Ricky Chu Man-kin

Opinion | Hong Kong’s housing crisis discussion must home in on the struggles of ethnic minority residents

Members of Hong Kong’s ethnic minority communities face greater challenges in finding housing than other residents as discrimination leaves them with the worst habitat choices

According to the last census, about 10 per cent of non-Chinese Hongkongers were living in subdivided units when they make up less than 4 per cent of the population

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Old building are clustered together in West Kowloon in September 2020. Rising housing prices have pushed many Hongkongers into apartments subdivided into cramped living spaces. Photo: Sam Tsang

Ricky Chu Man-kin

Published: 9:15am, 13 Oct 2021

The recent impetus given to tackling housing issues and the flurry of outreach efforts by senior officials to those from grass-root communities, particularly people living in subdivided units, is timely. October 4 was World Habitat Day, when we were invited to reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and the basic right of all to adequate shelter.

Housing is at the top of every Hongkonger’s list of key livelihood issues, as is clear from the extensive focus it rightly received in the chief executive’s policy address this year. However, I wish to draw attention to the further disadvantages that some groups of Hong Kong residents face on top of the systemic problems we are all too familiar with.

Attitudinal barriers towards some communities, particularly racial minorities and mainland Chinese, add to the more visible socio-economic barriers to finding housing. And yet, these difficulties rarely find mention in the discussion of housing issues.

Members of Hong Kong’s racial minorities, especially those from lower-income groups, have reflected to the Equal Opportunities Commission time and again the difficulties they face in renting flats. Landlords refusing outright to rent to people of certain races and property agents declining to provide them with services are common experiences for them.

Many from the ethnic minority communities end up with lower-quality housing because of the fewer choices available to them and the limited bargaining power they have.

04:06

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Yes, there are provisions in place that make it unlawful for landlords and property agents to discriminate on the grounds of race. The Race Discrimination Ordinance protects people from discrimination in the area of tenancy. However, most ethnic minority community members do not consider coming forward to lodge a complaint with the Equal Opportunities Commission despite feedback from the community about discriminatory acts in this area.