Anna Wu interview: fighting for the elderly — retirement can’t rest on MPF alone

(Editor’s note: this report was originally in English and is rewritten in Chinese per this site’s practice.)

Former legislator Anna Wu spoke to the South China Morning Post about her drive to champion elderly rights. Hong Kong’s elderly poverty is severe, she said — and retirement protection can’t rely on MPF alone.

Why isn’t MPF enough?

Low-income elderly gain nothing from it. Wu noted MPF covers only the employed: housewives, the long-term unemployed and already-retired seniors are excluded entirely; low earners contribute too little to live on after decades of compounding. The government, she argued, should seriously study universal retirement protection — a basic living standard for every senior — rather than dumping the whole burden on personal savings and MPF.

How has she spoken up for seniors?

From LegCo to the community, relentlessly. Wu has spent years pressing the government — in the legislature and through civic groups — to face the ageing-population challenge. Retirement protection is a matter of social justice, not charity, she said: seniors gave Hong Kong a lifetime of prosperity, and society owes them a dignified old age.

To see what today’s retirement protection provides, visit MPF fund comparison.