Download Poverty in the Midst of Plenty --

Yan Tsz Ching, Janet
School: Ying Wa Girls’ School
Poverty in the Midst of Plenty --- Penury and Housing
Photographer: Rufina Wu & Stefan Canham
Poverty is the worst form of violence. ---Mahatma Gandhi
When speaking of the Pearl of the Orient, what comes into your mind?
Stock market? Food paradise? Incredible harbour view? Well, you are only
partly correct.
Hong Kong, as one of the most successful international financial
arenas in Asia, has long been praised for her prosperity and high quality of life.
Local residents enjoy an average GDP of HKD$285,146. Yet, behind the veil
of all the flourishes, poverty and social inequality exist everywhere around the
city. According to government statistics, 1 in every 6 citizens is living under
the breadline and the total number of people in poverty exceeds 1.3 million in
2013. A Gini Coefficient of 0.537 also indicates severe income disparity. The
data clearly reveals the critical poverty crisis that we are facing.
Amongst the different aspects of poverty that the underprivileged
encounter, housing problems remain their main concern. While there are
inadequate public housings in our city, the price of private property has been
surging largely in recent years. This poses heavy financial burden on ordinary
citizens. Many people, if not all, are unable to afford a place of their own and
are left with no choices but to live in appalling conditions. “Shoebox-sized”
cage homes, partition rooms and self-built rooftop huts are no longer
uncommon in Hong Kong.
If you walk by the old districts of Sham Shui Po and Kwun Tong, it is
not difficult for you to see several 8 to 11 storeys buildings standing in the
middle of the modern skyscrapers, like a small isolated island surrounded by
the endless ocean. Many of these old buildings are former factories which had
already been relocated elsewhere since 1980. However, the area is not
vacant at all. The incremental growth of rooftop habitats gives rise to more
than 30 domestic units there. Costing $93.30 per square foot, these cramped
spaces offer the most affordable accommodations for impoverished
individuals and families who can barely make ends meet. This is the place
where elderly, minority ethnic groups and new immigrants from the mainland
China call home.
Imagine a family of four living in a room of 6ft by 2ft. What life will be
like? The living environment of these kinds of rooftop huts is actually far from
satisfactory. The congested units are often linked by narrow and maze-like
system of corridors and stairs, and are closely packed in a tiny space with
poor hygiene. Many of these huts are made of rusty tin board with tarpaulins
canopies, which make indoor temperature as high as in the Sahara Desert
during summer. A lack of windows and air conditioning means poor ventilation
and that jeopardizes people’s health as well. To make the matter worse, the
unguarded staircases, exposed wires and absence of fire safety measures
are time bombs that put residents’ life and property at risk, let alone the lack
of water supply, unstable electricity supply and poor drainage system. These
are real life samples which allow us to get a glimpse on what the life of the
poor is like.
What causes the increasingly prevalent phenomena of poverty and
pensive housing crisis in our society? The main concern today is over the
casualties of the economic recession and restructuring from low-valued added
industries to a new knowledge-based economy. It is all about the unskilled
and lowly-educated workers being displaced by computers and cutbacks in
consumer spending. Parents of the impoverished families generally hold little
hope of overcoming their plight and this is passed on to their children,
resulting in intergeneration poverty. Lack of professional training is also one
main reason accounting for the aged falling into the poverty trap.
Thanks to the positive non-interventionism policy implemented by the
government, the local property market has been booming over decades. In
the meantime, residential land supply remains low and cannot meet the
pressing demand. Although many buildings in the old neighborhoods such as
Tai Kok Tsui and Yau Ma Tei in the Kowloon Peninsula are targeted by the
Urban Renewal Authority for demolition and redevelopment, the process is
extremely slow and this allows the areas to become the hotbeds of illegal
subdivided units and rooftop structures. It may be correct to say that no one in
Hong Kong is starving in the streets. Yet, for too many, existence is a daily
grind with little hope of relief.
Instead of painting a rosy picture of our future economy, it is high time
we tackled the crux of the problem. Recently, the Hong Kong government has
taken a step forward by drawing the first official poverty line to measure and
analyze the overall poverty situation. The best way to address poverty is
actually at its source, by improving the ability of people to support themselves
in the hi-tech economy. The government can run retraining courses so that
the unemployed can be equipped with more knowledge. A more
comprehensive retirement protection should be put forth to lift elderly out of
poverty. Controlling the rise in property value and increasing land supply are
also of vital importance.
Meanwhile, concerted efforts by all concerned are required. Business
sectors and non-governmental organisations have to take up the social
responsibility and contribute to the remedy for relieving indigence in our
society. Employees of all races and age groups should be given equal
opportunities and people’s hard work should be paid by a decent and
reasonable wage. As individuals, we can engage in voluntary works organized
by the NGOs besides donating money to the needy.
Poverty problem is growing at an alarming rate in our society.
Narrowing the gulf between the rich and poor becomes essential in sustaining
healthy economic growth and maintaining social stability. In response to
ambitious target set by the United Nation to eradicate extreme poverty in the
world by 2015, Hong Kong is working hard on ameliorating local penury
problem. Though eliminating poverty may be a long haul, with our
determination and perseverance, it is no longer an unattainable dream for all.