A project led by the Society for Community Organisation has drawn attention to the plight of underprivileged children in the city by focusing on 29 from various backgrounds and documenting how their lives changed from 2004 to 2014.
The South China Morning Post interviewed one of the children involved in the project to learn more about the changes in her life.
Kelly Wong Ka-yee says the city she has lived in all her life was not built for young people like her. Space is scarce, and many Hong-kongers don’t have enough money.
The 14-year-old shares a small Kowloon Bay flat with her parents and her brother, 30. The family sleeps in two bunk beds, and the home has no dividing walls. A television placed by her
mattress often distracts her from homework. “It’s hard to study there,” she sighs.
On the face of it, Kelly’s life hasn’t changed much in the past decade. She has a chance to draw a direct comparison with life 10 years ago after taking part in a photography project called “Our Treasure”.
The project, an initiative of the Society for Community Organisation, involved 29 children from varying backgrounds who were photographed in 2004.
The children, who included members of grass-roots local families, ethnic minorities and immigrants from the mainland, were pictured again late last year for a book and an exhibition.
Kelly says life has improved “a little bit” over the past decade. The family has moved out of a crowded “cubicle” flat in Sham Shui Po and no longer shares a bathroom and kitchen with five
other families like it did back then.