悲情城市 City of Misery

I have been living in Tin Shui Wai for more than 2 years. Frankly speaking, I have not come across any person who lives in Tin Shui Wai and who really needs help. Most of the time in Tin Shui Wai, I hear people are saying that Mr X or Ms Y has bought another apartment or how many flats he/she owns. Sometimes, when I go to visit my daughter's kindergarten, I see that the whole entrance lobby is occupied by domestic helpers.


天水圍VS「悲情城市」
http://www.wenweipo.com/ [2006-07-18]

陳財喜　中西區區議員
　三名住在新界天水圍的女子集體燒炭自殺事件，再度引起市民對天水圍社區問題的關注。「天水圍」愈來愈被「標籤化labelling」， 甚至有高官竟出言說天水圍是「悲情城市」。如果天水圍真是悲情城市的話，香港又算是什麼的城市？天水圍不是化外之地，她是香港特區的一部分。下次有人說天水圍是「悲情城市」，我們要大聲對他／她說：「請停止標籤！」.......

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Tin Shui Wai New Town (天水圍新市鎮) is located in northwestern New Territories of Hong Kong. It is a part of the Yuen Long District, and is the second new town in Yuen Long. It is situated 25 kilometres due north-west of Central, Hong Kong on land reclaimed from low lying areas south of Deep Bay. As of 2007, the New Town has a population of 268,800[1].

"City of Misery"
In recent years, the town acquired a rather dubious reputation in Hong Kong for being an area where numerous serious family and social issues, including domestic violence, mental illness, and suicide occurs. The collective suicide of 3 girls through coal burning took place, attracting extensive reports from the local media. The image of Tin Shui Wai is thus severely tainted in the minds of many Hong Kong citizens; family tension and domestic violence issues are not limited to Tin Shui Wai.[citation needed] According to some Social workers, Tin Shui Wai is prone to family tragedies because of its remote location, limited employment opportunities, and high density of public housing estates.[5]. Some would also argue that the large number of new immigrants from Mainland China in the area, struggling to adjust to the different cultural and social dynamics of Hong Kong, also contributes to the problem.
In 2003, a mainland woman, who had sought help from both social services and the police, and her twin daughters were stabbed to death by her husband who then fatally wounded himself.[6]
In April 2004, a man killed himself after stabbing his 31-year-old mainland wife and two teenage daughters to death in their flat in Tin Shui Wai.[7]
In July 2006, the Director of Social Welfare, Mrs Carrie Lam, labelled Tin Shui Wai "City of Misery" (悲情城市). Lam's comment was criticised because it did nothing to solve the social problem within the town[8]
In October 2007, Mak Fu-tai, a 36-year-old woman suffering from mental illness bound the hands and feet of her 12-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son, and threw them out of a window in their 24th floor flat at Yiu Fung House, and then jumped to her death. Mak's husband, also with a history of mental illness, was hospitalised with terminal cancer. The deaths spurred a review of the inadequate social services provision.[9] This spurred some 20 non-governmental organizations to plead with the Legislative Council's welfare panel for more resources to deal with the problems there.[5]
On November 25, 2007, numerous residents rallied outside government headquarters to push for more aid and reform for the area. Many demanded the government to create new hospitals, jobs, and increase police enforcement in the town. [10]