impactHK: Coffin Homes on HK Island. The Visit!
This past Thursday we handed out the $5000 that we raised at our last junk boat party for those living in caged and coffin homes.
Our last handout was in the Sham Shui Po area where we visited more buildings and saw a lot more of the “caged homes”. This time we started off in North Point and made our way towards Wanchai through Causeway Bay visiting 5 buildings.
The buildings we went into were by no means run down. We saw marble in the entrance area and most had lifts.
The handout crew!
We got quite an eye opener in our first place. It was an apartment packed full of coffin homes. There were 28 in total!
We found out that each space costs $2000. After some quick calculating we realized that this owner is pulling in $56,000 per month in rent!
Guesstimating that the rent or mortgage for an apartment like this would cost about $16000, this is a very big profit for the owner!
As easy as is to find anger at the landlord for getting rich from such a thing, we have to remember that he is providing a much needed service for poor people. If these people couldn’t find a space to live in for such a low price, what other option would they have? Although grim, these spaces are better than living on the streets.
In every other building we visited that night, we found very similar situations where landlords were making a killing off other’s misfortunes. It was sad to see how nasty the living conditions were despite their big profits. Would it be too hard to update the bathroom?!
Overall, it’s just glaringly obvious that this is another failure by the Hong Kong Government. They are clearly not doing enough for the poor.
Thanks to everyone who supported this hand out!
I’m ready for the next one!
Friday, October 31st, Halloween night
8pm-Midnight, leaving from Central Pier
All you can drink plus snacks
$400 for men and $350 for women
Send me a message through our Facebook page, or by email to theguestroom@icloud.com if you want to join.
Everyone is welcome!!
I really hope we can fill the boat!
All money raised will go to another handout specifically for the children living in these tiny spaces.
So, come on out for a fun night for a great cause! We’ll get back at midnight in Central, so you can always continue on afterwards…:)
Hope to see a lot of you there!
Mr.J
Big thanks to Alain Jaquier for the photos! Also to Sean Creamer for the photo of the toilet above, which was taken on our last visit to the caged homes.
The Guest Room 
Wow, this is amazing work, you guys.
Cheers Rose!!