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(a)
(b)
(c)
(a)
(b)
in terms of promoting retirement protection, maintaining the present voluntary approach is clearly best suited to Hong Kong's way of life and is also in the best long-term economic interest of Hong Kong as it avoids the economic disbenefits which would inevitably result from compulsory savings;
neither a RPS nor a CPF would be able to provide a satisfactory answer to the problem of financial provision for old age in the foreseeable future: they would only provide meaningful benefits after three to four decades, and only for the middle to high income earners who do not really need Government compulsion to save. What is worse is that they both require huge bureaucracies to administer for relatively little community gain; and
with an aging population, the question of the community providing for a reasonable degree of financial security for old age would have to be addressed sooner or later. It is now timely to explore the feasibility of introducing a contributory old age pension system.
It is recommended that -
Government should reaffirm the merits of the present voluntary approach in the provision of retirement schemes, with the pledge that we would continue to promote voluntary schemes vigorously, with small establishments as the key target; and
Government should announce our intention to explore in-depth the feasibility of introducing a contributory old age pension system by engaging specialist consultants to advise on financial and other technical aspects.