Residents face forced move from Tai O’s Tin Lee House

May 22, 2013

Government to sell off public rental flats under Home Ownership Scheme

Reporters: Tracy Chan, Joyce Cheng, Charlene Kwan
Editors: Ian Cheng, Rene Lam

Tin Lee House in the fishing village of Tai O, is the least occupied public housing block in Hong Kong. Just 14 households live here, most of them comprising elderly people who were rehoused after their stilt houses were either destroyed in a fire in 2000 or were demolished by the government.

The residents thought they would see out the rest of their days in Tin Lee House but instead they have been plagued by uncertainty.

In 2002, the government announced it would turn the building into a hostel but later abandoned the plan. Then, in February this year, they were told they had six months to move as the building would be turned into Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats.

Tin Lee House resident Siu Tak-kwai, says most of the residents are “old and frail”. His daughter, Siu Sin-yee says her parents have health and mobility problems, “ You couldn’t force them to move away, could you?” she says with tears in her eyes.

Most of the residents have lived in Tai O all their lives, they say they cannot adapt to life outside at their age.

On top of that, they find the Housing Authority’s arrangements unacceptable. The Authority is offering them each HKD 4000 in moving fees. Siu says this will not cover the actual costs.

Although they have been given priority to purchase flats in Tin Lee House once they have been turned into HOS units, residents say they cannot afford to do so. “Why don’t you let us stay and sell the remaining vacant flats?” says Siu Tak-kwai. “We are only occupying 14 of them, but you still have more than 70 flats to sell.”

Legislator Leung Yiu-chung is helping the residents in their fight to stay. Leung opposes the government’s plan, he says Hong Kong faces a problem of insufficient social housing. Once the flats are sold off as HOS units, the supply of public rental units is reduced. “Why don’t they ([he Housing Authority] think of some ways to attract people to live in Tai O, rather than selling it [Tin Lee House]?”

“The Housing Authority claims that nobody wants to move to Tai O, resulting in the high vacancy rate of Tin Lee House. And this is the main reason given for turning it into HOS flats,” says Leung.

Yet, Ng Kam-chuen, a Tai O resident, has been applying for public housing for three years and wants to move into Tin Lee House. Ng says Tin Lee House has a high vacancy rate because the Housing Authority removed it from the list of public housing estates people could apply for in 2008.

In a written response to Varsity, the Housing Authority says the letting of flats in Tin Lee House was frozen in 2008 because the vacant flats of other housing blocks are sufficient to meet the demand of the Waiting List applicants. It reiterated that to encourage residents to move out early, the Housing Authority has offered the granting of an ex-gratia Domestic Removal Allowance and one-month rent free period in their current tenancy with a choice of any districts for transfer.

Wheelchair Athletes Call for Better Sports Facilities

May 22, 2013

Hong Kong society lacks awareness of disabled athletes’ needs

Reporters:Natalie Tsoi,Emily Chung,Louie Cheng
Editors:Nectar Gan,Sabrina Poh

Just one year after the end of a 14-year hiatus of the full marathon wheelchair race at Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, the event was cancelled in this year’s race. The move calls attention to a lack of awareness surrounding resources and welfare for wheelchair athletes in Hong Kong.

Ajmal Samuel is a passionate wheelchair athlete and a former Pakistani soldier, who sustained a permanent spinal injury whilst fighting in the Indian-Pakistani Conflict in the 1980s. Samuel is unhappy about the time arrangements of this year’s wheelchair race, which automatically disqualified any racer who was unable to complete the first 11 kilometres in 40 minutes. Out of the six participants, only one managed to finish the race.

“When I started talking about it five years ago, the idea was to make it an inclusive race,” says Samuel. “The time limit is very unrealistic, so only a few professional athletes are allowed to finish the course.”

William Chu Yun-ming participated in the 3 kilometer wheelchair race. He started training at the Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground every Tuesday and Friday six months before the race. However, he experienced much inconvenience and often felt he was competing for track space with other members of the public.

“Other people complained that it was very dangerous to run alongside the wheelchair athletes, in case they got hurt by the wheelchairs,” says Chu. “As a result, I would only train on the two innermost tracks.”

The shortage of facilities and training space is made worse for most amateur wheelchair athletes as resources are focused on the professional disabled athletes in certain sports such as fencing and table tennis. Whilst professional athletes receive monthly subsidies and training expenses, average wheelchair athletes in other fields are left with little resources and support.

During Varsity’s visit to a training session of a wheelchair basketball team at Kai Tak East Sports Ground, none of the basketball players had their own game wheelchair.

Chung Cheuk Ping has been playing with the team for three years, and he hopes to get his own game wheelchair. “Since I am without a [game] wheelchair, it really hinders my performance.”

However, this may be just a dream for Chung. Cat To, programme officer from the Hong Kong Paralympic Committee and Sports Association for the Physically Disabled, says it is difficult for the organisation to buy each player a game wheelchair, which costs up to USD 3000-5000.. To adds that since funding from the government is limited, it is inevitable that resources can only be spent on medal-winning elite sportsmen.

Benny Cheung Wai-leung, four-time Paralympic gold medalist in fencing and Chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Handicapped Youth (HKFHY), acknowledges the imbalance in resources distribution. He says there is a need to develop wheelchair sporting facilities for all. He believes organisations like his own have a role to play in this respect. “It really needs organisation like ours to reflect to the government what needs to be improved,” says Cheung. “I think our organisation needs to talk to the government in the future to hold activities through pilot schemes.”

Cyclists Savour Life in the Slow-lane

May 21, 2013

Slow-mo cycling helps city-slickers slow down and enjoy the simple things in life

Reporters: Rachel Cheung, Sharon Lee, Yoyo Chan
Editor: Jennifer Lam

They cycled through villages and between fields, exploring the history of the New Territories. Some rode on vintage bicycles, played Taiwanese music and put fresh flowers in the baskets attached to their bikes.

Slow-Mo Classic, a cycling group that promotes a slower lifestyle, holds occasional events to encourage cyclists to connect with the world around them. The group’s founder Lee Chi Man says, “I think (being slow) is a kind of awakening. In Hong Kong’s environment, you are educated to believe that being fast means improving and is an advantage. Slowing down seems to imply lagging behind.”

Lee invites people to contemplate on why they need to be fast.

“I think being slow is like living happily. Being slow is an attitude. But it is a choice, rather than being slow for the purpose of slow. If you don’t have any choices and you have to always be fast, you’re being pulled by the fast-paced world,” says Chris Lee Kwok-chiu, a Slow-Mo cyclist and a close friend of Lee.

Chris Lee used to be a model-maker but the hectic work schedule exhausted him. He now works as a private art teacher and enjoys a more flexible lifestyle.

Both of men say Slow-Mo cycling is an experience that makes them reflect on their own lifestyles and decide to pursue other careers. However, for history teacher Sam Chu Kin-heng, Slow-Mo cycling helps him reconnect with people around him and see relationships differently.

Chu loves history and is very fond of vintage bicycles. His bicycle opens sparks conversation between him and people from older generations. “They will share what think about the bicycle and the world. They may even share their past experiences,” he says.

While they all have different understandings of Slow-Mo cycling and living, there is one thing they all agree on – that they should observe more. Slow-Mo Classic encourages people to observe the world around them – on the history, culture, social issues around them. As founder Lee Chi-man says, “Bicycle is a good tool for us to become closer with society. I hope we can put the elements of life into cycling.”

Local Bands Snub Government’s Flyover Venue Plans

May 21, 2013

Musicians say project runs against indie music ethos

Reporters: Hilda Lee, Cherry Wong, James Fung
Editor: Kris Lee

In recent years, Kowloon East, an area comprising the former Kai Tak Airport, and the former industrial heartlands of Kwun Tong and Kowloon Bay has become the hub of a thriving local indie music scene.

Artists and musicians moved into factory units left empty after the bulk of Hong Kong’s manufacturing industry moved to the Mainland. But now high-grade offices and retail centres are emerging in Kowloon East, pushing rents up.

With the aim of further developing Kowloon East into another premier central business district, the government has undertaken revitalization efforts with gusto. It set up the Energizing Kowloon East Office (EKEO) last June to facilitate the transformation.

One of the plans is to open up and transform areas under the Kwun Tong Bypass for public enjoyment – to create a performance venue called Flyover 01, part of an ambitious “Fly the Flyover” project. In the near future, Flyover 02, 03 or 04 and so on may also be developed to construct a vibrant waterfront incorporating the Kai Tak Runway Park and Kwun Tong Promenade.

The Government says widespread consultations were conducted and that most stakeholders agree revitalizing the waterfront is crucial to energizing Kowloon East.

This account is disputed by the bands using the factory buildings in Kwun Tong for rehearsals and gigs. Many say consultations were inadequate and that the government has ignored the actual needs of musicians.

Although the administration is touting its project as one that will provide free venue support, musicians say what they need a place to do pre-production work and performance practice; they need to be close to their audience while performing. Giving them a performance stage under a bypass does not tick those boxes. Besides, the associated red-tape runs against their indie music ethos.

Some also believe the Fly the Flyover01 may have the effect of forcing local artists out of the factories. Due to the “Energizing Kowloon East” project, the owners of the private industrial buildings would grab this chance to raise rents. Critics say the government will be able to point to the alternative venues available to bands under the flyovers.

The bands believe that having brought a new lease of life to Kowloon East with their indie values, they are now seen as an obstruction to the arrival of Central values into this corner of Kowloon.

April 2013 – An Inhabitable City?

April 23, 2013

A recent survey by The Economist named Hong Kong as the most “liveable” city in the world. The S.A.R. also came in tenth in a table of the best place to be born in another study by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The results raised eyebrows in the city, where many residents are only too aware of some of the shortcomings of life in Hong Kong.

In this issue of Periscope, we explore whether Hong Kong is really the world’s best city by looking at some issues of close concern to its inhabitants:

Apart from scoring high in liveability tables, Hong Kong also consistently tops the rankings of the world’s most expensive city when it comes to property prices. The high cost of real estate pushes up prices of goods and services in the territory and puts the dream of a home of one’s own out of reach for many Hong Kong’ers.

Hong Kong’s air pollution is driving away international talent and affecting the health of its residents. Just how bad is our air and what is the government doing to tackle the problem?

Hong Kong may be judged one of the best places to be born in the world, but try telling that to the parents who are frantically trying to secure their children’s educational future. The pressure for university places starts early, even before kindergarten starts.

An Uninhabitable City

April 23, 2013

In 2012, Hong Kong was ranked the world’s most liveable city according to the Economist’s annual liveability index.

By such reckoning, Hong Kong should be a paradise for most, but whether it really is and what makes the city inhabitable brings up other questions.

There are many important indicators to assess a city’s quality of life; the standard and cost of living, its education system and environment. In this issue of Varsity we look at these indicators and what they tell us about our city.

Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities; with a population of over seven million and a land mass of just over 1,000 square kilometres, land in Hong Kong is a precious commodity. The rising land and property prices have led to steep price rises in nearly all daily necessities.

The demand for housing remains red hot and prices keep reaching new peaks, making it nearly impossible for people to purchase a new home.

Not only do the exorbitant property prices delay many people’s dreams to own their own home, they also lead to outlandish rent increases. Many are waiting for the government to alleviate the current housing problem.

When walking in busy districts, black smog is easily visible. Vehicles and factories produce toxic emissions. The declining air quality underlies growing health problems; every breath people take contains harmful substances.

People have even started to leave Hong Kong because of the declining air quality. To stem the damage to our health and environment and the exodus of professional talent, we need clean air. Although regulations have been enacted to monitor the emission of pollutants, a significant effect has yet to be seen.

The amount of time and money many parents spend on early and extra-curricular education to prepare their kids for the future can seem incomprehensible. All parents want the best for their children but the city’s children seem to be carrying heavy burdens on their shoulders.

Ironically, Hong Kong is rated in the top 10 best places in be born, but even pre-schoolers and toddlers can be expected to “perform” under pressure from parents and society in order to succeed later in life.

So is Hong Kong really inhabitable? This question has yet to be answered.

Natalie Cheng
Managing Editor

Dream Homes out of Reach

April 23, 2013

Priced out in the world’s most expensive housing market

By Louie Cheng & Rachel Cheung

College graduate Man Yuk-ho has two jobs, shops for cheap clothes on the Chinese online shopping site Taobao, and seldom eats out. On the few occasions when she does eat out, she carefully compares the prices of various eateries beforehand and chooses the cheapest restaurant. She makes all these efforts for one purpose only — to save enough money to buy her first home.

The 24-year-old graduated with a Higher Diploma in Journalism last year but failed to find a job related to her major. She ended up taking a teaching assistant job at a secondary school with a monthly salary of HK$9,300. In order to earn extra money, she also works part-time at a residential clubhouse and sells clothes online.

Ho now lives with her mother and brother in a 300-square-foot public housing flat in Shek Kip Mei, where she shares a bunk bed with her mother. Like many other young people, she wishes to buy a private apartment and start a family, but she still has a long way to go.

With the extra work and thriftiness, Ho manages to save HK$5,000 per month because she does not need to pay for family expenses at the moment. For a typical one-bedroom, 300-square-foot starter home in a Sham Shui Po high-rise, Ho would have make a down payment of HK$700,000 for a HK$3 million flat. At her present rate of saving, she would need to wait for at least 10 years.

Cutting down on leisure expenditure is not the only sacrifice Ho has made for her future home. She is also forced to give up her dreams. She once dreamed of going on a working holiday after graduating from college, but she had to give up the plan because it would cost her too much in expenses and lost earnings.

“It seems like right after your study you have to work, to save money, to a buy house. The whole thing is so boring. It’s like we sacrifice our whole life to making a living,” Ho says.

Ho is just one of the many Hongkongers struggling with the city’s sky-rocketing housing prices. Hong Kong consistently ranks top in surveys of the least affordable housing in the world. In January, the latest annual International Housing Affordability Survey by the respected US-based consultants, Demographia, showed the average housing price in Hong Kong is 13.5 times the local annual household income, which makes the city the most expensive place to buy a flat among big cities worldwide. In fact, Hong Kong has ranked first in the list for three years running. Other reports show Hong Kongers who do not qualify for public housing spend more than 40 per cent of their household income on housing.

In order to cool down the property market, the government has launched a series of “strict measures” in the past six months, including introducing the Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD), a 15 per cent tax on property transactions imposed on non-permanent residents, extending and intensifying the existing Special Stamp Duty (SSD), and doubling the stamp duty for homes and non-residential properties which are worth more than HK$2 million.

The Cost of Hong Kong’s Dirty Air

April 23, 2013

Maritime and roadside air pollution takes toll on city’s health, drives out talent

By Tommy Lee and Emily Chung

As shoppers and tourists walk out from the air-conditioned comfort of Tsim Sha Tsui’s Habour City mall, they quickly cover their mouths with their hands. Excited tourists race towards the harbour with their cameras ready, only to be left disappointed. All they see is a murky haze and thick, heavy smog instead of Hong Kong’s iconic and impressive skyline of high-rises.

These days, blue skies are a rarity in the city. But air pollution is not just a blight on the scenery, it is harmful to our health and affects our daily life. According to the Hedley Environment Index by the University of Hong Kong, poor air quality accounts for over 3,000 premature deaths per year and incurred HK$39 billion in economic losses in 2012.

Power plants used to be Hong Kong’s biggest polluter but the focus is now shifting to maritime pollution. Marine vessels became the largest source of respirable suspended particulates, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide in 2011, a fact that was recognised in the Chief Executive’s last policy address. Also, a study by the policy think-tank Civic Exchange shows ships at berth accounted for 40 per cent of total emissions within Hong Kong waters.

To deal with the marine pollution, the shipping industry has taken the initiative to regulate the emission from liners. In November 2010, 18 private shipping companies collaborated with Civic Exchange to establish the Fair Winds Charter (FWC). They voluntarily signed up to burn fuel with a sulphur content of no more than 0.5 per cent while at berth in Hong Kong. Currently, most ocean-going vessels employ cheaper and dirtier bunker fuels with sulphur content of between 2.8 per cent and 3.5 per cent.

But not all the industry players have joined the clean-up act. There are around 200 companies operating in Hong Kong, but only 18 of them participated in the FWC.

“Obviously that has come at a high cost,” says David Skov, South China head at Maersk Line, one of the companies which spent over HK$1 million as part of the FWC. “For competitors who are not joining, it means they can reduce their costs compared to us.”

Although there is resistance from individual companies, a major industry group has thrown its weight behind the scheme. In fact, the Hong Kong Shipowners’ Association is a co-founder of the FWC and is lobbying the government to impose regulations requiring the use of cleaner fuel while vessels are at berth in Hong Kong. With such a regulation, all the companies would be competing fairly.

“It is important that we reduce air pollution in Hong Kong because we live here and our children live here,” says Arthur Bowling, the managing director of Hong Kong Shipowners’ Association. While FWC was a first step and very short term, its aim was to inspire the government to take further action, he explains. “With regulation, we can restore the level playing field in the competition. We are very keen for the government to introduce regulation.”

The FWC had been due to expire last December, but the shipping companies agreed to extend the contract through 2013 as the government promised it would introduce regulation. Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying vowed in his first policy address in January to enact legislation to enforce the requirement of the fuel switch when ships dock later this year.

The Kindergarten Rat Race

April 23, 2013

Competition for a university place begins before kindergarten for Hong Kong kids

By Sharon Lee, Vanessa Cheung

Leung Siu-han’s son is four years old but he is a very busy young man. He has football lessons on Mondays and Fridays. He has piano and violin classes every Tuesday as well as English and Maths on Thursdays and Fridays. It does not end there – he also has music lessons every Saturday. The unusual thing about his schedule is not how packed it is, but that it is not unusual for many of Hong Kong’s children, particularly those from the middle class.

Leung, a 39-year-old housewife, spends about HK$8,000 per month for her son and his three-year-old sister to attend interest classes.

“It is necessary for today’s parents to enrol in academic classes. English and maths are the most common ones,” says Leung.

She plans to enrol her son in Putonghua and swimming courses as well, but has postponed her plan due to her son’s present tight schedule. Rather than staying at home, Leung thinks going to interest classes helps her children make good use of their after-school time.

Though HK$8,000 a month is a burden on the family finances, Leung says it would “feel like a loss to not join.” Instead of cutting down on extra-curricular activities, Leung says she will be more careful in selecting the classes. She gets much of the information on interest classes from a Whatsapp group where parents discuss extra-curricular activities.

While Leung says the classes are just a better use of her children’s time than playing at home, some parents see them as prerequisites to preparing their children for entry to prestigious kindergartens and primary schools. In a city where five year olds present personal portfolios at admissions interviews to some of the more popular schools, many parents feel they need to give their young children a competitive edge.

Peter Chiu Wing-tak, the honorary adviser of Hong Kong Association of Career Masters and Guidance Masters (HKACMGM) and a former school vice-principal, says the reason why parents are so focused on schools admissions from such an early age is simple. The rate of students who are able to enter local universities is low, just 18 per cent of school-leavers.

“There are too few places. Parents will look at Band One schools in the short run and universities in the long run,” says Chiu. “It is better to get into a prestigious school because you’ll at least have a greater chance of entering universities, 60 to 70 per cent of students from these schools can enter universities.”

Mainstreaming Mothers’ Milk

April 23, 2013

Breast milk is best for baby, so why are Hong Kong’s breastfeeding rates so low?

By Jeffrey Wong and Tracy Chan

At 3.00 a.m., a baby cries loudly for his mother’s milk. Although the mother wants to provide the best for her baby, she feels exhausted and weeps quietly on her bed. This is her 30th sleepless night.

“I expected it would be painful giving birth to a baby, but I never expected breastfeeding would also give me so much pain,” Maxie Lai, a mother of two says.

Lai experienced blocked mammary glands approximately three times a month while breastfeeding her first son. It gave her fevers and made her dizzy. “I wanted to give up every time it happened,” says Lai.

Worn down and sleep-deprived, Lai managed to persist in breastfeeding with support from her family, particularly from her mother-in-law.

Although Lai’s mother-in-law is not highly-educated, she had breastfed two children and has been extremely supportive. Lai thinks her mother-in-law’s advice is better than that given by professional nurses. “The problem is that they [nurses] only studied the academic theories but do not have hands-on experience,” Lai says.

Unfortunately, she did not receive same amount of support in her workplace. Breastfeeding mothers need to nurse regularly to maintain their supply, those who work need to make reserves for their babies. But Lai’s colleagues thought it was somehow shameful to pump milk at the office. The lack of space meant the only place mothers could express their milk was in the washroom. Lai finally resigned rather than explain to her colleagues that she needed to pump milk.

The unfriendly workplace environment for breastfeeding is one reason why only 14 per cent of Hong Kong mothers are breastfeeding after six months, despite the initial breastfeeding rate on discharge from hospital being as high as 83 per cent. According to the Department of Health, the overall breastfeeding rate in Hong Kong ranks nearly last among Asian countries and regions.

The city’s dependence on formula milk for infants was highlighted when the mass purchasing of formula by some mainland visitors and parallel traders led to a shortage of certain brands earlier this year. While parents of formula-fed babies panicked, those of babies who were breastfed were unaffected. Instead, they faced different challenges.

Wong Yee-mei, a working mother, had to reserve breast milk for her baby before leaving home for work. She had to pump milk every three hours at home, which seriously interrupted her sleep.

Wong also pumped milk at her workplace and stored it in the refrigerator. But her colleagues criticised her, saying it was disgusting. They said it was unnecessary to breastfeed as formula was more convenient and beneficial to babies.