Crunch time for new pension plan, says Professor Nelson Chow

Hongkongers must decide now whether they are prepared to pay for a new retirement plan, an expert appointed to study the issue said yesterday.

Commissioned by the government last year, Professor Nelson Chow Wing-sun and his team have spent a year making detailed calculations on six proposals - including bringing in a universal pension.

The proposed schemes, to be unveiled in a report submitted to the government today, are based on official projections for the city's rate of ageing, inflation, size of the working population and salary growth in the next 30 years. The new scheme would replace the existing old-age allowance and old-age living allowance.

Chow said yesterday that now was the best time to discuss the issue given that the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) system had been in place for over a decade. He said the government had increased spending on welfare for the elderly and there was more awareness of the need to support the ageing population.

Chow, a social work specialist from the University of Hong Kong, said the key issue was whether the chosen plan could be funded - either by the government, employer and employee contributions, or through higher taxes.

"In the end, the Hong Kong people will have to decide whether they are willing to pay. If people are unwilling to pay, let's not discuss this any more - let's not waste our time; I don't want to do these studies any more," he told TVB's yesterday.