JIMMY TANG Chek-fung has been ''imprisoned'' for most of the past two decades. The crime of this quiet, 47-year-old Christian - being paralysed in a traffic accident that broke his body but not his mind.
Mr Tang's prison was a hospital bed, which he was confined to for most of the 20 years since his accident in 1972.
But Mr Tang considers himself to be relatively lucky, two years ago he was admitted to the new Sha Tin Cheshire Home, which provides rehabilitation training and accommodation for disabled adults. But at least 100 others like him are not so lucky - they are often housed with people more than 50 years older than them, confined to their beds or to a single room, with no chance to regain mobility or use their intelligence.
The Social Welfare Department says its central referral system has 138 people waiting for places in eight government and privately run, subsidised hostels. They can accommodate 331 disabled adults - most are full.
The Sha Tin Cheshire Home has a waiting list of more than 20 for one of the 50 beds in its two wards for the severely disabled, but medical experts warn that without rehabilitation those with disabilities, especially the young, can lose the desire to live.
Dr Ip Wei-chung, chief executive of the Sha Tin Cheshire Home, said: ''Some people appear to suffer minor disabilities, but encounter difficulties living in an ordinary house. They may need special help and equipment, for example when they use a toilet.'' He is worried that sending young disabled people such as Mr Tang to privately-run homes for the elderly, which impose no age restrictions on disabled patients, will become a trend.