Cubicle living grim reality for poor

On the first floor of a hulking residential building, at the end of a dimly lit corridor, a narrow door opens up into Hong Kong's economic underbelly.

Twenty-two men live in this particular 450 sq ft apartment in Mong Kok, in cubicles each hardly larger than a single bed, stacked above one another along two narrow passageways that end in a dank toilet and shower room.

Each cupboard-like cubicle has a sliding door, a small television, some shelves and a thin mattress. Most of the men have lived here for months, some for years.

"Luckily there is air conditioning. If not, sleeping would be impossible," said Ng Chi-hung, 55, who is unemployed and occupies one of the bottom bunks. "If you live in such environment, you have to adapt to everything."

Cheng Tin-sang, 59, occupies the bunk above, which is reached via a short metal ladder. Unable to work because of a heart condition, Cheng wanders the streets all day. "I sit in places like McDonald's," he said. "Anywhere with air conditioners will do."

Hong Kong's per-capita gross domestic product is higher than that of Italy, and not far short of those of Britain and France, according to World Bank figures. But for unskilled or semi-skilled people like Ng, the city is a tough place to be, said Wong Hung, an associate professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who specialises in urban poverty and employment.

Hong Kong's economy underwent a major change in the 1980s, when much of the manufacturing activity for which the city became famous in the 1950s and 60s moved across the border to the mainland. In its place came banking, insurance, trading, logistics and real estate - service sectors that now employ nearly 90 per cent of the workforce but that have been unable to absorb many less educated workers, Wong said.