A phoenix from the flames
It was the most devastating fire in Hong Kong's history. It began at about 9.30pm on December 25, when a bucket of molten rubber was knocked onto a kerosene stove inside a squatter hut. A strong wind acted as a bellows and flames swept from hut to hut. People ran, clutching belongings. The entire fire service, its auxiliaries, troops and police were called out to fight the blaze.
As Boxing Day dawned in 1953, the craggy hills and narrow valleys of Shekkipmei appeared as charred swathes of smouldering rubble. Government officials registered 53,000 survivors who had lost their homes and all their possessions. Two died.
Yet from the smoking ruins rose one of the great victories of Hong Kong society. On the foundations of the refugee squatter community from China the first resettlement blocks were constructed. It was the beginning of Hong Kong's public-housing programme.
The Post began a relief fund, donating $5,000; the army provided 80,000 meals a day. The government donated blankets and arranged emergency camps on playing fields and in schools. Not only had the squatters lost their homes, their jobs had also gone up in flames: studded among the sprawling squatter city had been makeshift factories.
In April, with the homeless rehoused in emergency blocks, Colonial Secretary Robert Black announced the establishment of a Housing Authority charged with providing homes for 600,000 people. Half a century after the fire, more than 2.1 million people now live in 684,500 public housing apartments.
Double trouble sets Kowloon ablaze