In early 1995 it was estimated that some 181,000
households (495,000 persons) were inadequately housed.
By June 1998 this had fallen to 170,00 households
(437,000 persons).
The term "adequately housed" refers to
persons living in squatter areas on government land, in temporary housing, in
cottage areas, in self contained flats, in rooftop structures, or in shared
accommodation in the private sector.
The government's policy is to build 50,000 flats a
year in the public sector and to form land and the necessary infrastructure to
meet the long term demand of about 35,000 private flats a year.
In 1998, about 2.2 million people (33% of the
population) were living in public housing estates with a total stock of about
656,000 flats.
The government acknowledges that, for
various reasons, some persons in Hong Kong have "either fallen through
the safety nets or, as a matter of choice, have ended up living on the
streets. "
SoCO is
the Society for Community
Organization
Formed more than a decade ago SoCO is an NGO that
acts as a watchdog on Hong Kong's housing policies and homeless and safeguards
the rights of the city's urban poor. SoCO reports that the government
has been responsive to its actions and recommendations. The past
few years have seen big changes in Hong Kong with its transfer of title from
Britain to China. SoCO has continued to research, advocate and work with
the increasing number of homeless since the changeover.
In June 2001, SoCO in
collaboration with ACHR's Training and Advisory Programme hosted an exchange
in Hong Kong between Homeless people and supporters in HONG KONG, KOREA and
JAPAN
The next few pages are picture diary of
the exchange and an illustrative view of the urban poor in Hong Kong.
|
|
Evenings with Street Sleepers
On the evening of their arrival the
homeless from Japan and Korea were taken down to the Cultural Centre
in Kowloon to meet with the homeless of Hong Kong.
Street sleepers start congregating
around 11:30 PM and sleep the night on cardboard mats. They leave
just after day-break at the urging of the Cultural Centre's
security guards.
|
|
|
Here, Ho Hei Wah director of
SoCO discusses with one of the homeless of Seoul,
Korea. In the foreground, homeless leader from OSAKA
Japan waits for Japanese translation .
At 12:30 AM the group headed nearby,
to a 24 hour McDonalds, where management allows people to
"nod off over tea or coffee" for a few hours
between 1 AM and dawn.
|
|
Late Night Day 2 Under the bridges
with the homeless of Hong Kong
|
SoCO have completed an
extensive survey of Hong Kong's street sleepers. The numbers
are on the rise - from 819 in January 2000 to 1,259 in December
2000. .... Not large numbers by Asian standards ... but a rise
of 47% .... The surge is attributed to a change in welfare policy
and the recession.
Wages for low paying jobs
have dropped 30 to 50% over the past 2 years, so many people may not
be able to afford housing. Some unemployed refuse to seek the dole
(unemployment relief) for fear of being stigmatized.
According to the survey there are more younger people becoming
street sleepers.
SoCO has urged the welfare
department to adjust the unemployment application process to take
into account the realities of the poor.
The government according to
Ho, have taken up many of the recommendations resulting from the
SoCO survey. When the survey was published, one
immediate impact was an increase in the government budget allocation
for outreach workers.
The SURVEY and other
information on Hong Kong's urban poor and Housing Policies is
available from SoCO
|
