Live in Hawaii for 50 years, witnessing Hawaii heading south with the rest of the country especially last 20 years. As international business consultant since 1985 and appointed by US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke as Vice Chairman of Hawaii District Export Council. My heart really sinks seeing China lifting 3/4 of the population out of poverty and US pushing 1/4 of the population into poverty to benefit the 5% elites and the Military Industrial Complex. Many Americans don’t want to work hard instead play with the stock markets on the get rich quick scheme. Most ends up big losers. By Johnson Choi, President, Hong Kong China Hawaii Chamber of Commerce 在夏威夷生活了 50 年，見證了夏威夷跟著美國衰落, 尤其是最近 20 年。 自1985年起擔任國際商業顧問，並被美國商務部長駱家輝任命為夏威夷地區助美國公司出口議會副主席。 看到中國讓3/4的人口擺脫貧困，美國讓1/4的人口陷入貧困，祇有5%的精英和軍工綜合體受益，我的心真的很沉。 許多美國人不想努力工作，而是想透過股市快速致富。 大多數人最終都會成為大輸家。 蔡永強, 香港中國夏威夷商會會長

Matthew Leonard: The End Of Pandemic Assistance Hit Households Hard By Matthew Leonard of Civil Beat

Data Editor Matthew Leonard digs into fresh data from the U.S. Census Bureau for today’s top story and looks at poverty levels here in Hawaii as pandemic assistance ended.

The poverty rate in Hawaii increased by 59% percent from 2021 to 2022, when the rate rose to 12.4% of the population on average. Hawaii Island’s rate was 15.1%, Honolulu was 9.7%, Maui was 8.2% and Kauai was 6.6%. 2021 年至 2022 年，夏威夷的貧窮率增加了 59%，平均貧窮率上升至 12.4%。 夏威夷島的比例為 15.1%，檀香山為 9.7%，毛伊島為 8.2%，可愛島為 6.6%。

Numbers like these inform the work of local organizations like Aloha United Way, which found 44% of households in our islands struggled financially at the end of last year. 這些數字為 Aloha United Way 等當地組織的工作提供了參考，該組織發現，去年底，我們島上有 44% 的家庭陷入財務困境。