This route helps you learn about the evolution of Hong Kong’s first jail, the overall development of correctional system, and the important roles these buildings played in the lives of illegal immigrants to the territory.
4 Checkpoints
30 Minutes
Hard times
Victoria Prison, which was originally known simply as “The Gaol”, was one of the first buildings in the territory. It was built to discourage people from ever wanting to stay there again! Life was hard. The cells were cramped, and often held up to three people.
The “toilet” was a shared bucket, one per cell. While there was another bucket for clean water. There was no air-con, no TV, and no cheerful karaoke evenings. The food was grim. Punishment was the idea. Nobody ever wanted to come back.
It was only in later years when the idea of rehabilitation took hold, that prisoners were encouraged to reform their ways, learn some skills and even earn a little cash working in different trades, such as broom making and cleaning.
You can learn about the evolution of Victoria Prison from the video in front of the staircase, and get a glimpse the early prison conditions in the first six cells.
This building was originally constructed in 1910 and most of the structures have been kept just as they were.
You can get a feeling of the space by looking at the cells next to the staircase, and spending a few moments in one of the four empty cells.
Don’t worry, you won’t be locked in!
Sik Faan
If your idea of a good meal is a bowl of rice and water, then you would have been very happy in Victoria Gaol. Because that was the typical punishment diet of the prisoners in the early days.
At one time, there were rumours in the newspapers that life was too good in the prison. Free accommodation, good meals, just relax all day long. Like a holiday. But no prisoners ever wanted to go back once they were released. So they behaved themselves. Which, if you think about it, was the whole idea.
Take a tour into these three cells, you can see the evolution of prison meals from the documents and food models.
Illegal immigrants
From its earliest days, the prison housed inmates from many different countries who had broken the law on their visit to Hong Kong, or breached immigration laws.
This was particularly true in the 1980s, when the prison held large numbers of illegal immigrants from Vietnam and mainland China.
The space here is believed to be a nursery ward, for women who have given birth during their imprisonment. In the 1990s, the cartoon characters depicted on the wall here were added to give a bit of family warmth to the gloomy atmosphere.
Place your finger here
A special Reception Centre was opened here in 1956. It became known as the “Fingerprinting Office”.
Every prisoner entering the system had to go through a set of standard procedures at the prison, until a new centre was opened at Lai Chi Kok in 1977.
Among these procedures, they had to deposit their belongings in a bag, get their mug shots taken with their height indicated, record their fingerprints, and get a special identity number to prepare for their prison life to come.
You can get a sense of what it felt like to be admitted as a prisoner by looking at or even trying out some of the procedures here.