The Hong Kong homeless community where living rough is better than being in a cage, and recovering drug addicts help others rebuild their lives

The Kwun Tong public pier at the heart of the central business district in Kowloon is more than a place for people to catch a ferry, it has become a home to a community of people in Hong Kong with nowhere else to go.

A haphazard mix of cardboard and wooden structures stand in defiance against a government sign that reads “unlawful occupation is not allowed”.

Pastor Sam Cheng chun-wah, the founder of the Christian New Life Association, a drug treatment centre, and his group of volunteers, most of whom are recovering drug addicts, came across the unusual community living at the pier when they took part in a sailing course to learn new skills last December.

After docking at the pier, they saw the makeshift village of around 30 people and decided to return with food for them in January, and then face masks during the coronavirus outbreak.

“I was very surprised when I first came to see the situation here,” said Cheng, who returns every month or so with volunteers.

Doing outreach work with homeless people in Kwun Tong, as well in Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong’s poorest district, is an important part of the rehabilitation programme run by the organisation, in which addicts who do not use drugs any more give back to the community.

“We don’t just help them to quit the drugs … I think it is better to give than to receive. Once they feel they have value in society and they can help others, it reinforces their treatment,” Cheng said.