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Saturday, Feb 22, 2025
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Voucher fiasco for the elderly
More than 100 disgruntled elderly citizens gathered at the consumption voucher scheme's secretariat in Mong Kok yesterday as they did not receive their first batch of the HK$2,000 vouchers.
Some 810,000 people who applied for the electronic consumption vouchers through either paper form or online registration on or after July 18 received their first batch of HK$2,000 vouchers yesterday.
Together with the 5.5 million people who registered earlier and received their consumption vouchers on August 1, a total of 6.3 million have received the first batch of vouchers.
Long queues were seen outside the scheme's secretariat at Pioneer Centre yesterday as dozens of elderly people who failed to get their consumption vouchers flocked there to demand answers.
Some elderly citizens called in the police after feeling dizzy while arguing with the secretariat's officers. Ambulances were deployed but no one was sent to hospital.
A man in the crowd who had been in line for over two hours said he received a message telling him that he had successfully registered for the scheme after submitting the forms.
But he failed to receive his vouchers yesterday and was told that he did not apply for the scheme. "Elderly people like us don't know how to use computers. It is absurd how chaotic it is for those of us who submitted paper registration forms," he said.
He added that the government should dispense the vouchers directly into people's bank accounts just as it did with the HK$10,000 cash payout scheme last year, when permanent residents aged 18 or above each received HK$10,000.
Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong lawmaker Elizabeth Quat Pui-fan said the party's offices across 18 districts have received numerous requests for help, most of which concern the elderly.
Some did not fill in the forms while others filled in the wrong information, she said.
"Some wrote their home number instead of their mobile number, which makes it impossible to contact them," she added.
Authorities have announced that those who submitted their applications between July 4 and August 14 but failed to receive the vouchers due to inaccurate or insufficient information can resubmit their applications on or before September 15.
The Democratic Party also said it received complaints from people who did not receive the vouchers.
Its Yau Tsim Mong councillor, Douglas Tsang Tsz-ming, said around 150 people had sought help from them regarding the consumption voucher scheme, with the majority of those who sought help being of senior age.
Together with the 5.5 million people who registered earlier and received their consumption vouchers on August 1, a total of 6.3 million have received the first batch of vouchers.
Long queues were seen outside the scheme's secretariat at Pioneer Centre yesterday as dozens of elderly people who failed to get their consumption vouchers flocked there to demand answers.
Some elderly citizens called in the police after feeling dizzy while arguing with the secretariat's officers. Ambulances were deployed but no one was sent to hospital.
A man in the crowd who had been in line for over two hours said he received a message telling him that he had successfully registered for the scheme after submitting the forms.
But he failed to receive his vouchers yesterday and was told that he did not apply for the scheme. "Elderly people like us don't know how to use computers. It is absurd how chaotic it is for those of us who submitted paper registration forms," he said.
He added that the government should dispense the vouchers directly into people's bank accounts just as it did with the HK$10,000 cash payout scheme last year, when permanent residents aged 18 or above each received HK$10,000.
Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong lawmaker Elizabeth Quat Pui-fan said the party's offices across 18 districts have received numerous requests for help, most of which concern the elderly.
Some did not fill in the forms while others filled in the wrong information, she said.
"Some wrote their home number instead of their mobile number, which makes it impossible to contact them," she added.
Authorities have announced that those who submitted their applications between July 4 and August 14 but failed to receive the vouchers due to inaccurate or insufficient information can resubmit their applications on or before September 15.
The Democratic Party also said it received complaints from people who did not receive the vouchers.
Its Yau Tsim Mong councillor, Douglas Tsang Tsz-ming, said around 150 people had sought help from them regarding the consumption voucher scheme, with the majority of those who sought help being of senior age.
