‘What will happen to us’: fire-displaced Hong Kong residents facing uncertainty

Distress and uncertainty lingered among displaced residents after Wednesday’s deadly fire in Hong Kong, as they struggled to move into tiny temporary flats while calling for better long-term resettlement arrangements such as public housing.

Some elderly residents who had lived for decades in Tai Po’s fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court said on Friday they hoped the damaged estate would be rebuilt so they could return and spend their remaining years there, despite the city’s deadliest blaze in recent memory.

On Friday, 78-year-old To Yim-ming and her husband, Ip Kam-choi, also 78, moved into a 146 sq ft (13 sq metres) studio-style flat in Lok Sin Village, a transitional housing project in Tai Po that has temporarily housed some of those affected by the tragedy.

To said the flat was small compared with her damaged 400 sq ft home. It had no furniture or separate kitchen, and she and her husband would have to sleep on a mattress on the floor for a few nights. They were allowed to stay for only two weeks, she added.

“I don’t know what will happen to us after 14 days,” she said.

“I cannot squeeze into my children’s homes as their places are also small with young children, while I don’t have money to rent a flat.”