A Bridge Too Far
Grace Tsoi talks to the residents of Pai Tau about the footbridge that threatens their traditional village life.
About two centuries ago, the ancestors of the Nam clan moved from Sham Tseng in search of a better place to live. When they reached the Pai Tau area in Sha Tin, they knew it was the place they had been looking for. It was a beautiful area—with the green mountain of To Fung Shan lying behind and the blue sea of Sha Tin Hoi in front. Of course, such a setting meant good feng shui too. The Nams decided to settle down and it marked the beginning of Pai Tau Village. From time to time, urban development, like the reclamation of the Sha Tin Hoi for the construction of the Sha Tin train station and minibus terminus right in front of it, has unavoidably encroached upon the centuries-old village, but a proposed new footbridge is the final straw for villagers.
In the past, villagers willingly gave away 70 percent of their land for the good of the area and to help crucial development but now, their goodwill has run out. They say the route of a proposed new footbridge will bring bad feng shui to their traditional village and although they don’t dispute the bridge itself, they say the route will seriously affect their lives. The villagers say they have been ignored by the local authorities and claim their alternative proposal for the bridge, has not been taken seriously or discussed by the government. In fact, the government suggested the villagers pay a surveyor $1 million to draft a new proposal for the footbridge, which developers Sun Hung Kai have already offered to finance.
The government proposal suggests building a footbridge linking Sha Tin MTR station (now linked with Sun Hung Kai’s New Town Plaza), Sha Tin Government Offices and HomeSquare, another Sun Hung Kai mall where IKEA is. The area is very busy because of all the taxi, bus and minibus stops. According to the Transport Department, about 4,000 people need to cross the area each hour during busy periods such as mornings and lunch hours. The government calculates that there are about 40,000 to 50,000 people walking through the area each day. Currently, pedestrians need to walk down a ramp from the MTR station and then walk along an uncovered pavement to reach the government offices. Therefore, the government considers the construction of a footbridge necessary.
However, regardless of the benefits brought to the Sha Tin residents, the Pai Tau villagers feel angry and upset by the plans for the footbridge which they say will bring negative energy and bad feng shui to the village. “Every generation of our clan will be facing the footbridge forever and we are the group of people that are going to be affected most,” says native resident of Pai Tau Village Gary Nam.
Pai Tau Village is now located next to the taxi and minibus stops and the village is separated from the transport area by a pavement. Therefore, some trees are planted along the boundary because villagers believe the trees can be shields protecting the village from the negative energy generated by the traffic. Although most of the trees were only planted in the 1970s after the government took away most of the village land for new-town development, the trees still act like a feng shui grove nevertheless. The row of trees is especially important because it can prevent the two ancestral halls—which are grade 3 historical buildings—from being directly exposed to the busy traffic. “Cultural landscape is something that is produced through the interaction of man with the natural environment,” says Lee Ho-yin, the director of the Architectural Conservation Programme at the University of Hong Kong, “The feng shui grove is definitely a part of the cultural landscape.”
In order to build the footbridge, developers Sun Hung Kai say they will need to trim the trees. Villagers are scared that the trees will be reduced in size and will lose their protective powers. They also fear the whole village will be under the negative shadow of the concrete footbridge. Sha Tin district councilor Wai Hing-cheung says: “It is like burying a traditional village. The footbridge may cover up all its characteristics.” The trees have an important cultural value for villagers—but they are also of high practical value. As mentioned, the village is only separated from the traffic area by a pavement. However, this pavement is higher than the village and waste gases emitted from vehicles always sink to the lowered village area. The trees can act like barricades and prevent waste gases from flowing towards the village houses directly. If the trees are significantly cut back, this could result in more pollution choking the village.