture to suggest some solutions.

The range of approaches presented here could alleviate much of the stresses caused by economic deprivation, and at the same time make Hong Kong a more caring society, closer to the record of other world cities in the provision of welfare benefits to those most in need.

Those working here are, in many cases, not sufficiently protected if things go wrong. The levels of severance payments to employees if a company closes down are stingy. Those who become sick long-term, or otherwise unemployed, are not sufficiently protected by the provision of sickness benefit or unemployment allowances - these should become enough to live on during their time of trouble. Many are employed longer-term on an hourly or daily-paid basis, which means they can have scant employment protection. Their employers should be obliged to offer them protective contracts of permanent part-time employment, after a stated period of continuous employment.

The minimum hourly rates of pay - as yet not always received by those unfortunates at the bottom end of the job scale - need to be increased. Some employers complain that such a step would limit their profits. In response to that claim, it may be argued that if the only way they can make a profit in this city is by paying almost slave labor rates, then they had better find some other endeavor to participate in.

On working hours, employers should be fined if they encourage or allow their employees to work longer than a stated maximum number of hours. For the sake of the health of their workers, and to enable them some family time and recovery time, employers should ensure that none of their employees are working excessive hours. They should be reminded that it is in their best interest to do so, as a rested employee is a more efficient employee.

A contributory factor in Hong Kong's record-low birthrate must be that many young married couples find it hard to set up a home of their own for lack of means. Introducing a special scheme, providing starter homes to newlyweds, would alleviate this problem and likely boost Hong Kong's birthrate as well.

Another scheme could be introduced to sell off the better public housing units, at reasonable rates and on government-supported long-term low-interest mortgages, to sitting tenants. The inhabitants would thereby be encouraged to take better care of their homes and immediate environments. The policy has proven to be an unmitigated success in Singapore.

Much faster and more effective provision should be made to re-house the thousands living in those appalling cage homes. This, plus the other urgent housing needs mentioned above, would require the provision of suitable land, which can be achieved through proper rezoning of land use. In this regard, serious thought should be given to permitting housing to be built on brownfield lands that border our country parks. What puzzles me is that many public buildings, mostly schools, are left abandoned for years throughout our city, some close to city centers. These abandoned structures should quickly be remodeled for public housing or rebuilt altogether to meet people's priority needs.

Apart from civil servants and employees of blue-chip firms, most Hong Kong people do not yet have enough retirement protection. The MPF scheme's cash payout upon retirement will be inadequate to cover the costs of living comfortably in Hong Kong over several decades after work. A livable monthly paid universal pension is a must; and government-held reserves should be used to support a proper pension scheme, which would relieve the stress levels of many who are getting old. Claims that this is economically unsustainable are clearly spurious: Hong Kong already has the money for this provision - what is so far lacking is the political will to spend it.

These approaches would turn Hong Kong into a more caring society, and must be introduced soon.

(HK Edition 05/19/2016 page12)