Ways to boost elderly care and medical services amid an ageing population were key focuses for Hong Kong Island East candidates in the upcoming Legislative Council elections as they participated in a government-organised forum on Saturday.

Stanley Ng from the Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), who is seeking re-election, pointed out that he is the only candidate with extensive experience in the legislature and administration.

"Employment is the most important livelihood issue. I will continue to monitor the government to prioritise local employment," he said.

"I promise to continue to push the government for free access to elderly-friendly technologies with early and pilot implementation in Island East," Ng, a member of the Executive Council, added.

DAB district councillor Elaine Chik highlighted that the number of elderly people and old buildings in the Eastern District is among the highest in Hong Kong.

“I suggest waiving rates on self-occupied properties for the elderly,” she said. “The purpose of the waiver is to reduce their financial burden.”

“Our team will also closely monitor the plan to merge the Island East and West hospital clusters and work out the best solution.”

New People’s Party district councillor Calvin Kwok said that if elected, he would advocate expanding Eastern Hospital and increasing the number of beds.

“For retired elderly people, I will also advocate keeping current fees for general outpatient and specialist outpatient services,” he added. “In addition, I will work with academics to study existing elderly benefit policies to identify areas for improvement.”

Kenny Yuen, a district councillor from the Liberal Party, said the government should provide more support for the so-called sandwich class – middle-class elderly people.

“The sandwich-class elderly face high medical expenses and a lack of caregivers. The issues of single-elderly and elderly couple households are becoming more serious. I suggest the government relax the threshold for caregiver vouchers to allow more senior beneficiaries,” he said.

Lee Ching-har, also a DAB district councillor, stressed the need for the government to recruit more doctors to cope with medical demands of an ageing population.

“We currently have about 16,000 doctors in both the public and private sectors, which is seriously insufficient. I believe the government needs to establish a third medical school and recruit doctors from overseas to meet the medical needs brought about by an ageing population,” she said.

A total of 39 “Patriots Collaborate for Good Governance” election forums are being organised by the government, covering the geographical, functional and Election Committee constituencies.

All the forums are being broadcast live on RTHK TV31 and RTHK Radio 1.