After World War II
Due to sudden surge of refugees from the Mainland China, the colony faced many problems and there is a need to reconstruct the social structure. Since Hong Kong’s society was in a mess after the war, the Colonial Office feels it was essential to assume some responsibilities in social welfare provisions.
Social Welfare Office was being set up in 1948 and later in 1958, turned into a department. Secretary of Chinese Affair coordinates with the NGOs to provide welfare services. For instance, subsidized medical and health services had been provided by the government for the control of epidemics. But the role of government is still passive and mainly providing material relief.
Into the 1970’s – the Golden Era
1970s have been an important turning point of social welfare development under the former governor Sir Murray MacLehose. During this period, a caring community with the development of ‘four pillars’: education, housing, medical services and social welfare was established.
Besides, in 1966 and 1977 the colony went into social crisis. Protest against fare increases on Star Ferry escalated into full-scale rioting. Hong Kong was rocked and the authorities were under considerable pressure in the aftermath of the disturbances. After learning the lessons from the riots, the government saw the necessity to improve the quality of the social services.
On the other hand, urbanization and industrialization enable Hong Kong to maintain a constant economic growth. Seeing the need of diversification of industry, the government upgrade the local’s ability to produce and therefore start the 9 years free and compulsory education in 1978.Besides, the Second Ten Year Development Plan of Medical and Health Service was launched in 1974 to upgrade the people’s quality of life. Overall speaking, the role of government was much more active than before.
Into the 1980’s
This was a period when there were uncertainties over the future of Hong Kong. Thus, this big political factor had brought little long-term development of welfare services. In 1984, British were occupied with the negotiations with the Chinese government and later coming to sign the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The fate of reverting Hong Kong back to the Chinese sovereignty had caused the British to withdraw the making of long-term welfare plans.
Into the 1990’s
At early 1990s, the government continued to carry on her incremental social policy. Incremental social policy was unstable which might easily be upset by a sudden surge in demand. So the government has considered the privatization of social services as an alternative or supplement to the prevailing incremental social policy. e.g. contracting out the meal services for the elderly by Social Welfare Department.
Due to the migration of the locals during 1997, there was a serious ‘brain-drain’ problem. After the handover of the sovereignty in 1997, the political and administration structure had changed. The Chief Executive Mr. Tung declared a new housing policy that is to have 70% of the household in Hong Kong to own their housing properties within 10 years.
Into the 2000’s
Due to economic downturn and the huge financial deficit, we could not expect the increase of social welfare by the government to be dramatic. Privatization of welfare services was further developed to shoulder off some burden of the public sector and to increase efficiency. Moreover, the Mandatory Provident Fund was implemented to deal with social problems in changing times and this collection provision is a major step in social policy in Hong Kong.
Changing attitude
There is an obvious change of altitude towards welfare among the public in Hong Kong. In the past, the Chinese culture emphasis more on duty and obligations than on individual rights. Statuses of citizens are granted by the state and political rights can be taken away. People tend to “look inward” to look for help and support in times of need. As theory of “utilitarianistic familism” suggests, the role of the family is in providing support and self-identity and thus people do not have expectations on government for help. Under the spirit of self-reliance, people are hesitated to get the assistance.
Until the recent years, people are becoming more susceptible to social welfare. Due to the economic downturn, people expect more on the government to improve welfare of people, as problems such as the structural unemployment and old age will be difficult for the unskilled and poor to cope and handle by themselves.
Secondly, the change of sovereignty enhances the sense of identity and raise people’s expectation on the government to improve their standard of living. The HKSAR government is now their ‘own’ government and it is rule by the Hong Kong people, so the politicians should be aware and take care of their needs.
As the people are more educated and being more exposed to different ideas, this facilitated the development of democracy. Also, people tend to be more aware of their rights as a citizen in Hong Kong. The concept that the government should be ‘for the people and by the people’ has been recognized by most people.
Thus, the Government is facing a challenge to strike a balance between the people’s expectations and her ability to provide social welfares. During this period of economic downturn, the people may want more from the government, but instead of providing more, the government decided to cut the expenditure on welfare due to huge budget deficit. So, it sounds like the government refuse to hear citizens’ cries and demands. The communication gap between the government and her citizens widens.
Conclusion
Social policy is controversial and full of conflicts. What’s more, the disfavoring of welfare provision in Hong Kong by the Central authorities had definitely hindered the government in providing more welfare service. The rigidity in the government may lead to disastrous problems and lead to social instability. Therefore, the Government must think thoroughly and consult the public whenever new policy is implemented.
