Notes » June 2006

Hong Kong's Shame

An article in The Standard draws attention to a problem that still hasn't been resolved: the plight of the cage-dwellers.

Elderly couples such as Wong Lap-liu, 76, and his wife Lee King-fong, 77, are the faces that most of "Asia's World City" would prefer to ignore.

[ ... ]

They represent the shame of Hong Kong - a 21st century altar to real estate and progress in which thousands of elderly citizens with inadequate incomes are forced to live in "cage" or "cubicle" homes.

Official government statistics show that there are 150,000 Hong Kong people living in cages, cubicles, rooftop huts, hallways benches, parks and streets. In bureaucratic lingo this is called "inadequate housing."

Government data for licensed cage homes (or "bedspaces") put the number at 29 apartments providing 1,292 cages for 878 people.

[More ...]

Most folks visiting or even living in Hong Kong have no idea people live in these conditions. Every now and then the topic comes up, but the hard truth is little if anything is ever done about it.

As the visitors bid good-bye one cage resident could be heard telling others: "Anything they write won't help. Nothing will change."

For a glimpse into the lives of the cage-dwellers, take a look at Michel Setboun's evocative images.

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