More support for ethnic minorities

October 12, 2018

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung:

I chair the steering committee on ethnic minorities. I have come up in the Policy Address - this is the pamphlet - a lot of concrete measures. If you look at that pamphlet, it is in both English and Chinese. We also have (the pamphlet in) six different languages, catering for ethnic minority groups in Hong Kong. We are talking about really making full use of these $500 million earmarked for this exercise to help them on all fronts, including employment - we would provide them with case management support through NGOs (non-governmental organisations) - and also education, particularly the learning of Chinese as a second language. We will be providing more financial support, more teacher support to kindergartens.

A series of measures will be implemented to strengthen support for ethnic minorities, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung says.

Briefing the media on the Policy Address initiatives, Mr Cheung noted the Government has established the Steering Committee on Ethnic Minorities Affairs which is under his chairmanship.

The measures include enhancing the subsidy for kindergartens to help non-Chinese speaking students learn Chinese.

A pilot scheme in conjunction with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) will be launched to provide employment services for ethnic minority job seekers through a case management approach.

The Government will also commission NGOs to set up dedicated outreach teams to approach needy ethnic minority families.

A total of $500 million has been earmarked to support the measures.

“We are talking about really making full use of these $500 million earmarked for this exercise to help them on all fronts, including employment - we would provide them with case management support through NGOs - and also education, particularly the learning of Chinese as a second language. We will be providing more financial support, more teacher support to kindergartens,” Mr Cheung said.