NewAbandoned Tai Po school to be resurrected as ‘museum of childhood’
Collector and artist Joel Chung Yin-chai is trying to raise about HK$100 million to convert the old Man Ming School in Tai Mei Tuk, Tai Po, into a showcase for toys, comics and schoolbooks – some more than 100 years old.
Tucked away amid scrubland on a hillside, an abandoned primary school covered in mould has emerged as a potential "museum of childhood".
The school was shut down more than a decade ago as student numbers dwindled, but Chung believes that once restored and reinvented, it could boost tourism in the area, which is popular with cyclists and for barbecues.
“Many of these schools were left behind as ruins after being killed off,” said Chung, who has the biggest collection of graffiti by the late “King of Kowloon” Tsang Tsou-choi. “The project can serve educational purposes and carve out an archive on childhood.”
Many of these schools were left behind as ruins. The project can serve educational purposes and carve out an archive on childhood
Chung and his research team recently discovered more than 200 “dead” schools in villages across Hong Kong. Some had already been reduced to rubble.