TNAG-0569-FCO40-702-Planning-paper-on-Hong-Kong-1976 — Page 123

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10. Assuming more money were available, the obvious scope for

expansion lies in the fields which the Government already have in

mind: housing, education and health, together with the administrative

apparatus necessary to support the greater public expenditure required. In some sectors, eg education and health, a considerable proportion of the cost would presumably be borne on current account; but in other fields changes in the system of financing could make a considerable contribution. The housing programme, for instance, has been remarkable by any standards but it is by no means clear why in the interests of greater quantity and better quality it would not be possible to introduce other financial arrangements eg loans recouped from rents and amortised over perhaps 20 years. Nor is it clear why rents in the public sector are so low when compared with the private sector. A recent cost of living survey showed that many tenants in public housing pay only 6% of their expenditure on rent as compared with 20% in private housing. Some improvement in the present position, however, is likely to follow the Hong Kong Government's decision to authorise home purchase at subsidized rates.

11. But perhaps a more remarkable example is afforded by the present weaknesses in the social security system where, in the absence of any contributory element, there is no provision for unemployment benefit, adequate retirement pensions, sickness insurance or provision for widows and orphans. It is sometimes

argued in Hong Kong that the local Chinese population see no necessity for such a scheme since they can rely on the traditional family structure to provide support in times of difficulty and that, in any case, they would resent having to contribute resources to a compulsory scheme when they think the money can be better employed. If so, it is difficult to account for the success of the Central Provident Fund in Singapore, or the social security scheme in Taiwan;

and the gradual break-up of traditional Chinese family attitudes in an increasingly sophisticated urban society might, perhaps, be expected. A more substantial objection to a contributory system is that the uncertain future of Hong Kong does not encourage support for a system which requires payment now for returns at a much later date. However this objection does not apply to those schemes of a more immediate nature, such as unemployment benefit or sickness

/insurance.

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