Measures introduced by the government and social organisations in recent years have helped to lift some of the gloom hanging over Tin Shui Wai, say frontline social workers and researchers specialising in studies of the area.
Social workers who provide help to residents from the troubled new town say increased community services and unemployment relief measures have lifted many residents from the abject poverty that blighted the area just a few years ago.
Tin Shui Wai was dubbed the 'city of sadness' following a string of deaths from suicides and family tragedies. These included a murder-suicide in 2004 when a mainland woman and her twin daughters were hacked to death by her husband after a domestic dispute. In 2007, a 26-year-old woman threw her two children from their 24th-floor flat in Tin Yiu Estate before leaping to her death.
A series of measures, organised by the government and various groups and federations, was launched following the tragedies. They included jobs fairs, making transport subsidies easier to obtain for low-income workers from the area, setting up an HK$8.5 million training facility for construction workers by the Construction Industry Council last year and the opening of a Jockey Club telebet centre last year.
Ann Lo Kwan-nga, who has worked as a counsellor at Tin Yuet Estate for five years, said the atmosphere there had become more positive in recent years. 'The establishment of an integrated mental health centre, operated by the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association, last year has vastly improved mental health services in the area,' said Lo, assistant director of programmes for the International Social Services Hong Kong branch. 'We have referred quite a few cases to the centre.'
Sara Ng Lai-ping, supervisor of the Caritas Integrated Family Service Centre in Tin Shui Wai, said the community was now calmer, as there had been no shocking incidents of late.