The government has stepped up enhancing living space in subsidised flats for the benefits of households, said Director of Housing Rosanna Law Shuk-pui.
Law, who also serves as Permanent Secretary for Housing, emphasized the public housing is valuable social resources.
Law said Chief Executive John Lee has earlier promised in the 2022 Policy Address that the size of public subsidised sales flats will increase in upcoming years.
“We promised that the public subsidised sales flats in Hong Kong will now have to be at least 26 square meters per unit. We cannot be smaller than that,” Law said in an interview with host Nick Chan in Friday Beyond Spotlights.
“And then in our public housing, because we have identified more land for public housing construction, we are now able to enhance the living space per capita. So for those public rental housing to be developed and completed in 2030-2031, I think we will be able to allow a 10% increase of internal living space for our tenants,” she said.
Law also stressed the Housing Department has deployed abundant manpower and resources to curb abuse of public housing.
“That is the time when we have to do anti-abuse work very diligently. And we are, actually, the entire Housing Department is doing that. So if people are in need, then of course, we welcome them to stay in our public housing system,” she said. “But if they have the ability and if their income and revenue have exceeded our limit, then of course we need them to move out. Not that we want to increase their costs, but if they have the ability, then we want to channel our resources into helping people with a greater need, a more urgent need for public housing.”
Law also mentioned that the Housing Department has leveraged on technology to improve tenants’ living in public housing.
“Now one of the things that we do is trying to see if there are robots that can help us, for example, cleaning the estates, doing the cleansing work, So if it is successful, then we can introduce them to some other estates. And then we also can have robotic security officers. They can patrol on predestinated routes or through a manual control. They can also have the panoramic camera to take down what can possibly be evidence for malpractices or even crimes in our estates,” Law said.
“Actually we use IoT sensors (Internet of Things) to detect the water level and then whether or not, we need to do extra measures to prevent flooding and other potential damage in our estates and in our car parks. I think that is also very useful,” she added.
STRIVE FOR SUCCESS
Law told the program that she was born in a humble family and lived in public housing flat with her parents when she was a child.
She said at that time, the rental was cheap and therefore it enabled her parents to put resources into her education and created a good learning environment for her.
As his father was a taxi driver, Law shared a momentous item of his father’s watch which has special meaning to her.
“I lived in public rental estate when I was young. And my father was a taxi driver. But this is a really good watch I was told. It’s an 18-karat gold watch. And it must have costed him a fortune when he bought it,” Law said.
Law said her father was not born a taxi driver, he came from a very good family. Due to the World War II, it inhibited his schooling and eventually became a taxi driver.
“So with that background, I have to do even better to be on a par with, for example, the elites of the society. So after I joined the government and eventually when I was sent by the government to Stanford University, one of the best in the US for a master’s degree. I thought would I be able to catch up or be on par with them, with my classmates. It’s not that far a distance I found,” Law said.
“And I thought the background and also the education in Hong Kong and also my upbringing in Hong Kong was actually excellent so that I can be on a path with everybody else in the best schools, one of the best schools in the world. So that was very encouraging,” she added.
Law had served as Commissioner for Transport before assuming the current post as Director of Housing.
Being the daughter of taxi driver living in public housing estate, Law said it has given her the excellent preparation and training course for doing her jobs in the two departments.
“And when I see problems in, for example, the taxi trade, which a lot of people have a lot of say and have a lot of comments. I can also very honestly tell the industry that I am one of you. I came from you guys. And so if I do find things that needs to be improved, I find that from the bottom of my heart. It is not being critical to you, but with a good heart of wanting the industry to improve,” she said.
“And for public housing estate, I feel that I need to give something back to the public housing system so that people like me, like my family, can get a good platform in the public housing estate and then to raise their kids to get some success in the community and move upward socially. So I think that is my way of giving back the good nutrients Hong Kong gave me when I grew up,” she added.
SERVING HONG KONG WITH HEART
As a civil servant for decades, Law said it is paramount to serve citizens with heart and determination.
“You want to serve the public for good, to bring them some benefits, some happiness. You may not be able to solve all the problems in one goal or by yourself,” she said. “You’re not Superman, but you can be determined to do your best, give your best. I think a mission to serve and perseverance, coupled with diligence. Those are the most important elements.”
All images from Friday Beyond Spotlights