Nguyen Van Son and Eppie Yip were among the 17 homeless people who lived on a footbridge in Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong’s poorest district. After packing up their shelters in mid-July, some of them have moved to a nearby park. But the homeless problem still persists in the neighbourhood.
Hong Kong property is the most expensive in the world. The monthly rent for low quality subdivided flats even smaller than a car park space can cost more than HK$4,000 or US$509, while public housing has a five and a half year long waiting list. Soaring rents, and inadequate public housing force the city’s poorest inhabitants to sleep rough.