The Smallest Apartments on Earth @Ruhi Cenet Documentaries

Watch on YouTube · 2026-03-02 · 20 min

[video] 0:00 hi i'm going to be reviewing the video called the world's smallest apartments 16 square feet coffin homes in hong kong these are the world's smallest apartments they are only 16 square feet in size and they are known as coffin homes inside it's impossible to stand up or even stretch your arms some aren't even wider than the resident's shoulders or longer than their body despite this these coffins are utilized as a living room a kitchen and a bedroom at the same time

0:28 Hong Kong has had the world's most expensive housing market for 14 years around 200,000 people have no it's interesting to look at this because in nature the strongest ones dominate and There would be nobody else but nowadays you have all of these tall buildings and you try to fit all of these people into the buildings and it's very unnatural obviously but what i mean is that it's just really abnormal from nature's perspective living like this anyway but that so many people try to live together In such a small space, it's crazy.

[video] 1:18 No choice but to live in these homes. This is one of the richest cities in the world, and we are going to witness all these people survive here. Some people have to live together in a single coffin, and some even barely fit inside their own homes. In this documentary, we'll also spend a full day with a coffin home resident who has lived in miserable conditions for 16 years. First, we're starting with the most comfortable one. Each floor in this building has 20 to 30 coffin-sized subdivided apartments.

1:45 What the hell is this? They do have a sort of... community there or whatever. Which I guess is sort of nice. Hey, you also live in a coffin? Yeah, we all do and then you go and eat noodles and whatever.

[video] 1:59 Not originally designed like this, but through illegal renovations, they split this floor horizontally into two, squeezing in an extra level to fit more people inside. That's why the ceiling height is incredibly low. Look, farm floor has been split in half to create two levels. This is Coco's home. She's been living here alone for 10 years. Thankfully, I have a window. Normally, coffin homes don't have one. A fridge, a TV, that's it. Since this place is small, you can't have much. It seems a cockroach got trapped and died inside her rice cooker. I've seen three people pass away in these rooms. When the people upstairs close their doors, it's a bit difficult to know when they pass away. When they start to smell, we call the police.

2:40 Wow, this is insane. It looks like prison cells. But some prison cells even look better than this.

[video] 2:52 The power load is too high, so it's easy to catch fire. The coffin home we're about to visit would feel worse than a prison. But first, let's peel back the walls.

3:03 Now we're faced with dozens of people. Compared to those prisons in Norway and Finland, It's like a luxury hotel in comparison.

[video] 3:14 Isn't it also pretty hot in Hong Kong?

3:33 maybe not always i'm not sure mile is overwhelming the corridor is so narrow that they use the ladder as a shoe rack people are stacked like bricks here hello hello hello you knock on somebody's door and then somebody above answers it's crazy uh this is not even really a life anymore how long have you been living here about six years

[video] 4:03 There's one more guy here. So you stay together? Yes. Is he your husband? My boyfriend. They live in a space where even one person can hardly fit. Along the walls, hooks hold clothes, bags, and personal items. One side of the headboard doubles as an all-purpose shelf while the door is packed with electronics and cables. Cleaning supplies and bottles are stored at the bottom. Their trash, the towel they use, fast food packaging, all within inches of the pillow they lay their head on. Because there is no window here, they use a fan to cool down. She has a short haircut to prevent herself from getting too hot in the coffin homes. You don't have ventilation, and the air quality is bad here. How do you live like this? I don't mind. Whatever. How do you change your clothes in such a small place? I have to bend and twist. It takes 10 minutes. What is it like to live here? It's difficult. Lots of things bite you. Look. All of them so far looked pretty unhealthy.

5:05 It's understandable, of course, but it's just something that I noticed right away.

[video] 5:11 They are very common pests in subdivided apartments. A female bedbug can lay up to 500 eggs in her lifetime. The bedbugs are here. Whoa, can you see them? Right, you look at the screen and you imagine a different kind of life or you imagine that you're somewhere else.

5:46 It would be all right for a video gamer if they play 10 hours a day. They are lost in that other so-called world.

[video] 5:55 How much do you earn per month? 650 US dollars. How much is the rent for your unit? 320 US dollars per month. So half of your income goes to this 16 square feet unit. I don't have anywhere else to live. People who live at the lower levels of the coffin homes are luckier because they can use this area for storage. They can put their shoes, hang their clothes. It's like extra space. But the ones on the upper level are unluckier. They really struggle with the space. You have to do everything inside that coffin. Now we're visiting those upper units in a different subdivided apartment.

6:26 And what do you do if you have a baby? Obviously people are being intimate in those places and eventually somebody will get pregnant or they really protect themselves against pregnancies because they don't want a child to grow up like that.

[video] 6:43 ...don't even have a space for a fan inside, so they are hanging out here in the corridor. To afford the rent prices, some residents have to suffer through awful jobs at horrific hours. Frankie Chow works from 9 p.m. and gets back home at 5 a.m. What is your job? Metal work. How much do you earn per month? $1,250 U.S. dollars. What's it like to live here? Of course, not good. Narrow. Really narrow. My sales are very simple. A TV, bed, basic daily stuff, a blanket and a pillow, nothing else. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? I'll be dead by then. Oh, hopefully now.

7:17 This place is very tight. He didn't look that old, and the people in Hong Kong used to have, I'm not sure if it's the case right now, the longest life spans on Earth. And they also eat the most meat on Earth.

[video] 7:35 There are even smaller units than these upper units. Now we're on our way to visit someone who can't physically fit inside his coffin home. I can't even imagine how difficult it is to live like that. But before moving there, we check the rest of this apartment and realize there is no kitchen. Those who can't afford to eat outside are forced to prepare their food in the filthy bathroom. He's handling the food near the toilet, they don't have a kitchen, so this is where they have to prepare their meals. This space is also their bathroom. They even hang their clothes above this toilet, which does not have a lid.

8:07 It would be good to be a raw meat eater there, because then you don't need to cook your food, but they wouldn't have the money for it, and I've no idea how the meat quality is in Hong Kong.

[video] 8:20 Yes, as I said, it's super strange. It would never be like this naturally, because the nature...

8:47 How do I say this? The strongest ones clean up the place. I'm sure that you understand what I'm talking about. That's how it is. And that's why you can always live naturally. And there's forests, trees, everything around you, because that's how it always will be in nature.

[video] 9:07 this is completely abnormal it should have never been like this working garage this city is at full capacity we're now in the next apartment this apartment opens directly into the bathroom crime is just dripping from the walls meet john his door was open as he couldn't fit inside his home if he closed it his left shoulder sticks out of the coffin He's a big guy. It must be hard to live in such a tight place. How is life here? Look around. How would you feel? Do you have any family? I used to. My wife left me because of my gambling. We're not in touch anymore. No, I only bet a little on horse racing. I ruined myself by gambling. How do you get by then? I get welfare. Living without having any space to move around slowly destroys the body. What do you do all day? I have nothing to do. I just watch television. I'm scared to go anywhere. I'm afraid of my legs giving out and collapsing on the ground. Where do you see yourself in 10 years in the future? 10 years? Probably in a grave. Hopefully no. Why don't you have a mattress under yourself? Because I can't fit.

[video] 10:05 People sometimes sleep without mattresses to avoid a bed bug infestation. 18 years you just eat all day and if you don't move at all and eat junk food then of course you will become overweight. It's because of the food in the first place, obviously.

10:30 Why was he also wearing the mask? Who knows? Isn't it hard to breathe?

10:41 Strange.

[video] 10:42 Room apartment. Have you applied for government public housing? I just applied. I'll need to wait for a long time to get a home. Most people wait more than 10 years just to access government housing with lower rent, and even that isn't free. For many of them, the wait list feels like a life sentence. Now, let's say you didn't want to live in a coffin and wanted to have the comfort of standing up in your home. We went to a rental office to show you how much this luxury really costs. We're in one of the average neighborhoods in Hong Kong. Let's say that you save some money and you want to buy a home. This is one of the cheapest options that you have here. This has only one room, and it will cost you more than $1 million. It's a very, very small area. Let's say that you decided to rent. This single bedroom apartment will cost you around $4,000 per month. And later, you'll see that even owning a grave here is harder than owning a home. In Hong Kong, wealth creates a massive gap between two worlds. Just 75 people own 10% of the country's fortune. So while the ultra-rich cruise around the world in their luxury cars and live in massive houses, the lowest income bracket doesn't even get space to breathe. The life expectancy here is one of the highest in the world at 84. Many people still have to do back-breaking work, even after retirement, just to afford sky-high housing costs, or they can't survive.

[video] 11:41 That's why elderly people can be seen collecting cardboard on the streets. The income inequality of life here is very sad.

11:47 I think that they eat a lot of pork in Hong Kong, right? They eat fatty meat and they don't exercise. Sure, a lot of people work physical jobs, but those people probably don't live long. That's how it typically is. The harder your job, the shorter your lifespan.

[video] 12:09 It's like day and night. If the landlady finds out, we'll be in trouble. I don't care what they're filming it for. She can kick us out. The landlady won't allow it. We only kept this part in the video to show you how these tenants live in constant fear, knowing their landlords could throw them out at any moment. For those who lose their homes, life on the streets is inevitable. Buy a bottle of water. I'm really thirsty. Help me open the cap. Put it there. Thank you. Thank you. She felt thirsty, as July is one of the hottest months of the year. The apparent temperature in Hong Kong was around 110 degrees Fahrenheit at the time. So hot here. So humid here. As soon as I came to this new apartment, I got hit by warm and musty air. The ceiling has tons of mold on it. The air inside coffin homes is four times more polluted than what's safe to breathe. The entryway is a complete mess.

12:51 A resident is desperately mopping up dirty water that is constantly dripping onto the- This actually reminds me of this place that I stayed at in San Francisco. It was when I arrived. A subscriber of mine let me stay there for a night. I didn't mind it, but I had never seen such a small apartment in my life. It was just a little tiny room with a bed inside. That's about it, really. And a lot of Asians lived in that building.

[video] 13:25 Then I got inside an empty coffin home myself. I immediately felt boxed in, like the walls were closing in on me. This is the most bare-bones coffin we've visited. The person who lives here owns almost nothing. On one side, there are stickers on the wall with a blue sky, clouds, flowers, and butterflies. It's like an escape from the claustrophobia. On the other side is a metal grate. You feel like you're in a cage. You can't get fresh air or sunlight here. It's so hot here. Very humid. How do people sleep here? I can't even breathe properly. Imagine hanging your clothes here, sleep, watch YouTube on your mobile phone, nowhere else to go. Just walk the neighborhood and come back here, nothing else in your life. While sleeping, there might be a lot of noise from your neighbors. It's sad. It's very sad.

14:08 The noise would drive me nuts. The heat is also obviously probably unbearable.

[video] 14:18 In some homes, the front door is just a curtain, so people living inside have zero security. Hello. Hi. What are you cooking? I'm cooking rice. There's laundry here. right in the kitchen, which is practically one with the toilet. This isn't hygienic at all. Here they have a washing machine. They're trying to make the best of this space, but it seems chaotic. My friend had to get on the toilet lid just to get this job. She's washing vegetables in the same sink people use after using the toilet. Yes, be afraid of the bacteria, not the actual excrement, which is what smells bad, which is what you're not supposed to eat. People completely ignore their senses because they know that the excrement is the problem and instead

15:12 They talk about some bacteria. How does it make any sense? You excrete something which was already inside of you and then it will get on your food and that's how you will get sick?

[video] 15:26 One of the many people staying in a coffin while still alive. His home is the most crammed one we've seen so far. I can't find a job because once I was arrested for theft, I found a phone in the street and didn't report it to the police. Later, they found it on me and arrested me. Are prison cells more comfortable than coffin homes? Yeah, that's correct. In Hong Kong, prisoners get 80 square feet of space with a personal toilet. Unlike the 16 square foot homes, they also have enough space to stand up in. In that same space, 10 coffin homes could be stacked on top of each other. Now we're going to meet with Wong. I have no money so they won't talk to me. Can that really be true? That's super messed up.

[video] 16:24 Can you see it? I have my clothes inside that. And this is the pot I use for cooking noodles. Wang invited us to tag along on his short daily routine outside. First, he took us to his temple. Despite the temple being closed, Wang insisted on praying at the gates. Despite all the hardships he encounters, he's still thankful for what he has. Along the way, he stopped at the market stall and bought some fruit with the little money he had. Then he went to the restaurant that he had coupons for. The restaurant serves a variety of dishes with a side of rice.

16:50 That was pork, right? That's what I meant before. And of course some garbage also, obviously.

[video] 16:58 They're usually very high in sodium and fats. He felt embarrassed about using meal vouchers, so he preferred to eat at home. The first thing he does is put his groceries into a fridge shared with more than 20 people. After that, Wong climbed into his home and started eating his food. His sedentary lifestyle and the unhealthy foods offered at the restaurants are ruining his health.

17:17 Really, those foods are probably better than what people in the so-called West eat, realistically.

[video] 17:25 Look, I have high blood pressure. Having such high blood pressure can increase the risk of heart complications. However,

17:32 The cemetery you're about to see... High blood pressure is a symptom. It's not what causes the problem.

[video] 17:40 ...shows you that even death is not an escape here. Every day is the same here. Finish the lunch and watch videos. This is for lunch and dinner. He carefully rationed his food so he could stretch it for two meals. Do you use illegal substances? No, I don't. So many people use things like that here.

17:57 It's interesting how they dubbed him, even though he was speaking English.

[video] 18:02 Long took us to one nearby that he knew about. There's a girl in each room. There's someone inside that says, please wait. Hi, may I ask for the price? Just some people coming to have a look. He denies visiting these places, but seems to know his way around them just fine. It's a one hour massage for 65 US dollars. These love homes are actually subdivided apartments too. Because of the housing prices, even these women can't afford full-sized units. If the living stay in coffins in Hong Kong, where does that leave the dead? Here, even a basic burial plot can cost up to tens of thousands of US dollars, and that is if you are lucky to find one. Recently, a burial plot here was sold for $128,000. Because they are more affordable, most people rent graves rather than own them. Space is so limited that even graves in public cemeteries are not permanent. After six years, the body must be removed and cremated. As space runs out, cremation has become the only option, and the ashes rest in tiny drawers no bigger than a shoebox. Just like these ones.

[video] 19:00 The government has promised to end the housing crisis by 2049. About 220,000 people are stuffed into terrible homes in one of the richest places in the world. They are not there to be protected, but to be hidden from the eyes of the rich. Thank you for watching. Don't forget to subscribe. Ruhi Chenet was here.

19:15 as i was saying before this is very abnormal it's only possible when you suppress nature and when you do that then the strongest ones won't be dominating anymore and this is what we are seeing here tons of people trying to live together but in nature There's a natural cleaning mechanism and this is why this would be impossible. It could never happen. There's absolutely no way that anybody would voluntarily live like this. Because if somebody would tell you to live in such a coffin home, and the name is of course funny because it kind of is as if you're not even living anymore, then they would do you know what. And that's why in nature,

20:14 There's just absolutely no way that you would live like that, that you would even think of building such places. This kind of a system would never work, obviously, because in nature, strength and intelligence dominates. And nowadays, the opposite is dominating. Thanks for watching.