Social Policy of Hong Kong

3453 Words14 Pages
According to R.Titmuss (1974), the objective of social policy is to meet social needs and promote social integration and discourage alienation. Comment on the positive function and dysfunction of social policy in Hong Kong. Give examples to illustrate your answer (please use the South-Asian minority groups as one of the examples). Hong Kong, being one of the most developed countries in the world, has strong setup of social policy. According to Titmuss (1974, pp.23-24), social policy refers to "the principles that govern action directed toward given ends" and it is "action-oriented and problem-oriented". Titmuss also stated that objectives of social policy include delivering services to meet the needs of people which usually cannot be fulfilled by market or family and redistribution of resources from the rich to the poor. In fact, effective social policy can promote social integration and discourage alienation. Generally, social policies in Hong Kong aims to achieve social redistribution and meet the basic human needs with normative justice. Social welfare services cover different areas and have positive impact on those who live in Hong Kong. However, while social policies are compulsory to meet the needs of public, it is also important to make sure everyone has equal chance to get access to services provided by the government. In this essay, general functions and dysfunctions of education, housing and healthcare policies of Hong Kong will be discussed and also examined the extent in meeting objectives of social policy. To start with, education is a cornerstone of a nation's development and in Hong Kong, the government is fully aware of the importance of education and indeed, large amount of public expenditure is spent on education for its quality and accessibility. The turning point in education policy started in 1978 when the government introduced 9 years free
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