A quick visit to Wong Chuk Yeung village

With corrupt developers on its heels and the story making front page banner headlines, I thought another visit to Wong Chuk Yeung was overdue. I last blogged about this in April, to which a few former villagers or descendants had responded. (I only saw these comments last evening). My last visit to the village was in early June when I saw clear signs of the developer's activity. No houses had been pulled down but the surrounding shrub had been cleared and evidence of 4-wheel drive vehicles was everywhere. 

I went with some trepidation. What if the developer has taken over and a "Private Property - No Entry" sign barred my way? What if there were fierce guard dogs, like those found on fish farms and building sites? 

I need not have worried. The village looked even more deserted. The lone mailbox was overflowing, as usual, and the two wild-looking dogs that are companions to the lone survivor Mr. Lee slunk away after a few half-hearted barks. For the first time, I observed some graffiti, in English, scratched prominently at the entrance to the village. This may be the work of the "war games" nuts, who, according to a newspaper report, invade the village on weekends. In fact, the 4-wheel drive tracks may have been caused by the same people.


Mr. Li's doorstep was littered with trash, as always, and a few clothes were drying on the bushes close to an outdoor tap. Another heap of trash could be seen a few yards away. Wild flowers were blooming and the path that led to the abandoned fields nearby was choked with weeds. No one appears to have walked that way in months. I could not see any sign of developer activity.


So, to Keith, danfan and others who left comments on my blog entry of April 10, all I can say is that your old village is still intact, but could it be the calm before the storm? Hong Kong developers are vultures and, despite the newspaper reports, they could be lurking and working behind the scenes to take over the village.

I have to pass this mysterious gate on the way to Wong Chuk Yeung. The gate has been freshly painted and a small white car, which I have observed driving up every morning towards the village, was parked in front. On my way back, the car was gone and, peering through the mailbox slit, I saw a well-kept village house within the compound. The new paint bothers me. Is this the developer's first step towards acquiring the village? Is this a so called "agricultural land" which is actually a hoax that developers use for their land grabs at ridiculously low prices? Or am  becoming paranoid?


For Wong Chuk Yeung, I believe the best solution is for the government to buy and preserve it as a remnant of old Hong Kong, so that the younger Hong Kongers could see for themselves the hardships that previous generations endured without cell phones, a bus or train service, and not a convenience store within miles. The Sheung Yiu Museum in Pak Tam Chung, meant to showcase a bygone lifestyle in the New Territories, is nothing when compared to Wong Chuk Yeung.