26
HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
every thirty-five domestic rooms, were added. No water was laid on in these bathing rooms, but partitioned stalls were provided in which washing could be done by the bucket and scoop method. Electric light was installed, and a number of ground floor rooms were converted into shops measuring 240 square feet, which were let at a realistic rent.
In all this planning there was one glance at a more distant future. The buildings were permanent but it was foreseen that a time might come when large scale building of sub- standard cubicle accommodation would prove more an embarrassment than an asset to the community. The build- ings were therefore designed so that they could be converted at a later date into orthodox self-contained flats. Each flat would be of about 250 square feet, including a small private balcony, and could probably be let for about $40 a month at present price levels. There was no way of foreseeing how soon, and to what extent, such conversion could be carried out-but it was felt that this extra provision, though a potentiality, would ensure that the buildings were always an asset to the Colony.
The economics of the scheme are of some interest. A per- manent 6-storey building, capable of housing well over 2,000 persons, could be constructed for the amount which was being spent every fortnight, during the spring of 1954, in supplying free food to the victims of the Shek Kip Mei fire. Once the piling had been completed, a seven-storey building, containing 840 rooms, could be completed in about eight weeks. A striking example of the way in which Hong Kong's outstandingly efficient building industry works is provided by the developments which followed the Tai Hang Tung fire, of which mention has been made above. The fire occurred on 22nd July, 1954. Plans for the permanent development of the area with eight seven-storey blocks were being prepared even before the clearance of the debris had been completed. A piling contract was let on 29th September, 1954, and on 31st October, 1954, before all the piling had been done, a