Lau is counting the days to June 30, a deadline that offers survivors of Hong Kong's Wang Fuk Court fire tragedy a potential new start in life after about seven months in the wilderness.
It's the first designated date for affected apartment owners to take up the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's buyout offer for their burned-out apartments.
An acceptance letter will entitle an owner to take part in the "first-round selection" for a new home under a special sales program.
A ballot will determine who chooses first.
"The draw could lead us anywhere," Lau said. "Still, a place to call my own is, in the end, better than any rented room."
Lau had just completed renovations of her home on the 16th floor of Wang Sun House, one of eight towers on the estate, when the blaze engulfed Wang Fuk Court on Nov 26.
Within hours, seven buildings were ablaze. The inferno raged for 43 hours, and 168 people lost their lives in the city's deadliest fire in nearly eight decades.
The apartment complex in Tai Po district, near Hong Kong's boundary with the Chinese mainland, was home to more than 4,600 residents. Lau and her family are among almost 2,000 displaced households piecing their lives back together after the disaster.
Lau, her husband, and two sons moved three times in the month following the fire.
Despite being provided a temporary shelter by the HKSAR government, they accepted a friend's offer to live in a beauty salon, she said. However, Lau's husband was too embarrassed to linger in the salon during the day as customers streamed in.
He went to a nearby park and sat there from "sunrise to sunset", she said. "I felt so sorry for him and found us somewhere else to live as fast as I could," Lau said.
Resettlement top concern
Some of the surviving Wang Fuk Court residents believe the path ahead is clear in outline, if not in details.
The HKSAR government has offered Wang Fuk Court apartment owners acquisition prices of HK $8,000 ($1,020) or HK $10,500 per square foot, either as cash or a "flat-for-flat" exchange voucher.
Wang Chi House, the sole tower spared from the blaze, will be included only if at least 75 percent of owners agree to the buyout plan by June 30.
The total cost of acquiring all eight blocks is estimated at HK $7.8 billion, involving HK $5 billion in public funds and HK $2.8 billion from a support fund established by the government.
A number of residents China Daily spoke to described resettlement as "labyrinthine" and "disorienting". Their questions mainly related to the size of the new residences to be offered and their locations.
Joe Wong, whose family of five lived in Wang Tai House in the estate, said he is now a "dislocated man". Part of his daily routine used to be walking his daughter to her primary school in Tai Po.
Now, he lies awake at night wondering whether the flats on offer will match what they once had, with a comparable living space, and transport and medical care within reach. Wong, who said his concerns are shared by many other former residents, also hopes for a sense of community and an established school network at his new home.
Under the official special sale program, 10 developments are in the pipeline. The earliest project could welcome residents by the end of 2026. The last developments will not be ready until 2030 or 2031.
Among the projects is a two-phase new development in Tai Po featuring 1,500 units. The earliest move-in date is expected to be in 2029 under the most optimistic forecast.
The government has ruled out rebuilding on the Wang Fuk Court site citing technical constraints and a drawn-out timeline. But some residents remain hopeful that the authorities might reconsider rebuilding the estate on the old site or nearby.
Generous donors, inquiry
On Nov 27, the day after the fire, a dedicated assistance fund — the Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po — was launched with HK $300 million in start-up capital from the HKSAR government.
Within a day, public donations from across the country added another HK $500 million. By the third day, the total had reached HK $1.2 billion.
The donations kept rolling in and by late February the fund had hit HK $4.7 billion.
About 98 percent of the public donations were in amounts of HK $10,000 or less, authorities disclosed earlier this year, adding they were likely from "ordinary people". Large contributions of over HK $1 million from institutions and companies numbered more than 700.
Some of the money has already been used for 13 support programs, including condolence and funeral payments for the families of the deceased, according to the fund's official website.
Funds have also been allocated for living allowances, rent and relocation subsidies for displaced residents, along with grants and subsidies for affected students, workers, and foreign domestic helpers. A Chinese New Year goodwill token was also offered.
Multiple private charities have also been distributing funds raised in the fire's aftermath. In March, the Hong Kong Red Cross reported over HK $530 million in donations.
The Red Cross said the donations would provide urgent relief funds as well as financial and psychological support for Wang Fuk Court fire victims. They will also help fund a five-year community program, providing training in disaster preparedness and first aid.
Meanwhile, an independent commission was formed in December, tasked with uncovering the root structural flaws leading to the blaze and its exceptionally rapid spread.
The committee held 24 public hearings from March to early May. Three more are scheduled for Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Evidence at the hearings has indicated a litany of suspected human factors in the blaze. The list includes: the estate's main fire alarm being deactivated during the fire; flammable scaffolding mesh and foam panels being used for renovation work; and the maintenance project's consultant and contractors likely rigging the tendering process. Oversight of the actual on-site maintenance work barely existed, the inquiry also heard.
The committee has nine months to determine the fire's cause and recommend systemic reforms. Local authorities have already floated a raft of legislative amendments and additional fire safety-related rules to overhaul building maintenance and fire-service regulation.
Seven individuals and two companies — the contractor and engineering consultant involved in the estate's renovation work — appeared in court on June 10 to face 25 offenses including conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, attempting to pervert the course of justice, and tax evasion.
Charred memories
Displaced families from the estate's seven fire-ravaged blocks were allowed to return to the site for the first time on April 20 to retrieve what remained of their possessions.
For many, it was also an opportunity to say goodbye to the place they once called home.
Among them were Gabby and Antonio, a married couple from Wang Sun House in their 40s. Inside their apartment, the plaster on the smoke-stained walls hung like ragged sheets. The door was burned through, and building debris littered the floor.
"We braced ourselves beforehand," they said. "The stair climb, and our flat's condition, were about what we imagined."
However, there was some joy amid the ruins. Antonio retrieved one of their wedding rings from their bedroom using a metal detector.
Gabby also pulled some of her old drawings from the debris. On a yellowed sheet of paper with charred edges was written the word "Family". She plans to have the page framed and displayed once they settle into a new home.
At Wang Sun House, Lau was among the first former residents to go upstairs. Unfortunately, she said gold ingots she had in her apartment were missing. She reported the suspected theft to the police.
By May 30, a total of 142 such reports had been made by Wang Fuk Court residents, with 16 cases remaining open, Hong Kong authorities said.
A local official reported that 1,674 of the 1,736 affected households in the seven fire-hit buildings — 6,265 people, including former residents, friends and helpers — had gone upstairs during the visiting period from April 20 to May 4. Around 50 opted out after viewing photos of their flats. Fewer than 10 required separate arrangements, the official reported.
Residents of Wang Chi House — the sole block untouched by the blaze — had made two return trips by May 17.
A second round of visits to the seven fire-hit buildings ran from May 21 to 29.
'Not alone'
Months on from the inferno, Lau still gets goose bumps just talking about it.
One of her neighbors lost a child in the fire, and a playmate of Lau's child lost her mother.
George Cheung Chi-lim, aged in his 70s, and his wife suffered physical injuries and have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Joe Wong said his seven-year-old is "a different person" now — "touchier and easily angered".
Despite the negative psychological impacts of the tragedy, the survivors China Daily spoke to all agreed they were not facing their problems alone.
Lau said she still sees her old neighbors.
"We had one good cry together," she said. "Now we silently agree not to pick the wounds anymore."
Instead, they share memories of leaning on one another amid the calamity: water poured from upstairs windows down onto the flames, and Styrofoam window seals carried inside to stop the possibility of any molten drops falling on the floors below.
Cheung, a resident of Wang Fuk Court for over four decades, testified before the independent commission in March. He spoke of climbing onto a windowsill and throwing water on the flames. He said he and his wife took in an elderly neighbor who could not flee. They were all finally rescued five hours later.
The Cheungs said they now "treasure each other even more".
Gabby and Antonio returned to Wang Fuk Court again on May 23, this time with their two children, aged 7 and 11.
"They need to say bye-bye as well," Gabby said, "to the house, and to their stuffed animal toys that they'll never have back."
Wong said he spends more time with his daughter nowadays and maintains a steady line of communication with her school's social worker to ensure emotional support for the seven-year-old. "Being there, that's what matters," he said.
The HKSAR government has introduced a "one social worker per household" service. Around 2,000 social workers from the Social Welfare Department are available to help the fire victims handle queries on financial aid and supplies, and arrange counseling sessions.
Wong said the social worker assigned to him checks in regularly, and has visited the family at their temporary home.
Still, he said he feels melancholy about how the old community — his daughter's childhood playmates, his own circle of friends — has disappeared. "We can hardly meet up now," he said.
京公网安备 11010202009201号