Category: Hong Kong politics
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One of the better jokes in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is when Arthur Dent is informed that the plans for the (imminent) destruction of Earth were on display for nine months and no-one objected. It seems that the something similar happened with the government’s plan to demolish the Star Ferry Pier. After they…
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Hemlock has noticed this article from the Financial Times (also here): Yet a belief persists in Hong Kong that its future interest lies, not in accentuating its distinctive strengths, but in blurring them by throwing in its lot with the mainland. Sooner or later, the argument goes, it will be enveloped economically by its giant…
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When I was walking to the supermarket on Sunday I was slightly surprised to see a police wagon driving along and a couple of policeman standing by the side of the road looking bored. Then I remembered that we were having an election. How could I have forgotten? Well, maybe because (like most people in Hong Kong) I…
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Henry Tang announced this morning that the government is going to abandon its efforts to persuade Hong Kong people of the benefits of a Goods & Services Tax (GST), at least for the time being. They will continue the consultation exercise about widening the tax base, but will not push GST as the only solution. Is it too much to hope…
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It was only a few weeks ago that Milton Friedman was commenting on the Education Vouchers for Nursery Schools fiasco, and at the time I was slightly surprised that he was still alive and kicking. He died on November 16, 2006, aged 94. The Economist described him as the “most influential economist of the second half of…
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Back in January, I was puzzled when the SCMP reported a government minister as saying that, as part of new anti-discrimination legislation, Permanent Residents would be disqualified from receiving “expat packages” . Then the government tried to clarify this (and yet I was still confused): “Those already on expat packages can continue on the existing terms of employment provided…
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In his Policy Address, the Chief Executive announced that parents of children aged 3 – 6 will be given an “education voucher” worth HK$13,000 per child to contribute to kindergarten fees. The strange thing is that rather than using means-testing to limit the cost, they announced that some kindergartens will not be eligible – either because their fees are too high (there is a…
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Earlier this week Henry Tang said that the government would consider introducing some exemptions from GST (Tang unveils sales levy concessions – subscription required): On the public’s call for daily necessities to be exempted from a GST, Mr Tang said he would consider exemptions on public transport, medical fees, and primary and secondary school fees. The…
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Christine Loh Kung-wai, writing in today’s SCMP (subscription) highlights the curious way that the government says it wants a debate on GST but doesn’t seem to want to give us all the facts: What seems unsatisfactory to those who support a GST is that I want more information, and a public debate, about what options…
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Hong Kong is known for having low taxes. So why does the government want to introduce Goods & Services Tax (GST)? It certainly doesn’t seem to be popular (take two stories just from today’s SCMP, for example, or older stories in The Standard that are freely available). First of all, are taxes really low in…
Ordinary Gweilo 