FINISHED PROJECT
A soundslides presentation of the Hong Kong Public Housing Estates.



This wiki page serves as a space for a group of three students to organize, research and evaluate a soundslides project about the Hong Kong Public Housing Estate. The project is part of an online journalism class in the master's program at the University of Hong Kong's JMSC. We are team 6 of the afternoon class.

Table of Contents (for easy reference)

1. What are Public Housing Estates of Hong Kong?
2. Our Project's Angle
3. Team Members
4. Division of Work
5. Timetable
6. Research Resources

NEWS
We have officially completed our soundslides presentation for the Hong Kong Public Housing Estates. Please check the top of this page to see our completed work.

Older...
Our first outing to Tin Shui Wai estates was a success! We didn't get to see the interior of any estate, but we were able to talk to several people living and working in the estates. A friendly older woman talked to us about how much she liked Tin Shui Wai and also about the recent suicide there. Team 6 is wondering if we should pursue a suicide angle. Apparently, in an estate close to Tin Shui Wai, there is a long history of repeated suicides. It would be really effective to talk to a family who has lost someone or even to see if the estates themselves are depressing to the point of people wanting to kill themselves.

1. What are Public Housing Estates of Hong Kong?
According to Wikipedia, a public housing estate is a form of housing mainly built by the Hong Kong Housing Authority, which was established in 1973. The Authority is an agency of the government and offers rents substantially cheaper than ordinary housing in Hong Kong. The inception of public housing was before the Housing Authority, however. It started because of the rising number of immigrants as well as the Shek Kip Mei fires, which destroyed the homes of approximately 53,000 people.

2. Our Project's Angle
Team 6 originally wanted to look at the teens in the public housing estates of Hong Kong. We have two vantage points on the time line that we can approach:

Note: The below information suggests a story that focuses on the Shek Kip Mei estates. However, team 6 has found an interview subject in the Tin Shui Wai estates. We will proceed with that and see what we can include in Shek Kip Mei after the interview.

First Vantage: Historical

Looking back in history: What was it like growing up as a teenager in the original public housing estates? The original 1954 Shek Kip Mei Estates allotted 24 square feet per adult and half that per child under 12, but were often occupied by two or more families because of Hong Kong's extreme housing shortage. It would be compelling to find someone who was aged 13 to 17 and lived in the public housing estates in 1954. They may be willing to be interviewed and may also have pictures of what Shek Kip Mei looked like back then.
Second Vantage: Present Day
According to Wikipedia, about half of Hong Kong residents still live in public housing estates. Wikipedia says Shek Kip Mei Estates have also been renovated, but the Hong Kong Housing Authority still lists the smallest flat at only 37 square feet. Some then and now pictures would be very compelling for the soundslides project. There are quite a few other estates now in existence and it would be interesting to look at their history post the 1973 establishment of the Housing Authority.

Ultimately, it would be great to an older person who grew up in the public housing estates and now has children (teenagers) of their own living in the public housing estates.

3. Team Members
Three people make up team 6:

1. Josh Fenn
2. Saul Sugarman
   
3. Leung Siu Kin, Nathan

4. Division of Work
The team is still in its early stages of dividing workload amongst its three members. For now, the division looks like this:

• Nathan is the resident Cantonese speaker and will be able to act as translator if needed. He has also volunteered to be the main person in charge of the picture-taking portion of the assignment.
• Josh will also take some pictures, but has volunteered to be in charge of the script writing and narration of the soundslides project.
• Saul will focus on research and updating the wiki. He has also volunteered to be the main person who edits and organizes the soundslides project.

5. Timetable (beginning the week of September 22)

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
22/09/2008 1pm-1:30pm: group meeting, discussion of direction (Saul, Josh, Nathan)					27/09/2008 Saul will send an email of updated research found.
		1/10/2008 3pm-6pm: preliminary Tin Shui Wai visit (Saul, Josh, Nathan)	02/10/2008 (Tentative) Josh will provide team with first-draft script	03/10/2008 3pm-4pm: Tentative meeting in JMSC Digital Media Lab to organize soundslides project.	04/10/2008 3pm-6pm: Tentative scheduled outing to a public housing estate different than Tin Shui Wai
	07/10/2008 3pm-6pm: secondary Tin Shui Wai visit (Saul, Josh, Nathan)	08/10/2008 Script finalized		10/10/2008 3pm-4pm: Tentative meeting in JMSC Digital Media Lab to solidify soundslides project.

6. Research Resources
The following are links and resources the group has gathered. Descriptions of the links will be added by team members when they are available to do so.

Websites in English

1. Wikipedia Public Housing Estate Main Page
2. Wikipedia Hong Kong Housing Authority Page
3. Wikipedia Shek Kip Mei Estates Page
4. Wikipedia Shek Kip Mei Fires Page
5. Wikipedia Hong Kong Housing Society Page
6. Hong Kong Housing Society Main Page
7. Hong Kong Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau Main Page
8. Hong Kong Urban Renewal Authority
9. Wikipidia List of Public Housing Estates in Hong Kong - This includes when each public housing estate was established.
10. Forum thread with photos of public houses in Hong Kong, and text discussing renovations
11. Photos of people in Hong Kong's oldest public housing estate
    

Websites in Chinese

1. http://www.allhabit.net/thread-425377-1-1.html
2. http://www.hk-place.com/view.php?id=213
3. http://www.housingauthority.gov.hk/b5
4. http://www.hkpublichousing.org/
5. http://monkey80118.mocasting.com/p/143987
6. http://www.oxychan.com/202j.html