Inside Hong Kong's Coffin-Sized Apartments

right now I'm in somebody's bedroom in Hong Kong it's known to have the tightest living conditions in the world and in this video I'm going to be traveling around Hong Kong meeting locals and finding out just how they do it Hong Kong gets more than 50 million visitors a year making it one of the world's most touristic destinations but life isn't so easy for the local people as 25% of them are living below the poverty line even worse hundreds of thousands of residents are living in coffin homes or claustrophobic rooms that are squeezed into overcrowded buildings as rent prices continue to Skyrocket in the city many locals aren't able to afford basic accommodations this is a really sad reality for 100,000 people in Hong Kong they have to live like this rent is like the most expensive expense you can imagine most of the people they need to share the bathroom and the kitchen in the unsanitary conditions check to check for probably about 2 years Hong Kong also has a huge wealth Gap the rich are like crazy rich Asian rich and then the poor were quite poor like under the poverty line so how did Hong Kong get so expensive after World War II Hong Kong experienced massive population growth due to the influx of mainlanders coming down to Hong Kong the government struggled to provide adequate housing leading to the development of slums and squatter settlements like this one looking up gives me a pit in my stomach there's nowhere else in the world that I've seen living conditions like this as Hong Kong urbanized and developed its economy as we know today these informal settlements were clear to make room for high-rise buildings however the government's focus on Commercial development meant that affordable housing is in short supply the widening gap between the rich and the port in Hong Kong has led to an increase of coffin residence over the last few years Hong Kong is a city divided by wealth on the island itself areas like Central and mid-levels are home to luxury skyscrapers while districts like callon are densely packed with lower inome residents when you look up there's like thousands of rooms that I can see in this one moment the wealthier areas have Sleek malls and high-end restaurants whereas neighborhoods like Shamu po are packed with budget Street Markets and food stalls you see almost no tourist around here there's very little English these Visions reflect deep social and economic gaps that have become more visible as housing prices surge across the city to explore this further I'm meeting up with an American expat named Brian who lives in the trendy District of Wai he's going to show me what housing looks like for someone with a high-paying job and later we'll compare it to the dire conditions in the coffin homes this is the spa 4f dude this is sick damn got the kitchen going on here cool floor design um got the bedroom in here Queen AC up top and then that connects to the bathroom have in there I I I definitely had to get good at squatting yeah little Terrace action got the overhang how much does this cost a month 14k now that we've seen a standard apartment for an expad in Hong Kong it's time to dive deeper into the living conditions for the working class those who earn as little as $20 per day I'm heading just a few metro stops north of Hong Kong Island to the mainland this area that I'm in called monok is considered to be the most densely populated District on Earth 130,000 people per square km you could you see the buildings go on forever and even crazier right now I'm standing at the top of a parking garage on the e8th floor and you can see the building just grows out of the ground from the parking garage look it goes up another 10 floors I'm about to meet up with a lady named Miss Lan who runs the society for Community organization here they help those in need in the cage homes you can see directly below the coffin homes there's all these markets and everyone's out on the street buying Meats vegetables getting bubble tea it's super super busy down here we are about to step inside one of the last remaining cage homes which unlike coffin homes are literally made out of wires I'm standing outside of the cage home it's somewhat of a normal apartment complex I mean it's a little bit Rusty but peeking inside literally looks like a bird cage right now I'm inside one of the last remaining cage homes in Hong Kong it's a brutal living situation and really tight quarters and not very sanitary and pretty soon this will all be phased out it's really really really sad to witness this and people have to live in these harsh living conditions really just breaks my heart to to experience this everywhere in here is just cages oh thank you you're welcome that's for Youk you're welcome MrFong how long have you been living in in these homes 20 years 20 years 20 years ago were there a lot more people living in these conditions yeah yeah yeah yes what are some of the struggles that you have every day most of them they are single people and and there are many problems the the hygiene all how many people live in this room and most of them pass away before there is three more this rooms do you plan to leave this place and and have a new home he said I have no pen I just wait him to die there is electricity we have a fridge over here in the corner just out the window is the street this is a bizarre living situation here it's an old elevator daytime is more elderly at home because the young one they need to go to work even holiday he doesn't seem very happy that guy of course unemployed and he divorced at some period he he did he was I think his heal also more for the lower class if you want to have a better life in h Kong is quite difficult because the wage is low so expensive and then it's very hard to arive of housing in Hong Kong rent control is limited meaning there are few laws to regulate how much landlords can charge tenants public housing remains scarce with long waiting lists for government subsidized flats that can take several years to get approval and while these cage homes are nearly banned today coffin homes have emerged as a new crisis and there are even smaller living spaces we are heading to another complex in monok to see just how bad the situation has become we just entered the next place and immediately I'm hit with cigarette smell the toilet not functioning very well pretty Rusty too the leing space is similar to that one yeah but the material of the design is different but these are all different places around us yeah yeah it's incredibly narrow in here like maybe a foot and a half wide everyone's just smoking cigarettes watching their TVs I've never seen a living condition like this before this is absolutely insane nice to meet you h how are you you like horse racing me too last time I was here I was betting on the horses and I I won I won 300 Hong Kong dollars last time how long have you been living up here 10 years over 10 10 years how did you end up here what were you doing before you you arrived to live here before that he Liv in family with family with children in public housing the children they get married and then they don't have enough space so he give up to move out uh he divorce with the the family the wife so he need to move out also got it do you mind me asking how much does it cost to live here 2,000 per month yeah which is like $200 a month what are some of the struggles you have living in here first I come up and come down is very difficult because I'm always uh near sa so not easy for elderly to come up and down at least we have a air conditioner yeah you have AC yeah and uh but there also the the rain yeah it's leaking as we're standing here I'm getting water on my head oh are you friends with the other people living in here he's a depends some of them are quite fly some we just don't teach each other only one toilet for 11 people so they will be competing using toilet diabe diabetes diabetes how about the TV you got a TV in there high resolution really nice got a little TV in the corner what about for food how do you get food my a lunch box or dinner is by the lunch box to come here to eat at at the B if you could say one message to everybody in the world what would you tell them he said in Hong Kong to build a housing is take a quite a long time and so he he want want to say to the public is hope the Hong government can do more work and and build a public housing faster you're really really friendly and I really appreciate your time yeah H are go thank you I'm going you're entering the next accommodation here a little bit brighter in here there AC right above me you can see doesn't smell like cigarettes how are you okay bye how long do you live here about 10 years 10 years is it difficult living here very difficult it's very hot because when he close the door no no any ventilation inside when you go downstairs on the street where do you normally go where do you spend your time not go to Street only go to work he works if not work he come back here he what is your jobal metal making metal making got it do you have a family was divorced yeah can I look inside everybody has a TV here you don't have like a mattress you just sleep on the floor no mattress because the Matrix we catch uh always keep their bed bu bed bugs yeah okay it's not very comfortable you can put like maybe comfortable not comfortable you can put like a small mattress no but this very maybe make easy 30 30 yeah what's the most difficult thing about living here the people sometimes uh conflict conflict conflict so people people like fighting or something yeah yeah yeah what are you watching on TV no HSE Rising everybody is everybody likes Horse Rising yeah how does it work applying for public housing like anybody living in this condition can apply and how do you get accepted to have a new house actually they have a mean test if your income your assets is lower than and certain level and then you can apply for public housing for single people if you are not elderly you need waiting for over 10 years yeah for elderly might be uh from uh 4 to 6 years if you could go back in time and change anything about the way that you live your life what would you do differently before that he own his own home but uh now uh because of have some estance he lost his more money but he don't want to talk anything he doesn't want to talk about what happen talk about it got it got it got it got it if you could change anything about the government of Hong Kong what would you tell them you hope the government to improve the living standard quality of the people these apartment complexes are just wild to walk through the craziest part is you're always near the street getting out of here is a mess can't believe people are actually living in here I'm literally speechless right now before we meet others living in the coffin homes I want to take a moment to thank the sponsor of this video the Sennheiser momentum true Wireless 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story so all of these accommodations are only in this area or they're all over Hong Kong all many many places many places yeah yeah so tell me about uh Soo organization we are a NGO we are working for those under prage in Hong Kong they are living in cage home sub divid kicos or homeless so we work with them to uh help them to improve their living conditions also uh refresh their problems to the government and the society how has Hong Kong changed in the last 30 years since you started working at Soo they have become more expensive and the gap between the rich and the poor they are getting more yeah yeah here we go to upstairs okay we are heading into the next home so this one is quite different from the other ones feels more like an apartment complex but it is quite dirty as you can see hello hello how are you these are all houses left and right there are 20 homes in this tiny hallway right here each of the doors are about 5T tall super super hot I need to have a napkin like that to wipe my face this one's a little bit more colorful a little bit more spacious there's more light you have natural light from the window as we explore this block of coffin homes one lovely resident is eager to give me a tour I take it she doesn't get too many visitors my [Music] I literally like forgot crazy there's 20 people in this one room this is Miss Al's room and she's letting me go inside this is her entire room about 6 feet tall the ceiling and her bed is just right here all the groceries are on the wall and literally it's just a bed and nothing else there a TV she does have a TV she has to pay extra for the AC so she's saving her money she's not using it the heat outside it's thank you my head spin it's super super humid here it's in the summer right now it's July so it's like the hottest season and the Heat box in here this is a room is small no big you understand I understand this is for you for me oh thank you you're welcome thank you thank you very much no problem how long do you live here in this room uh me is the uh eight8 years yeah and and over day is my room and no window no re window you change rooms change rooms when you have a window is much better yeah because you have light open the window and very good to the body do you work you have a job no what about before uh for the uh Bank banking banking yeah so why you why did you stop working in Banky oh he a very old you became old oh yeah and uh my my uh husband go here you died yeah I'm sorry are you applying for a new housing no you're not so you think you will stay here for a long time you have a rice cooker that's nice yeah you in here is cooking it's me so oh wow you have a whole soup in there I want to take you downstairs in the market and I can buy you some some like vegetables yes uh go to the uh supermarket and uh uh buy for the food yeah and buy for the uh drinking for the Coca-Cola Coca-Cola do you ever have like a problem like a fight with people here sometime what happened it's for the [Music] and uh looking the TV is uh oh the too loud yeah I never in my life been this hot to shoot a story like I've gone through four or five napkins already just total drip and sweat breaks my heart to think that these people are actually living here like I'm only here for a few hours these people have spent 10 years living these conditions 10 years it's absolutely heartbreaking just next door to Coco another friendly English speaking resident invites me into his home and his perspective is quite different than the rest how long do you live here uh about 8 years 8 years oh when you were younger what was your life like here working in Min T what was your job before publish painting all the uh publishing publishing uh painting what are the biggest struggles difficulties of living in this in this place no problem no problem no problem for me so you have no no Struggle No Stress living here you like living here yeah you do yeah I like here good how much do you pay a month uh 2,900 2,900 so it's more expensive but it's a bigger room yeah bigger than others but for me it's enough because uh I I go to the toilet only one two three three steps okay if you could live in a bigger place would you move or you I I don't like Bigg place but he said he's this area is very convenient because downstairs and markety he can buy anything convenience yeah what what do you like about Hong Kong and what do you not like about Hong Kong I like Hong Kong because I born here I don't like my Governor why not why not nothing cannot stay here have freedom freedom yeah more than mainland China more than more than over the you know I I met I met four or five people living in these homes but you seem to be the happiest yeah that's a good thing yeah some people you know they like living with not many things for me not to live here no can you show me inside okay you can see cool good so this is the bed yeah my bread cooking here cooking bow soap so you have a kitchen this is your kitchen kitchen yes nice nice I'm uh 1. 7 m look at my head exactly so I'm exactly as tall as this roof like if I'm standing perfectly comfortable you have T Talla cannot see like him air con window you have air con yeah do you use it don't use it don't use it I feel cold you like a beer no t with medicine medicine oh it's Jin say yeah thank you so much oh than for you of course very nice guy you yeah thank you I know okay bye-bye bye thank you just showed me these ladders here which I didn't realize before Y and when you go up them there's another level of places to stay how much is this one uh 2,000 and 2,100 this one is more is smaller wow W it's not good not good the people use a every day use go to the job you change one this one is a here ah oh they have to sit there to yeah seting or the CH wow and no no AC no air conditioning 7 open okay and the 5 5:00 is closed so she's saying that the AC is only open in the night time 7:00 p. m.

it opens and 5:00 a. m.