Opinion | Protest over Kai Tak light housing plan shows why public views can’t be ignored

Name: Living in 15 sq ft: Inside Hong Kong’s coffin homes
Uploaded: 2023-02-12T22:30:11.000Z
Duration: 6 min 47 s
Description: Living in 15 sq ft: Inside Hong Kong’s coffin homes

The speed with which the government and legislators moved forward on Kai Tak light public housing disrespects the process of listening to Hongkongers’ concerns

If engaging the public and raising people’s concerns in Legco gets cut out for the sake of speed, public distrust of the government will snowball

Reading Time:3 minutes

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Kai Tak residents protest outside the government headquarters in Tamar against the proposed light public housing in their neighbourhood on February 7. Residents have argued there is not enough transport capacity to handle more people and the proposed buildings would block views from certain sites. Photo: Sam Tsang

Alice Wu

Published: 6:30am, 13 Feb 2023

Change might not be the only constant, after all. I’m not talking about all the proclamations of love eternal being prepared for Valentine’s Day, either. The nimby – or “not in my backyard” – attitude truly stands the test of time.

The controversy over the government’s plan to build temporary light public housing in Kai Tak continues to brew. Residents held an online petition and offline signature drive to oppose the government’s plans to put up 10,700 temporary flats for those who have been forced to live in subdivided homes – with horrendous living conditions and exorbitant rent – while waiting for public housing.

The government says it will take two years to construct these homes which will only be in use for five years. After this, the government will return the land to be used for its original purpose, which is to transform Kai Tak into the city’s second central business district.

The Kai Tak residents’ representative Pat Wong has no qualms with nimbyism, saying “Light public housing can help to tackle the city’s housing crunch, but it can be placed in other places.” Exactly, just not in their backyard.

Nimbyism has existed for ages, and it is indiscriminate in its very discriminatory purpose. Such an attitude crosses all social strata: Wong represents residents of private, public and subsidised estates.

Housing Minister Winnie Ho Wing-yin put up a good fight in trying to counter nimbyism and criticism over the cost of building these temporary public housing flats, saying they need to be balanced against the social and personal costs of forcing families to bring up children in unliveable spaces. However, it seems obvious that the government was taken by surprise when it shouldn’t have been.

06:47

Living in 15 sq ft: Inside Hong Kong’s coffin homes

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