Blowing Water | Finding a cure for Hong Kong’s loneliness must be a priority
Tight spaces and high costs put younger generations at risk, Luisa Tam says
Hong Kong is a very lonely city and this sad epidemic is slowly sapping the life out of our young people.
Many Hongkongers feel isolated, even though they live in one of the most densely populated places on Earth. With some 7.3 million people, the city’s population density stands at 6,644 people per sq km; in the Kwun Tong district, the situation is nearly nine times worse with 57,250 people per sq km.
The living space approved by government planners is merely 61 sq ft and together with a toilet and kitchen included, it is commonplace to see a flat measuring around 120 sq ft, roughly the size of a parking space.
Living in such proximity and being stacked atop each other, you wouldn’t expect people to feel alienated. But sadly, this seems to be the case. Young children who are cooped up in subdivided units of no more than 120 sq ft with their families have nowhere to play inside or outside their homes, nor a space to interact with other children. Ask many of these children and you will find that for many, their bunk beds are where they spend most their time. They eat and do their homework on their bunk beds.
They are not the only ones who stay stuck indoors. The city also has a segment of its population, mostly male, who prefer to shy away from the general population and opt to live in the digital universe rather than the real world. They are known locally as duk naam or “toxic boys”.