On Social Justice

The Catholic Church opts for the poor. This is her position on social justice. She is carrying on the prophetic tradition. In the current situation, a prophet speaks for the poor and the under-privileged. A prophet takes up the role of the conscience of the society.

It is hard to believe how the poor are exploited. Read this.
saying, "When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great, and deal deceitfully with false balances,
that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and sell the refuse of the wheat?" (Amos 8:5-6)
To buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals! How we can reduce a human being to a pair of sandals!

Recently, a legislator said that the minimum wage of workers should be set at twenty Hong Kong dollar an hour. He stirs up a barrage of outcries and is nicknamed "Twenty Dollar Cheung". At present, the monthly salary of a domestic helper stands at $3850. Let us add $2150 for housing, transportation and food etc. to make up $6000 a month. Divide it by $20 per hour. It means a worker has to work 300 hours a month in order to earn this wage. Roughly, it means a worker has to work 10 hours a day, 30 days a month at this wage level. Imagine the quality of life of such a worker! Will he be able to feed a family of four, if a meal for one costs $20? He needs to spend 4 x 2 x 30 x $20= $4800 per month! How much is left for housing, for transportation and for school fees etc. He has to reduce spending on food! No wonder the public is outrageous!

The legislator ran restaurants. When one of his restaurants, in which I happened to hold my wedding banquet, was wound up, he was supposed to pay wages and severance payments etc. to his employees. But as a legislator, he knew the labour ordinance well. Instead of digging into his own pocket to pay the employees, he applied for the Protection of Wage for Insolvency Fund (PWIF) to pay his employees. He did not spend a single cent. The taxpayers paid for him! I learned this from the lips of a retired labour officer. Now, I understand more the truth of the complaints of Amos. Society has changed. You don't need to buy the needy for a pair of sandals. You buy them without spending a single cent. The taxpayers pay for you! No wonder businessmen are eager to gain admittance into the legislative chamber. No wonder the democratic camp fights really hard for the abolition of functional constituency through which "Twenty Dollar Cheung" got admitted into the legislative chamber.

Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky (Psalm 85:11).
Dear Lord, how will You carry out Your righteousness for the needy in Hong Kong? We long for Your faithfulness, as a deer thirsts for fresh running streams. Amen.