Hong Kong is known around the world as a free and prosperous society. Grinding poverty is uncommon here, yet that doesn't mean no one suffers from want.
Owning their own home is beyond the reach of many citizens because of sky-rocketing property prices and a limited supply of public housing.
'The government's claim of [there being only] a three-year waiting time for public housing does not illustrate the entire picture,' said Sze Lai-shan, from the Society for Community Organisation (Soco). 'People who are single and new immigrants are not included on the list. There are around 110,000 families waiting for public housing - and that does not include 40,000 single people and 10,000 new-immigrant families.'
The housing authority plans to build 15,000 units on average in the next five years. That will hardly solve the problem, Sze said.
'Including the new units and around 5,000 units more that are returned every year, the annual number of available units is around 20,000, but there are more than 160,000 families waiting for them,' he explained.
Low-income families on the waiting list who cannot afford to rent an apartment are often forced to stay in dismal cage homes or cubicles. The government issues licences to cage home owners, but the criteria for the licence are bizarre: no more than 12 people can share a toilet and corridors must meet fire safety standards.
