Retiree Suen Shau-shing, 78, is among residents with few cooling options and who live in homes poorly designed to provide protection from the heat. Suen avoids going back to his subdivided flat in Shek Kip Mei in the day during the summer.

The Post recorded 35 degrees at 1pm in Suen’s flat upon entry, the temperature dropped by one degree to 34 degrees after Suen turned on his three fans. However, that was still one degree higher than the Observatory’s mark in Tsim Sha Tsui, a neighbouring district.

He instead visits a park nearby upon waking up, staying in the shade there until around 6pm daily, before returning to his flat for a cold shower.

For Suen, nightfall does not offer respite, as his windowless flat is still infused with daytime heat, depriving him of proper sleep.

“It’s the same [as daytime], my four fans are of no use. I will still sweat all over and have to wipe myself all night. The worst thing is there’s no window I can open, if I open the door I’m worried about security if someone comes in to steal my things,” Suen said.

He wakes up at least four to five times each night to wipe off sweat or take cold showers.

While his monthly HK$2,500 (US$318) rent covers electricity bills, Suen barely spends time in his flat, which he likened to a sauna.

Like him, his neighbours go to nearby parks or sit on the stairwell above the security guard’s air-conditioned office in their building, where cold air seeping through provides some comfort.

With the heatwave showing no sign of waning, Suen expects to continue taking naps in the park.

More than 220,000 people are estimated to be living in subdivided flats, cage homes and rooftop huts in Hong Kong. Rooftop huts are usually authorised structures, another cheap form of low-income housing. But such constructions from bricks and metal sheets absorb heat quickly.

Ng Chi-ming, a 65-year-old retiree who lives in a rooftop house in Yau Ma Tei, will only turn on the air conditioning for four hours daily from noon to save on his electricity bill.

The Post recorded a temperature of 35 degrees in his house at noon on Thursday, 2 degrees higher than the mark at the Observatory’s headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui.

“I won’t look at the thermometer at noon or in the afternoon, it will give me a lot of pressure if I see it is 35 degree Celsius,” he said.

He needed to take a cool water shower every day in peppermint shower gel and store at least four 750ml bottles of water at home to keep himself cool.

“My type of window air conditioner uses more energy, perhaps double that of other models,” Ng said. “I try to be thrifty on this, I’ve been turning on the air conditioner since June and the electric bill has risen to about HK$270 a month.”

Ng’s electricity bill in other seasons hovers at about HK$90 a month. This means the air conditioner alone leads to a 200 per cent surge in his bill every year.

“It takes longer to cool down my flat compared with other homes in the building, as hot air keeps rising while cool air sinks to the ground,” Ng said. “I’ve already plastered my windows with heat-resistant film, which has helped a bit.”

Ng sometimes also sprays water over the shingle roof of his house to cool the indoor air. But in the afternoons, with his flat directly under the sun, he turns to air conditioning, which he expects to rely on until the end of October.

In the New Territories, the Post recorded 35 degrees at the North District Park in Sheung Shui around 3.30pm, and 34 degrees at the sitting-out area on Fung Yau Street North in Yuen Long at 5pm.

Zhang Yanqing, a 40-year-old housewife living in the district, said the heat this week has been unbearable.

“My mask is soaking wet because of perspiration,” she said, adding she had to carry an umbrella, fans and two to three bottles of water with her.

Another North district resident Wong, a 62-year-old retiree, said he would avoid going out. If he did venture out, he would need cold showers and the air conditioner turned on once he arrived home.

“I can’t live without the air conditioner,” he said.

Leung Hei-men, 39, a Yuen Long resident who works in the healthcare industry, said it was very sunny this week.

“I have to apply sunscreen and must bring my umbrella when I go out,” she said.