In early 2008, when the issue of public areas being camouflaged as private within upmarket housing developments first reared its head, homeowners called on the government to, officially, close those spaces to the masses. Tellingly, there were no demands for explanations or compensation from the developers who had misled flat buyers in the first place.
Recently, there have been calls from new residents of Ho Chung New Village for the government to intervene in a dispute over an access road.
'Shame on you, Lands Dept' reads a banner affixed to railings on the Nam Pin Wai roundabout (right).
However, some commentators are asking why residents should turn on the government rather than deal with the vendors and agents who choose to keep pertinent information - details about public areas and land disputes - to themselves when selling property. It is a good question but one that is perhaps more suited to a society that has mechanisms through which ordinary citizens can get a fair hearing as a matter of course.
As with many other areas of commerce in this city, there is little protection for the end consumer of property so a desperate plea to the highest authority is often the only recourse for the aggrieved - even though it is one that will most likely fall on ears made deaf by vested interests.
