Consumption Vouchers Denied

People collecting their vouchers on their Octopus cards

About two weeks ago the Hong Kong government looked at my LinkedIn page, where it's usually companies and contacts who find me there. 

I found this quite curious and now I know the answer.

Before the authorities handed out the second tranche of HK$5,000 in e-consumption vouchers on August 7, it warned that anyone who had departed from Hong Kong would not be eligible.

So that's why the HKG was on my LinkedIn page

Sure enough, on Wednesday I received a text message that says:

"As you have submitted a valid claim request for early withdrawal of your mandatory provident fund/benefits under occupational retirement scheme on the grounds of permanent departure from Hong Kong, we consider that you do not meet the requirement on "not having permanently departed from Hong Kong nor having such intention". You are therefore not eligible under the Scheme and will not be disbursed with consumption vouchers."

If there was a dispute about this, one could reply in writing to a PO Box number...

However, it turns out there are some 250,000 people in Hong Kong who withdrew from their MPF funds early for financial or personal reasons, but have not permanently left the city who were denied the HK$5,000.

On Friday morning, more than 100 people went to the secretariat office in Mongkok to complain.

Steven Lai is one of them. He is a 45-year-old restaurant manager who withdrew his MPF [mandatory provident fund] early as he planned to move to the mainland with his wife in 2020, but in the end decided to stay in Hong Kong.

Those who left HK are not eligible for e-voucher

"To be honest, the HK$5,000 was not the most important thing, but I don't want this to affect my other applications for government services and benefits... such as public housing and subsidies [for my children's education]," Lai said.

He added the government should check people's travel records to ensure they haven't permanently left Hong Kong.

Another Hongkonger, Bill Yuen, 32 was frustrated because he took a half day off work to go to the secretariat to apply for a review for his pregnant wife who withdrew from her MPF account a decade ago to tide over her financial situation at the time.

Following complaints like these, the government has now said that those who claim to qualify for the HK$5,000 can now prove their residency by showing utility bills, bank statements, salary pay slips, rental tenancies or hospital visit records. 

Some 6.3 million residents are eligible for the HK$5,000, including about 300,000 who are eligible for residency, such as those with specialist qualifications, entrepreneurs and students.