Drilling on the edge : the unregistered dentists in post-war Kowloon Walled City

Abstract

Unregistered dentists were one of the most iconic symbols of Kowloon Walled City, an enclave that brought troubles and embarrassments to the colonial government for the longstanding disputes over jurisdiction with China. In the post-war era, unregistered dentists, most of them immigrants from China, started their practice in the Walled City by taking advantage of its ambiguous legal status. The agglomeration of unregistered clinics emerged as an economic informality and became the antithesis to the registered clinics. In the background of insufficient affordable dental services in Hong Kong, they developed business networks across the invisible boundary of the Walled City and acted as an important dental care provider. This informality was tolerated by the colonial government until the redevelopment of the Walled City in 1987. The dissertation traces the rise and fall of unregistered dentists in the Walled City as an informality and evaluates the change in government attitude in 1987, from toleration to eradication. The paper assesses the rationale for toleration and eradication by examining the changing social and geopolitical conditions during the post-war period. It further demonstrates the interconnectedness of unregistered dental practice in the Walled City with the overall dental development of Hong Kong and the influence of geopolitical climate over the actions of government against unregistered dentists in the Walled City.