Playing a vital role in the evolution of public rental housing (PRH) in Hong Kong, Shek Kip Mei Estate has marked the milestones of some significant phases of PRH development in the past six decades. Upon the completion of the redeveloped Shek Kip Mei Estate Phases 2 & 5 and their in-take, the Housing Authority (HA) held a "Mural Unveiling cum Time Capsule Placing Ceremony at Shek Kip Mei Estate" on 24 May. The event was joined by about 200 guests including the HA’s Chairman Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, the Director of Housing Mr D W Pescod, the Chairman of Sham Shui Po District Council Mr Kwok Chun-wah, as well as representatives from local organisations and elderly tenants of Shek Kip Mei Estate.

Professor Cheung pointed out in his speech that Shek Kip Mei Estate was named “the first” on many occasions. (1) The estate was the first resettlement estate in Hong Kong; and (2) the first resettlement estate that underwent redevelopment in 1970s. (3) Its Flatted Factory Building was the first HA flatted factory building being revitalised. (4) Mei Ho House was among the first batch of historic buildings in the “Revitalising Historic Buildings through Partnership Scheme”. (5) Shek Kip Mei Estate Phase 1, completed in 2006, was the first estate to comprehensively adopt the Universal Design approach.

To preserve the unique history of Shek Kip Mei Estate; officiating guests, local organisations and tenants were invited to donate memorable items to be kept in a time capsule. The items include “Public Housing: Homes for the Community” pop-up book, “Heritage of the Sham Shui Po District, Hong Kong” booklet, layout plans of Shek Kip Mei Estate from 1950s to 2000s, a documentary video of tree preservation in Shek Kip Mei Estate, and a safety helmet used during construction of Shek Kip Mei Estate Phases 2 & 5. All of these are valuable records of the old and present days of Shek Kip Mei Estate. At the ceremony, officiating guests also unveiled a mural created under the theme “Shek Kip Mei is our Home”. Made up of thousands of mosaic tiles, the mural is a joint effort of local residents and students led by a local artist group. It portrays a giant tree with a shade for various block types at different eras of Shek Kip Mei Estate, depicting tenants in different generations being protected under the shade of the tree and living harmoniously in the estate.

After the ceremony, the guests visited the Exhibition Corner in the estate, in which panels and interactive games are set up to introduce the history and changes of lives in Shek Kip Mei Estate. The general public is welcome to visit the Exhibition Corner.

The Housing Authority's (HA's) "Innovations in Recycling Marine Mud for Eco-friendly Construction" project has been awarded the First Runner-up in the Category of Construction of the Innovation Award for the Engineering Industry 2012/2013. Presented by The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, the award gives recognition to the excellent performance of the engineering inventors of the Housing Department who have recycled marine mud with brilliant innovative ideas to achieve both environmental protection and cost-effectiveness.

The awarded innovations were developed by the project team of the Kai Tak Site 1A Public Rental Housing led by the Assistant Director of Housing (Project) Mr S C Lam. Instead of adopting the conventional way of disposing of the marine mud to landfills or marine dumping sites as waste which adds costs to projects and causes harmful effects to the environment, the innovations provide eco-friendly, cost-effective and practical solutions to recycle the marine mud waste to become two useful items – backfilling material and building blocks. These two innovations were well received by the industry and have become prime solutions for handling the waste excavated from construction sites. They have also provided grounds for other government departments such as Civil Engineering and Development Department and Environmental Protection Department for requesting the waste producers to recycle marine mud for use instead of disposing of it off-site as waste. The development of the innovations is the result of the project team's dedicated and unrelenting efforts in upholding HA’s mission of caring our customers, making good use of resources, and commitment to environmental protection.

The two HA's innovations have also won other awards in the past two years, including the Gold Award of Civil Service Outstanding Service Award 2011 and the Champion Prize of Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) Environmental Paper Award 2011 on "Green Treatment of Marine Mud for Insitu Backfilling", the Grand Award of the Green Building Award 2012 on "Recycling and Reuse of Marine Mud for Building Materials", and also the First Runner-up of HKIE Environmental Paper Award 2012 on "Sustainability Solution Unlimited – Housing Department's Reforming Marine Mud Waste to Building Materials".

The Housing Authority (HA) has recently partnered with three green groups – Friends of the Earth (HK), the Conservancy Association, and the Business Environment Council – to organise a "Food Waste Has Value – Innovative Cooking Recipe Competition" in its public housing estates. From the over 150 innovative recipes submitted, the judging panel chose the finalists based on their innovative choice and use of food waste ingredients, and on how the dishes were presented. The aim of the competition is to help public housing tenants appreciate and make better use of ingredients in their cooking, thus reducing food waste at source. Housing Dimensions is delighted to share the winning recipes from the "open" and "student" categories. Why not try some of them out?

Open Group Champion: Heavenly Flower
Participant: Cheung Shing-lai (Ngan Wan Estate)

Food waste ingredients: Broccoli stems, cauliflower stems, watermelon peel (scraped into ball shape).

Other ingredients: Walnuts, ginger, salt, oyster sauce, corn oil, corn starch, water.

Cooking method: (1) Fry the walnuts until crisp, then leave them to cool. (2) Briefly boil the sliced broccoli and cauliflower stems. (3) Stir-fry the food waste ingredients until they are partly cooked, then add the watermelon balls and stir-fry until well done. Season and add sauce (corn starch, oyster sauce, water). Decorate with the walnuts before serving.

First Runner-up: Treasure Box over the Rainbow
Participant: Yau Lung-ban (Lek Yuen Estate)

Food waste ingredients: Broccoli stems with granules, cabbage stems, Chinese cabbage stems, carrot, celery or other vegetable waste.

Other ingredients: Broccoli, cabbage leaves, gelatine powder, salt.

Cooking method: (1) Cut all the vegetables (apart from the broccoli) into strips. (2) Boil water and scald the vegetables. (3) Dissolve the gelatine powder in the water used for scalding the vegetables. (4) Put cabbage leaves in layers in a container and fill gaps with broccoli granules and other vegetables. Pour the dissolved gelatine powder into the container until full. (5) Put into fridge until set, and cut into slices to serve.

Second Runner-up: Golden Sparkling Coat
Participant: Hiew Yin-ping (Wong Tai Sin Estate)

Food waste ingredients: Old vegetable leaves, pumpkin peel, potato peel, carrot peel, mushroom stems, shrimp shells (baked & ground into powder), pork soup residue.

Other ingredients: Spring roll wrappers, salt, pepper and sesame oil.

Cooking method: (1) Cut the food waste ingredients into small pieces, then stir-fry the shrimp shell powder with the other food waste ingredients to make the stuffing, and add seasoning. (3) Place two tablespoons of stuffing in each spring roll wrapper. (4) Bake in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes at 180°C until golden. Serve with homemade spicy and sour sauce for an even better taste!

Student Group Champion: West Garden of the Grapefruit Flower
Participant: Ng Syut-ying (Mei Tung Estate)

Food waste ingredients: Watermelon peel (white part), grapefruit peel, Chinese mushroom stems, carrot, broccoli stem, pork soup residue, shrimp heads and tails.

Other ingredients: Dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, sugar, salt, vinegar, water.

Cooking method: (1) Simmer watermelon peel for 30 minutes, then leave to cool before serving. (2) Peel off the outermost layer of grapefruit peel, boil until soft and rinse under running water three times to remove the bitter taste. (3) Put shrimp heads and tails into a mesh bag and boil. Add the Chinese mushroom stems, carrots, and food waste ingredients and boil for 10 minutes. Add seasoning and boil for another 5 minutes. (4) Chop the food waste ingredients into fine pieces for decoration. (5) Arrange sliced broccoli stems on the bottom. Cut the grapefruit peel into flower shapes.

First Runner-up: Golden Loads
Participant: Fu Hiu-ching (Wong Tai Sin Upper Estate)

Food waste ingredients: Carrot peel, pumpkin peel, potato peel, mushroom stems, spinach root and old spinach leaves.

Other ingredients: Onion, eggs, grated cheese, salt, butter dough.

Cooking method: (1) Chop vegetables for stuffing, stir-fry, and allow to cool. (2) Roll out butter dough to a thickness of 0.5 cm. (3) Cut the flattened dough into round pieces and place them in the tart cases. (4) Fill the cases with stuffing until they are 80% full, and sprinkle some grated cheese on top. (5) Bake in the oven at 200°C for 15 to 20 minutes.

Second Runner-up: Soupy Fried Rice
Participant: Lam Jun-kit (Lai King Estate)

Food waste ingredients: Soup residue (white fungus, apricots, gojis, longan aril, pork meat), leftover rice.

Other ingredients: Eggs, cherry tomatoes.

Curry sauce (for marinating pork): Minced garlic, curry sauce, light soy sauce, sugar, water.

Garlic sauce (for fried rice): Minced garlic, fish sauce, salt, sugar.

Sauce with pepper and sesame oil (for white fungus, apricots, longan aril): Peanut oil, light soy sauce, sugar.

Cooking method: (1) Stir-fry pork until soft. (2) Stir-fry leftover rice, add half an egg, add garlic sauce, and stir-fry with the pork. (3) Make an omelette. (4) Stir-fry separately the white fungus, apricot, goji, and longan aril, and add sauce. (5) Put the rice into a large and a small jelly cup, and press down firmly. Place the cups of rice on the plate to form the head and body of the teddy-bear, roll up the omelette and arrange it as a scarf, and finish the decorations by using the other ingredients.