Our line inquiry We are inquiring into the impact of cage homes on the people who live there.

We are focusing on improving their quality of housing and to get more space for them to function. Target audience: Government We are trying to help these people to get better housing and to enjoy their life. For our action week we have distributed bookmarks and organized a casual day where in children bring in a donation which goes to SoCO. This money will be used for paying for some dwellers rents, food, water, medical aid, etc.

Mentor for exhibition :: Angela Tuesday afternoons directly after lunch, mentor meeting at the Multi-purpose room,

Soco is company taking action against poverty, phone number is 2713 9165, email is soco@pacific.net.hk, is located at 52 Princess Margaret Road, 3/F, Homantin,Kln., HK. Directors name : Ho Hei Wah The Community Chest of Hong Kong Unit 1805, Harcourt House 39 Gloucester Road Wan Chai Telephone No. : (852) 2599 6111 Fax No. : (852) 2506 1201 Or send us email at chest@commchest.org http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1917897,00.html http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=728578 Phone Number: Information of cage homes http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/KI03Cb02.html http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1917897,00.html CCN video about cage homes http://edition.cnn.com/2009/ WORLD/asiapcf/10/28/cage.homes/index.html http://www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_links/page_ngowebsite/ Pictures of cage homes http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2084971/Hong-Kongs-cagehomes-Tens-thousands-living-6ft-2ft-rabbit-hutches.html http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/07/25/hongkong.coffin.homes/index.html http://www.weirdasianews.com/2009/11/21/hong-kong-citizens-living-cages-literally/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meR2N4H30Yg http://www.soco.org.hk/ (people helping the people which live in cage homes) http://www.sawfnews.com/Lifestyle/39233.aspx http://www.urbanphoto.net/blog/2009/03/14/ life-in-a-cage/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPNsKDyyueI a really good video! http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1917897,00.html best website ever on our doc!

Questions We are inquiring into the impact of cage homes on poor people who live there? How can the government improve the cage homes? (responsibility) The government can improve this situation by totally abolishing cage homes, and setting up new homes that do not restrict the peoples movements and have an even lower rental level than the cage homes What do SoCo do to help?(Responsibility) Provided housing, services for over a thousand people. Fought elderly rights about living in a cage home. Fought for people to live comfortably in a good relaxed house. How does SoCo take action? SoCO takes action by visiting people in cage homes and talking with the government about their plight and experiences and try to improve the situation. SoCO (Responsibility, function) How much does it cost to live in a cage home?(Form) $ 150 for a down floor $100 for an upper floor. down floor expensive because you can stand and the top you can stand (all US dollars)! How does living in the cage home affect their life? (causation) It affects their conscience, privacy, their children (if they have one), their physical appearance, their mental appearance, etc. akshay How do they feel? (perspective) Some go insane in Cage Homes and lose their will to life and they want to die Why do people live in Cage Homes?(Causation) They live in cage homes because they can only afford cage homes and dont want to live on the street Who invented cage homes and why? (Causation) Cage homes were invented by landlords for an effective way to make money. They will keep a large portion of the land and house lots of the homeless in a very small amount of space, and charge a lot of money for each square foot, knowing that they would accept because it is better than living in the street. They are approved by the government because they dont know the conditions that the dwellers live in and because too many people were living on the street. Why are cage homes like that? (cage) (Causation) Cage homes are like that because if there is a cage around them they could lock their cage and no one could come in when that person out. Cage homes are usually for poor to live in. It is the only type of housing they can afford apart from living on the streets. This also limits their space and welfare How does it feel like to live in a cage home? (Perspective) It feels extremely cramped in a cage home and people are often sick, which might make them go insane

How can we help? (Responsibility) Writing letters talking to companies that are already working against this issue Flash Mobs Charity fundraising events

Why do the government approve of cage homes? People choose to live in bedspace apartments and cubicles because these apartments, apart from commanding a low rental level, are mostly conveniently located in the urban areasGovernment statement. And to cover up, they say we have always attached importance to the needs of these people, including housing needs(Change) Do people in cage homes get pension? People in Cage Homes do not get pension even though they are supposed to get the elderly retirement pension (Function) How do people in cage homes get money? (Function They get money from the government and their jobs if they have one How does the cost of a cage home compare to the cost of other homes? (connection) This is compared to other homes because each square foot in a cage home is more expensive than a square foot of some luxury apartments although a cage home is 6ft by 2ft. Information of cage homes Cage Homes are 6ft by 2ft by 3ft Cage homes are 6ft by 2ft coffin homes The length of a cage home is 1.82m and 0.76m Cage homes were introduced because of the growing number of people undergoing poverty. They also were supposed to be bigger, but people kept on reverting to Cage Homes, so the landlords made a standard size for them. For a upper flooring, they have to pay $100 US and for a place downstairs, they have to pay Us $150 because you can actually stand up in the lower deck, and in the upper deck, you can t stand up. It has a poor health rating and it is very cramped. If families can afford to have a TV, they are very lucky, but there is no Internet connection there and you have to pay extra if you want to have luxuries They also have to pay for food, bedding, medical items, and extras. 19 people share a 625 square foot room with lots of cage homes in it Cages made of wooden planks and wire mesh. Some are really thin because of their level of eating design new mini apartment that is better than cage homes and has a lower rental level than cage homes and hand it in to the government and them talk to them about why this mini apartment is better than cage homes, ex. we can tell them about the conditions that the dwellers live in, the amount that the landlords charge, and etc. because they probably dont know and they have more important issues to take care of. renovate very old buildings or knock them down.

we want to spread the word so people are aware and so they take action Land reclamation 1.3 million people live in poverty in HK It is 30 US dollars for a square foot in a cage home per month 20 cages in a room and sometimes 3 levels. People have to share bathrooms and kitchens The government choose where the room is going to be, then they buy 20 cages from landlords and distribute them around the room and to the people People may not like it, but they have to live with it otherwise they have to beg or live in the streets There is absolutely no privacy in these rooms Sometimes, each square foot in a cage home costs more than a square foot in a luxury apartment Some rooms dont have a kitchen, and the people have to spend their precious little money on takeaway food The population affected by poverty are rising because of inflation and more and more are seeking refuge in cages People choose to live in bedspace apartments and cubicles because these apartments, apart from commanding a low rental level, are mostly conveniently located in the urban areas. We have always attached importance to the needs of these people, including housing needs While they say this, people are living disturbingly in cage homes. And to top it up, these cages are stacked on top of each other in one single room. This statement was said by the government. Inflation has affected at least a quarter of HKs population Unfair trade has also played its part in cage homes because companies say they will give this much and then do not give any at all, so low paid workers at the company that was affected by the trade get even less wages Half of HKs population live in cheap government housing When people in HK are fired, their weakness is that they immediately work for half their usual wages or even less than before. This is uncommon in the western society. The government approve of these cage homes because it currently solves their problem for housing Cage homes were invented by landlords for an effective way to make money. They will keep a large portion of the land and house lots of the homeless in a very small amount of space, and charge a lot of money for each square foot, knowing that they would accept because it is better than living in the street. They are approved by the government because they dont know the conditions that the dwellers live in and because too many people were living on the street. There are no pension laws in HK but if you pay a certain amount of money you can get pension, but discrimination is common against cage dwellers because they are so poor If the dwellers cannot pay the rent of a cage home in time, they are kicked out and revert to the streets or when they have enough money, they will rejoin a cage home Illness is common in cage homes, and it is mostly respiratory problems that affect the dwellers. Some even die because of illnesses. The most common illness is respiration because the temperature drops and increases drastically The dwellers actual problem is that they live in very bad conditions, and sometimes they cant sleep until morning because there are a lot of bedbugs and fleas The cage home residents kill time by sleeping

Some go insane in Cage Homes and lose their will to life and they want to die Luxuries are donated to cage dwellers secondhand, such as tvs, and the like. But there are some landlords that dont allow T.Vs on their premises People that live in cage homes need to spend money on toilet paper, water, bedding, etc. People in cage homes cant afford three meals a day Sometimes they combine two rooms into one, like using the bathroom as a kitchen Hygiene is a totally different issue because they use all their money on bottled water, food and necessities. 100,000 people in HK like people in cage homes have applied for public housing, so the government are building 15,000 units a year to solve the problem, but the waiting list is even now climbing and soon the whole of HK is going to be overpopulated. SoCO believes that all the cage home dwellers should have public housing spots People live in a room, 20 cages to a room and they have toilets to share between themselves, and people share finite resources Single people, elderly, low-paid workers, people with mental illness, families with too many children and women are the type of people that live in cage homes The government are fearful of nothing and these cage homes could remain for at least a decade, unless the new CE is going to take action, which is likely because he(CY Leung) has visited a cage home We can help cage dwellers by providing them with necessities and money, and try to abolish these cages and try to make a type of housing that will have an even lower rental level and the space that these poor people need, we can also spread the word. People in cage homes eat less when they are sick because of their environment, which makes less healthy and not having their daily nutritional value. Although in their environment they should be sad, they are happy, which motivates a lot of people to do something for them Buildings in which cage homes are placed are ancient, being at least 60 years old Sometimes the wire mesh in cage homes are very cold in the winter, putting the occupants in dangerous risk of hypothermia Sometimes in cage homes the temperature there is at least 3-4 degrees higher than the normal temperature outside These cage home dwellers have to fight for their rights, and this is unfair as we get our fair rights If people come to Hong Kong for a job, and they get one, but then they lose their job, then they are trapped in HK, and then they cant live on a street, so they sometimes choose cage homes, and the growing number from the mainland are making things difficult for the Hong Kong Government, and we can blame them for the local population, but we cant blame them for the mainland population. If cage dwellers have children, they will also be affected because they cant adapt to their new surroundings, and then the mother cant afford to go to hospital All their prized possessions are inside the cage home, and locked up. If prized possessions are left outside the cage, others can claim the item as their own Cage homes are 2 floors and sometimes 3 floors high In a cage home everyone living there will have to share a bathroom and a kitchen

People end up living in a cage home because they apply for a public housing but the waiting list is long, as long as 3 years so the only place they can live in is a cage home Medical aid is something they have to live without, because they catch so many types of diseases from being in cage homes that it is too much for them to afford Some cage home occupants gamble by playing cards with other dwellers because they have nothing to lose, they also go to casinos and spend money on lottery tickets such as the Mark Six People that live in cage homes are very short-tempered because of their environment Some cage dwellers are charged more for their homes than usual because landlords want more money so they keep on upping the prices The rents for cage homes are increasing from time to time because there is no one to monitor them except the landlords, who want more money, and the government approve of cage homes so they dont care about the rent Around 100,000 people in Hong Kong have inadequate housing, including cage homes Wire mesh, including all materials that are escape proof, are used to make sure that the people stick to their own space and take no more People in cage homes go to the extent of protecting their belongings with bubble wrap, and all their items are dirty because of their environment, no matter how much they try to clean them There is no internet connection in their room The government do not give adequate housing to these dwellers because of lack of space, and this would have to be fixed by spending lots of money and even taking money off some tycoons Public air conditioning is switched on at 9pm every night, but sometimes it doesnt work The occupants take risks when living there because they are exposed to electrical wires The retirement fund is $130 hk a month, but they need more than this to pay rent for cage homes Cage dwellers complain that it is too hot, no space to lie down, poor ventilation Most are factory workers, some do not work and depend on government money The government are not willing to help because they are worried of shortage of land, and it takes a lot of money to reclaim land Most cage dwellers live for an average of 6-10 years Cage dwellers are ashamed to live in such conditions because lots of people discriminate against them and their families are not supporting them, not to mention their economic issues SoCO is not the only company to work against cage dwellers, but the only one to argue publicly against cage homes Some cage dwellers are religious SoCO target the government by requesting meetings with the government, they also protest, they seek help from the LEGCO members, use the media We can take action by spreading the word People who live on the street come to cage homes because the landlords put up ads everywhere

Cage dwellers have done over a 100 protests but the government is not prepared to listen They, also have to endure living creatures around them etc. cockroaches, lizards, and various insects. According to the United Nations, this type of housing has been given the lowest possible rating of hygiene as possible to get the government to abolish these cages. They have been described as an insult to human rights and freedom and a horrific way to keep people working for lower wages than promised and even when they are fired they still work for around 20 dollars a day for cleaning the streets, dumping rubbish etc. Currently, 320,000 people are waiting to be allocated public housing by the government For families, they have to wait 3 years to get public housing, but the 63,400 single people wait for an average of 10 years, so while they wait they live in cage homes Each year, SoCO helps 1000 people to get public housing, another 1000 to get jobs, and they fight for the elderlys rights

Key: Light Blue: Money issues and introduction Red: Action Green:Issues that the dwellers face Dark Green: Government Medium blue: jobs

http://www.soco.org.hk/artwalk2009/ index.htm This is website of SOCO, click link Possible action that can be taken: Writing letters talking to companies that are already working against this issue Flash Mobs Charity fundraising events Visiting a cage home Talking to the government Using other people's action as a pushing point for us to take action Talking to the government about building some small apartments that are cheap for poor people Proving them with jobs so they have money to eat, pay the rent and travel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU4jjdRzy3w&feature=relmfu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=910PBnCohXw

http://www.crimetalk.org.uk/library/section-list/38-frontpage-articles/570-cage-homes-in-hongkong.html http://gwulo.com/node/7301

88% male 12% female