Memories of a changing HK - 50 years of public housing
An exhibition shows the development of a key part of local history since the 1953 Shek Kip Mei squatter camp fire
Sixty-five-year-old Hui Po-king conjured up an image of drug syringes, rats, filth and illegal businesses when she talked about the earliest public housing estates in the 1950s.
'The lock of our communal shower room was loose. I had to guard the door with a pair of sticks when my elder sister was taking a shower, as drug addicts and shady figures were all over the building,' said Ms Hui.
After a fire destroyed her home and those of thousands of others in the Shek Kip Mei squatter area in 1953, Ms Hui was resettled with her family in a first-generation public housing estate in the district and lived there until 1990.
Limited living space caused conflicts in the estate. 'Some neighbours argued all day long. There were always arguments when people queued up for buckets of water, which at one time was only available three hours every four days. Some people had their buckets thrown away when they offended the gangsters,' she said.
Ms Hui, who used to live in a family of seven in a 120 sq ft flat, recalled how she felt like she was living in a paradise when she moved into another public flat of the same size in 1962 - with only her husband and daughter.
Mrs Hui was invited to open the exhibition 'Memories of Home - 50 Years of Public Housing in Hong Kong' at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum in Sha Tin yesterday. Officiating was Michael Suen Ming-yeung, chairman of the Hong Kong Housing Authority, and Choi Suk-kuen, deputy director of Leisure and Cultural Services.
Featuring life-sized models of old flats, pictures, relics, and video interviews of residents, the exhibition is aimed at increasing understanding of how the continual changes in public housing design have raised the quality of life for many families.
When the housing scheme was launched to accommodate the 53,000 people made homeless overnight by the Shek Kip Mei fire, living conditions in the estates were 'relatively primitive', said Poon Kai-tik, head of corporate and community relations in the housing department.
'The function of a flat in the 1950s was to sleep and keep your belongings, as communal toilets, basins, and cooking stoves were all placed outside,' he said. Mr Poon said it was typical for a family of eight to share a bunk bed in a 100 sq ft flat, with ventilation provided by holes drilled through common walls shared by adjacent rooms.
Hygiene was improved over the following two decades with private washrooms, kitchens and balconies.
There are now about 3 million people living in public estates. Housing Department senior architect Stephen Yim Yu-chau said future public flat designs would include more communal facilities and better access. Although she now lives in a subsidised home ownership flat in Tai Po, Ms Hui said she was pleased with the rapid transformation of public housing design.
But she added: 'The remaining Shek Kip Mei estates should be repaired as soon as possible. I remember cement falling off the wall before I moved out.'
The exhibition will run till October.
