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Agnes Lam

Thirteen-year-old Peter Fung Ka-wing takes his sister to McDonald's to do homework - just to enjoy the air-conditioning and more space than at home.

'The  fries smell very good. I always want to buy some to eat when doing homework there, but my brother and I don't have the money,' 11-year-old Primary Five pupil Karen Fung Ka-yin said.

'We can afford only a small soda drink, so that the staff there will not tell us to leave. We sometimes stay at school until 6pm or 7pm to do homework, because our home is very small,' said Peter, who is in Primary Six.

The siblings live with their parents in an 80 sq ft flat.

When asked what he needed most at the moment, Peter said: 'I want to have an English dictionary so that my sister and I don't have to fight when doing homework and revision, because we only have one at home.'

Peter and Karen were among a group of underprivileged children who talked to four legislators, including Ronny Tong Ka-wah, Audrey Eu Yuet-mee,  Frederick Fung Kin-kee  and Lee Cheuk-yan,  and received Halloween gifts at the Hong Kong Council of Social Service yesterday.

'I feel heartbroken, as no matter how hard-working and good they are at their studies, it is nearly impossible for them to get into good schools, because their parents are not graduates of famous schools and they do not live near good schools,' Mr Tong said.

'I lived their lives and I went through what they're going through now. My family of eight lived in a flat of 80 sq ft with no toilet. We took showers in the kitchen. We did not have financial assistance from the government. But I feel luckier because I  still got into a good school and the Hong Kong University, because I worked hard.'

Ms Eu shared the same worry and said poor children  faced greater difficulties than in the past.

'With the changes in education policy which emphasise project-learning and performance in extra-curricular activities, these less-privileged children will suffer more from the system, as their families cannot give them private tutors or even a computer, let alone arrange activities for them after school,' she said.

The Hong Kong Council of Social Service has urged the government to set up an inter-departmental group to battle the poverty in the city.



Poor pupils face more problems in modern era, says lawmaker