6 days ago
- Health
- South China Morning Post
When Hong Kong got its first care home for mentally ill children
'A home for mentally defective children will be built in the New Territories at a cost of about $3,800,000,' reported the South China Morning Post on February 18, 1968. 'First of its kind, the home will be located at Siu Lam near the
Tai Lam Chung Reservoir . It will be known as the Siu Lam Hospital for the Mentally Handicapped. Work on the formation of the site is expected to start in April this year.
'A home for mentally defective children will be built in the New Territories at a cost of about $3,800,000,' reported the South China Morning Post on February 18, 1968. Photo: SCMP Archives
'The home will consist of two hospital blocks two storeys high, an administration and kitchen block of three storeys, and four blocks of quarters ranging from two to four storeys for the sisters and other staff. A Prisons Department mental hospital will be constructed nearby.'
On August 14, 1969, the Post reported that 'a hospital for 200 severely mentally retarded children now being built at Siu Lam with funds donated by the
Royal Hongkong Jockey Club is expected to open next year, the Director of Medical and Health Services, Dr the Hon P. H. Teng, said.
The Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre, a Prisons Department mental hospital pictured here in 1974, was built alongside the children's home in Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP Archives
'Dr Teng said a number of mental defectives were being cared for by the Kuk, the Tung Wah Hospital and eight other institutions. He said Government realised some of these children were being left unattended during the day [and a team] would carry out assessments of degrees of retardation, starting with those who appeared to be severely retarded both in institutions and at home. 'Government recognises the often insupportable burden placed on parents of severely retarded children, and they will be given priority in regard to the provision of residential accommodation,' Dr. Teng said.'
On September 12, 1970, the paper stated, 'the construction of the Siu Lam Hospital for the Mentally Subnormal which was halted when the contractor, Goodman Corporation (Engineering and Building) Ltd, was liquidated, will begin again […] The project was among $30 million worth of work left unfinished by the company.' And on December 17, the Post reported that the director of public works, Mr J.J. Robson, had said that 'progress on the hospital had been 'unsatisfactory''.
'The work should now be completed within nine months.'
A young patient is attended to at the new Siu Lam Hospital in Hong Kong in 1973. Photo: SCMP Archives
Nearly two years later, under the headline 'Siu Lam Hospital opening a significant step forward', the Post reported: 'Sir Kenneth Ping-fan Fung, retiring Executive Councillor, said yesterday the Siu Lam Hospital for the severely mentally retarded […] was a significant step forward in the providing of social services for all. 'Before Siu Lam was constructed, there was no properly planned medical institution created exclusively for the medical care of the severely retarded.' He praised Government for deciding 'the time has come for all members of the community, even the most disadvantaged, to be brought into the fold to enjoy the benefits of an improved economy and general prosperity'.'
