Race does not play role in deciding who gets Hong Kong public housing, official says

Stanley Wong, Housing Authority’s chief of subsidised housing, defends allocation practices after complaints ethnic minority families face longer waits than local families

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Published: 9:02am, 16 May 2018Updated: 10:45am, 16 May 2018

A Housing Authority official defended allocation practices on Tuesday, denying race was a factor in the long waits for public housing faced by Hong Kong’s ethnic families.

Stanley Wong Yuen-fai, the chairman of the authority’s Subsidised Housing Committee, stressed the long wait times – the latest figures show families are waiting more than five years for public housing regardless of race – were connected to family size.

Hong Kong rural body chief calls for calls for shift in land use policy to allow for more housing

“Waiting time is longer for big families, which explains why there is a feeling ethnic minorities wait longer,” Wong said, adding ethnic minority families are often larger than local families.

Government figures show the average size of a household in Hong Kong was 2.8 people, while the 2016 census indicated that in ethnic minority households the average was 2.6.

People from the city’s ethnic minority groups complain they are at a disadvantage when it comes to public housing. Photo: Sam Tsang

Wong was responding to concerns from Hussain Shoaib, a representative from the Catholic diocese of Hong Kong Diocesan Pastoral Centre for Workers – Kowloon, who said people from the city’s ethnic minority groups feel they are being made to wait longer than locals for public housing.

Shoaib also said they have a hard time understanding letters from the authority, as they are mostly in English and Chinese.