'Policy blueprint likely to address subdivided flats'
Chief Executive John Lee has visited Yuen Long and Tsuen Wan in the past few days, gathering views ahead of his policy address, a move that experts said meant his policy blueprint will cover specific issues such as tackling subdivided flats. On his Sunday Yuen Long visit, Lee visited subdivided flat tenants before chatting with pedestrians in a busy street market, and talking to diners in a restaurant. It follows his Tsuen Wan tour on Friday.  Andrew Leung,  a former social welfare director, said this suggests that the chief executive's next policy address will tackle the issue of subdivided flats.  "It's been long flagged up as one of the ills of Hong Kong where quite a considerable number of people, maybe some say 200,000 are living in inhumane conditions, where the units are so tiny it's not bigger than several bathrooms." The chief executive on Sunday visited a family of four living in a 100-square-foot subdivided flat in Yuen Long. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Lee said he hoped the light public housing and transitional housing initiatives would improve the living conditions of the underprivileged. Leung noted that the policy address will also likely tackle the issue of an ageing population. "The second issue suggested by these visits is the elderly problem, because Hong Kong's population, demographics, is suffering from ageing, a dwindling population," he said. "The dependency ratio of the economy is more and more elderly people depending on welfare, elderly housing and less productive compared with the other smaller proportion of the population who are working."  On Friday, the CE visited Tsuen Wan and listened to the concerns of residents, especially the elderly.  Lee is due to deliver his second policy address on October 25.