XN000022-1984-10-09 — Page 5

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1984

IT ALSO CREATED A COMMUNITY IN WHICH THE EX-MENTAL PATIENT WOULD SLOWLY FIND HIS FEET AND WAS SURROUNDED BY UNDERSTANDING AT SYMPATHETIC PEOPLE.

MR CHAMBERS SAID IT WAS ESTIMATED THAT JUST OVER 1 000 HALF-WAY HOUSE PLACES WERE NEEDED IN HONG KONG.

BUT HE ADDED THAT AS WITH SO MANY ESTIMATES OF DEMAND FOR REHABILITATION SERVICES, THIS FIGURE HAD TO BE KEPT UNDER REGULAR REVIEW.

HE SAID IT WAS THE JOB OF THE SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT, IN CONJUNCTION WITH OTHER GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND VOLUNTARY AGENCIES, TO TRY TO INCREASE THE PRESENT CAPACITY OF 250 HALF- WAY HOUSE PLACES TO THE TARGET OF 1 040 PLACES BEFORE THE END OF THE DECADE.

+IN ORDER TO DO THIS, WE HAVE MADE A GREAT EFFORT TO FIND SUITABLE ACCOMMODATION TO ESTABLISH HALF-WAY HOUSES,+ HE SAID.

+AS WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOST SOCIAL WELFARE SERVICES, WE RELY HEAVILY ON THE PUBLIC HOUSING PROGRAMME TO PRODUCE GOOD QUALITY, EASILY ACCESSIBLE ACCOMMODATION WHICH CAN BE CONVERTED FOR WELFARE USE QUICKLY OR ECONOMICALLY.

+ IT IS APPROPRIATE FOR US TO DO THIS, BECAUSE MORE THAN 40 PER CENT OF THE POPULATION OF HONG KONG LIVE IN PUBLIC HOUSING ESTATES,+ HE SAID.

HE POINTED OUT, HOWEVER, THAT NOT ALL HALF-WAY HOUSES WOULD BE LOCATED IN PUBLIC HOUSING. SOME WOULD BE IN LEASED PRIVATE ACCOMMODATION AND ABOUT HALF OF THE PLANNED PLACES WOULD BE IN PURPOSE-DESIGNED BUILDINGS.

+ NEVERTHELESS, MR CHAMBERS SAID, +1 CANNOT STRESS TOO STRONGLY THAT WE SHALL NOT BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE THE PLANNED EXPANSION OF THIS SERVICE WITHOUT SITING QUITE A NUMBER OF HALF- WAY HOUSES IN HOUSING ESTATES.+

REFERRING TO INCREASING OPPOSITION IN RECENT MONTHS TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HALF-WAY HOUSES IN SOME PUBLIC HOUSING ESTATES, HE SAID ONE COULD UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE LIVING IN THESE ESTATES WERE UNEASY ABOUT HAVING FORMER MENTAL PATIENTS IN THE IR MIDST.

+SOMETIMES THEY DO APPEAR TO BEHAVE RATHER STRANGELY AND THERE HAVE OF COURSE BEEN TRAGIC INCIDENTS INVOLVING SUCH PEOPLE - ALTHOUGH I WOULD POINT OUT THAT THE GREAT MAJORITY OF VIOLENT CRIMES ARE COMMITTED BY PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO HISTORY OF MENTAL ILLNESS, HE SAID.

THE FIRST HALF-WAY HOUSE WAS OPENED BY THE NEW LIFE PSYCHIATRIC REHABILITATION ASSOCIATION IN 1964 AND EIGHT OTHERS HAD SINCE BEEN SET UP.

/+SO FAR,