Voters in West Kowloon will choose their Legislative Council representative on December 7, with five candidates vying for the seat in an election driven centrally by the district’s severe housing and urban management challenges. The contest pits incumbent lawmakers Lam Man-kwong of the West Kowloon Power and Cheng Wing-shun of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) against three challengers: Jeffrey Pong Chor-fai from the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA), self-proclaimed independent Kwan Wai-hei, and Alice Lau Oi-sze, the Secretary General of the Lok Sin Tong Benevolent Society. The district, encompassing key areas like Yau Tsim Mong and Sham Shui Po, holds the unenviable distinction of having the highest concentration of subdivided housing units and aging buildings in Hong Kong, making property solutions the core focus of the campaign.
The electoral landscape highlights a dense urban area with approximately 346,000 registered voters grappling with extreme living conditions. Government statistics from 2021 reveal that of the city’s approximately 108,000 subdivided units, Yau Tsim Mong accounted for over 26,000 and Sham Shui Po for more than 22,000, placing both districts at the forefront of the housing crisis.
Candidates Propose Diverse Solutions for Urban Blight
The candidates offer distinct approaches to alleviate the pervasive housing and maintenance issues plaguing the district’s aging infrastructure.
Lam Man-kwong, seeking re-election, emphasizes revitalizing the secondary market for subsidized housing schemes. He advocates for expanding the “Elderly Owners Home for Home Swap Scheme” to include residents experiencing changes in family structure and proposes regularizing the “White Form Secondary Market Scheme,” removing quotas to match supply and demand more flexibly. Addressing the upcoming Simple Living Spaces Ordinance set for March, Mr. Lam suggests the government should establish model units and consider interest-bearing loans secured by the property to help homeowners afford necessary modifications for certification. Despite supporting the resale of public housing, he cautions against repeating past mistakes, citing unresolved management issues in existing rental-purchase schemes, insisting on a thorough review of management responsibilities before widespread implementation.
Jeffrey Pong Chor-fai focuses on improving structural management in older buildings. He champions the “Joint Building Management and Maintenance Scheme” (JBMM), a government initiative launched in June to help owners of older and “three-no” buildings collectively hire property management services and share costs. Mr. Pong stresses that successful execution requires active feedback from the community and local councilors. He also supports the principle of reintroducing the Tenant Purchase Scheme (TPS) to increase government revenue and help public housing tenants buy homes affordably, suggesting a cautious approach by piloting the scheme in specific, older estates to avoid the mixed-ownership complications seen previously.
Kwan Wai-hei targets immediate municipal issues, specifically proposing a merger of the Water Supplies Department into the existing Water Seepage Task Force to expedite the source tracing and resolution of pervasive water leakage cases. Given that West Kowloon holds over 2,500 buildings aged 50 years or older, seepage disputes are frequent. Mr. Kwan also proposes integrating professional mediation services to resolve building disputes swiftly for affected citizens. Beyond housing, he suggests creating distinct commercial and cultural tourism zones by linking established areas like Temple Street and Flower Market, potentially incorporating seasonal themes and intellectual property (IP), and converting sites like the former Yau Ma Tei Police Station into creative exhibition spaces for youth talent.
Incumbent Cheng Wing-shun and challenger Alice Lau Oi-sze both declined interview requests, leaving their specific policy platforms less articulated in the public domain ahead of the poll.
The outcome of the December election is widely viewed as critical, given that West Kowloon serves as a microcosm of Hong Kong’s broader structural challenges, making the legislative mandate achieved by the winner essential for defining the city’s approach to urban renewal and affordable housing in the coming years.
Leave a Reply