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Thursday, May 24, 1973
Mr. Lee described the disability and infirmity allowance scheme
as a "home grown" product not copied from elsewhere and said it was
designed in such a way as to meet the needs of the local situation.
Receipt of the allowance did not affect the eligibility for
public assistance.
As an example, Mr. Lee said an old person with no income will
receive $135 a month as public assistance plus $55 a month infirmity
allowance bringing the total that person can receive to $190 a month.
A disabled person in a similar situation, he said, will receive $245 a month.
"The disability and infirmity allowance is in fact an extra cash
grant with which they can improve their living," he said.
scheme.
Mr. Lee said it was still too early to assess the impact of this
"Nonetheless, we have the impression that it has enabled those
beneficiaries to have better nutritional and recreational activities as
well as personal care or to make some contributions to their families
which may then regard them less as a burden," he said.
On the eligibility requirements which he said some people felt were too strict, Mr. Lee pointed out that the criteria were intended to be used only in the initial period of implementation of the scheme. They would
be reviewed after the scheme has been in operation for some time.
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