Homeless in Hong Kong: why men account for nearly nine in 10 street sleepers
- Pride and Hong Kong’s patriarchal society mean men are less likely to seek help than women when they lose their home
- Women are generally more willing to talk and try to understand how they can improve their situation
Living on leftovers, 69-year-old Wong has been sleeping on the streets of Hong Kong for more than a year.
Wong, who requests anonymity, moved to the city from China’s southern Guangdong province when he was in his 20s, amid a wave of migration to the city. He worked in temporary jobs, but gambled away his savings.
Social workers have offered Wong clothes and other necessities, and he is eligible to apply for public housing, but he has turned his back on all opportunities to get help.
“Even if the government offers me a house, I don’t need help. The government should give flats to people who are younger and more worthy,” Wong says.
Wong is among the men who account for nearly 90 per cent of the city’s homeless population, according to data from the Society For Community Organisation (SoCo).
The NGO put the number of registered street sleepers in Hong Kong at 1,127 in 2017; the number of unregistered people sleeping rough is not known.
