[Interview] Saying goodbye to the Housing Authority Huang Yuanhui admits that short-term housing problems are difficult to solve: no matter how difficult it is, we must start

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Written by: Leung Delun and Zhang Jiamin

2020-08-24 07:30

Wong Yuen-fai stepped down as the chairman of the Housing Authority's Subsidized Housing Group. After presiding over the last meeting, he summed up his feelings to the media for many years and apologized for failing to improve the waiting time for public housing.

Putting down the burden on his shoulders, he does not deny that Hong Kong people will hardly see the dawn of the housing problem in a short time. "The current distribution system cannot be overturned." He also firmly believes that as long as the government fulfills all the recommendations advocated by the Land Supply Task Force report , There is a chance to solve the problem after 20 or 30 years.

However, Huang Yuanhui admits that the government’s progress in handling the recommendations of the Land Supply Group is slow, hoping that the government will show its courage: "I knew where the problem was in the past, but I haven’t started. In the end, I’ll be scared for another year... Don’t give up. A start." He also warned: "Everyone in Hong Kong pays for high property prices... the more you drag, the higher the price everyone pays."

Huang Yuanhui lived in Yuwan Village when he was young, and the community hall is full of childhood memories. (Photo by Zhang Haowei)

He joined the Housing Authority 16 years ago and has been in the Town Planning Board to review land planning applications for 12 years. He is also the driving force of the "Land Debate". Huang Yuanhui described his relationship with Hong Kong's housing and land policies as "accidental".

Housing Authority helps upstairs and car

However, perhaps a young man living in the wooden hut area on Temple Road in Tin Hau has already become involved in the housing problem in Hong Kong. Huang Yuanhui lived with his family in the wooden house area on Temple Road in Tin Hau when he was a child. There were two fires in that year. Afterwards, the government wanted to develop the wooden house area. The family was resettled upstairs and taken from the resettlement building in Chaiwan Village before reconstruction. Later, he moved to Yuwan Village. "Upstairs is a big improvement. Don’t be afraid of fire, wind and rain." Later, he even successfully bought a nearby home house with a green form for his parents to live in. "I’m a public company. The beneficiaries of housing policy."

Further reading:

[Interview] Huang Yuanhui urges the government to listen more and encourage Hong Kong people not to give up their dreams

Huang Yuanhui said that the most unforgettable thing is the human touch in the estate and the mutual help among neighbors. (Photo by Zhang Haowei)

On the day of the visit, I met in Yuwan Village, where many green memories were left. Huang Yuanhui pointed to the community hall and talked about life. "We will engage in activities at the time to help the elderly in the area do cleaning and health checks." "Long corridor, everyone. A small road in a class is playing the wave." Revisiting the old place of growth, "The strongest feeling is the interaction between people and the mutual help between neighbors, and the human touch in it."

In recent years, he has been entangled with housing problems, but Huang Yuanhui has nothing to do with the "housing" all the way through his career. When he first entered the workplace, he first worked in the Hong Kong branch of Maersk, mainly assisting seafarers in applying for visas and assisting in embarking on ships. At that time, his boss recommended him to find another development and wrote a letter of recommendation for him. "When I entered the bank, I did the job. Civil servants."

During his tenure as the chairman of the Housing Authority's Subsidized Housing Group, Huang Yuanhui tightened the policy for well-off tenants and the standard for spacious tenants, which attracted a lot of criticism, but he said that the principle of fairness should be upheld. (Photo by Zhang Haowei)

Retired at the age of 47 to join the Housing Authority due to a short video

He finally chose to join Standard Chartered Bank. He waited for 30 years. He started as a clerk, then applied to be a trader and was promoted to the chief executive officer of China. From a young man to a bank executive, he was only 47 when he left Standard Chartered. "I planned to retire at 50." When he stepped down from the banking industry, he was invited by the Housing Authority to shoot for the 50th anniversary because of his past living in public housing. The short film, he described as an arrangement from heaven, helped him enter the housing industry and set off a prelude to his 16-year public service in the Housing Authority.

Can’t overturn the current distribution system

In 2004, he was invited by the Housing Authority to join the Finance Group, took over as the chairman of the group and became a member of the Housing Authority the following year, and took over as the chairman of the Subsidized Housing Group in 2012. After serving as chairman for 8 years, he witnessed the increase in the waiting time for public housing from a low of 2.7 years. The latest 5.4 years. When bidding farewell to the Housing Authority, he concluded with "I'm sorry." When talking about this conclusion, Huang Yuanhui said that it is difficult to solve the housing problem in the short term. "The current distribution system cannot be overthrown. Even if the society today has a consensus to increase land supply, it cannot be tomorrow. The average living area per person can be 22 square meters."

He said that it is difficult to change the existing public housing allocation method drastically. In the case of insufficient supply, he can only "watch the meal." During his tenure, he dealt with the tightening of policies for well-off households and the standard for large households. He admitted that only about 50 units were repossessed each year. He described it as "minor repairs and small supplements". However, he caused major controversy in the market and faced criticisms such as disturbing people and hurting money. He reiterated that he puts more emphasis on the principle of fairness, "it is to talk about society, and the Housing Authority emphasizes that only resources are allocated fairly."

The government's processing of the land supply group's proposal is slow and hope not to delay

Huang Yuanhui said that the housing supply problem stems from the lack of land, and since the reunification, the government has been slow to find land. Looking back at the MacLehose era, the 10-year housing construction plan was launched with the development policy of "House for Land". He believes that the government back then Consciously improving housing, people’s livelihood, and the political environment, the final value is more than the cost of building public housing. "At that time, the government was not stupid but precise."

Half a century later, the land supply task force led by him has submitted its report for one and a half years. Although the government called it "full acceptance", Huang Yuanhui admitted that the progress was slow. "Everyone in Hong Kong is paying tightly for high property prices... The higher the price paid by everyone.” In the face of the difficulties, he still firmly believes that as long as the proposed options of the local supply group are fully implemented, there will still be opportunities to solve them in the long term in 2 to 30 years. The government must have courage and courage. "In the past, the (government) knew what the problem was, but it hadn't started. In the end, it's another year of scaring, and another year of scaring... I hope everyone will not give up. No matter how hard it is, there must be a start."

Don't give up, no matter how difficult it is, you must have a start.

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