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Olga Wong

Poor restoration of historic tombs at Hong Kong Cemetery was carried out by a contractor of the  British Ministry of Defence, it was revealed yesterday.

A British consulate  spokesman said the work would be fixed soon.

Members of the Antiquities Advisory Board urged the government to assess and grade the historic value of the graves so that restoration work could be conducted under proper guidance.

The South China Morning Post reported yesterday that at least three tombs in the cemetery in Happy Valley had suffered botched renovation work early this year.

Inscriptions included misspellings and cracks in a granite tombstone commemorating victims of the second opium war was filled in shoddily with cement.

A  British consulate spokesman said a private contractor for  the Ministry of Defence was responsible for the mistakes and poor maintenance.

He said the company was no longer contracted by the ministry and responsibility for the upkeep of graves had passed to the Commonwealth  War Graves Commission, which will repair the errors.

The commission  was set up in 1917 and has constructed 2,500 war cemeteries and plots in 150 countries.

Paul Harrison, a graves restoration expert working for the Jewish Cemetery, said cracks on some tombs might have been caused by loosening of soil.

He said engineering advice should be sought to prevent further erosion of the graves.

'A big, strong stone like granite should not have broken up easily. Workers should also check the lettering with a native speaker,' he said.

Patrick Lau Sau-shing,  a member of the Antiquities Advisory Board, urged the government to conduct extensive research on the historic value of graves in Hong Kong.

'The historic graves will only be protected when they are graded as heritage,' he said, adding  the government would then have to provide guidance for restoring graves.

But a source from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, an executive arm of heritage conservation, said turning private graves into heritage  was a controversial issue.

'This is saying both the government and the relatives of the deceased have to spend extra resources on tightening security of the cemetery, and taking preventive measures to preserve the stones,' he said.

A local cemetery researcher, Ko Tim-keung, said the Hong Kong Cemetery, which commemorates British sailors  who died in the second opium war in the 19th century, was of significant value.

'We can hardly find historic evidence of the opium war in Hong Kong nowadays.'

He said the cemetery was the biggest for Europeans in Southeast Asia, and the diverse ethnicity was evidence that Hong Kong had long been  cosmopolitan.

A spokeswoman for the Food and Environment Hygiene Department said the department was responsible only for maintaining and cleaning common areas within the cemetery. Restoration work of individual graves was left to relatives or associations  representing the deceased.

Grave history

Stanley Military Cemetery. Founded in  1841. A resting place for garrison forces and their families and those who died in the first and second world wars.

Hong Kong Cemetery.  Founded in 1845.  A resting place for rebels of the 1850-1864 Taiping rebellion and the 1911 revolution against Qing dynasty; businessman  Sir Robert Ho Tung and his first wife; and colonial officials.

Parsee Cemetery, Happy Valley. Founded in 1852. A resting place for the Parsee community, including founder of the Star Ferry Company  Sir H.N. Mody, who also founded the University of Hong Kong.

Jewish Cemetery. Founded in 1855. A resting place for Jewish merchants, including the first Jewish merchant from Guangzhou to settle in Hong Kong.

Chiu Yuen Cemetery  at Mount Davis. Founded in 1892. Resting place for Ho Tung's family and Eurasian community living in Hong Kong.



UK ministry behind botched graves