Hong Kong squatters in 1962

I forgot where this was, but a viewer was so kind to tell me that the first scenes are located at Diamond Hill and the last scenes at Shek Kip Mei. Furthermore you will see clothing distribution amongst them and the resettlement buildings.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• china
• old
• hong kong
• squatters
• resettlement
• charity
• 1962
• 60s
• refugees
• diamond hill
• shek kip mei
• michael rogge

[udon890]

I was lucky. When I was born, the Mak Lee Ho - Governor of HK had housing projects for the poor people like my parents. We moved in So Uk Estate. I remember when we moved in So Uk Estate I saw some squatters like this over the hill at the back of the So UK buss terminal.

[MichaelRogge]

A collection of my photo's of Hong Kong in the fifties will be shown from 17th March 2010 in the Tao Evolution Gallery,

13 Circular Pathway, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Open Monday-Friday 10h00-13h00 / 14h00-19h00

Saturday 14h00-18h00

[dramakor]

I believe part of this video was shot at location near 22°17'9.02"N 114°11'44.21"E

looking to the west direction.

(use google earth or google map to locate)

at 0:44

the street in the background is called

Tin HouTemple Road

The CausewayBay boat shelter pier can be seen extending out in the background.

HK central is on the far left, Kowloon Peninsula is on the far right background.

[MichaelRogge]

Thanks for clarifying the locations. After fifty years I could not recall.

[Bus6845]

Squatters are the unfortunate people but they have courage and endurance. With no legal place to live, I understand their plights. LIke many similar places elsewhere, they built a tiny shanty village on the roof of the entire block where I lived, peacefully and never bothered us. As a venturous young boy, I made new friends including adults, all from the mainland.

[MichaelRogge]

Indeed they were courageous. I had no occasion to make friends amongst them, except for a Mr. Woo who was a Buddhist priest who fled from China and who introduced me to the Pure Land and Esoteric Buddhist community. I hope to make a clip of the ceremonies I filmed in 1961.

[hotbloodchris]

This area is now Tin Hau Temple Road area... the hillside behind Causeway Bay as many've pointed out.... nowadays, the squatter has beem transformed as a upper-middle class residential area ... every single slope facing the habour worths alot..

[zimondye]

@pinkysgrl So do I! My father drove me round to see the more sods after a typhoon at that time. Just loads of people picking through their completely destroyed huts, which themselves had been made of anything they could lay their hands on. Quite a contrast to our luxury lifestyle in Repulse Bay.

[macgun]

The area should be at Lin Fa Kung Hill(蓮花官山) between North Point and Tai Hang.

Before Lai Tak Estate(勵德村)was built, there were many squatters all arround.

[pinkysgrl]

I remember seeing all of these type shelters completely destroyed after the typhoons of the early 1960s - probably around 1963 or 1964.

All of this because of the mainland's Cultural Revolution.

[Bus6845]

The 7-storey buildings could be those in ShekKipMei however similar designs also showed up later elsewhere in Kowloon. MsSKM could well be right about Diamond Hill. Common to most squatter places is that they were built onto steep hillside with steep, narrow and hazardous walkway. At the Shek Kip Mei squatter village where I once lived, pigs ran around, and there were several huge boulders sitting precariously on top the hill above us. But people had more important things to worry about.