Two well-known Romanian vloggers filmed in Hong Kong, both a city of billionaires and people who live in cages like animals. Although it is a city of luxury, with more Louis Vuitton stores than Paris, more than 1.6 million people live here below the poverty line.
Vlogger Cristi shows the cages in which tens of thousands of people live in Hong Kong. PHOTO Print Screen
Cristi and Ralu visited Hong Kong, a city unlike any other, where countless billionaires have settled, but next to them tens of thousands of poor people who live in the famous apartments go about their daily lives -coffin, actually a kind of cage for animals. People seek coolness wherever they can find it, while their metal cages heat up to over 45 degrees in the sun.
“Once upon a time there was a truly dystopian city called Kawloon Walled City, trapped between mainland China and British Hong Kong. The most densely populated city in human history. Its aftermath causes many people to live effectively in cages even today“, said the two young men.
In the debut, the two explained how they got here and made an introduction to the history of Hong Kong, disputed over the years by the British and the Chinese, after the former, aided by the French, defeated China in the famous Opium War .
Opulence and poverty shine
After the Japanese invasion during World War II, hundreds of thousands of Chinese sought refuge here from the sadistic invaders. Gradually, Hong Kong became overpopulated. The housing problem has not been solved until now, it has even gotten worse, and today Hong Kong is probably the most densely populated city.
“It’s a real drama. People live on roofs, people live in cages. They built houses on the block. Out of the can, imagine 45 degree summer. I sleep there at night and stay here during the day. During the day they stay here, at night they live there on the roof, they fry there. There are stories that say there are people who rent the same bed, in the same house, depending on the shift they have at work. For example, I work all day, you stay and sleep, you work at night. And when you go to work, I come home. And I sleep in that bed and we pay half the rent. This in a place where opulence is at every turn. There are more Bentleys in Hong Kong than in England at the moment. There are more luxury stores per square meter in Hong Kong than I’ve seen anywhere else.”said the two vloggers.
Worse than here with housing
Cristi admits that Hong Kongers are not the only ones facing the housing problem. In recent years, this has become a problem throughout Europe, and Romania could not be an exception. The best example here would be Cluj, he says.
“This thing happens everywhere. And now they ask us how much an apartment costs in our country and what are the salaries. She will be very disappointed when she finds out that a 50 square meter apartment here costs 110,000 euros or even more in Cluj. And the salaries are 400. I mean, I understand the dramatic situation of Hong Kong. But somehow what I’d like to explain is that it’s starting to not be so abnormal anymore This thing that people can’t afford To buy a house in their entire life. Or that the rent eats up 70-80% of the salary. I was talking to a guy from Toronto, I was talking to a guy from London and a guy from Holland. It’s very hard to survive. And somehow I don’t want to detract from the Hong Kong drama, but it’s a thing that’s starting to spill over into all the western economies“; said vlogger Cristi.
“I made an estimate that it would take 10 years of salary to buy a house in Romania. And 21 in Hong Kong. With an average salary 100% dedicated only to housing”he added.
