Better Living Societies: Cooperative Fishing Villages in Post-War Hong Kong

With the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the United States and the United Nations imposed a trade embargo on China. Since 1951, the Hong Kong government has encouraged the formation of fishermen’s cooperatives in the hope that improving fishermen’s livelihoods through mutual aid would help stabilize Hong Kong’s food supply and reduce its reliance on food imports from China. One of the important tasks of this cooperative movement was to help fishing families who lived on boats obtain accommodation on shore to ensure their children had greater access to social services and education. Unfortunately, not many fishing families could afford to build or purchase reasonable homes for themselves. The government tackled this problem by helping fishermen establish “Better Living Societies (BLS),” which were housing cooperatives financed partly by members’ savings and partly by charitable organizations. The biggest patron was the Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere (CARE), which has contributed to the construction of more than 10 fishermen’s cooperative villages since 1961. What motivates CARE and other nonprofit organizations to sponsor these homebuilding projects? How did the fishermen organize themselves to form BLS and manage their villages? How were the cooperative villages planned? What kinds of mutual aid do the BLS members provide or receive in their daily lives? This study investigates the historical context that influenced the creation of BLS. It discusses the ways the government, charitable organizations, and BLS members work together to build cooperative fishing communities on land.