TOPIC

Poverty

Growth in poverty in Hong Kong is linked to low-skilled workers losing their jobs after the pandemic, an expert says. Photo: Edmond So

Hong Kong’s rising poverty no longer confined to older districts: population expert

HKU’s Paul Yip calls for reintroducing poverty line for transparency, but authorities maintain they will stick to new targeted approach.

HKU’s Paul Yip calls for reintroducing poverty line for transparency, but authorities maintain they will stick to new targeted approach

Editorial | Incentives can help keep Hong Kong poverty at bay

‘Incentives needed to keep elderly Hongkongers in workforce amid growing poverty’

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Hong Kong’s richest earning 81.9 times more than poorest residents, charity says

Local branch of Oxfam says more than 1.39 million residents living in poverty in first quarter of this year.

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Oxfam Hong Kong has also warned that more elderly residents have fallen into poverty. Photo: Jelly Tse

Sri Lanka’s new president sparks optimism, doubts over IMF loan revamp persist

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake promises Sri Lankans that his coalition government aims to end the country’s economic and debt crisis.

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Sri Lanka elects leftist leader in rejection of political elite

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Marxist-leaning Dissanayake set to become Sri Lanka’s next president

Dissanayake polled 42.3 per cent of the votes, a massive boost to the 3 per cent he managed in the last presidential election in 2019.

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Anura Kumara Dissanayake leaves a polling station. Photo: AFP

As Hong Kong’s poorest skip meals to save cash, NGOs and experts sound the alarm

Food banks and charities offering provisions, cooked meals say demand has risen as more struggle to cope.

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Indonesia’s middle-class struggle could hurt economy, trigger unrest: experts

Economists say reduced number of middle class could affect aim of reaching developed-nation status, call for policies to support segment.

Pope calls for PNG to ‘end’ tribal violence, urges fair share of its resources

In a keynote speech, the pope called for an end to tribal violence while insisting the people benefit from the country’s resource boom.

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Pope Francis gives a speech in front of diplomats and dignitaries including the Governor General of Papua New Guinea Bob Dadae. Photo: EPA-EFE

Opinion | Why China is taking wealth redistribution seriously

Growing income inequality is a global problem as pressing as climate change. Creative interventions, anathema to the West, deserve a chance.

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Women ride a scooter near a poster promoting the Chinese Dream in Beijing in June 2022. The Chinese government recognises that allowing wealth to be concentrated among the few is not in the people’s best interests. Photo: AP

Struggling China couple add quadruplets to 2 kids criticised for donation plea

The poorly paid Chinese parents of newborn quadruplets, who already have two children, faced criticism for asking the public for help with their medical bills and living expenses.

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Letters | Hong Kong’s community living rooms should cater to children’s needs

Readers discuss how underprivilged children can be provided with the space to develop, people sleeping in libraries, and Hongkongers’ attitude towards the homeless.

44% of underprivileged Hongkongers forced to go hungry to save money, NGO says

Survey from Food Grace also finds 77 per cent of polled residents focus on price over nutritional value.

An NGO has urged authorities to strengthen food supplies and stabilise prices to help keep residents healthy. Photo: Sam Tsang

Opinion | What China watchers should know about where the country is headed

The reforms outlined in the third plenum sets the groundwork for deepening efforts such as poverty alleviation to sustainable development.

A giant screen shows President Xi Jinping attending the Communist Party’s third plenary session in Beijing on July 18. Photo: Reuters

‘We are hungry’: 13 people killed as Nigerians protest high cost of living

The protests occurred despite warnings from Nigeria’s security agencies and the presidency to avoid Kenyan-style dissent in the West African nation.

Opinion | Alliances like Nato out of touch with world in need of human security

In an era where climate change, food and energy security and poverty top the agenda, military-focused alliances are not fit for purpose.

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Opinion | Asian Development Bank must craft policy that truly protects people and planet

Draft changes to the bank’s environmental and social policy suggest a weakening of standards that will affect frontline communities.

Women take photographs of a coal power plant from a hill in Cilegon, Indonesia, on January 8, 2023. Photo: AP

Will business-friendly Modi impose a billionaire tax on India’s ultra-rich?

Amid the growing economic disparities across India, business-friendly Modi is facing calls to increase taxes on the super-rich.

How his ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ catapulted J.D. Vance to Trump’s vice-president pick

Vance’s bestselling memoir about his roots in the rural US South made him a celebrity just as Trump was sweeping to the presidency in 2016.

Pakistan pledges US$7 billion IMF aid deal will be its last

The loan, to be paid out over three years, comes on condition of far-reaching reforms including hiking household bills and uplifting pitiful tax takings.

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People shop at a market in Lahore in June. Pakistan’s finances remain in dire straits, with high inflation and staggering public debts. Photo: AP

In Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, ageing Asia’s demographic reckoning looms

Southeast Asia is growing old fast, straining healthcare and social structures like never before. Can any silver linings be found?

Elderly residents interact with performers at an “Active Ageing Centre” in Singapore. Around one in four of the city state’s citizens are expected to be 65 or older by 2030. Photo: AFP

Opinion | For now, small improvements in subdivided flats are better than none at all

The government is building more flats for the future while offering temporary public housing and trying to improve conditions in subdivided flats.

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Editorial | Hong Kong’s poor must not slip through safety net

Shake-up in way city targets poverty calls for caution if it risks excluding some of those most vulnerable.

Exclusive | Hong Kong poverty not just about income, but quality of life, welfare chief says

Minister Chris Sun says he’s confident in new approach to tackling poverty, which reduces poor population to less than a million.

Oxfam Hong Kong found that 1.36 million were living in poverty in the first quarter of last year. Photo: Sam Tsang

Thousands of Bangladeshi workers lose everything, fail to enter Malaysia for work

Syndicates in both countries send thousands of Bangladeshis to Malaysia for fake jobs, labour advocates say, forcing them into illegal overstay as they seek new jobs to pay debts.

Prospective migrants and their families gather outside Dhaka airport last Friday, awaiting updates about their tickets. Photo: Redwan Ahmed

Modi touts economy as he seeks re-election, but many Indians ‘really struggling’

The top 1 per cent own more than 40 per cent of India’s wealth, while the bottom 50 per cent own just above 6 per cent, a World Inequality Lab study found.

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Argentine court orders Milei government to distribute held-up food aid

Aid to tens of thousands soup kitchens was frozen after Javier Milei took office in December vowing to slash public spending and weed out corruption in the social welfare system.

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