'HK Govt Needs To Listen To People, Tackle Housing'
"); jQuery("#212 h3").html("
"); });
2021-07-19 HKT 11:47
A member of Beijing's top think tank on Hong Kong said state leaders want the SAR government to communicate more with the public, and do more to address housing issues here.
Henry Ho, a council member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, was commenting on a speech made by Xia Baolong, the head of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, last Friday.
The top Beijing official on SAR affairs had said he hopes housing issues in Hong Kong would see great improvements, and the city would bid farewell to caged homes and subdivided houses by 2049.
Speaking on an RTHK programme on Monday, Ho said the speech is a clear indication that the central government cares a lot about livelihood matters in the SAR, and is quite concerned about the housing shortage here.
"President Xi Jinping has announced to the world that China has eradicated extreme poverty. Hong Kong is an international metropolis. Should we really wait till 2049 for us to say goodbye to subdivided flats?" Ho asked.
"From pointing out livelihood and land shortage issues in the past, to now focusing on problems of subdivided flats and cages homes, these all show that the central government is quite worried about housing problems in Hong Kong."
The think tank member added that Xia also reminded SAR authorities to communicate more with the people, by saying that the Hong Kong government needs to do work that can be "seen and felt" by the public.
Ho noted that unlike Beijing's Liaison Office staff, SAR officials hadn't made a lot of district visits.
Speaking on the same show, Tang Po-shan from the Subdivided Flats Concerning Platform believes that the Hong Kong government will now have to work harder to address housing issues after getting reminders from Beijing officials.
"The government has on many occasions insisted that subdivided flats are here to serve a purpose ... Of course if we outlaw 100,000 subdivided flats in one go, there will be problems about where people should live and whether there are enough rehousing policies. We understand that," Tang said.
"But all past administrations have never set a target and a timetable to reduce in phases the amount of inadequate housing, especially subdivided flats."
He urged officials to set clear goals and come up with a roadmap on how it plans to achieve those targets.
Hong Kong Pilots Worlds First Integration Of Payment System With Chinas Digital Yuan
Hong Kong residents can now set up digital yuan (e-CNY) personal wallets using only their Hong Kong mobile phone number... Read more
Arthur Yuen To Continue As HKMA Deputy Chief Executive For 2 More Years
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has announced that Arthur Yuen’s tenure as Deputy Chief Executive has been ex... Read more
The Transformative Potential Of Blockchain For The Hong Kong Financial Sector
Hong Kong, a global financial centre, is incorporating blockchain technology into its financial services industry. As a... Read more
Justin Suns HTX Withdraws Second Crypto License Bid, To Shut In Hong Kong
HBGL Hong Kong Limited, the Hong Kong affiliate of cryptocurrency exchange HTX (formerly Huobi Global), has withdrawn i... Read more
Standard Chartered Leverages DLT For First Euro Cross-Border Transactions on Partior
Standard Chartered announced that it had completed the first Euro-denominated cross-border transactions between Hong Ko... Read more
Standard Chartered, Mastercard, Mox, And Libeara Complete Tokenisation Proof-of-Concept Pilot
Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (SCBHK) has collaborated with Mox Bank, Mastercard, and Libeara to complete... Read more