An elderly Hong Kong man has revealed that he would rather live in a 15-square-foot “coffin home” than a larger public housing flat because “at least I have someone to talk to here”.
His distressing story has resonated online after a Hong Kong social enterprise operation that supports the employment of old people – Gingko House – posted his story on Facebook on February 3.
The man, known as Uncle Yeung, in his 70s, said he had lived in a flat sub-divided into a dozen bunk beds in the Tai Kok Tsui district of Kowloon for more than a decade.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
Cubicle homes – as such dwellings are known – provide shelter for Hong Kong’s poorest people who are unable to keep pace with the city’s sky-high property market.
They are notorious for poor living conditions and lack of privacy.
Uncle Yeung, however, refuses to apply for a public housing unit, which could provide him with an apartment several times the size because he does not want to live alone.
Uncle Yeung told the volunteers from Gingko House that he missed his mother and little brother, who have both died.
He recalled crying in the street because he did not have enough money to pay for their funerals. “I don’t know why I became like this,” he said.
Uncle Yeung said he used to live in a resettlement estate – a now mostly dismantled early form of public housing in Hong Kong – and missed the close relationship with his neighbours.
As well as talking to a human being afraid of loneliness, Gingko House has also found a job for him.
Uncle Yeung’s story has attracted 2,000 responses online, and Gingko House has also called for the public to recognise the plight of such people.
Online observers posted comments encouraging Uncle Yeung and praised the volunteers’ efforts.
“Loneliness is a big problem for the elderly who live alone, that’s why it is important that volunteers visit them, talk to them, and go to supermarkets with them,” said one.
“I hope more companies can offer jobs to elderly people and help them live confidently and with dignity,” said another.
More from South China Morning Post:
- ‘It’s fate’: car trouble scuppers divorce as husband’s vehicle breaks down 6 times on journey to seal marriage split in China
- ‘They dress and hand-feed him’: mother’s fear that son, 10, won’t survive adult life after grandparents spoil him strikes a chord in China
- ‘It’s my fault’: grief-stricken Chinese gran who blamed herself for tragic plunge-from-height death of beloved granddaughter succumbs to cancer
- ‘So cute’: 2 million marvel online at accepting Chinese family as gay uncle ‘comes out’ and announces wife is a lesbian at Lunar New Year dinner
- ‘Fight against God of Death to save you’: courier in China races to deliver antivenom to woman whose order form said she had been bitten by snake
For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2023.