On 12 Jan, Oxfam’s Hong Kong team, including Kalina Tsang (right), who is in charge of Oxfam’s Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Programme; as well as Hong Kong Programme Manager Wong Shek Hung, met with Financial Secretary, Mr. Paul Chan to submit our appeal regarding the 2019-2020 budget which will be announced on 27 February. While speaking to Mr. Chan, we urged the government to address the ever worsening problem of poverty and inequality, and presented our petition.

Last September, we launched the ‘Fair the Sheep: Advocacy and Public Education Activities’ campaign to raise awareness about inequality; the public supported it and signed our petition (https://www.oxfam.org.hk/en/fairthesheep.aspx), which we presented to Mr. Chan. In the petition, we urged the government to build a human economy through a variety of measures. For instance, we called on the government to spend an additional HK$36.7 billion in recurrent expenditure, which should be used on education, health care and social welfare. It should provide non-Chinese speaking kindergarten students with Chinese enrichment courses, and offer teachers at these kindergartens with more training. Further, the government should enhance child care services by dramatically increasing the number of subsidised nursery places. As the largest employer of outsourced low-income workers, it should also take the lead in paying a living wage (HK$54.7/hour).