“The corridor at Ming Wah Dai Ha was a special design feature, with an impluvium (air well) at either end. It was great for ventilation, you could even talk to people upstairs.” When Daniel was young, he was oblivious to what an impluvium could do. With a career in architectural conservation under his belt, he now has a more profound understanding of Hong Kong’s building and construction industry. 

Daniel believes that, while public housing in the 60s was built in the cheapest and fastest way as a “quick fix” for the looming housing crisis, a lot of public and social spaces were masterfully integrated into these estates. The clothes drying rooms on every floor, stone-carved ping-pong table on the ground floor, stairs and terraces between two blocks – these are the places where neighbours met and children played. The corridor on each floor, lying at the heart of the neighbourhood, brought people closer together. “Every night after dinner, at around 8 or 9, people would hang out in the common area at either end of the corridor.” Some would sit and chat, some would play mahjong if there were enough players, and young boys like little Daniel would play football with his neighbours.“Children from floors above and below would come and play matches. There could be 20 of us on some nights.”

Daniel found the spirit of neighbourliness at Ming Wah most impressive–neighbours would often borrow rice or cooking oil from each other; adults would leave kids in their neighbours’ care when they need to go out; people would happily share with their neighbours a hearty bowl of freshly-made soup; they would even offer to help buy groceries when the mother was too busy to do so. Daniel still remembers his neighbours’ names to this day; walking past his old flat on the 7th floor, he recited their names:“The family who lived opposite us were the Tsui’s, the ones next door were the Kwok’s, this was the Chan family…”When I asked Daniel if coming back has brought back a lot of memories, he replied, “No, they need not be brought back, they were never gone.”