People usually associate West Kowloon with high-rise properties designed by international architects - and the luxurious lifestyle which they promote. But in the same area in the district of Sham Shui Po, thousands of people struggle daily with poverty and cramped conditions. Ho Hei-wah, director of the Society for Community Organisation, said Hong Kong's wealth gap was most stark in Sham Shui Po. 'The line between the rich and poor has grown even more distinct as rows of luxury residential high-rises are built on the harbourfront, monopolising the beautiful sea views.' Mr Ho said the development of West Kowloon should not be just about luxury properties. It should include improving the living environment of the poor in the district. 'We say that Hong Kong is a modern and prosperous city, but do we hear the voices of those living beneath the poverty line? They struggle day after day, never getting any closer to living stable lives. In this wealthy society, the poor are given nothing but the cold shoulder,' he said. According to the Commission on Poverty paper in 2005, Sham Shui Po has an exceptionally high number of elderly, impoverished, unemployed, low-income families and single parents. In 2004, the average monthly household income in the district was HK$11,500, the lowest in Hong Kong, compared with an overall median of HK$15,300. The unemployment rate was 1.4 per cent higher than the overall average of 7 per cent. About 11,200 children and youths in the district came from Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipient families. Hundreds of families in Sham Shui Po live in partitioned dwellings where apartments are divided into four to 12 rooms. Each room is about 40 to 50 sq ft, with only enough space for a bed and maybe a small wardrobe. Rent is about HK$1,000 per month, which in square foot terms is even more expensive than many expansive apartments. In these partitioned rooms live single people, the elderly and poor families. They often clash with each other over the use of a shared bathroom or kitchen area. Sham Shui Po was developed from rural farmland. Its most well-known street reveals its past. Apliu Street - which literally means duck farm street - was named after the numerous duck farms which used to be located there. It has become a popular area for electronic equipment, where traders sell goods such as spare parts for radios and amplifiers. A second-hand electronics market also thrives in this area. As thousands of people fled to Hong Kong from the mainland when the civil war started, they settled in Sham Shui Po, and commercial and industrial activities flourished in the 1930s. The area used to have many shipyards, but they all vanished when the government embarked on local reclamation projects. In the 1960s, Sham Shui Po developed as the base of the clothing industry in Hong Kong, and became the largest textile centre in the city by the 1980s. But as the industries in Hong Kong moved to the mainland, many clothing factories closed, industries came and went, and many shops were forced to close as they could no longer earn enough to support their businesses. Yick Kee Glass Shop on Kweilin Street closed last November. The story of Yick Kee is also the story of Sham Shui Po. Yick Kee was established in 1960. Over the years, the rent grew from HK$280 to HK$10,000. From the 1960s to the 1970s, the shop supplied window panes to property developers. Business was good. However, in the early 1980s, trade began to dwindle as the shop's skilled glaziers aged, and the physically demanding job of hauling heavy window panes up flights of stairs in old buildings became impossible for the glaziers. In the 1980s, Yick Kee began selling glass fish tanks instead. 'Everyone in Sham Shui Po knew Yick Kee for their fish tanks,' said the shop owner who gave his name as Ah Wah. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. Because of the 1997 financial turmoil and a massive influx of cheap fish tanks from the mainland, Yick Kee's business sharply declined. It then started selling glass frames. 'But we couldn't compete with the chain stores. And for six years we incurred losses of more than HK$100,000,' Ah Wah said. 'So, you see, how on earth can we continue?' Chan Chun Chiu Vegetable Seeds was another shop in Sham Shui Po that was forced to change. The Chan family bought the shop on Kweilin Street in 1960. In the peak days, Chan Chun Chiu had more than 400 shops selling vegetable seeds in Hong Kong. Now the Sham Shui Po shop is the only one left in Kowloon. It now also sells pesticides, fertiliser, rice and dried foods. 'Our business peaked between 1960 and 1978, but as Hong Kong's agricultural industry faded, trade started to decline,' the shop owner who identified himself as Mr Chan said. 'I still receive 10 to 20 calls a day now. But they are not placing any orders. They are from property agents asking if I'm leasing or selling the shop.' The declining businesses have left many Sham Shui Po families living in unimaginable conditions. Sham Shui Po also has the most new immigrant families, single people, street-sleepers, and ethnic minorities whose stories present the reality of Hong Kong's grassroots. Fung Pak-wing's family is one of the thousands of families struggling in Sham Shui Po. He used to work at an electronics factory. But when the factory moved to the mainland in 2003, he lost his job. The only work he could find after that was on a casual basis without a steady income, and he sometimes has to wait for months between jobs. He lives with his wife and two sons aged four and six. He can only afford a windowless 40 sq ft partitioned room for the family in a shared apartment with seven other households. His room does not have enough space for a table for his sons to do their homework. The boys have to study on the back stairs. His younger son constructs a 'desk' by putting one plastic chair on top of another with a pillow in between. The elder son simply works on the steps of the staircase. Their homework has to be done before it gets dark because the back stairs do not have enough lighting. Despite this harsh environment and the neighbours' complaints that they block the stairway, the boys study diligently and do well in school.
