Print

Mail

wiki links

HK's jobless left in limbo

Jobless welfare recipient, Wong Chi-moon stands in one of Hong Kong's poorer neighborhoods, while a homeless woman sits on the sidewalk with her possessions. PHOTO: AP

Standing amid dilapidated buildings, Wong Chi-moon takes a deep drag on a cigarette then exhales, as if to blow away his melancholy.

Wong, 55, used to earn HK$20,000 (HK$2,581) per month as a salesman, but since losing his job three years ago he scrapes by on government subsidies equaling about 17 percent of his old salary.

For a few months this year he was homeless; now he rents a bed in a government-subsidized charity home. His dozens of attempts to find work have failed.

"Life is difficult these days," Wong laments. "Even to be a shop assistant, you'll have to be young and know English and computer. The demands are stringent, but the pay is extremely low."

Hong Kong's unemployment rose to 4.7 percent in the three months ending July 31, and although it's well below its peak of 6.3 percent in 1999 and still lower than many nations, the picture is getting gloomier as experts predict Hong Kong will soon be in a recession.

The former British colony has long been a magnet for Chinese who believed they could work hard and get rich here, but there is a growing sense of desperation among many who say they've been left behind by the last recovery and don't know if they'll ever catch up.

"Whether a job has prospects or not is out of my consideration. I simply need a job so that I won't starve."

Sandy Hui, 29, who lost her job as a media group secretary

Being young and well educated doesn't necessarily inspire confidence, either. At City University, 21-year-old law student Paul Yip worries he won't find a job after graduating.

"So many people are degree-holders nowadays, and many companies are laying off staff," Yip said. "It is difficult to compete with other applicants with high qualifications."

Sandy Hui, 29, lost her job as a media group secretary when the company merged two of its magazines.

"It's the second job I lost for the same reason in less than two years," Hui said.

Hui said Hong Kong people need luck as well as hard work to keep their jobs now.

"Whether a job has prospects or not is out of my consideration," Hui said. "I simply need a job so that I won't starve."

Many here say that Hong Kong's feeble recovery from its last recession, brought on by the Asian crisis, looks short-lived.

The government's latest statistics showed economic growth screeching to a halt and private economists believe Hong Kong could soon slip into another recession.

Dragged down by falling exports due to a global downturn, particularly in Japan and the US, the economy shrunk 1.7 percent from the first to second quarters of the year.

Following recent warnings by the territory's political leader, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, on worsening unemployment and economic slowdown, the government revised its growth forecast for the year from 3 percent to a mere 1 percent.

Nelson Chow, who teaches social work at the University of Hong Kong, forecasts more people will turn to welfare.

Government statistics indicate the number of low income-earners on welfare has risen from 8,345 cases in January to 8,518 in July.

"The fundamental problem is that it is hard for the poor to be self-reliant when they earn so little," Chow said.
This story has been viewed 2420 times.