Motion Debate on Minimum wage, maximum working hours

Madam President, slogans like "a minimum wage" and "a maximum number of working hours" do sound nice, but will nice-sounding slogans work? Admittedly, every country has its own conditions and so is every place. This point has been mentioned by many Honourable colleagues already. There is one more point I wish to make and that is, we have a unique feature ?our dollar is pegged to the US Dollar. For whatever level of minimum wage that we have imposed, it is like we are imposing a minimum wage in US Dollars. It is true that many countries in Southeast Asia have a minimum wage. But the exchange rate for the Indonesian currency can fall from 2,000 or 3,000 to 10,000 per US Dollar. The Thai Baht may also drop from 20 something to one US Dollar to more than 50 to one US Dollar. And their minimum wage is calculated in their local currency. Do we have this sort of flexibility? Put it in another perspective, why have so many industries relocated to the Pearl River Delta over these past years? Is it related to wages? Or is it related to the high land prices? I think both have something to do with this situation.

If we look back at our economy over this past decade or so, the best times would be during the 1990s. At that time, the inflation rate was more than 10% a year. So even as employees got a salary raise of 10%, they would think that it was too small. They thought salaries should be increased at a rate of 2% to 3% over the inflation rate. Now things are exactly the opposite. Speaking from the perspective of employees, the most important factor if they want to ensure a good Income is a good economy. If the economic situation is good, when the unemployment rate drops to 4% or 5% as in the past, every boss would worry that their staff will resign. They are worried that the staff will move to greener pasture. Employees may switch to a nearby restaurant or company for a $1,000 increase in their salary. So if it is an employee-dominant market, then there will be no need to impose a minimum wage.

Speaking on the current conditions, some Members from the democratic camp have asked us why we have not conducted any opinion polls. They say that 75% of the people support the idea. With respect to slogans like a minimum wage and a maximum number of working hours, I think that a 75% approval rate is on the small side. For a 25% disapproval rate shows that something is wrong. Sometimes I need to find lawyers to help me in law suits. Their minimum rate is $4,000 per hour. Minimum wages are different with every trade. For example, a dish-washing worker may get something from $20 to $30 per hour, whereas a barrister gets $4,000 per hour. In Britain lawyers are not expensive. If you hire a barrister to write a paper for you, it will only take ?,000 to ?,000. So why should I need to pay at a rate of $4,000 per hour? As there is a great difference between trades, so how can a minimum wage be set?

On the problem of disparity between the rich and the poor, I would think that if we wish to improve our economy, there is one policy to which we should give serious thoughts and, that is, the daily quota of 150 people coming to Hong Kong for family reunion. This is a policy which we all agree that should be reconsidered. Allowing people to come to Hong Kong for family reunion has received the endorsement and support from Members since 1997. However and as a matter of fact, we can see that the 150 people who come to Hong Kong every day belong to the low-income and low educational attainment category. This is of course a rough description of these people and it does not mean that all of them are like this. So for so many years, since so many of these new arrivals have come to rob the local people of their rice bowls, it is no surprise that wages have fallen. That is why a few hours ago in the question time, we asked whether or not investors from the Mainland could come here. It is because more bosses should be permitted to come here. And if we just let those job seekers come here, it is only natural that wages will be pushed down. But if more sole proprietors are allowed to come here to make investments, and since the sum of $6 million or so is not too large, they may not want to spend on property purchase only. If they want to open a small business, they may hire a secretary, a receptionist or a driver. And even if they do not invest in business, they need to go around for meals and shopping, so they need to visit restaurants and ride a taxi. So if more business owners are allowed to come here, more jobs can be created.

But if the present situation is allowed to continue, it is no surprise that this gap between the rich and the poor will widen. In our opinion, to resolve this problem, the poor people should be assisted so that they can climb the social ladder, instead of dragging the rich people down and mix the two kinds of people. Only in this way can the gap between the rich and the poor be narrowed. We would think that the most important thing is that the outlook of the economy rides on the current trend and develop for the better. The property market is of crucial importance to those owners of negative assets and people from the middle class. For the middle-class people ?many of the Members sitting here belong to the middle class as well ?if their problem of negative equity assets is resolved, they will be in a better mood. Do we not notice that traffic these days has become more congested, that there are traffic jams everywhere. Restaurants are crowded with people and given this, restaurants may need to hire a few more dish washing workers or cleaners. By then can these workers be hired with just $4,000 a month? The restaurant next doors may offer $4,500. Some time later, the pay may rise to $5,000. So this is the way out. We hope Members will consider it. This is the only way to solve the low wage problem which low-income workers are most concerned about. We do not have to resort to legislation. If legislation on a minimum wage is enacted, may I know whether it will be revised every year? And for this minimum wage, should it set at the minimum wage prevailing in the market, or should it be the median income? What we are talking about are $5,000 or $6,000, not that of US$5.15 per hour as in the United States which is really very low indeed.

Mr SIN Chung-kai has suggested opening the door first then study and discuss the issue later. But we think that it would be too bad if the business sector is given the wrong message on this issue. We will not want to see some trades moving to another place to continue their operations. Having said that, I fully agree that some trades will not move out of Hong Kong. The taxis, for example, cannot go to Shenzhen. The eating establishments which Mr Tommy CHEUNG represents cannot all move to Shenzhen as well. But there are many manufacturers or banks which have back-up and support services, that is, the so-called back office, and these can be relocated. So would the prescription of a minimum wage a bad deed made out of bad intentions or a bad deed made out of good intentions?

Madam President, I think that the issue should continue to be discussed in the community. We note perfectly well that many countries in the world have imposed a minimum wage for various reasons. But in the Hong Kong context, the most important thing here and now is to improve the economy so that more people can get a job, instead of imposing a minimum wage. As for the issue of maximum working hours, the same argument also holds.

Thank you, Madam President.