Yan Chi Leung is mentally ill and lives in the 6ft by 2.5ft
wire cage at the bottom of this stack of three
The tragedy of tens of thousands living in 6ft by 2ft rabbit hutches,in a city with more Louis Vuitton Shops than Paris
Yan Chi Leung is mentally ill and lives in the 6ft by 2.5ft
wire cage at the bottom of this stack of three
|
Occupants must share toilets and washing facilities, which are rudimentary. Many of the apartments have no kitchens, forcing their impoverished residents to spend there meagre incomes on takeaway food.
Last updated at 8:23 AM on 11th January 2012
Hong
Kong, one of the world's richest cities, is abuzz with a luxury
property boom that has seen homes exchanged for record sums.
But
the wealth of the city has a darker side, with tens of thousands priced
out of housing altogether and forced to live in the most degrading
conditions.
These
pictures by British photographer Brian Cassey capture the misery of
people - some estimates put the figure as high as 100,000 - who are
forced to live in cages measuring just 6ft by 2 1/2ft.
The
city is one of the planet's most densely packed metropolitan areas,
with nearly 16,500 people living in every square mile of the territory.
Unscrupulous
landlords are charging around US$200 a month for each cage, which are
packed 20 to a room, and up to three levels high.
The lower cages are more expensive because you can almost stand inside them, but the conditions are no less squalid.
All this in a city with more Louis Vuitton shops than Paris.
The
cage homes have been a running scandal in Hong Kong's housing market
for decades, yet rather than disappear, they are on the rise.
As
the world economic crisis has lashed the city a former British
territory whose economy is focused on financial services, more have been
forced to turn to them for a place to stay.
One cage dweller, Cheung, who lives in Sham Shui Po,told the Asia Times Online he endures appallingly cramped and fetid conditions. 'The temperature inside the cages can be two to three degrees higher than what they are outside,' he said.
'It's really uncomfortable, and sometimes I cannot sleep until after 5 in the morning.'
Cockroaches,
wall lizards, lice and rats are common. 'Sometimes I am worried if
lizards or cockroaches will crawl into my ears at night,' said Cheung.
Bài vừa qua bị "hacker" Trung Cộng (?) xóa hình nên phải lấy bài khác từ CNN
Sẽ cập nhật Hình cho bài trên sau
Thursday, January 12, 2012
The Cage Dogs of Hong Kong, by Brian Cassey
Hong Kong – home to some 7 million people - is acknowledged as one of
the world’s richest cities, with exorbitant luxury property and more
Louis Vuitton shops than Paris. But tens of thousands of people in one
of the most densely-populated urban districts in the world live in 6ft
by 2ft wire cages – sometimes up to thirty in a small room. The cage
dwellers are made up of the so-called “working poor,” who cannot afford
Hong Kong’s sky-high rents, the elderly who can no longer work and the
mentally ill who slip through the welfare cracks. Hong Kong Chinese
people actually refer to these unfortunates as “Cage Dogs”.
Unscrupulous
landlords charge them around US$200 a month for each cage, which are
packed 20 to a room, and up to three levels high. The lower cages are
more expensive because you can almost stand inside them, but the
conditions are no less squalid. Occupants must share toilets and washing
facilities, which are rudimentary. Many of the apartments have no
kitchens, forcing their impoverished residents to spend there meagre
incomes on takeaway food. The alternative is life on the street.
SoCo
– Society for Community Organization – and an individual, Hong Kong
social welfare charities social worker Sze Lai Shan, have spent the past
14 years fighting to re-house the cage dwellers. Despite Lai Shan and
SoCo’s determined advocacy, the future of the “Cage Dogs” remains bleak,
as cheaper labor floods into the former British territory from Mainland
China. Hong Kong’s legislature
Yan Chi Leung is mentally ill and lives in the 6ft by 2.5ft
wire cage at the bottom of this stack of three
Eight-year-old Lee Ka Ying lives in a 6ft square 'cubicle
cage home' with her mother
Yan Chi Keung eats takeaway outside his wire cage home - there
are no cooking facilities
Tai Lun Po, 79, has lived in the cage he is sitting in for an
extraordinary 30 years
Kong Sui Kao, 64, sits in his home in a room with 19 other
cages
Tai Lun Po walks the corridors of his Mongkok Hong Kong cage
home
Mr Yan smokes a cigarette amid his neighbours in his cage
flat
Tai Lun Po walks to the bathroom which he shares with the
other residents.
Tang Man Wai, 60, a retired restaurant worker, is forced to
spend what little money he has on take-away food
These pictures were captured by British photographer Brian Cassey. See more at the photographer’s website.
Hong
Kong, one of the world's richest cities, is abuzz with a luxury
property boom that has seen homes exchanged for record sums.
Cockroaches,
wall lizards, lice and rats are common. 'Sometimes I am worried if
lizards or cockroaches will crawl into my ears at night,' said Cheung.
Bài vừa qua bị "hacker" Trung Cộng (?) xóa hình nên phải lấy bài khác từ CNN
Sẽ cập nhật Hình cho bài trên sau
Thursday, January 12, 2012
The Cage Dogs of Hong Kong, by Brian Cassey
Thursday, January 12, 2012
The Cage Dogs of Hong Kong, by Brian Cassey
Hong Kong – home to some 7 million people - is acknowledged as one of
the world’s richest cities, with exorbitant luxury property and more
Louis Vuitton shops than Paris. But tens of thousands of people in one
of the most densely-populated urban districts in the world live in 6ft
by 2ft wire cages – sometimes up to thirty in a small room. The cage
dwellers are made up of the so-called “working poor,” who cannot afford
Hong Kong’s sky-high rents, the elderly who can no longer work and the
mentally ill who slip through the welfare cracks. Hong Kong Chinese
people actually refer to these unfortunates as “Cage Dogs”.
Unscrupulous
landlords charge them around US$200 a month for each cage, which are
packed 20 to a room, and up to three levels high. The lower cages are
more expensive because you can almost stand inside them, but the
conditions are no less squalid. Occupants must share toilets and washing
facilities, which are rudimentary. Many of the apartments have no
kitchens, forcing their impoverished residents to spend there meagre
incomes on takeaway food. The alternative is life on the street.
SoCo
– Society for Community Organization – and an individual, Hong Kong
social welfare charities social worker Sze Lai Shan, have spent the past
14 years fighting to re-house the cage dwellers. Despite Lai Shan and
SoCo’s determined advocacy, the future of the “Cage Dogs” remains bleak,
as cheaper labor floods into the former British territory from Mainland
China. Hong Kong’s legislature
Yan Chi Leung is mentally ill and lives in the 6ft by 2.5ft
wire cage at the bottom of this stack of three
|
Eight-year-old Lee Ka Ying lives in a 6ft square 'cubicle
cage home' with her mother
|
Yan Chi Keung eats takeaway outside his wire cage home - there
are no cooking facilities
|
Tai Lun Po, 79, has lived in the cage he is sitting in for an
extraordinary 30 years
|
Kong Sui Kao, 64, sits in his home in a room with 19 other
cages
|
Tai Lun Po walks the corridors of his Mongkok Hong Kong cage
home
|
Mr Yan smokes a cigarette amid his neighbours in his cage
flat
|
Tai Lun Po walks to the bathroom which he shares with the
other residents.
|
Tang Man Wai, 60, a retired restaurant worker, is forced to
spend what little money he has on take-away food
|
These pictures were captured by British photographer Brian Cassey. See more at the photographer’s website.
No comments:
Post a Comment