Living in a cage


  • Photographer
    Miguel Candela
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Date of Photograph
    13/02/2010
  • Technical Info
    35mm, f/5, 1/5 sec, ISO 800

These men named "cage-men" were refugees from mainland China who provided Hong Kong industries cheap labour in the 1950s. They worked as coolies and rented to a 3 ft. x 6 ft. bedspace. They needed to share with tens of households to use one kitchen and one toilet decade after decade. In 1994, the government proceeded with the enactment of the Bedspace Apartments Ordinance to regulate caged homes, but it only concerned the fire safety and sanitation, not the household and living space. The ordinance, which came into effect in 1998, defines caged homes as 'bedspace apartments' with 12 or above households in any flat. Today, there are still nearly 100 caged homes in Hong Kong. However, there are thousands of cubicles houses which are similar to caged homes where about 12 households sharing a flat. According to the Hong Kong Census and Statistic Department, there are about 100,000 people living in inadequate housing, such as caged home and cubicle houses.

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