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The other building contained two large workshops. In the first of these computer parts were being made and then put onto boards ready for fitting into computers. This was a new venture which had only started the week before. Tuen Mun is situated in the New Territories of Hong Kong in a fairly industrial area and so the opportunity for work is much greater than on either of the two islands. Local factories send work in for the refugees to do and pay them. The rate is less than Hong Kong employees would get but at least they are earning money and making a contribution to society and to their own physical and mental well-being. In the other half of the building refugees were putting together cheap plastic toys. The people were animated and happy in their work and were quite willing to show me what they were doing.
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We walked back to the Superintendent's
office via the Dining Hall which doubled as an events and entertainments room. We also Saw a play area made of concrete. At the other end of the camp there is also a grass field which refugees may use for various activities. Once back at the office we discussed what we had seen. The Superintendent re-emphasised the point that the camp was run on as 'real life' lines as possible. I had to agree with his view. Under the circumstances it seemed that the CSD and the Save the Children Fund had made the best they could out of the resources available to them. At the other camps the same expressions of concern for the refugee situation were put across but the actual action taken was either too late or just not effective. This is something HKG, CSD and the Agencies should examine and see if there is not some way in which standards of life at all camps can be made similar. Despite the overcrowding at Tuen Mun I did not have the same feeling I experienced at Hei Ling Chau which was one of real shock at the way in which refugees were being treated, not physically but mentally. The number of people staring out through fences at Tuen Mun seemed to be far fewer than at Chi Ma Wan, and the number of people just wandering around at Hei Ling Chau seemed to be far more than at Tuen Mun. This is not to say that Tuen Mun is a perfect example of how to treat human beings. Humane Deterrence, as the words imply,
means something nasty. All the camps were nasty but the least nasty was Tuen Mun. I am surprised that the Hong Kong Government does not take more British MPs to Chi Ma Wan and Hei Ling Chau in order to show them what life for a Vietnamese Refugee in Hong Kong is like if you don't happen to live
in Tuen Mun.
We left Tuen Mun after about two hours. I was glad I had been there as it seemed to offer some sort of balance for me so far
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