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In a recent newspaper article, Secretary for Transport and Housing Anthony Cheung Bing-leung wrote about a “new deal” and “vision.文件倉” Unfortunately, his writing failed to cast new light on either. Instead, Cheung expressed regret that the government housing waiting list is too long and lamented the hurdles government must overcome as being too many. Hong Kong people already know that. Playing the same tune again and again like a broken record stretches people’s patience and feeds their anger. A slogan, especially as clumsy as this, “Building Consensus, Building Homes”, is not going to help. And the vision it embodies is so simplistic and uninspiring. If you ask a child what needs to be done when there are not enough houses for everyone, he or she will instinctively know the right answer: build more. That’s what the government has been telling us repeatedly. In Cheung’s words: “The government has to play a proactive role under a ‘supply-led strategy’, especially in public housing, with an initial 60:40 public-private housing split in new housing production …. In the face of high housing prices and rents in the private sector, public housing has to perform a stronger lever function.” Hong Kong people want results, not words. They want to know now where and when these promised apartments will be built and completed. In his article, Cheung discussed the origin of public housing. It started 60 years ago under the British colonial government as an emergency response to resettle thousands of families after their squatter huts in Shek Kip Mei were destroyed by a huge fire on Christmas Eve, 1953. The Shek Kip Mei resettlement complex, the grandfather of public housing projects in Hong Kong, consisted of rows and rows of low-rise apartment blocks, erected in record speed. Of course, the quality of the housing was poor. The common kitchen and toilets on each floor were shared by numerous familie存倉. Nonetheless, the accommodation did provide a safe shelter for thousands of people who previously lived in make-shift abodes which offered scant protection from the elements. Since then, public housing has become a major feature of Hong Kong life. Nearly half of the people live in government-subsidized housing of one kind or another. The quality of the apartments has also vastly improved. Many a hill was leveled and paddy field drained to make way for new towns where sprawling private and public housing estates sprouted side by side. Instead of strengthening the political will to get things done, the government seems to have slipped into a state of helplessness and self-pity. “It is easy to say let’s increase supply as much as we can,” said Cheung. “But it is not such a simple numbers game,” he added. Listen to Cheung’s gripe: “First of all, we need properly zoned land. Then we must ensure enough infrastructure, transport and community facilities. The planning and consultation processes are now less straightforward as many local communities become more wary of added housing blocks and population. Construction capacity is also a constraint.” Phew. That guy is supposed to be a public servant. The public has no patience to listen to excuses. It wants to see firm action taken to address a pressing problem. A confident government would surmount the hurdles by facing down the vested interests or by striking a compromise and delivering perceptible results, knowing it has the public’s backing. Of course, public consultation is the good and proper thing to do. But the public, like Cheung, has said more than enough on the housing issue. It wants to see results. The author is a current affairs commentator. A confident government would surmount the hurdles by facing down the vested interests or by striking a compromise and delivering perceptible results, knowing it has the public’s backing.” 迷你倉