Cage People - Hong Kong

Oct 1995
Near the upmarket Kowloon shopping district is a hell hole for the broken dreams of Hong Kong. A man crouches in a tiny wire cage hardly bigger than a child's cot. It's been his home for 30 years. He is one of Hong Kong's hidden poor - a worker that nobody wants. Soaring rents and unemployment have forced an increasing number of people below the poverty line. While the rich business elite of Hong Kong line their pockets, state-welfare is still a dirty word. Despite the government's budget surplus there is no minimum wage or unemployment benefit. Meanwhile inflation, together with cheap Chinese workers, threatens to force more and more people out of work. Waiting lists for housing can be seven years and suicide rates are high. Dignity is an important concept for the Chinese and many regard a caged existence as hardly worth living.

Produced by ABC Australia
Distributed by Journeyman Pictures

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Kowloon
• shopping
• district
• Unemployment
• Hong
• Kong
• news
• documentary
• current affairs
• journeyman
• journeyman pictures

[warmwollenmittens]

I think a lot of it is down to attitude and language. If you don't come over all patronising and actually speak (or at least understand) the local language then you'd fare a lot better. Fact is nobody poor wants your pity, but rather respect for their dignity. If you want instant gratitude for merely deigning to pay them some attention, then sorry, but you should haul your charity dilettante ass elsewhere. And that goes whether you're dealing with the first world poor or the third world poor.

[annaisonthemoon]

wow

i grew up in hong kong when i was younger

i guess i was at the wealthy end of the scale but i had no idea how all these people lived

it feels terrible knowing that you have lived such a fulfilling life while all around you people are living in these condtions

also, are any white people in hong kong lower class, or are they all extremely wealthy??

.

[mrzack888]

@ukusapillage STFU.  under british rule majority of people lived like that. 2nd tier citizens to the evil whitey.

[ukusapillage]

so this happend under british rule right... so this is how hong kong grew...

[sweetgirl94949]

if i was in hong kong i would give money to themmm!

[jessicapleung]

@annaisonthemoon If you grew up in Hong Kong, I'm assuming you're a HK resident. The living conditions of the cages and tight spaces are more so of mainlanders coming down and expecting the government to give them whatever they need. Public housing is great in Hong Kong - if you're a citizen/perm. resident.

[ThePythagoran]

honestly, I feel for the "poor" anywhere but these guys have it made compared to those who fit under "absolute poverty" in the vast majority of the world. Perfect doesn't exist you dolts. The place was almost as bad as subsaharan africa a generation ago. It's obvious (to me, at least) that laissez fairre has proven itself the best policy for the developing world. For the developed, well, it might be worth a try.

[twodice416]

unbelievable... the man is so consumed with greed, that human life has a value of ZERO, unless it is capitalized upon through blood sweat and tears of hard labour and nothing but complete stripping of dignity, spirituality or hope of any sort in return..... this makes me sick, sick to my stomach... we are bound to NEVER make it as a species, doom is inevitable.

[lyndsayiu5]

@annaisonthemoon There aren't really. Generally because the major of white families are expats and earn a lot. And if they ever had trouble they'd move back to where they once lived. Not all of them are extremely wealthy of course, my mother is white and dad's Chinese and we aren't extremely wealthy but we do live in a house and have a reasonable income.

[sungl0]

typo error of previous posting- I meant that Singapore's flatted housing of people may "NOT be Perfect" in the eyes of Western countries but. its MIRACLE HOUSING policy

has turned a slump city (left behind by same culprit BRITAIN) into an excellently MANAGED estate - people live with dignity.

BTW- I'm not singaporean. Observation is objective and fair

[sungl0]

ask the govt to visit Singapore to find out how it managed to empower people and orchestrated the highest % of home ownership in the world. ITS A MIRACLE IN HOUSING POLICY for all. It may be the WESTERN countries idea of "perfect" housing but people are more purpose-driven when BASIC own SHELTER dream can be found.

MAKE A CALL NOW! or better still GO THERE PERSONALLY and see the MIRACLE OF HOUSING PEOPLE IN DIGNIFIED MANNER.