Cage home

Cage Home (Chinese: 籠屋) generally refers to a type of residence that is of bedspace size and surrounded by a metal cage.^[1] It is commonly found in bunk bed format. This type of residence originated in Hong Kong. In 2007, there were approximately 53,200 people living in caged homes.^[2] The residents are mainly low-income people, such as the elderly, the low-skilled, and the non-skilled laborers. Former reports from the Legislative Council of Hong Kong also mentioned in a report that the people who lived in caged housings were those who could not enjoy social welfare, subsidy on rent, electricity bills, or salaries tax.^[3] There are also many drug addicts living in caged homes.^[4] Most of the residents are male. Safety and living conditions of caged homes are poor, and such homes are located in urban old districts in Hong Kong, such as Sham Shui Po, Mong Kok, To Kwa Wan, and Tai Kok Tsui.

Official Definition

Caged homes are categorized as bedspace apartments by the Hong Kong Government. According to the Bedspace Apartment Ordinance, the term "bedspace apartment" refers to a house that contains 12 or more people who rent bedspaces individually. It is legal to run these bedspace apartments, but property owners must apply for a special license.^[5][6]

History

The trend of caged homes started in the 1950s and 1960s. During the Chinese Civil War, a large number of Chinese mainlanders migrated to Hong Kong. There was at this time a surge in birth rates owing to the prospering economy, causing the population to dramatically increase from 2,015,300 in 1951 to 3,129,648 in 1961.^[7] In an attempt to cope with the housing demand, the Hong Kong Government started to build several public housing estates. However, the government could not handle the extra burden brought by the Chinese migrant workers, and there were no housing and labor protection policies in place at that time. Caged homes thus became popular among migrant workers, as the rental fee was low.^[8] Today, people still live in caged homes because the Hong Kong government has instituted a single-person scoring system for public housing applications and lowered public housing quotas. Secondly, according to the Hong Kong Basic Law, new immigrants must wait 7 years to become Hong Kong permanent residents. As such, poor immigrants are often forced to live in bedspace apartments until they receive a Hong Kong ID card.^[3]

Environment

Caged home apartments are usually located inside old buildings in urban areas. In the apartment flats, the whole living space is divided into multiple sections. Each section has 2-3 layers of beds, which are subdivided with metal cages. With no doors, residents have to keep all of their personal belongings inside the confined space. Each bedspace is very narrow, so an adult can barely lie down, not to mention stand or sit straight. While residents can hardly keep any extra personal belongings inside the caged home, such undesirable bedspace is deemed to be a place for sleeping only. It falls short of being called a "home" for any people.

Caged homes are dim, cramped and hot. The temperature can reach 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit).^[9] Residents share the toilets and kitchen, which are notoriously smelly, dirty, and very simplistic.^[10]

Caged homes also lack privacy because the cages are so close to each other. Even though some modern caged homes have partitions to separate different sections, they typically consist of only a thin piece of wood or even paper board.

Problems

Safety

Caged homes are unsafe as the facilities are really old.

Fire safety is poor in caged homes. In 1994, the government set up the Bedspace Apartment Ordinance (Section 18: Precautions for Safety and Sanitation) to regulate fire safety standards and requirements. The Ordinance has applied since 1998. Nevertheless, licensed caged homes are still located in worn-out buildings which lack smoke detectors, automatic sprinkler systems and fire alarm systems. Worse still, many residents share one socket together. Electric shocks and leakage are bound to happen since the government do not conduct regular inspections to ensure the various safety measures are up to standard.

In addition, the Bedspace Apartment Ordinance does not regulate any unlicensed caged home apartments or other similar residences that do not fulfill the requirements of being a "bedspace apartment." Thus, these unlicensed caged home apartments do not have sufficient safety equipment.

Unhygienic

Residents are likely not to clean the open areas. Caged homes are often found to have flies, mosquitoes, mice and cockroaches. As such, the filthy environment becomes a breeding ground for bacteria, viruses, and diseases. Metal cages are typically made of iron, which causes the temperature to be extremely high, and the metal rusts easily in the humid Hong Kong weather.

Limited Space

Since caged homes are often located within older urban districts, they are usually extremely small. Such space is only suitable for people to take a rest, thus barring any additional recreational activities. It is observed that an average of 6 to 12 people typically share a caged home apartment. Under the confined and crowded space, caged homes often have poor ventilation systems. Residents are highly susceptible to respiratory illness. In addition, residents (especially the elderly and disabled) find it difficult to evacuate the building in an emergency.

Psychological Well-being

People who live in cage homes are often victims of destitution. The effect of living in such dilapidated, isolated, and cramped quarters can lead to a higher incidence of mental illness. Some elderly people have even described their lives in caged homes as "waiting for death."^[11]

Social Response

According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights proposed by the United Nations, caged homes violate the right to housing.

The majority of Hong Kong citizens and social organizations have urged the government to construct more public housing estates for low-income people. But the government asserts that caged homes (officially, "bedspace apartments") should not be eradicated as there is such a large demand for small apartments in the community.

The 1992 film Cageman, directed by Jacob Cheung, demonstrates the harsh living conditions in caged homes and sheds light on the difficulties faced by residents.

News Response

The Daily Mail described the caged home as the "dark side" of the otherwise wealthy Hong Kong.^[12]

CNN has also reported and commented on the living environment of caged homes.^[13] It described caged homes as "size of a shoe box." ^[14] It also reported that it was difficult for the rest of the world to believe that such a large number of people are living in such poor accommodations in a so-called wealthy city.^[15]

The Hong Kong Legislative Council also published a report about the problem of caged homes in 2008. The report offered up solutions to caged home problems.^[3]

See also

• Subdivided flat
• Capsule hotel

References

External links

• CNN News Story about cage homes in Hong Kong
• Hong Kong - Cage Dwellers
• Hong Kong's Cage Men