Hong Kong is losing an older, more stately and eye-catching part of its heritage than the Star Ferry or Queen's piers: the 200-year-old banyan tree in Kowloon Park. Its gradual demise has not been marked by the all-night vigils, hunger strikes and noisy demonstrations that took place at the Central landmarks; no one is calling for an audience with government officials or struggling with police to get their voices heard for its preservation.
Instead, the voices of all but a handful of citizens have been muted. Perhaps it is because trees have not been part of the discussion about heritage, collective memory and culture; or maybe because it is so close to death, the fight is considered lost.
That was the opinion of a University of Hong Kong tree expert yesterday after a third of the tree collapsed, its roots starved of water and oxygen. Officials at the Leisure and Cultural Services Department disagree, saying that the pale colour of its trunk and shedding of its leaves do not necessarily mean that it is dying.
They do admit, though, that its roots were damaged when a neighbouring playing field was built, and that bricks and soil put around its base in 1989, to make the area look neat and tidy, were thoughtlessly placed. The material was removed 2? years ago, but the tree has not been given a new lease of life.
Dozens of other trees of a similar stature have died over the past few decades. Of 360 highlighted in a book in 1994 for their beauty, rarity, age and historical background, 50 had died when the list was updated a decade later.
Such figures say much about Hong Kong's dedication to preservation. For anyone familiar with practices elsewhere in the world, where trees of a certain size or age are generally protected by law, the numbers are shameful.
