On the housing needs in Hong Kong, et al...

I was reading this CNN article about the so-called coffin homes in Hong Kong. This came in close succession with the Wall Street Journal on the same topic just couple of days prior.

I grew up in Hong Kong, and I have my opinion on the issue. To be sure, the wealth gap in Hong Kong has always been big which accounts for one of the priciest in terms of real estate in the world for a very long time. If you think the coffin home phenomenon is new, you're quite wrong.

The lower strata of the society in Hong Kong has always tried to scrap by. In the post-WWII era, there had been lots of squatters who built their sheds on hillside. These squatters suffered various safety concerns, not the least fire hazard (since illegal utility cables were put in to steal electricity from main powerlines), but also the elements (including typhoons and landslides). Over the years, the then colonial British Hong Kong government had tried various means to dismantle these squatters, but they always sprang back to life. Afterall, these people had nowhere to turn to. During the push to build affordable public housing for lower income families, most (if not all) of these squatters were immediately relocated to public housing estates. Even to this day, getting in public housing in Hong Kong is like winning a lottery ticket, because unlike those in US, the public housing projects are very well run in Hong Kong and is very affordable to lower income families. The decent public housing, plus public education, has allowed them pathway to move up the food chain in economic ladders. Indeed, I view this as one of the achievements of the colonial British government in Hong Kong.

One would ask, why the sudden focus on the topic again, decades later now?

There is truth in the statement, that the wealth gap in Hong Kong has become wider. One could say too, that the challenge to the current Hong Kong government (the SAR - Special Administrative Region - that is now part of the greater mainland China) is bigger. The SAR Hong Kong government has tried to maintain the status quo, following the same playbook as the previous colonial British government for Hong Kong. It doesn't quite work out that well though.

There are now influx of immigrants from mainland China to Hong Kong that it's unable to say no to. For its small plot of land, Hong Kong has grown from some 5.5 million in population around 1997 (when its sovereignty was handed over to China by Britain) to more than 7 million now. The huge influx of wealth from mainland China has also created opportunities, but headaches as well, to this old British colony. As the mainland Chinese can pay, property developers would obviously want to cater for them, racing to build more bigger luxury units in Hong Kong. The overall wealth effect that jacks up property prices of almost all real estates further pushes the low income families to the fringe.

You normally would not hear much of the Hong Kong native locals complain too much about it, because they know this has always been the case. The new immigrants from China, some of those who are used to getting help from the government, are not so sanguine about it. They expect to find gold in Hong Kong, and surely they would be sorely disappointed.

I have first-hand observations of this, because when I was small, my mom used to own a building which is subdivided into a number of 1-bedrooms to individual tenants. Obviously these 1-bedrooms were considerably bigger and better than these coffin homes. Afterall, they are 70-100 square feet per, and usually singles or childless couples rented them. Rents were low, but it's a roof over their heads, and it allows them a way station to save up for something better. I remember there were times when I would go with my mom to the building and collect rents at month end. The tenants were decent, honest, working-class folks, and my mom dealt with them with respect. Although my mom had since sold that building, I still have fond memories going there from time to time.

These days, I have no doubts that new immigrants from China would regard those 1-bedrooms with distaste. They would say, they are not treated humanely. They would say, Hong Kong government does not do a good job helping them. They would say, it's not fair for them to have to work so hard, and still live in a tinny-tiny home, when someone else has a mansion. If they think waiting three years for a public housing unit is long, they should ask the locals to see how some had waited for 10+ years for one. Nothing is a given in Hong Kong.

I know I would sound like a Tea Party or even GOP fundamentalist for saying this, but you know what, the government in Hong Kong (before '97) had never given more handouts to its citizens than it is now. In fact, the way that current Hong Kong SAR government bends over to win public approval is sometimes quite laughable, its giving away of HK$6000 for free is a case in point. The colonial Hong Kong government would take decisive actions and push forward with the effort; the current SAR government would take whatever actions that either Beijing, or main media, or poll numbers, would want them to take. It's pathetic.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not really in the Tea Party or GOP camp on principle. Quite far from it, I do believe that the government does have moral responsibility to provide certain safety net to the poorest in society. Providing decent public housing to some of the poorest is desperately needed. For others who simply think, "we want to pay less for housing, and the government should for that," I'd say, m'am, I'd like that too, but that's not what a government is for. Along the same line, I don't agree with the Obama's push to delay or stop foreclosure, in order to keep people in their homes (???). I'd say, dude, if you can't afford it, it's not your home, to start with, and the government has no business keeping you there, just so that you can live there, rent free.