Shek Kip Mei fire

The Shek Kip Mei Fire (Chinese: 石硤尾大火) took place in Hong Kong on 25 December 1953. It destroyed the Shek Kip Mei shantytown of immigrants from Mainland China who had fled communist rule to Hong Kong, then a British crown colony. 53,000 people were left homeless.[1]

Shek Kip Mei Fire aftermath

The Shek Kip Mei Squatter Area that was destroyed by the fire is bounded by Boundary Street and Tai Po Road.[2] The area was located in New Kowloon, by then a relatively less developed area compared with Kowloon to the south.[3][4][5]

After the fire, Governor Alexander Grantham launched a public housing programme to introduce the idea of "multi-storey building" for the immigrant population living there. The standardised new structures offered fire- and flood-resistant construction to previously vulnerable hut dwellers. The programme involved demolishing the rest of the makeshift houses left untouched by the fire, and the construction of the Shek Kip Mei Low-cost Housing Estate in their stead.[6] Alongside a huge volunteer effort, the council spent nearly HK$ 16 million in relief work.[1]

References
  1. Madokoro, Laura (26 September 2016). Elusive Refuge. Harvard University Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-674-97385-5.
  2. "Shek Kip Mei after the fire, 1953". gwulo.com. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  3. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347943852_Tai_Hang_Tung
  4. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286608409_The_Shek_Kip_Mei_Myth_Squatters_Fires_and_Colonial_Rule_in_Hong_Kong_1950-1963
  5. https://hkupress.hku.hk/pro/con/935.pdf
  6. "Stories of Hong Kong - Shek Kip Mei fire". hkpl.gov.hk. Retrieved September 3, 2020.


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