The Walled City in Kowloon

Kowloon Walled City was a largely ungoverned, densely populated settlement in Kowloon City in Hong Kong.

That is the very brief definition by Wikipedia of what the Walled City in Kowloon was all about. But there is much more to say, the Walled City was actually a government in itself. Or many of my friends who worked in Hong Kong during the 80s and early 90s described the Walled City as Anarchic Capitalism. But there are other aspects of the Walled City that noon talks about it, the numerous hard-working citizens of the Walled City. Some of them used to work as hard as day and night shifts, the ones that worked less had at least a 12-hour-a-day job in production areas such as Noodle making, the Garment industry, or some sort of Dental clinics. 

The walled city was the densest and most overpopulated place on earth. To some people, the walled city represented a slum like the favelas in Brazil, but to the majority of inhabitants, the Walled City represented freedom of choice, lifestyle, liberty, and to some even prosperity. It would have been imaginable to survive earning the same amount of wages outside the walled city. In fact, most of the inhabitants did not have to worry about paying income taxes. As unrealistic it may sound, to the majority of inhabitants, the Walled City appeared to be safe haven.

Kowloon Walled City's early population fluctuated between zero and a few hundred and began growing steadily shortly after World War II. However, there is no accurate population information available for much of the Walled City's later existence. Official census numbers estimated the Walled City's population at 10,004 in 1971 and 14,617 in 1981, but these figures were commonly considered to be much too low. Informal estimates, on the other hand, often mistakenly included the neighboring squatter village of Sai Tau Tsuen. Population figures of about 50,000 were also reported.

The Walled City in Kowloon 1991, source Wikipedia

Ungoverned by any authorities, alleyways dripped and the maze of dark corridors covered one square block near the end of the runway at Kai Tak Airport. Dating back to the Song Dynasty it served as a watch post for the military to defend the area against pirates and to manage the production of Salt before eventually coming under British rule. However, during the Japanese occupation on Hong Kong in the Second World War parts of it were demolished to provide building materials for the nearby airport.

Once Japan surrendered from the city, the population dramatically increased with numerous squatters moving in. Eventually it became a haven for criminals and drug users and was run by the Chinese Triads until 1974.

A Kowloon Walled City resident who is dissatisfied with compensation payouts from the local government before clearance

Some residents were not satisfied with the compensation and were forcibly evicted between November 1991 and July 1992. After four months of planning, demolition of the Walled City began on 23 March 1993 and concluded in April 1994. Construction work on Kowloon Walled City Park started the following month.

Food processors at work in the walled city for 12 hours a day, Image from the book ''City of Darkness

By the early 1980s, it was notorious for brothels, casinos, cocaine parlors, and opium dens. It was also famous for food courts which would serve up dog meat and had a number of unscrupulous dentists who could escape prosecution if anything went wrong with their patients. The city eventually became the focus of a diplomatic crisis with both Britain and China refusing to take responsibility. Despite it being a hotbed of crime many of its inhabitants went about their lives in relative peace with children playing on the rooftops and those living in the upper levels seeking refuge high above the city.

The rooftops were the one place they could breathe fresh air and escape the claustrophobia of their windowless flats below. Eventually, over time both the British and Chinese authorities found the city to be increasingly intolerable, despite lower crime rates in later years.

The quality of life and sanitary conditions were far behind the rest of Hong Kong and eventually, plans were made to demolish the buildings. Many of the residents protested and said they were happy living in the squalid conditions but the government spent $2.7billion Hong Kong dollars in compensation and evacuations started in 1991. They were completed in 1992.

Image from the legendary book ''City of Darkness''

A grocery store in the walled city, Kowloon, from the book ''City of Darkness''

Noodle maker covered in flour - Noodle production supplied popular noodle restaurants in Kowloon.

A panoramic view of the walled city in Kowloon, shortly before its been demolished

Thousands of people went about their lives daily with many making do with what space they had to grow plants or hand washing on balconies above the busy shops and streets below. 

The area where the Walled City once stood is now Kowloon Walled City Park, adjacent to Carpenter Road Park. Thats basically the happy end of the story, although it might have been better not to remove the walled city entirely. This would have attracted thousands of tourists every year. However, a park is nice too in my opinion but less historic than the Walled City of Kowloon. The most frightening fact is that some of the former Walled City residents ended up living in cage homes around Mongkok. Some are still waiting more than 20 years later to obtain public housing from the HK government.

Hong Kong today and the British broken promise of 1997

Years before July back in 1997, Britain and China signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration which ensured Hong Kong's democracy, the capitalist system, and the rule of law would be untouched for at least 50 years from the Handover. It was branded 'One Country, Two Systems' and plastered on adverts across the city and in the first few years following 1997 all seemed to be just that. But that system, which should still have 30 years to go, has all but disintegrated.

Nevertheless, Hong Kong is still a flourishing, vibrant, multicultural city, that attracts more than 36 million tourists a year, but you do not have to dig very far to realize the country is being quietly throttled by China.

For the sake of Hong Kong's freedom and democracy, Britain does need to do more. It cannot benefit from years of prosperity in Hong Kong, which the UK worked hard to achieve, to just let it all go over fears of upsetting China. Britain has a responsibility and it is not holding up its end of the bargain.

Crack in the Wall written by J. Pullinger

Some Q & A

Q. Was it preferable to live high up at the top or close to the ground?

A. Definitely higher up, the closer to the street level, the dirtier it got. Just look at the pictures in the links. yuck! It was a freaking maze inside, I remember I had to go up and down 2 buildings to get outside the fortress every day, and inside one of the buildings, the first 2 floors were permanently flooded (no one lived there).

Q. 

1.) Is it hard to find your way around?

2.) After it was torn down, how did your relatives adapt to the outside world?

3.) Why did your family/relatives live there anyway?

4.) What was the most common reason for living in KWC?

A. 

(1) I don't think it's possible to find your way if you have no idea where you are going. It was an absolute maze in there.

(2) The government moved everyone out to the nearby public housing way before it was torn down.

(3) Poverty, if you were a recent immigrant from China to HK at that time, you didn't really have many options to choose from.

(4) Poverty. Illegal immigrants. People with nowhere else to go.

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