A visitor and other happennings

Readers of the Letters to the Editor column of the Post are familiar with complains about feral cows in Sai Kung and how they are a danger to motorists. Each time a complaint appears, a couple of responses are sure to follow, reminding the complainer that the cows were here first and asking them to leave Sai Kung if they don't like the lifestyle. Recently, an old bull was seen in the area. The bull, like one or two others seen around, have been driven away from the herd by younger bulls who now have all the cows to themselves. Although they look forbidding, these bulls are harmless, probably half-blind and slowed down by other infirmities.

Some time ago, I wrote about "Cooker" Wong, the villager who took are of all metal, plastic, and cardboard discards in the village. He was the local scavenger. Cooker lived in an old house, a remnant from the 1940s or 50s, the only such house in the village. Then, he died on a nearby hillside on a cold night.

Although he rarely had visitors while alive, Cooker's daughter suddenly appeared within a month of his death, hired a backhoe, and leveled his house. I have no doubt that a sparkling new "small" house will be built here, with luxuries that Cooker never enjoyed.

In typical New Territories style, the debris from the old house was dumped nearby.