Death of an urban village
EVEN longtime residents of the ancient Hong Kong village of Nga Tsin Wai can hardly wait for its 600-year-old walls to tumble down. 'I hope the demolition comes soon,' said a young man carrying a mobile phone, who was born there. 'There isn't much that should be left.' 'I have longed for years to be resettled in public housing,' echoed the wife of Ng Kau, the village chief, at their house on lane number three.
Nga Tsin Wai consists of six narrow lanes in a traditional grid-patterned design in San Po Kong, near Kai Tak, but the essence of village life is long lost. As its residents await the arrival of bulldozers from the Land Development Corporation (LDC), the only village remaining in urban Hong Kong resembles more a temporary housing area for the disadvantaged than a bastion of community stalwarts proud of their history.
The earliest settlers, with surnames Ng, Lee and Chan, moved from Guangdong in search of a better life during the Yuan Dynasty. Despite its long heritage, it is doubtful that any now cherish the place once called home by the fishing and farming families who lived there. Hordes of descendants of the settlers have already moved out, while those who remain yearn to leave.
None of today's inhabitants is annoyed with the LDC's plan to turn the area into a residential development. Their only concern is their compensation and where they will be moved. Even the Antiquities Advisory Board recently gave up on a plan to preserve the site near Wong Tai Sin, encircled by Tung Kwong and Tung Lung roads. After several visits, board members decided the area had lost its historical character.
Vice-chairman of the Hong Kong History Society, Dr Siu Kwok-kin, whose advice was sought by the board, believes the village has undergone great transformation, with more than half the ancient houses being replaced long ago. Most of the existing structures, he says, were built only a few decades ago.
'There is now only one ancient granite house to three cement houses,' he said. 'We think it's only worth keeping the establishment if most structures were built at least a century ago.' He reckons even the front wall, engraved with three Chinese characters Qing Yau Yu meaning 'Happy to See Surplus', was not built until the Ching dynasty. He and the board agree it should be retained, along with the nearby Tin Hau Temple which was probably built at about the same time.