Can neighbours, security guards do more to help Hong Kong single families in need?

South China Morning Post

26-05-2025

Neighbours, security guards and kindergartens can play a bigger role to help look out for vulnerable single-parent families in Hong Kong amid restricted information sharing under a privacy law, observers have said, after the recent discovery of a three-year-old girl alone at home with her mother's dead body.
A three-year-old child was found alone in a flat alongside her mother's body in Ping Wah House, Lok Wah North Estate, in Kwun Tong. Photo: Google Map
A lawmaker on Monday also explained that families with special needs could respond better to volunteers in similar circumstances, a day after a welfare official pledged to explore expanding the definition of a
'high-risk carer'
The toddler was
found on Friday crying alone in a public flat in Kwun Tong, next to the body of her 40-year-old mother, who was suspected to have died days earlier.
'In this incident, neighbours played a pivotal role. After all, compared to organisations, people have more regular contact with one another, [whether it's] bumping into each other or exchanging simple greetings,' Kwun Tong district councillor Lee Ka-hang said on a radio programme on Monday.
'If neighbours hear children repeatedly crying, they can tell the Housing Department about their observations so everyone can be more alert,' he said, adding that the information neighbours shared could be very helpful in supporting families in need.
'When security guards make their rounds in the building, they can also pay attention to what arguments are about, if they hear any, and whether they are persistent. Would these be worth taking note of, with the information shared with relevant organisations? These are ways that could be helpful to the matter,' he noted.
Speaking on the same radio show, lawmaker Bill Tang Ka-piu of the Federation of Trade Unions said special care should be given to single-parent families, as it was very challenging looking after young children, especially those still in kindergarten aged six or under.