LNII Series: Outlaw Territories

(The old resettlement estates were not called "outlaw territories" for no reason. Such poor neighbourhoods were the least patrolled by the police. Hoodlums and triad members carved up spheres of influence in the estates. This photo showed a rare spot check being carried out by the then Royal Hong Kong Police Force)

LNII stands for Lower Ngau Tau Kwok (II) Estate, the last resettlement estate to be redeveloped in Hong Kong. You may wish to read here for the first and here for the second instalments of this series. The photos presented in this series were taken by me with my GX200 during my two visits to the estate. This instalment continues on the daily life in a resettlement estate, with an emphasis on the reminiscences of the adult residents.

(To make ends meet, most resettlement households were desperate for whatever that could earn some money. This is a sewing machine which was typical money-earning tool for housewives in the old days. Usually, contractors of textile factories set up distribution points in the neighbourhood to recruit women to do the sewing at home. The earnings in return were minimal)

Yesterday we read about how, in retrospect, some former residents enjoyed their life as kids in resettlement estates. Was the life of adults in the resettlement estate a different story?

(Not only housewives helped to make ends meet, but children also had to contribute their time and efforts. Besides sewing, assembling plastic flowers as shown was popular among resettlement households for earning an income at home because this was when young children could handle)

From Mark I to V

(This is a communal water tap room. Only communal water taps were provided in the earlier resettlement blocks. Residents had to go to the room and wait for their turn to get water. This old lady is washing rice in a bowl before it is cooked)

The design of LNII was superior to that of the earlier resettlement estates in that each flat had its own water taps and toilet (actually just a tiny space fitted with a squat-type flush toilet). Ms Tang, who with her husband and his family moved in a Mark I resettlement block in 1972, recalled that the flat allocated to them was as small as about 86 square feet. After she gave birth to her baby, the crowded conditions in the flat became even more unbearable.

What disturbed Ms Tang most was the fact that the public shower room had no door. “If I went home late,” she says, “I would rather skip showering. If I really needed a shower, I would ask a family member to keep watch by the entrance before I dared walk in.” (Note: In case you don’t know, oriental people usually take a shower or bath at night instead of in the morning.)

(The communal shower room was without a door)

Later on, the Tangs were transferred to a new resettlement estate which adopted the Mark V design as LNII. In addition to a better view, their new home also had its own water taps and toilet.

(This is a tenant certificate. Each household was req uired to register all tenants living in the allocated flat in the certificate)

"The most important thing," says Ms Tang, "was that when I took a shower (in the in-flat toilet which had no shower head; therefore, residents used a bucket to hold water for cleaning themselves instead of taking a shower in a strict sense), I no longer needed to be on tenterhooks."

(To save space, many resettlement residents used bunker beds, with this typical metal type being the most popular)

Yet in the resettlement estate as a whole, there were still things which caused residents unease.

Poor Public Security

(This was the first sight when I climbed up to the first floor of a LNII resettlement block. The poor lighting added to the sense of insecurity inside the building. The photo was not taken with a LOMO camera, if you wonder. The four corners were darkened because only one underpowered strip light was used for illumination here. The refuse room is on the right behind the trash cart)

While flats of the adjacent Upper Ngau Tau Kwok Estate were allocated through proper applications, those of the LNII were earmarked for resettling squatter area dwellers affected by natural disasters or redevelopment clearance. Some believe that this was why the LNII neighbourhood was rougher and the house rules were loosely adhered to.

(The light box on the wall was seen on the ground floor of the block. The characters on it read, "Noodles with pig giblets" and the arrow points to a dark long corridor leading to the noodle shop)

(A peek into the kitchen of the noodle shop, which is also situated on the ground floor of the block, will make you wonder if this dangerous setup is really allowed by the house rules)

Compared with the older seven-storey resettlement blocks, the new Mark V design adopted in LNII created longer and higher residential blocks, multiplying the population intake (LNII blocks have 15 storeys each). When more and more multi-storey buildings were constructed, problems multiplied too.

(This eatery on the ground floor shows that the management problems are not only about security but also public hygiene. The big pot with piping white smoke is placed on a busy pedestrian passage within the estate)

(The eatery illegally occupies the common area with foldable tables and plastic chairs to extend business. Most eateries of this kind do the same. Since this is illegal, in the old days, they soon became the targets of blackmail by triad members. Those responsible for suppressing such illegal businesses in turn became susceptible to triad bribery, complicating the problem of public security)

Mr Ho, now 81 years old, recalls, "Those new resettlement estates had a community too big. With so many people living in it, the neighbourhood naturally got rough. I still remember that shortly after moving into my flat, I learned of two groups of residents from different Chinese native communities fighting with one another for the control of mini-bus business. Somebody was killed."

(There used to be a large asphalt ball court next to the LNII. A gathering place for youngsters, the ball court became an ideal place for the triad society to recruit young members) Surely, fist fights and robberies were common events in the resettlement estates. Triad fights and acts of voyeurism were frequently reported. Illegal gambling dens were set up. In addition to common crimes like robbery, triad elements infiltrated some schools. Cases of students being forced to join a triad society were often talked about. Parents were particularly wary when teenagers and youngsters gathered in groups. What made things worse was that it was the time when corruption among the police was rampant. The police force and the triad members were rather intertwined in those days.

(This dimly lit staircase leads to all floors of the residential block. Climbing up and down the stairs make people worry about their personal safety, especially when the blocks are open to anyone. Luckily, the LNII blocks are provided with lifts. But lower floor residents prefer taking the stairs to avoid the waiting)

Another resident in a resettlement estate, Mr Pang, recalls that he did have a sense of insecurity, "There were as many as 600 or more flats in a single block, which was just too many really. Except for our immediate neighbours, we did not know each other. Besides, the lighting in public areas was poor. It was only natural that we felt insecure."

Mutual Aid Committees

(The numbers of flats along the corridor are written on the wall)

Mr Tony Miller, a retired high ranking official in the Hong Kong Government, tells of the same in recalling his days as a district government administrator. More than once, he made inspection visits to the Mark V resettlement blocks. The environment there left a deep impression.

"With the faint lights in the building, the long corridor looked as if it were one mile long, as if you would never reach the other end. It was a frightening environment. I could perfectly identify with the residents' feelings of fear and insecurity."

In fact, the residents, too, began to realise that there was only one way to fight the waves of crime, to overcome the feelings of fear and insecurity they felt in their new environment: unity.

(A room on the ground floor of each block is turned into the office for the respective mutual aid committee. The special patterns on the door hints that it could be an early 1970s vintage)

Against this background, the mutual aid committees of public housing estates were born. With the Independent Commission Against Corruption gradually suppressing corruption in the society, and the setting up of a full-fledged Housing Department, steady improvements were seen in the management of the resettlement estates.

(A shot of the inside of the mutual aid committee office)

After taking glimpses of the living in the LNII, we will look at the shopping there next. Be prepared to see photos of shops which may hold your interest in the coming instalments.

- continue here -

(The old photos without copyright notes are reproduced from various printed materials)