Hong Kong subdivided flat tenants get community kitchen, study space but who will step up to provide more of such places?
- Government urged to adopt strategy of getting businesses or statutory bodies to rent out premises at low costs for welfare groups to conduct activities helping poor
- Organisers point out such facilities not only improve living standards but also morale of city’s forgotten residents
Hong Kong homemaker Carol Chen Dan-dan beamed with pride when her 11-year-old son and another 12 families praised the lettuce meat wraps and fried lotus roots she had prepared for a Lunar New Year reunion dinner in January at a “neighbourhood kitchen”.
It was the first time Chen, 45, who has barely enough space to cook in her cramped home, introduced cuisine from her hometown Guangdong to her son. The family lives in an 82 sq ft subdivided flat in Sai Wan, one of the districts in Hong Kong clustered with shoebox units notorious for hygiene and security hazards.
“I can only boil noodles and vegetables for my son, at most steaming fish and meat. I rarely prepare deep-fried food as it creates smoke and smells that stick in my home. He always complains about the dull meals,” Chen said.
“He has heard a lot about my childhood food but did not have a chance to taste it … I am very happy as I got recognised by my son and neighbours.”
All that was made possible for subdivided flat tenants such as Chen, with a 3,000 sq ft community space on two floors of a commercial building in Sai Wan, funded by the Jockey Club Healthy Neighbourhood Kitchen Project. The facility also allows residents to use cooking utensils and cycling machines for free.
With the government proposing to launch similar projects this year, welfare groups have voiced hope authorities could be open to different operation models while locating premises and funders to create breathing space for subdivided flat tenants.
