Chief Secretary Eric Chan has described the government’s latest elderly food coupon initiative as a proactive gesture of community care, rather than simply a commercial discount, as the programme prepares to enter its sixth round.

Starting September 16, more than 200 elderly centres across Hong Kong will begin distributing discounted meal vouchers to approximately 70,000 beneficiaries.

The programme targets both individual seniors and couples, including the "hidden elderly" – those who are often isolated – with the goal of fostering greater social inclusion.

Each eligible senior will receive a set of eight vouchers, redeemable for designated afternoon tea sets at a subsidised price of HK$18.

The vouchers are valid from October 1 to November 30 and can be used across eight participating catering groups: Café de Coral, Fairwood, Tai Hing, Maxim’s, McDonald’s, Ngan Lung Restaurant, Pizza Hut and KFC.

Speaking at the launch ceremony on Tuesday, Chan highlighted the programme's growing reach, noting that more than 290,000 sets of meal vouchers were distributed through the centres in previous rounds.

"For friends who came to the elderly centres for the first time to collect these vouchers, the proportion has increased substantially, from 15 percent in the first round to about 30 percent in the fifth round – a doubling of the rate," he said.

"This proves that the plan has successfully attracted some elderly friends who previously preferred not to go out and had less contact with community services. We hope they will take this important step into the community and broaden their social horizons."


Edited by Edmond Fong