Shek Kip Mei fire

1953 disaster in Hong Kong

Shek Kip Mei fire

Traditional Chinese

石硤尾大火

Transcriptions
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	sek6 gip3 mei5 daai6 fo2

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 shanty town of immigrants from mainland China who had fled to Hong Kong, leaving over 53,000 people homeless.^[1]

The area that was destroyed by the fire is bounded by Boundary St. and Tai Po Rd.^[2]

After the fire, the 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.^[3] Alongside a huge volunteer effort, the council spent nearly HK$16 million in relief work.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Madokoro, Laura (26 September 2016). Elusive Refuge. Harvard University Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-674-97385-5.
^ "Shek Kip Mei after the fire, 1953". gwulo.com. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
^ "Stories of Hong Kong - Shek Kip Mei fire". hkpl.gov.hk. Retrieved September 3, 2020.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shek Kip Mei Fire.

Shek Kip Mei fire, Stories of Hong Kong from Hong Kong Public Libraries, Retrieved 2018-05-25
Smart, Alan (1 June 2006). The Shek Kip Mei Myth: Squatters, Fires and Colonial Rule in Hong Kong, 1950–1963 (PDF). Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 9789622097926.
Photos about Shek Kip Mei Fire

Sham Shui Po District

Areas

Cheung Sha Wan
Kowloon Tong (part)
Lai Chi Kok
Sham Shui Po
Shek Kip Mei
So Uk
Yau Yat Chuen

Islands

Stonecutters Island

Landmarks

Transport

MTR stations	Cheung Sha Wan Kowloon Tong (part) Lai Chi Kok Mei Foo Nam Cheong Sham Shui Po Shek Kip Mei

Education

Tertiary	City University of Hong Kong
Primary and secondary	Buddhist Tai Hung College Chan Shu Kui Memorial School Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School Holy Trinity College Kowloon Technical School Maryknoll Fathers' School Our Lady of the Rosary College Po Leung Kuk Choi Kai Yau School San Wui Commercial Society YMCA of Hong Kong Christian School St. Margaret's Co-educational English Secondary and Primary School Tack Ching Girls' Secondary School Tak Nga Secondary School The Church of Christ in China Ming Yin College Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Chang Ming Thien College Ying Wa College

Tertiary