Hong Kong Government to give $6000 to Permanent Residents!

[Tim Budong]

My parents are probably pretty happy to receive this money, as with me. Basically Government announces tax cuts after huge fiscal surplus ending the financial year march31. After some scrutiny from the original plan to put the money into retirement funds from the lower income citizens, the money will now to distributed to all HK permanent residence!

links to this news can be found here

http://ax3battery.com/2011/03/02/hon...nions-updates/

and here

http://www.smartmoney.com/news/ON/?s...110301-000456&

[RevRav]

Read about that earlier. Does anyone know when it will start? And the collection process?


And FYI: Its $6000 HKD which equal to $750 CAD

[EmperorIS]

hehe yep free hong kong round trip

[kyoshiro]

guess i'll have to get a ticket back to HK in the next couple of months after all.

[asian_XL]

From reliable source, you will need proof of residence, like registered mailing address and bank account.

From the news, it might not be one time payment
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[PiuYi]

i hope they have this well thought through...... in such poor economic times, despite huge surplus, handing out cash to every citizen doesn't sound like the best option


especially in hk where income disparities r so high

[LiquidTurbo]

When I first read the title, I thought that HK was going to give $6k to any one applying for permanent residence in the country.

Then I realized that the $6k was going to permanent RESIDENTS.

[cococly]

Originally Posted by kyoshiro

guess i'll have to get a ticket back to HK in the next couple of months after all.

They have not releasing any info about when they are paying us HKD$6000, nor which age group is getting it first.

I would say by then end of this year, maybe.

[RevRav]

Wonder if we have to be in person to collect it?
Or will it be mailed to our "resident"...just like our GST / HST rebates.

[Razor Ramon HG]

Do you know long that'd take if you had to lineup?

SMH..

[SkinnyPupp]

75% tax rebate too

[EmperorIS]

Originally Posted by Razor Ramon HG

Do you know long that'd take if you had to lineup?

SMH..

your not thinking that everyone is going to go line up at once right ?

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by Razor Ramon HG

Do you know long that'd take if you had to lineup?

SMH..

People line up for days for free rice.

[Tim Budong]

im talkin to some friends in HK about this right now.
Nothing is confirmed on how this will be distributed or anything. Asian XL hit the spot there.

Lining up for ANYTHINg is culture in HK. hahaha. not surprised at the gongshow when this gets official

[ae101]

my dad told me about this not long ago, u need a valid hk id (for proof) & a hk bank account thats it nothing more i think so its either lining up or direct deposit

[StylinRed]

SWEEET pay down some cc's unless we have to fly there to get it..

[RevRav]

Originally Posted by asian_XL

From reliable source, you will need proof of residence, like registered mailing address and bank account.

From the news, it might not be one time payment
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^This.

Heard from another source just right now - the government would be depositing the $$ into the bank accounts. So you might not need to be in person / lining up afterall.

So asian_XL's "reliable source" of needing a bank account might explain it.

Given this news was only announced a few hours ago....we'll know more detail as time pass on.

[DOHCVTEC]

As much as I appreciate the $6000 HKD, I think that the HK government has irrationally succumbed to popular outcry, instead of sticking to prudent fiscal planning. This is the government of HK, not one of the Middle East. To combat inflation as well as narrow the gap between the rich-and-poor, arguably the worst way to go about is to give handouts and, crucially, to give the same handout to everyone in society, regardless of income or wealth. Distributing more HK capital into the markets will only drive inflation, not reduce it. What is more, the broad distribution approach taken means that Li Ka Shing will get the same amount (HK$6000) as a 62 year-old labourer working his ass off 15 hours-a-day without a pension.

In my opinion, this handout scheme is simply a knee-jerk reaction, aimed only at mitigating public disapproval. It does not address the key fiscal problem: Why on Earth was there such a large surplus in the first place? The HK government is supposed to serve the people, especially those in vulnerable positions. It is not supposed to act as a sovereign wealth fund. That giant surplus could have gone into numerous social programs to help low-income families.

Perhaps what annoys me even more is reading about some of the people who just recently were complaining left-right-and-centre about not having enough money for food/clothing/rent. Last night, those same people were trying to decide whether to spend the government handout on a new DSLR, laptop, handbag, PS3, TV, or mods for their car???? That is simply wrong for a society, and will be nothing more than a temporary distraction from the more fundamental economic problems engulfing HK, such as the straining HKD/USD peg.

[goo3]

so... does hk have any debt?

[DOHCVTEC]

Originally Posted by goo3

so... does hk have any debt?

For the 2010/2011 fiscal year, HK proposed a record surplus of HK$71.3 billion (that's US$9.15 billion). This will be the 6th year in a row for which HK will have had a surplus. A surplus of US$9.15 billion for a city of only 7 million people is completely irrational, bordering on oil-state levels, particularly in a time when many of its citizens are struggling financially with rising unemployment and inflation.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...72101T20110302

FYI, HK has some of the highest foreign reserves in the world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...hange_reserves

HK also has some of the wealthiest assets in the world, held in their sovereign wealth fund: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...n_wealth_funds

Which is all fine (Western governments would kill to have a surplus at all) IF everyone had high living standards and had access to world-class social programs reflective of the wealth of their government. But currently that's not the case, and there lies the issue, IMHO.

Funny, it is as if the HK government torn a page out of Libyan leader Gaddafi's book - in distributing fixed handouts to everyone, regardless of their income, regardless of their wealth, and regardless of the fact that they are even exposed to the huge inflationary pressures currently in HK.

[danned]

what is the point giving citizen 6000? they would keep begging for more
people in hk need to change

[hk20000]

Originally Posted by DOHCVTEC

For the 2010/2011 fiscal year, HK proposed a record surplus of HK$71.3 billion (that's US$9.15 billion). This will be the 6th year in a row for which HK will have had a surplus. A surplus of US$9.15 billion for a city of only 7 million people is completely irrational, bordering on oil-state levels, particularly in a time when many of its citizens are struggling financially with rising unemployment and inflation.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...72101T20110302

FYI, HK has some of the highest foreign reserves in the world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...hange_reserves

HK also has some of the wealthiest assets in the world, held in their sovereign wealth fund: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...n_wealth_funds

Which is all fine (Western governments would kill to have a surplus at all) IF everyone had high living standards and had access to world-class social programs reflective of the wealth of their government. But currently that's not the case, and there lies the issue, IMHO.

Funny, it is as if the HK government torn a page out of Libyan leader Gaddafi's book - in distributing fixed handouts to everyone, regardless of their income, regardless of their wealth, and regardless of the fact that they are even exposed to the huge inflationary pressures currently in HK.

But that's where the government in HK differs from the Western counterparts. The govrenment will not admit the internal problems of pure capitalism and the poor is going to stfu as long as they get their $6000 (easily 2 months of pay in HK if you didn't manage to make money in the first place)

IF they decide to hand out based on how much you make or anything like that you are just secretly admitting to the fact that capitalism hasn't worked for everyone.

The surplus needed to go, once the word was out that the gov' was going to put the money into the people's MSP so they can use it as investment instead of spending it right away, there was public outcry. This is because the MSP is actually ran by private bankers and the "projected value" at the end of the cycle has no guarantee. I myself lost 8% in face value of my MSP contribution when I worked for a year in HK - all to no fault of myself. Chinese understands that this is all but a big scam plan by the bankers anyway they would rather get the cash right here right now.

And on top of that there will be people who can't receive anything because he/she has not had any official working experience.

[StylinRed]

public health care in hk has been going to shits too that surplus would do a lot of good in that sector as well

[TheNewGirl]

I think we'll see a lot of countries with great income disparities giving out 'hand outs' soon after the chaos that we've seen in the middle east of late. While many of those fires were already burning, it is the escalating inflation rates and high levels of poverty that were the last straws on the camel's back.

Here in Canada our government 'buys peace' all the time, with things like GST/HST rebates, and gas credits and so on and so forth. If you take money for something you're less likely to rail against it, that's a well documented fact.

As I said, I'm sure HK won't be the last to employ this strategy. They're certainly not the first.

[ilvtofu]

Damn I'm going to get my 3rd star in a few months Im probably not eligible
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