High Rents and Low Wages Trap ChineseImmigrants in SROs

游客看不到的另一半唐人街，中国移民一家4口蜗居在4平米房间

Ming Dang lives in a 7 by 7 foot room in San Francisco'sChinatown with her husband, teenage son and daughter. (Melanie Young/KALW)

明党（音译）和她的丈夫，带着十几岁的儿子和女儿住在旧金山唐人街的一个7英尺长，7英尺宽的房间里。

Editor's Note: Thisstory originally aired on KALW-FM. Listen to the story here.

编者按：该故事最初在KALW-FM播出。下面请听：

Tenants are facing a tough time in San Francisco. The cityhas some of the nation’s highest rents and laws like the Ellis Act have madeevictions front page news. But there are pockets of affordability, like in Chinatown, where the average rent is one third as much asin other neighborhoods.

旧金山的房客正面临艰难时期。该市有些房租为全国最高，而且诸如埃利斯法案之类的法规同意驱逐房客已成为头条新闻。但还是有考虑到支付能力的地区，像在唐人街这些地方，平均房租只有周边地区的三分之一。

But the neighborhood is also one of thecountry’s most overcrowded and tenants claim that landlords violate health andsafety codes.

该社区也是美国最拥挤的地区之一，二期据房客们声称房东违反了健康安全法规。

In response to rising rents and shoddy housing,a group of low-income, mostly elderly Chinatownrenters have crossed language and cultural barriers to change to theirneighborhood.

应不断上涨的房价和劣质住房，一群主要由唐人街老年人组成的低收入者跨越了语言和文化障碍，组成一队正努力改变他们的街区面貌。

Small rooms, cheap rents

房子小，租金少

Constant stress over money combined with livingin a cramped space, literally on top of each other, lead to a lot ofconflict. As she opens up about her family, Lee starts to cry. “Whenmy husband gets back from work he’s tired. He yells at my son to get off thestool and sit on the bed instead. I am so sorry. I wish I could helpearn enough to move.”

缺钱再加上居住在一个狭窄的空间里，毫不夸张地说就是叠在彼此身上，这样的情形有着源源不断的压力，也会招致很多冲突。当李女士敞开心扉，谈及自己的家庭时，她哭着说“我丈夫下班之后回到家时，他已经很累了，便会吼儿子，让他去床上坐，把凳子让出来。对此我很遗憾，我多希望我能多挣点钱好搬出去住。”

Years ago, when immigrants arrived in Chinatown, they’d live in an SRO for a while, save up,then move to a bigger place. But soaring rents and low wages block that pathnow, even for more seasoned immigrants.

多年以前，当移民们到达唐人街之后，他们便会在单间租房里小住一段时间，当他们攒到钱后，便会搬到大点的地方住。但如今，一路飙升的租金加上微薄的薪水，即使是已移民多年的人，这条路也行不通了。

Wanting a way out

寻求出路

Lee Ping Yee (no relation to Lee Ming Dang)moved to the USin 2004. She’s lived in her SRO for 5 years.

2004年，李萍叶（音译）（与李明党没有关系）移民到美国，她在单间租房里已居住5年之久。

Her daughter’s friends are visiting, leaving Leewith no place to sit. Instead she leans on the doorway of her unit saying helloas neighbors walk by. As we speak, the lights suddenly go out.

当她女儿的朋友来访时，李萍叶就没地方可坐了。她只好靠在单元楼门口，在邻居路过时，打个招呼。当我们在进行访谈的时候，路灯突然熄灭了。

“There’s always power shortages.” Lee says. “Ihave to wait for the neighbors finish cooking. Then I can have power to cook mydinner.”

“总是电力不足”李女士说“我必须得等到邻里们全部做完饭后，我才有电做晚饭。”

With no electricity and no place to sit, LeePing Yee paces the hall in frustration. She wantsout. She’s been in the US for 10 years, and she feelsstuck.

没电，没地方坐，李萍叶在走廊里踱步徘徊，十分沮丧。她想摆脱这种状况。她来美国已经10年了，而这让她感到心力交瘁。

“I not enough money to buy house.” Lee says it’seven harder with children, “support them and you know, grow up my daughter, youneed money. Always call mommy, I need money buy food. Ah, it’shard.”

“我没钱买房子”李萍叶表示，自己甚至感到养育孩子都异常艰难，“你知道的，要供养孩子，把女儿养大，需要钱。女儿常说，妈妈，我需要钱买吃的。啊，没钱真难过。”

Fighting for change

力图改变

Like many in Chinatown,both Lee’s are immigrants with limited english, limited incomes, and limitedprospects. They are not, however, powerless. The women are members of theCommunity Tenants Association or CTA.

像许多唐人街的华人一样，两家李姓移民英语水平，收入及发展前景都很有限。然而，她们并不是没有能力。两位女士都是社区租户协会（CAT）的会员。

The CTA was founded 26 years ago when one Chinatown building’s tenants got together to fight aneviction. When they won their case they decided to share what they’d learnedwith other residents. Since then they’ve seen each other through rentalproblems and weighed in on San Francisco’s housing policies.

26年前，唐人街一栋出租楼的租户们齐心协力抵抗房东驱赶租客时，成立了社区租户协会。胜诉后，他们决定把学到的东西分享给其他租户。此后，租户们通过租赁问题相互联系拜访，并且还曾参加过旧金山住房政策比赛。

Neighborhood resident Leung Wing Ho says CTAsaved his home. “I had just retired when I was evicted from my apartment. I wasreally worried because I was old and only had my retirement income.”

社区居民Leung Wing Ho表示社区租户协会保住了他的家。“当我被房东赶出来时，我正好退休。我当时真的很担心，因为我老了，唯一的收入就是退休金了”

Leung and his neighbors turned to CTA for help.They pulled together other housing rights groups and elected officials tosupport the tenants. “We held rallies in front of the building with hundreds ofpeople,” Leung recalls. “At a mediation conference the landlord rescinded theeviction notice.”

Leung和他的邻居们便向社区租户协会求助。他们联合其他住房维权组织，并选举出相关领导以支援租客。“我们一百多人团结起来，围在出租楼的前面”Leung 回忆道“经过调停会议之后，房东取消了驱逐令。”

That was six years ago. Today, Leung is CTA’spresident.

那是六年前的事情了。现在，Leung已经当上社区租户协会的主席。

That unaffordability is especially stark in Chinatown. The average household income here is only onequarter what it is the rest of San Francisco’s. Despite that inequity, rents are on therise.

这种负担不起的现象在唐人街尤其明显。这里的家庭平均收入只有旧金山其他地区收入的四分之一，尽管收入不公平，但租金还是一样在涨。

Striking a chord outside of Chinatown

唐人街附近的惊心动魄

CTA member Lee Gum Gee rented an apartment onthe border of Chinatown and NobHill for 34 years. When a new landlord invoked the Ellis Act to evict all theresidents, Lee decided to fight.

社区租户协会会员李金枝（音译）在唐人街和诺布山交界处的租房内住了34年。当新房东援用艾利斯法案驱赶所有的租户时，李金枝（音译）决定奋起反抗。

Chinatown Community Development Corporation’sNorman Fong says it wasn’t just her neighbors who rallied behindher.

唐人街社区发展公司的董事Norman Fong表示，团结在她背后的，不仅仅只有她的邻居。

“I think because she was saying I’m not moving,I’m not leaving my daughter here who is mentally challenged. This is my home. Ideserve to have a life here in San Francisco,” Fong says. “Somehow her story resonatedwith hundreds of others.”

“我认为，因为她说我不走，我不会带着我智障的女儿离开这里。这是我的家。在旧金山生活是我应得的，”Fong说“不知何故，她的故事激起了成千上万人的共鸣”

“On the day of her eviction, CTA were there butcitywide people came from all over.”

“她被驱逐出租房的那天，不仅社区租户协会的成员们到了，来自全市各地的人也来了”

Dozens of elderly Chinese tenants from CTAstationed themselves in front of the apartment-- holding signs and showingsupport.

来自社区租户协会的数十位上了年纪的中国租客在公寓楼前驻扎下来，举起标牌表示支持。

Lee and her family eventually had to leave theapartment but Norman Fong says the case drew public attention and helped spuraction at City Hall and Sacramento.

李和她的家人最终不得不搬出出租房，但Norman Fong说，这件事引起了公众注意，有利于刺激市政厅和萨克拉门托采取应对措施。

“This little Chinatown case” Fong says,“with CTA backup, citywide and statewide policies are changing now to helpprotect all San Franciscoso there are homes for middle class folks that are at risk for Ellis act aswell.”

“这件看似很小的唐人街事件”Fong解释道，“在社区租户协会的支持下，导致全市乃至全州的政策都要做出变化，以保护旧金山所有的人。也就是说因埃利斯法案遭受风险了的中产阶级民众也会受到保护”

“We’ve turned fear into action. That’s what CTArepresents to me. They’re fearless.”

“我们已经将恐惧转变成了行动。这就是社区租户协会对我的意义。我们的成员无所畏惧”

Every Wednesday CTA members meet for workshops,share news updates, and socialize. They launch each session with asing-a-long> CTA president Leung Wing Ho says it helps bringthem together.

社区租户协会会员每周三都会聚在一起开会，分享最新信息，探讨如何适应社会生活。社区租户协会主席Leung Wing Ho说，每次开会都会先唱一首歌，这有助于使他们团结起来。

“Singing makes us happy, gives us courage andthe spirit to fight for our causes,” Leung says.

“唱歌使我们感到快乐，还给我们带来勇气，帮我们树立为生活而奋斗的精神。”Leung说道。

And that fighting spirit is spreading. Onehundred new members join CTA every year.

这种奋斗精神还在传播中。每年约有100名新会员加入社区租户协会。