Appendix K
Short Comparison of Social and Youth Services in Hong Kong and United Kingdom
Annual General Meeting
Peter P. F. Chan
President
Boys & Girls' Club Association
18th June, 1975
The scope of social services in U. K. is more or less the same as that in Hong Kong covering, for instance, housing, medicine, welfare and education but in U. K. the social security scheme plays a very important part which consists of national insurance, industrial injuries allowance, family allowance, family income supplement, supplementary benefits and war pension.
This comprehensive social security scheme, I was told, because of its comprehensiveness, may vest more benefit to an unemployed than he is otherwise actively employed. Because of this system the power of the unions are so great as to influence politics. This leads to a chain reaction and as the unions are powerful, the social security scheme become more comprehensive.
Fortunately, Hong Kong does not have this comprehensive social security scheme so that everyone knows that he has to work for a living. It was this knowledge that we survived riots and disturbances in 1967. Everyone went on to their normal calling to maintain the living of himself and his family ignoring the bombs and mobs. Personally I am not against the social security scheme, but with our tax structure it is undesirable to have the scheme to be so compre- hensive as to discount the interest and willingness to work. Able-bodies must not rely on the community for relief while jobs are available to them.
Those tourists coning in from United Kingdom or those Hong Kong persons having a trip to United Kingdom generally agree that the economic situation in United Kingdom was very bad. Londoners feel surprised to learn that some of our labour voluntarily reduce the working hours. They have never dreamt of this as this would not happen in United Kingdom.
Because of this, we do not feel very sympathetic with a few of expatriates coming to Hong Kong trying to guide certain political movements here.
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