1957-1958 — Page 8

voluntary evacuation to the hinterland took place, and at the liberation it was estimated there were less than 600,000 persons living here. But people soon flocked back to their old habitat, and by 1947 the figure was back at 1,600,000 again, and it has risen steadily ever since. The influx of refugees from the new Communist regime in China during 1949 and 1950 merely complicated an already grave state of affairs.

The majority of the population lives in tenements in the urban area ---many in grossly overcrowded, unhealthy, and insanitary conditions. It is not uncommon for a family of four or more to live in a bedspace, that is on a bunk bed and the space it occupies sometimes in two or three tiers their only privacy provided by curtains. Ventilation depends on the whims of those tenants with access to windows, water has to be carried, and sanitary facilities are almost non-existent (generally they consist of a bucket in the so-called 'kitchen'). Cooking facilities must invariably be shared with many other families. Family life in such circumstances is virtually impossible, and it is a never end- ing source of wonder to those coming into contact with those inhabiting such squalid, dark and airless dwellings that they remain invariably cheerful and undaunted by adversity, and that serious epidemics do not frequently occur.

Nearly a quarter of the tenement floors existing before the war were damaged or destroyed, either by bombing, shelling, or looting, and although a vast amount of new building has taken place since the war, it has by no means kept pace with the population. And much of the accommodation that has been constructed is far and away beyond the means of those whose housing need is the greatest. The great majority of the people can not afford to compete in the open market for 'good class' accommodation, but the indications are that many could afford decent homes provided the rents were calculated on a non-profit-making basis. The average rent for a cubicle is $33 a month, and of a bed-space $17 a month, although it is probable that the majority of sub-tenants are paying a rent which is close to the open market value for the congested accommodation which is available. Thus, although rents of pre-war premises are controlled under the provisions of the Landlord & Tenant Ordinance (Hong Kong's Rent Restriction Act) many sub- tenants pay economic rents-in other words what the traffic will bear. A 'floor' with a rent of $38 pre-war brings the landlord about $50, but the sub-tenants pay altogether to the chief tenant between $200 and $250.

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