Hong Kong minister Paul Chan lifts lid on childhood of poverty in squatter camp
Since taking over as development chief in 2012, Paul Chan Mo-po has never been far from controversy. But on Tuesday the embattled minister got a chance to discuss another side to his life.
Since taking over as development chief in 2012, Paul Chan Mo-po has never been far from controversy. But on Tuesday the embattled minister got a chance to discuss another side to his life - speaking of how he grew up in poverty in a ramshackle squatter camp.
"Sometimes people will look down on you because you come from a poor family. Don't be intimidated because of that," Chan told an audience of secondary school pupils at an event about life in the city from the 1950s to the 1970s, organised by the Youth Hostels Association. He was speaking close to the area of Shek Kip Mei where his and thousands of other families lived in squalor.
"Not only did we have to share a kitchen, but we didn't have our own toilets either," Chan said. "We had to walk quite the distance to use a public toilet. I still remember that when I first saw toilets with seats … I couldn't get used to them. I remember that if you looked down into the public toilets, you could see insects crawling around. To this day, thinking about those toilets makes me shudder."
Drugs and gambling were also rife, Chan added. He had to work after school and struggled to keep up at university because he had not been taught in English before. His family also lost their home in one of many fires that affected the camps.
"Because I come from a poor family, my parents couldn't give me much of a leg up in my career," he said. "But it doesn't matter, because we have friends: In secondary school, we studied in groups; at university, we collaborated on student organisations. People you meet outside work … these people are your assets."
Chan became an accountant and lawmaker before joining the government. He's since faced claims of ties to a firm that owned subdivided flats; conflict-of-interest accusations over farmland that would rise in value due to a scheme his bureau was pushing through and, last year, defeat in a libel trial after he and his wife accused their daughter's classmates of cheating.