THE BURNING SLOPE

On Christmas in 1953 the shanty town at Shek Kip Mei (石硤尾) burned down, rendering over fifty thousand refugees from the mainland homeless. This lead directly to the first public housing developments in HK, because the authorities finally realized that tens of thousands of people living in rickety lean-tos, with the attendant likelihood of fire and disease, was, perhaps, a liability.

The fire at Lei Cheng Uk (李鄭屋) a year later gave further impetus to the policy.

Shek Kip Mei is a vastly different place now. Still "working class", but safer and more prosperous. And they pay rent and taxes.


"(refugees) are resettled because the community can no longer afford to carry the fire risk, health risk and threat to public order and public prestige"
[Source: Annual Departmental Report by the Commissioner for Resettlement, 1954-55]


The British did not set out to be humane rulers of the territory, but circumstances and a modicum of common sense forced them down that path. Their approach to the refugee problem in Hong Kong was realistic, rather than ideological. They dealt with the issue, because they had to.

It was probably far better than a crowded holding facility in a remote location operated by an outsourced private company.

In any case, serious mistreatment, such as withholding medical care, physical violence, sexual abuse, discrimination, unsanitary conditions, overcrowding, and whatever else, was not a hallmark of British governance.


There is no similarity with Texas.

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