Campus Digest

School of Business organises public forum on MPF offsetting mechanism

03 Jun 2016

Mr Matthew Cheung hopes to gather public opinion on how to address the MPF offsetting issue through an open discussion at the forum Mr Matthew Cheung hopes to gather public opinion on how to address the MPF offsetting issue through an open discussion at the forum
Mr Matthew Cheung hopes to gather public opinion on how to address the MPF offsetting issue through an open discussion at the forum

 

A public forum entitled “MPF Offsetting Mechanism: Abolish? Maintain? Where to go from here?” was held yesterday (2 June) as part of the initiatives taken by the School of Business’s Centre for Human Resources Strategy and Development to celebrate the University’s 60th anniversary. The forum aimed at providing a platform for representatives from major trade associations, social service and education sectors to hold a constructive discussion on the MPF offsetting mechanism. Some 350 participants including members of the public, employers, employees and practitioners from the labour sector attended to exchange ideas on the topical issue.

 

Officiating at the opening ceremony were Mr Matthew Cheung, Secretary for Labour and Welfare of the HKSAR Government; Mr William Leung, Chief Executive Officer of Sun Hung Kai Financial Limited; Mr Cheng Yan-kee, Chairman of the Council and the Court, HKBU; Professor Roland Chin, President and Vice-Chancellor; Professor Edward Snape, Dean of the School of Business; and Professor Randy Chiu, Director of the Centre for Human Resources Strategy and Development, School of Business, HKBU.

 

In his welcoming speech, Mr Cheng Yan-kee said HKBU is committed to nurturing students with the interest and ability to explore and discuss on a diverse range of social issues, underpinned by HKBU’s ethos of whole person education. Through the forum, the University hopes to encourage open and rational dialogue among different sectors of the community on the MPF offsetting mechanism, and provide constructive ideas to the HKSAR Government for reference during the consultation period on this topical issue.

 

At the forum, Mr Matthew Cheung expressed his gratitude to HKBU for organising such a forum in celebration of the University’s 60th anniversary. He encouraged the participants to hold more thorough and in-depth discussions on the MPF offsetting mechanism at the forum, with the attendance of academics and various stakeholders from the social welfare, labour, and commercial sectors as well as the Government so as to bring in new proposals for this key issue.

 

Four veteran professionals and experts in related areas were invited to deliver a keynote speech at the forum. Mr Matthew Cheung spoke on the topic “Retirement Protection Forging Ahead”; Dr Stanley Lau, Honorary President of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, elaborated on the impact the abolition of the MPF offsetting mechanism would have on the industrial and commercial sector; Mr Stanley Ng, Chairman of The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, shared his insights on the pillars for retirement protection under the sway of the MPF offsetting mechanism; and Professor Raymond So, Dean of Business of Hang Seng Management College, delved into the issue of whether employees receive adequate protection under the MPF scheme and if they have suffered any loss under the offsetting mechanism.

 

Other guest speakers included Mr Chua Hoi-wai, Chief Executive of The Hong Kong Council of Social Service; Mr William Leung, Chief Executive Officer of Sun Hung Kai Financial Limited; Mr David Li, President of Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management; Mr Simon Wong, Executive Director of L H Group; and Dr Felix Yip, Associate Director of the Centre for Human Resources Strategy and Development, School of Business, HKBU.