Inside Hong Kong’s Coffin-Sized Apartments: A Look at Tiny Living

poverty line. So... how did Hong Kong get so expensive? After World War II, Hong Kong experienced massive population growth due to the influx of mainlanders coming down to Hong Kong. The government struggled to provide adequate housing, leading to the development of slums and squatter settlements like this one. Looking up, gives me a pit in my stomach. There's nowhere else in the world that I've seen living conditions like this. As Hong Kong urbanized and developed its economy, as we know today, these informal settlements were cleared to make room for

high rise buildings. However, the government's focus on commercial development, meant that affordable housing is in short supply. The widening gap between the rich and the poor in Hong Kong, has led to an increase of cost and residents over the last few years. Hong Kong is a city divided by wealth. On the island itself, areas like Central and Mid Levels are home to luxury skyscrapers, while districts like Kowloon are densely packed with lower income residents. When you look up, there's like thousands of rooms that I can see in this one moment. The

wealthier areas have sleek malls and high end restaurants, whereas neighborhoods like Sham Shui Po are packed with budget street markets and food stalls. You see, almost no tourists around here. There's very little English. These divisions reflect deep social and economic gaps that have become more visible as housing prices surge across the city. To explore this further, I'm meeting up with an American expat named Brian, who lives in the trendy district of Wan Chai. He's gonna show me what housing looks like for someone with a high paying job. And later,

we'll compare it to the dire conditions in the coffin homes. This is the spot. 4F. Dude, this is sick. Damn. Got the kitchen... going on here. Cool floor design. uhm, Got the bedroom in here, queen, AC up top, and then that connects to the bathroom. How do you fit in there? I. I definitely had to get good at squatting in here. Got a little terrace action. Got the overhang. How much does this cost a month? 14K. Now that we've seen a standard apartment for an expat in Hong Kong, it's time to dive deeper into the living conditions for the working class,

those who earn as little as $20 per day. I'm heading just a few metro stops north of Hong Kong island to the mainland. This area I'm in called Mong Kok, is considered to be the most densely populated district on Earth. 130,000 people per square kilometer. You can see the buildings go on forever and even crazier, right now, I'm standing at the top of a parking garage on the eighth floor. And you can see the building... just grows out of the ground from the parking garage. Look, It goes up another 10 floors. I'm about to meet up with a lady named Ms. Lai

Shan who runs the Society for Community Organization here where they help those in need in the cage homes. You can see directly below the coffin homes. There's all these markets and everyone's out on the street buying... meats, vegetables, getting bubble tea. It's super, super busy down here. We are about to step inside one of the last remaining cage homes, which, unlike coffin homes, are literally made out of wires. I'm standing outside of the cage home. It's somewhat of a normal apartment complex. I mean, it's a little bit rusty, but peeking inside,

literally looks like a bird cage. Right now, I'm inside one of the last remaining cage homes in Hong Kong. It's a brutal living situation in really tight quarters and not very sanitary. And pretty soon this will all be phased out. It's really, really, really sad to witness this. And people have to live in these harsh living conditions. Really just breaks my heart to experience this. Everywhere in here is just cages. Oh, thank you. You're welcome. That's for you. Thank you. Oh... Thank you. You're welcome. Mr. Fung, how long have you been living in, in

these homes? 20 years. 20 years. 20 years ago, were there a lot more people living in these conditions? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah? Yes What are some of the struggles that you have every day? Most of them, they are single people and there are many problems. There. There hygiene, all other thing. Yeah. How many people live in this room? Most of them pass away. Before there is three more of these rooms. Do you plan to leave this place and have a new home? He said, I have no pen. I just waiting for time. There is electricity. We have a fridge over here in the

corner. Just out the window is the street. This is a bizarre living situation here. It's an old elevator. Daytime there's more elderly at home because the young one, they need a good work, even a holiday. Yeah. He doesn't seem very... happy, that guy. Of course, unemployed and he divorced. After some period, he he's a drug addict. He was? I think his help also deteriorated more. For the lower class, if you want to have a better life in Hong Kong, it's quite difficult because the wage is low. It's so expensive here. Yeah, of course. And then it's very

hard to apply for public housing. And, In Hong Kong, rent control is limited, meaning there are few laws to regulate how much landlords can charge tenants. Public housing remains scarce, with long waiting lists for government subsidized flats that can take several years to get approval. And while these cage homes are nearly banned today, coffin homes have emerged as a new crisis and there're even smaller living spaces. We are heading to another complex in Mun Kok to see just how bad the situation has become. We just entered the next place and immediately

I'm hit with cigarette smell. The toilet not functioning very well. Pretty rusty too. The living space is similar to that one. Yeah. But the material of there... the size different. Yeah. But these are all different places around us? Yeah, yeah. It's incredibly narrow in here. Like maybe a foot and a half wide. Everyone's just smoking cigarettes, watching their TVs. I've never seen a living condition like this before. This is absolutely insane. Nice to meet you. How are you? You like horse racing? Me too. Last time I was here, I was betting on the horses

And I, I won. I won 300 Hong Kong dollars last time. How long have you been living up here? 10 years. Over 10 years. How did you end up here? 10 years. What were you doing before you, you arrived to live here? Before that, he lived in family with family, with children in public housing. The children, they get married there and then they don't have enough space. So he give up to move out. He divorced with there... the family, the wife, so he need to move out also. Got it. Do you mind me asking, how much does it cost to live here? 2,000. Yeah Which is

like, 200 US Dollar a month. Per month? What are some of the struggles you have living in here? First, I come up and come down is very difficult because I'm always near to 70. So it's not easy for elderly to come up and down. At least we have an air conditioner. Yeah, you have AC. Yeah. And but there also the. The rain. Drop rain is... As we're standing here, I'm getting water on my head. Yeah, it's leaking. Are you friends with the other people living in here? He said depend. Some of them are, uh, quite funny. Some of them we just too drunk a lot. They

don't talk to each other Yep. Only one toilet for 11 people. So they will be competing to use of toilet. Yeah. Di Diabetic? Yeah. Diabetic. Diabetes. How about the TV, you got a TV in there? High resolution. Really? Nice. We got a little TV in the corner. What about for food? How do you get food? A lunchbox or dinner is by the lunchbox to come here to eat at home at the back. If you could say one message to everybody in the world, what would you tell them? He said in Hong Kong to build there housing is take quite a long time. And so he, he what he want

to say to the public is, uh, hope the Hong Kong government can do... more work and that build a public housing faster. You're really, really friendly and I really appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. We're entering the next accommodation here. It's a little bit brighter in here. There's AC right above me. You can see. Doesn't smell like cigarettes. How are you? Oh. Okay, fine. How long do you live here? About... 10 years. 10 years. Is it difficult living here? Very difficult. Very hot. Because when he closed the door, no any ventelation inside.

When you go downstairs on the street, where do you normally go? Where. Where do you spend your time? Not go to street, only go to work. If not work, he come back here. He said, What is your job? He works? Metal. Yeah. Metal making. Metal Metal making. Got it. Do you have a family? Divorced. Yeah Can I look inside? Divorced. Yeah, everybody has a TV here. You don't have like a mattress, you just sleep on the floor? No mattress. Because the mattress we catch, uh, always keep there... bedbugs. Bedbugs? Yeah. Okay... It's... not very comfortable. You can put

like maybe not comfortable? You can put like a small mattress. No? No comfortable. But it's very, eh, maybe... make easy... Dirty. Dirty. Yeah. What's the most difficult thing about living here? The people... sometimes, uh, conflict the. So people, The tenants. people like fighting or something? Conflict, conflict. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What are you watching on TV? Horse racing. Funny, it's horse racing. Everybody likes horse racing. Yeah... How does it work applying for public housing like anybody living in this condition can apply? And how do you get

accepted to have a new house? Actually they have a mean test if your income, your assets is lower than certain level and then you can apply for public housing. For single people, if you are not elderly, you need waiting for over 10 years. Yeah, for elderly it might be, uh, from, uh, four to six years. If you could go back in time and change anything about the way that you live your life, what would you do differently? Before that, he owned his own home. But, uh, now... because of some accidents, he lost his own money. But he don't want to talk anything.

Is it is. He doesn't want to talk about on what happened? Don't talk about it. Yeah. Don't mention of it. Got it. Got it, got it, got it, got it... Yeah. Yeah. If you could change anything about the government of Hong Kong, what would you tell them? He hope the government to improve the living standard quality of the people. These apartment complexes are just... wild to walk through. The craziest part is you're always near the street. Getting out of here is... a mess. I can't believe people are actually living in here. I'm literally speechless right now.

are only in this area or they're all over Hong Kong? Oh, many. Many places. Many places. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Many? So tell me about... SoCO organization. We are an NGO. We are working for those underprivileged in Hong Kong. They are living in cage home subdivided for cubicles or homeless. So we work with them to, uh, help them to improve their... living conditions. Also refresh their problems to the government and the society. How has Hong Kong changed In the last 30 years since you started working Yeah. at SoCO? They have become more expensive! And the gap

between the rich and the poor, they are... getting more. -- Okay. Yeah. Here we go upstairs. Okay. Bigger? We are heading into the next home. So this one is quite different from the other ones. It feels more like an apartment complex. It is quite dirty, as you can see. Hello... Hello. How are you? These are all houses left and right. There are 20 homes in this tiny hallway right here. Each of the doors are about five feet tall. Super. Super hot. I need to have a napkin like that to wipe my face. This one's a little bit more colorful, a little bit more

spacious. There's more light. You have natural light from the window. As we explore this block of Coffin Homes, one lovely resident is eager to give me a tour. I take it she doesn't get too many visitors. I literally, like, forgot that there's other people around here. It's crazy, there's 20 people in this one room. This is Ms. Al's room and she's letting me go inside. This is her entire room it's about six feet tall, the ceiling. And her bed is just right here. All the groceries are on the wall. And literally, it's just a bed and nothing else. There's a

TV. She does have a TV. She has to pay extra for the AC, so she's saving her money. She's not using it. And the heat outside, it's making my head spin. It's... super, super humid here. It's in the summer, right now it's, uh, July. So this is like the hottest season and... it's a heat box in here. This is a room is small! No, bigger! You understand? I understand. This is for you. For me? Oh, thank you! For you. You're welcome. Yeah. Thank you! Thank you very much. No problem. How long do you live here in this room? Me? is, uh uh eight. Eight years. Yeah.

Yeah Over there is my room... And... no... window. No window. Change. You change rooms? Change room. when you have a window, it's much better? No window. Yeah! Because you have light? Open the window. And very good to the body. Do you work? You have a job? No. What about before? For the, uh, bank. Banking. Yeah. -So why you... Banking? Why did you stop working in banking? Is a... very old. You became old? Oh, yeah. And, uh, my... my husband don't here. Yeah. He died? I'm sorry. Nevermind. Nevermind. Are you applying for a new housing? No. You're not?

Public housing. So you think you will stay here for a long time? Yeah You have a rice cooker. That's nice. Yeah... Yeah. These a... In here is cooking. It's me. So, do you... Oh, wow. You have a whole soup in there. Okay. -- Yeah! I'm gonna... I want to take you downstairs, in the market and I can buy you some. Some like Vegetables. Yes.- There's a... go to, uh, supermarket and, uhh, buy for the food. And... Yeah. buy for the, uh, drinking. For the Coca Cola. Yeah. Coca Cola. Do you ever have like a problem, like a fight with people here? Sometime. What

happened? Is for the. And the... looking the TV is so a... Oh, they're too loud. Yeah. I have never in my life been this hot to shoot a story. Like, I've gone through four or five napkins already. Just total dripping sweat. Breaks my heart to think that these people are actually living here. If I'm only here for a few hours, these people have spent 10 years living in these conditions. 10 years... It's absolutely heartbreaking. Just next door to Coco, another friendly English speaking resident invites me into his home. And his perspective is quite

different than the rest. How long do you live here? Ah... About... eight years. Eight years? When you were younger, what was your... life like here? Working in mining, Thailand. What was your job before? Publish. Printing. Oh, there, uh, publishing. Publishing. Printing. What are the biggest struggles, difficulties of living in this. Printing. In this place? No problem. Nowadays. No problem? No problem for me. For me. Yeah So you have no. No struggle, no stress living here? You like living here? Yeah. You do? Yeah, I like it. Good... How much do you pay

a month? 2,900. Yeah. So it's more expensive? 2,900. But it's a bigger room. Yeah, bigger than others. But for me it's enough. Because, uh, I... I go to the... toilet. Only one, two, three. Three steps. Okay. Enough. If you could live in a bigger place, would you move or you would stay here? I. I don't like pick the fish. No. But he said this area is very convenient. Because downstairs, the market, he can buy anything convenient. Yeah Yes. What, What do you like about Hong Kong? And what do you not like about Hong Kong? I like Hong Kong because I born

here. I don't like my government. Why not? Why not? Nothing... cannot stay here... I don't have freedom. Yeah. Freedom? More than mainland China? More than here all over the world. You know, I, I met. I met four or five people living in these homes. But you seem to be the happiest. That's a good thing. Yeah. Yes. Some people, you know, they like living with not many things. For me, enough Alright. living. No problem. Can you show me inside? Okay... You can see Good. Cool. So this is the bed? Yeah, my bed... Cooking here. Cooking bowl. Soup. Yep. So you

have a kitchen? This is your kitchen? Kitchen? Yes Nice... Nice! I'm a 1.7 meters. Look at my head. Exactly. I'm exactly as tall as this roof. Taller -- No Like if I'm standing perfectly comfortable. It's... Yeah. Yeah. You have taller. Cannot... Like him. stay here. Aircon... window. You have aircon. Yeah. Yeah. Do you use it? Don't use it. No. I feel... cold. You like a beer? No, thalissi with medicine. Medicine? Oh, it's ginseng. Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you. That's for you... Of course. Very nice guy. You. Oh... Yeah. Thank you. That I know.

Okay. Bye. Bye. Bye. Thank you. Coco just showed me these ladders here, which I didn't realize before. Yeah. And when you go up them, there's another level of places to stay. How much is this one? Ah... 2000 and 2100. This one is more... smaller Wooow. It's not good. This... Not good. The people is every day is a... go to the W's. Change what. This one is here. Oh, they have to sit there to change? You sit here like that... Yeah. change your... Wow... And no, no AC? no... air conditioning? Open. Stay open. Okay. And, uh, five. Five o' clock is closed. So

she's saying that the ACs only open in the nighttime. Seven p.m. it opens. And five a.m. it goes off for the day. So this. This room has 26 people? 26 room is not good. Money, money, money, money. Entry money says money. Climbing upstairs into the other apartment here you can see this is... true coffin home. This is the whole place... My camera's all the way up in the corner is all the space you get. Even when I'm kneeled down, I'm still at the roof level. It's a really, really sad reality of people that live here. It's still a couple hundred dollars a

month to stay here. It's not like it's $5. Like it's still quite expensive. Hong Kong is an amazing city for tourism, but when you think about the reality of hundreds of thousands of locals living in places like this, it's truly heartbreaking. Thankfully, they have these bars that you can hold. This okay? Yeah, I'm okay. It's just hot. Never in my life have I seen accommodations like this. It's almost worse than sleeping on the street. Because if you sleep on the street, you have a breeze. I don't know. Here, it's like you're just literally in. In a shoe

box. As I promised, I am taking Coco out on the streets to get some things at the markets. I want to experience her daily routine and see how she navigates life in the city beyond her cramped living quarters. I'm following Coco around. She's navigating these streets way better than I could. Okay! So many people in Hong Kong. Yeah! So busy all the time. It's busy, busy. Everything is busy. Coco's on the move. Over there. -- Yeah. Over there. Coco is becoming my tour guide. Okay. Do you want something? No. No, thank you. Nothing? What about some

vegetables? Whoa... Coco. Oh, thank you. Bye. Bye Okay. Okay. Why is you pay this? I'll pay. This one. No. No. Sorry. No. I'll pay. No. I'll pay. No. No. No. No No. Coco I, I can pay. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Coco! why are you paying? Okaaay. You... Not right. I'm gonna give her... a lot of extra bonus for this one. Coco, I wanna, I want to buy you some like, groceries, like some food and stuff for your apartment. Yeah. Oh, yes. Oh, that's a chair! Yeah. That's. I'm a little... It's sitting. No, no problem. No, no, no. Let's go shopping. I buy you some...

vegetables, fruits for your apartment. Yeah, yeah... Come on, let's go. Okay. All of these fresh fruits and everything are just right below where Coco lives. So it's very convenient. Yes. Yeah. Do you like Hong Kong? I like Hong Kong. Sometime is the people is not good. Not friendly? Yeah. To pay the money is no good. The money to pay. Let's get something here. Come on. I love how she just has her cane, which is also a chair that she sits down. This one. This one. This one is $10. $10. Anything, just take, Yeah This? I'll buy for you. What else do you

want? More. Buy some more stuff. $10. Okay, now any... But I want to. I want to support you because you, let me make video... in your room. So now I want to... And then it's $10 it's okay. Okay One more? No, no, thank you. Okay. Okay... Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I, I, I hold. No. Okay. Okay. Okay. Do you want more? Over there. Over there? Okay. Wow, many people. Yeah. So busy. This one... You want this one? This one. Let's get this one. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Give me the bag. Okay. Okay. Give me the bag. No, no. I hold it. Give it to me.

She's so stubborn! Okay. What else? Do you want one of this banana? No, I, I, I know. No. Are you sure not?.. Yeah. What about this one? Apple. Not. Sorry, I'm, I, I, I, I'm not nice one. Apple. Yeah Okay, no problem. Coco is flying through the market. The market. Like, I, I can't, I can't even keep, keep up with her right now. Yeah. The market is, uh, very, very. Also the people is a... Yeah. Lot of people? You mean... So how old are you? Me? 70. You're 70?! Yeah. I think you're 55. We keep, right? is 70. I give you... Yeah! Are you serious?! I did not

think that you're 70. I'm a. I'll give you the ID is that okay? You're born in 1954. You're 70. Yeah. Wow! You look so young. Young face. How old do you think I am? You looking for uh uh 40 No? thirty... three. 33. Oh... Oh. More young. Do you like better Hong Kong or Mainland China? I. I, I don't like to go there at China. You don't like China? Why not? No. The people is not... not. No good. Not friendly? No... What do you think about America? Do you like America? Me? I like it. Next time I come to Hong Kong, I, I find you. Okay? Okay! I'm keep your...

My... telephone number. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Thank you, Coco. Okay. Yeah, next time I come, I'm gonna call you. And your friend used to come in Hong Kong used to call me. uh, uh, We are going to the shopping. Is eating. Okay? She's going to take you shopping, next time you come here. Your Hong Kong girlfriend is... You sound like it? No girlfriend. No. He doesn't have a girlfriend. No girlfriend. No? Why? No. She's really giving you the business, bro. This has been a really humbling and emotional video to make. It's, It's so sad to think that people are

living in these conditions anywhere in the world. But especially in a place like Hong Kong where... tourists come and they flock around and they go to Disneyland and they take the elevator to the 120th floor and sit at these sky bars. This is a reality for hundreds of thousands of people living in Hong Kong. They're living in places like this where the ceilings are as tall as the head and the bed is like this. It's really sad. And my mission coming here, was to shine a light on these people and humanize them. Because they are living souls who have red

blood just like me and you. And they deserve to have attention and they deserve to have their stories be heard. And I hope the next time you come to Hong Kong, when you're doing all the tourist and things, you're not forgetting about the people that are living in these conditions. Thanks for watching, guys. Take care and I'll see you in the next video. Peace. When I go to America I miss you. Yeah, I'm. I'm going to America. I used to talk, I call you. You like Hong Kong. uh, uh, You like eating... the food? Noodles. And, And then go to America is... take

to the Hong Kong to food for you. Yeah! Okay! Yeah, next time. Next time. Oh. Bye bye.... Bye bye. See you later. Okay. Bye bye. Bye bye. Bye bye. Bye bye. See you nextime. Bye bye.