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Elizabeth Cheung

Hong Kong’s leader has begun a four-day community outreach drive led by senior government officials, meeting residents in various neighbourhoods ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, starting with Hung Hom and Ho Man Tin.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Saturday visited Oi Man Estate, a public housing neighbourhood that is about 50 years old in Ho Man Tin, and a “community living room” designed for tenants of subdivided homes, four days before the start of the Year of the Snake.
“The government ministers [in the coming few days] will visit different neighbourhoods to understand the livelihoods of residents,” Lee said. “I’m also glad to visit shops here to understand how businesses are doing.”
Accompanied by the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen, Lee visited two elderly women living alone at Oi Man Estate.
He went to shops at the estate and bought two turnip puddings, a traditional Lunar New Year food, from a grocery store for HK$200 (US$26.70).
According to Lee, shop owners said sales had been in line with their expectations.
One of the owners who had spoken with Lee told the media he hoped the city’s leader could boost the economy amid the downturn and allocate more resources to help small and medium-sized enterprises.
During his visit to the estate, Lee stopped to chat with residents, including the elderly and younger people.
Before Oi Man Estate, Lee visited the community living room in Hung Hom to better understand how the facility was serving users. He also had a Lunar New Year meal with the tenants there.
The facility, which aims to improve the living environment of the underprivileged, is part of a government-backed pilot scheme to offer spaces for cooking, eating and other activities.
Mak said senior officials would be visiting neighbourhoods in the city’s 18 districts and meet residents including members of ethnic minority groups, until Tuesday, a day before the Lunar New Year.
On Saturday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu and Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau visited families in Yau Tsim Mong district, Tung Chung and Southern district.

The challenging economic situation has been felt not only by the underprivileged but also the government, with the finance chief having forecast earlier that the deficit would hit HK$100 billion this financial year.
Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said on Saturday that the government would need to prioritise some public works.
“We may need to take a slower pace for some works that are not projects for major housing supply and infrastructure, such as promenade beautification … or park facilities,” she told a radio show.
Linn said while the government earlier expected HK$33 billion from land sales in the current financial year, the final figure should be lower.
“Objective factors indicate that we are unlikely to reach the estimated figure of over HK$30 billion. As the property market has not yet picked up, it is understandable,” she said.
As of late last year, revenue from land sales stood at HK$4 billion for the financial year.


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Chief Executive John Lee greets residents at Oi Man Estate in Ho Man Tin. Photo: Eugene Lee

John Lee poses for pictures at Oi Man Estate in Ho Man Tin. Photo: Eugene Lee

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Chief Executive John Lee takes a bite of some sticky rice dessert as he chats with domestic helpers. Photo: Eugene Lee

John Lee (centre) joins joggers for a trip along the new boardwalk on Saturday. Photo: Eugene Lee

News

Hong Kong

Politics

Senior government officials will visit neighbourhoods across city for four days to meet residents


Senior government officials will visit neighbourhoods across city for four days to meet residents.


Lunar New Year

Hong Kong economy

Hong Kong society