Pok Fu Lam: a pipeline to the past
150-year-old village is a heritage treasure trove, but locals are struggling to keep those links alive - as well as fighting for a proper sewage system
It is one of Hong Kong Island's last villages, but a serious lack of sewage facilities is casting a shadow over Pok Fu Lam, while its residents are embroiled in a struggle for recognition of its 150-year heritage.
The village, located right next to the largely middle-class Chi Fu Fa Yuen housing complex, can date its history back at least to 1868, with photos from that year showing about a dozen houses. Clans living there can trace their family history in the village back seven generations, and Chinese brick and tiled houses from that time are still standing. It is a living treasure trove of Hong Kong's pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial history.
"How did the first brick houses get here? In those days, one must have some kind of wealth or power to build those houses," Nigel Ko, a fourth generation villager, said of the village's intriguing and colourful beginnings. Legend has it the village has links to the famous pirate Cheung Po-tsai, who both terrorised and protected Hong Kong in the early 19th century.
The village grew and became a hub for what was then a rural area after Dairy Farm, the forerunner of today's Dairy Farm International conglomerate, built dormitories and cowsheds and developed farmland behind the village in 1886.
Today, there are still traces of the farm - including a brick hay container and old cowsheds. The company closed the property in the late 1980s, and the land has since been sold off.
