Fung Chun-dong once had a hard time living in Tin Shui Wai, a district packed with new immigrants and widely described as a city of sadness with numerous family tragedies and few social facilities. Fung's family could only afford spending HK$5 on bread a day as he and his two sons were unemployed for as long as seven years.

But the family's living conditions have improved since last year when the 54-year-old father got a job delivering food in Yuen Long, which earns him about HK$150 a day.

Things turned for the better for his sons too with the help of Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung, who paid a visit to Tin Shui Wai in response to a tragedy in which a woman killed herself after throwing her two sons out of a window exactly a year ago.

One of Fung's sons is working as a clerk in Cheung Sha Wan, and the other is a helper at a cinema in Mong Kok.

Fung said the conditions of the district have improved with several government initiatives, including job fairs. "Some of my neighbors have also found jobs," he said.

Still, he is worried that the expected economic downturn may cost his job. "Profit of the restaurant is going down. My boss may close the business."

But not everybody in the district is as lucky as Fung.

Concern groups said the tragedy last year has raised attention on the district, but the livelihood of the 200,000 residents there is far from satisfactory.

A survey conducted by the Community Development Alliance and academics found that 25 percent of the 307 residents interviewed were employed on a temporary basis only. Most of the residents earned between HK$18 and HK$22 per hour.

Only 18 percent of the residents managed to secure a job in the district. More than 40 percent of the respondents needed to travel for an hour to work in other districts.

Nearly half of the respondents needed to work for more than eight hours a day. The long working hours, coupled with long traveling time, are taking a toll on family relationship and lifestyle of the residents, according to the concern group.

Unionist legislator Lee Cheuk-yan, representing New Territories West constituency, urged the government to extend a transport subsidy scheme designed to encourage residents in the district to seek jobs in other areas. The current scheme is to expire in December.

Caritas Francis Hsu College social science department program leader Lai Kin-kwok, an academic who helped conduct the survey, urged the government to provide more social services, which includes building a hospital in the district.

He also called for more job opportunities in the district.

(HK Edition 10/15/2008 page1)