Fr. Jack Clancey ( Assistant Asian Chaplain, IMCS )
I have been invited to give a Christian's viewpoint on the Yau Mau Ti issue. In Hong Kong, to "speak of Jesus" has come to mean talking about "pie in the sky". Jesus was a very practical person and his followers are also called to be practical, thus I will not talk about "pie in the sky", but about this real, concrete issue of denying housing to those in need.
We Christians know that Jesus responeded to the needs of the poor; he fed the hungry, healed the sick, etc. We Christians believ that when we take the name of a Christian we agree to carry on the mission of Jesus to serve the poor and those in need. Further, we believe that anyone who serves the poor, feeds the hungry, heals the sick or gives homes to those without shelter or living in inhuman conditions serves God. Therefore we believe that anyone who really serves the poor, whether he believes in God or not, is serving God and that anyone who does not serve the poor, whether he says he believes in God or not, is not serving God or responding to his invitation.
I believe that this attitude of service is very necessary in Hong Kong, for in Hong Kong money is the prime criteria for obtaining service. If you are rich and offer enough money your needs will be met. Many will fight for the chance to serve you. If you are poor, people will find excuses for not responding to your needs. This is true even of those who are hired by the government to provide minimal social services to the public. Therefore, as a Christian, I am happy to see so many people, who have nothing to gain for themselves and even have to suffer a bit, like those who were arrested- who are willing to serve the boat people in their just struggle to obtain decent housing.
Among his
As a Christian I know that Jesus had a special love for fishermen. first followers were fishermen. Jesus stood in fishing boats when preaching and traveled in the boats of his fishermen friends. The first pope of our Church was a fisherman. With this rich background it is only natural that we Christians should pay special attention to the requests of the Boat People. For years they, or their fathers or grandfathers served the people of Hong Kong by catching fish - at night, in rainy weather and under the hot summer sun. Unlike others they were not fortunate enough to earn enough and save the necessary capital to buy the larger boats and engines which are necessary to fish today. Now most of the people living on the fishing boats work on land for their old boats are no longer capable of even going out to the shallow waters to catch some fish for themselvs. It is easy for government officials to forget about them, but we Christians should remember that their contribution and that of previous generations helped to make Hong Kong the prosperous city it is today. Therefore we should support their struggle to obtain decent housing not because we pity them but because it is their right and because they have helped all of us reach the standard of living that we enjoy today.
The United Nations has declared that 1979 is the Year of the Child. Much will be said and written about children and their environment. Government officials will make speeches, newspapers will have special sections and the T.V. stations will have documentaries and special shows. Yet in Yau Ma Ti the children will live on boats that leak and are indanger of sinking. From past experience we know that in 1979 some children will fall into the polluted water and that some of them will drown. Many others will be tied to the end of a short rope to prent them from falling into the water. They will have very little space to play (I have kicked a soccer ball around with young boys in the narrow corridors of the resettlement estates, but have you ever tries to kick a ball around on a small boat?). Let us invite a child from the Yau Ma Ti Typhoon Shelter to say a few words.
"The water around our boats is dirty.
We have no place to paly ball.
Our boats are leaking.
We want to live on land."
As a Christian I know that Jesus had a special love for children.
All
of us, especially Christians should also have a special love for children. This love should be practical. This love should take concrete form by helping the children of Yau Ma Ti and their families to get safe homes on land.
YMT 15