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標題: Living in a cage in Hong Kong [打印本頁]

作者: echo 時間: 2009-10-30 00:29 標題: Living in a cage in Hong Kong

本帖最後由 echo 於 2009-10-30 01:33 編輯

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/28/cage.homes/index.html

video

Hong Kong, China (CNN) -- If you have ever complained that your apartment is the size of a shoebox, consider the living space of Hong Kong resident Chung For Lau.
Chung lives in a 625 square foot (58.06 square meter) flat here with 18 strangers.
The place is sectioned into tiny cubicles made of wooden planks and wire mesh. Everything he has acquired over the years -- clothes, dishes, figurines, a tired TV set -- is squeezed into this tiny cube, a modernized version of what is known here as a cage home.
With all the buzz over Hong Kong's exorbitant luxury property (like the recent record-breaking sale of a $57 million duplex), it may be hard to believe that people have been living in cage homes in this city for years.
But with Hong Kong home to some of the most densley-populated urban districts in the world, real estate has always come at a premium, no matter how small.
Chung's cage is a newer yet less-desirable model, we are told. The wire mesh one, which resembles an over-sized rabbit hutch, is apparently more comfortable.
Occupants have less privacy, but the temperatures don't get as high as in the wooden-mesh variety. A thermometer in Chung's home reached 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit). Sometimes it gets so hot, Chung said, that he wants to die.
Chung used to be a security guard. In the good old days he earned about $500 (HK$3,875) per month. But as the economic crisis set in, his full time job went to part time work until he was laid off this past summer.
As he stared into his bank passbook, Chung lamented that he wouldn't be able to make the $150 rent (HK$1,160) this month -- these cubes aren't cheap.
They are stacked on two levels -- $100 (HK$775) for a cube on the upper deck and $150 for the lower bunk.
The lower cubes are more expensive because you can just barely stand upright in them. Do the math and the apartment owner is collecting roughly $2,500 a month (HK$19,375) from these people.
The 19 occupants share two toilets. A small rubber hose attached to a leaky faucet is what they use to wash themselves. Social workers who monitor the apartments said the electricity is donated, so a few of them have TVs. One person on the upper deck has an aquarium.
One social workers said that because of the recession these homes are being occupied more frequently by those made jobless -- people in their 30s and 40s. The social worker said none of the younger people wanted to speak on camera for fear their chances of finding work would be hurt.
Chung, 67, is now waiting for welfare to kick in and is on a long list for public housing. The government says it is doing its best to meet its citizens' needs, but Chung says he has lost all hope. Economic recovery or not, he feels forgotten.

作者: Lik 時間: 2009-10-30 10:12

HK government's reponse:

The government has always attached importance to meeting the needs of the grassroots, including housing needs...

People choose to live in bedspace apartments and cubicles because these apartments, apart from commanding a low rent level, are mostly conveniently located in the urban area."

Just what kind of a heartless PK government would send out official responses like that?!

Do the fxxking officials have no sense of what "compassion" means? (Well, obviously, they don't.) And with such a fxxking merciless and indifferent attitude towards the poor and the under-privileged, how can any sane person not despise this ridiculous government?!

-Lik

作者: 快樂牛郎 時間: 2009-10-30 11:10

HK government's reponse:

Just what kind of a heartless PK government would send out official responses like that?! Do the fxxking officials have no sense of what "compassion" means? (Well, obviou ...
Lik 發表於 2009/10/30 10:12

Maybe you can donate 90% of your income to subsidize these people?

作者: Littleprince 時間: 2009-10-30 11:11

"people choose to blah blah blah..."

do they have a choice at all?

作者: chunsh 時間: 2009-10-30 11:12

"people choose to blah blah blah..."
do they have a choice at all?
Littleprince 發表於 2009-10-30 12:11

yes those people DOES NOT have a choice but how do u know they DID have a or more choices while they were young?

作者: chunsh 時間: 2009-10-30 11:14

HK government's reponse:

Just what kind of a heartless PK government would send out official responses like that?! Do the fxxking officials have no sense of what "compassion" means? (Well, obviou ...
Lik 發表於 2009-10-30 11:12

yeah, right, only British government has heart.

Geez I dont remember, while way back before 1997, everyone in hk were rich and live in big houses?

作者: shutterbug 時間: 2009-10-30 11:16

本帖最後由 shutterbug 於 2009-10-30 12:19 編輯

The HK gov't is screwed either way. The flippers won't allow them to build more cheap housing but at the same time these people who live in cages are complaining. So what can you do?

Cages have been around for ages...what's so special about them that CNN needs to report on?

作者: chunsh 時間: 2009-10-30 11:28

The HK gov't is screwed either way. The flippers won't allow them to build more cheap housing but at the same time these people who live in cages are complaining. So what can you do?

Cages have bee ...
shutterbug 發表於 2009-10-30 12:16

because around 12 years ago, HK is under England, but now it is under China

I agree that hk gov is being "too much friendly" to the big rich real-estates boss, but the sad truth is, every government around the world are just the same s h i t

作者: Lik 時間: 2009-10-30 11:41

Gesh... if you really know this:

I agree that hk gov is being "too much friendly" to the big rich real-estates boss...
chunsh 發表於 2009-10-30 11:28

How can you possibly still say this?

yeah, right, only British government has heart.

Geez I dont remember, while way back before 1997, everyone in hk were rich and live in big houses?
chunsh 發表於 2009-10-30 11:14

From your own words, your logic and line of reasoning isn't even cohesive.

The difference is, under British rule, government policies were far more social than the extreme conservative (right wing) stance that the current SAR government is taking. HK people had upward social mobility back then. There was a sense of social justice and fairness. The city's Gini coefficient wasn't No. 1 in the world.

And now? Ha~!

-Lik

作者: Littleprince 時間: 2009-10-30 11:55

5# chunsh

唉。。。家家有本難念的經﹐別人所經歷的﹐我們未必明白﹐或許他生長在破碎家庭﹐父母離異遺棄了他﹐祖父早死﹐祖母吸毒﹐自細黜學﹐無書讀群埋D壞人﹐打家劫舍﹐想變好都沒有機會﹐人家的種種我們真的不明白﹐所以只有諒解及盡量幫助而已。。。

我只相信一點﹐有頭髮無人想做瘌哩﹐有大屋住唔通情願住籠屋咩﹖

作者: chunsh 時間: 2009-10-30 13:29

Gesh... if you really know this:

How can you possibly still say this?

From your own words, your logic and line of reasoning isn't even cohesive.

The difference is, under British rule, government p ...
Lik 發表於 2009-10-30 12:41

the sad truth is, every government(except for the extreme communist nations) in the world are more "friendly" to the big rich people, but you always sounds like only China and hksar government do that

作者: Lik 時間: 2009-10-30 13:48

the sad truth is, every government(except for the extreme communist nations) in the world are more "friendly" to the big rich people, but you always sounds like only China and hksar government do th ...
chunsh 發表於 2009-10-30 13:29

I can say with confidence that in today's world, hardly any other developed countries is as pro-big business and completely negligent of the poor and underprivileged as HKSAR and China. Being the worst offenders, naturally they become the prime targets of harsh criticism.

-Lik

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