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Casperwyomingrex t1_iv3cctm wrote

Reply to comment by Machka_Ilijeva in HELP! My Hong Kong Coffin Apartment is Shrinking and I'm Trapped Inside!!! by Jgrupe

The housing in Hong Kong keeps getting worse. Usually coffin cubicles and other subdivided flats are only present in old districts such as Sham Shui Po or To Kwa Wan. And now not many years ago there was news on newly built flats that were only 300 sq. feet including area occupied by walls.

The problem is when there just isn't enough land and the land prices are expensive, you cannot ban these coffin cubicles because there will always be a lot of people who need them. The waiting list for public housing is extremely long (Is it 14 or 40?). The poverty line is strict and there are people who deny raises just to be eligible for poverty benefits. The government is trying to tell people to go to the Greater Bay Area, but that means leaving your home and going to a place with a different "language". And not to mention the political stigma.

Btw people bought coffin cubicles because they are relatively "cheap". But they are actually extremely expensive in terms of price per sq. feet. Homeowners are really squeezing out profit from desperate populations. There is a reason why the government decides to blame the housing problem for the reasons to the protests.

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MurseWoods t1_iv4wba2 wrote

Suddenly Kowloon (The Walled City) doesn’t sound like such a nightmare anymore

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Casperwyomingrex t1_iv4xesb wrote

Kowloon Walled City is still way worse than that. You can expect that in each "flat", multiple people sleep on the small floor. The structure by putting multiple wooden stories on top of each other is very unstable. And add that to the very rampant crime due to not a tiny bit of law enforcement. Nowadays tenants in subdivided flats only suffer from a bit of theft. Even in poor areas, the crime rate is actually very low and you are very unlikely to get yourself killed by crime. But in the Walled City, you can get yourself killed due to questionable unlicensed medical practices or burgulary and triad fights. I can't really imagine what it is like in Walled City because it luckily doesn't exist now and has turned into a park that I frequent go to. There is a reason why it was the densest populated area in the whole world.

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MurseWoods t1_iv4yjeq wrote

I’ve read a LOT about Kowloon and even recently watched a documentary with footage all throughout. Truly horrible living/workplace.

My point was that it doesn’t shrink on you and kill you like in OP’s case. 😉

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Thailia t1_iv8illv wrote

I'm sorry to be unknowledgable.. but what is Walled City?

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MurseWoods t1_iv9kf7s wrote

It’s nearly impossible to explain fully. And it would honestly be faster for you to check it out online than it would be for you to decipher my long-winded explanation of what it was. And how insane it is that a place like it ever existed in our generation.

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Thailia t1_iv9l0fj wrote

Ok, I'll check it out online.. thank you.

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MurseWoods t1_iv9lnr1 wrote

It’s honestly fascinating if you check out diagrams and watch a little footage of the place.

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Thailia t1_iv9m1f9 wrote

I tried to look it up.. apparently there are many Walled Cities Which country is it in?

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MurseWoods t1_iv9mn8m wrote

Just type in “Kowloon Walled City”. It’s in Hong Kong. And I’ll be honest, I’m impressed you’re actually trying to check it out.

Check out this short video on it. This is one of the best portrayals of Kowloon.

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Thailia t1_iv9n800 wrote

Ty.. I like knowledge.. I'm gonna check it out now

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MurseWoods t1_iv9nyjz wrote

That’s so rad! I’m the same way. When people ask about hobbies, one I always include is “learning”.

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Thailia t1_iv9oi0i wrote

Do you know where "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" comes from?

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MurseWoods t1_iv9ozlz wrote

It would be rude to check how long it’s teeth are, giving away it’s age. Kinda like asking someone nowadays how much the gift they bought you cost.

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Thailia t1_iv9qfxx wrote

Yes

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MurseWoods t1_iv9rdcc wrote

We’re you asking literally? Or like, for any specific purpose?

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Thailia t1_iv9rrp5 wrote

It's my favorite joke.. "nothing, it just let a little whine" makes me giggle every single time.

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Thailia t1_iv9nyvi wrote

Oh my fn god. Im absolutely appalled.. I couldn't even finish watching it.

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Thailia t1_iv8hyx1 wrote

I'm sorry to complain, considering your situation.. but I live in Florida.. its ridiculous here. When I first moved down here, I got a nice little house on a quiet street. I've since moved because they hiked my rent $400 and they built a huge apartment complex at the end of my road and built 7 new houses on my street.

The community of people is fighting. They are trying to build more and more apartment complexes in the middle of residential neighborhoods.

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