Chapter 1- My home became a big fireplace in Christmas Eve!
第一章- 關於我屋企在平安夜燒到「渣都冇得剩」
25th December 1953
Yesterday was Christmas Eve, but it was not a peaceful night. I had never considered that God gave me such a severe test when I was eight.
Although we were poor and lived in crude squatters, my mother always said, ‘Poor and content is rich, and rich is enough.’ So even in a poor living environment, it is eternally our home.
However, everything is gone. We have nothing, and where should we go…
1953年12月25日
昨日是平安夜，但我一點也不平安。沒想到上天會給芳齡8歲的我如此大的考驗...
雖然我們一家清貧，生活在簡陋的木屋區，但媽媽總告訴我：「心中富足就好。」嗯！所以即便生活環境再差，這裡永遠都是我們的幸福小窩。
可是現在一切都沒了，我們又該何去何從...
In 1950, there was a large influx of immigrants in Hong Kong, causing the population of Hong Kong to grow to 2.2 million. The immigrants, who were homeless, built their squatter huts with tin plates and wood on the hillside. However, an insufficient power supply resulted in many residents stealing the electricity, and electrical circuits were overloaded and caused electrical fires eventually. At least 300,000 people were estimated to live in the illegal squatter huts.
On Christmas Eve in 1953, a resident of Pak Tin Estate accidentally set fire to a cotton mattress while lighting a kerosene lamp, which quickly spread to the squatter huts of Shek Kip Mei. The fire lasted for 6 hours and destroyed the homes of around 58,000 people. The fire was one of the most severe fire disasters in Hong Kong's history.
The fire raised public awareness of Hong Kong's housing problem with overpopulation and immigration, which led to severe living and hygiene conditions and increased the risk of fires. However, the Shek Kip Mei fire became a turning point for Hong Kong's housing policy. The colonial government carried out housing reform and implemented a large-scale public housing programme to provide affordable housing for low-income families. The housing reform improved the life quality of Hong Kong citizens and laid the foundation for future public housing policies. The first eight six-storey blocks in the resettlement estate in Hong Kong were completed at the end of 1954. Mei Ho House, which is a preserved historical landmark, is one of the resettlement buildings.
1950年，大量移民湧入，香港人口急增至220萬人，無處容身。他們在山邊搭建以鐵皮及木材搭建的寮屋，衞生惡劣，缺乏足夠電力供應。由於沒有電力供應，很多居民選擇偷電，經常令電線超出負荷，火警頻生。當時估計至少 30 萬人居於非法寮屋。
1953年平安夜晚9時，白田村一戶居民在燃點火水燈時，不慎燒着棉胎，火勢迅速蔓延至石硤尾村，大火足足燒了6個鐘，逾千寮屋被燒毀。事件導致五萬三千人無家可歸，成為香港歷史上其中一次最嚴重的火災事故。火災發生後，暴露了香港嚴重的居住問題，人口氾濫和移民湧入導致居住環境日益嚴重和衛生情況欠佳，增加了火災風險。然而，石硤尾大火成為香港房屋政策的轉折點，令港英政府進行房屋改革，實施了一項大規模的公共住房計劃，為低收入家庭提供負擔得起的住房。以改善香港市民生活素質，為日後公屋政策奠基礎。1954年末本港史上首8座六層高的徒置大廈建成。保留至今的歷史古蹟美荷樓就是其中一座徙置大廈。
1
Shek Kip Mei Fire on 1953 Christmas Eve
1953年平安夜石硤尾大火
2
Over 50,000 people were homeless
after the Shek Kip Mei fire
石硤尾大火後，超過五萬人無家可歸
3
Housing Reforms carried out
by the British Hong Kong Government and the resettlement areas built in the 1960s.
港英政府進行房屋改革，於60年代興建徙置區。
Copyright 圖片版權
1,3: 取自土地註冊處
2: 取自香港政府檔案處; 1-A0011