People Power: Group calls for expansion of salary subsidy scheme

Macau People Power has urged the SAR government to expand the salary subsidies scheme to include more residents.

Yesterday, a representative of the association delivered a petition of appeal to government headquarters.

Iam Weng Hong, the deliverer of the petition, said that his organization had received complaints from local residents who wanted to receive the government subsidy. According to Iam, these citizens claimed to have contributed to Macau over the course of the past 30 years.

Eligible taxpayers will be entitled to a monthly grant of 5,000 patacas for a period of three months, which is a total of 15,000 patacas. This number is based on the 2019 median monthly income of employed Macau residents, which was 20,000 patacas. The subsidy was designed to cover 25% of the 2019 median monthly income.

However, workers are only eligible if they were employed until January 1, 2019.

“Some workers have been working for over 30 years. However, this 15,000 pataca subsidy has disqualified many of those who lost their jobs before January 1, 2019. They feel resentful,” said I.

“So, our association has requested that the local government expand the eligibility criteria for this employee subsidy and we suggest that Macau local residents who have for over 60 months in total should be included in the benefits,” said Iam. “The public will know that the Macau government is fair and has not forgotten [these residents’] hard work and contribution to Macau.”

According to Iam, the 60-month standard that was drafted by the association is based on serious consideration.

“We believe that 60 months is reasonable. If people think that 60 months is not reasonable, or if people have a better proposal, then they could have contacted us earlier or could have taken action by themselves,” said Iam.

When addressing the number of requests received by the association, Iam hesitated. “I have been in contact with one resident. He told me that we are the ‘savior of the nation.’ He is a tourism bus driver. He is over 60 years old. He has been working for sure for over 30 years. It’s not right that he does not get to be compensated,” Iam said.

Earlier this month, Iam and another member of Macau People Power demanded that the local government create measures and instructions in preparation for an .” They called on the Macau authority to announce their plans before June 6.