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November 1999

Mark I estates - Fading Blooms

Photos and Text by Cran Sin and Tom Ho

Mark I estates- the first permanent, multistorey concrete housing built after the Shek Kip Mei fire in 1953 - provided emergency shelters for fire victims, mainly new immigrants from the Mainland. Many of these people arrived here with only the clothes on their backs, determined to put down their roots in Hong Kong. After the fire, the 200- to 300- square-foot flats in the Mark I estates accommodated whole families. They were crowded, but the rent was low. About one-tenth of the population was housed in these estates. The Mark I estates played a significant role in the development of Hong Kong, because the residents there formed the core of the local labour force.

Time passed. Kids grew up and moved out of the old housing estates. Left behind now are the older generations. The living conditions in Mark I estates are now condifered very low. Two families have to share a single bathroom, which is usually at the end of a narrow, dark corridor. It is the low rent of this housing that keeps those old residents there.

However, these estates are slowly being demolished. Soon, the feature of Hong Kong's history will have faded into oblivion.

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