【明報專訊】The Chief Executive in Council has adopted the recommendation of the Minimum Wage Commission (MWC) on raising the Statutory Minimum Wage rate from $37.5 per hour to $40. The increase will come into force on 1 May. The minimum wage is designed to ensure that workers receive wages within a reasonable level so that they can support themselves and their families. But the reality is that even the price of a meal in an ordinary cha chaan teng is higher than the minimum hourly wage. The amount is simply not enough for grassroots workers to live a life with dignity. The minimum wage in Hong Kong has not been adjusted since 2019. The increase of 6.7% this time merely covers the inflation rate over the past three years, and it has very limited use in improving the livelihood of grassroots workers. In recent years, the number of workers receiving the minimum wage has been dropping only because the minimum wage has been set too low and has become increasingly irrelevent to the actual labour market. The whole system must be overhauled; otherwise, the minimum wage will become a meaningless notion that exists on paper only, which will only aggravate the working poverty problem.