“NO HAPPINESS” LIVING ALONE
Belle’s work underscores a broader challenge confronting the bustling, fast-paced city.
Hong Kong is ageing quickly. Almost a quarter of its more than 7.5 million residents are aged 65 and above.
More seniors are also living alone. According to data provided by the city’s Census and Statistics Department, the number of elderly individuals living alone rose from 173,100 in 2020 to 247,700 as of the third quarter of 2025, approximately a 43 per cent increase over five years.
Grandma Tang, 74, is one such senior. She has been living alone for the past seven years. After her husband died, she could not bear to remain in their flat by herself and eventually moved onto the streets in To Kwa Wan on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong.
She now sleeps under a flyover near where she collects cardboard scraps for recycling, remaining outdoors regardless of weather conditions – even during severe typhoons, she said.
“My health has declined, and I’m experiencing shortness of breath. If I lived in the flat alone, no one would know if something were to happen to me,” she said in Cantonese.
“I don’t want my passing to contaminate the flat, since my husband’s passing has already contaminated it … I want to ensure that my daughter can still live there comfortably in the future.”
In traditional Chinese belief, a death inside a home is sometimes seen as bringing misfortune or “contaminating” the space, with some referring to such properties as “haunted houses”.
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