Opinion | Hongkongers living in squalor is a crisis. It’s time to treat it as such

Subdivided flats and cage homes are Hong Kong’s shame. With our financial discipline, land sale premiums, tax revenue and sound investments, the government has built up substantial fiscal reserves over the years and invested in expensive infrastructure.

This includes a world-class international airport, an expanding mass transit and high-speed rail system, the world’s longest sea bridge, a cultural district, a cruise terminal, theme parks, a new sports park and stadium, a third airport runway and more. We have also spent heavily on economic stimulus, fireworks, drone shows and other measures to revive the city’s economy.

Given all that spending, though, we have somehow failed to eliminate some 110,000 subdivided units to help our most unfortunate citizens. It is not because of a lack of resources or means but, rather, a matter of choice.

For far too long, we turned our heads away from society’s deep-rooted problems and consigned the poor’s suffering and anguish to the rarely visited dark corners of the city. We believed the myth that, “If you work long and hard, you’ll be able to own your own house”.

The poor were accused of not working hard enough, even though this ignores the lack of opportunities and other hurdles facing those born into disadvantaged lives. It also ignores the structural housing problems that built up generation after generation, making it hard to point fingers at any particular administration, department, developer or individual.

The current administration might offer some light at the end of the tunnel. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has made good on a promise in his policy address last year by forming a task force to tackle the issue of subdivided units.