List of landmarks helps raise public awareness
A list of government-owned historic sites, including the oldest surviving example of colonial architecture, has been compiled to recognise their heritage status.
None of the 34 sites has been graded by the Antiquities Advisory Board or declared a monument. They include the Cenotaph in Central, the boundary stones for the old city of Victoria, the chapel in the Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley, the old KCRC Beacon Hill tunnel, and the Sung Wong Toi inscription rock in Kowloon City.
The list of sites was posted on the website of the Antiquities and Monuments Office this month under 'Heritage Impact Assessment'.
Lee Ho-yin, director of the architectural conservation programme at the University of Hong Kong, said some of the sites were important landmarks that were part of the city's collective memory.
'Items that recall experiences of the war can usually evoke the collective memory of a nation,' he said.
'The same effect is achieved with the standing of the Cenotaph. It can reflect the collective memory of Hongkongers across generations as it commemorates the hardship and victory experienced by the people as a whole during the second world war.'
