Hong Kong Builder
LANTÃO ISLAND
Photographs by the Hong Kong & Far East Builder)
|
7
A view of Lantao Island taken near San Tsun Village.
I usually read my morning papers most assiduously and being very much interested in this Colony I live in, I follow closely any news which appears affecting and concerning Hong Kong. A few weeks ago, however, I was at Volunteer camp and for a few days I had to do without my morning newspaper. The morning following
Г
Approaching San Tsun Village.
ny return to town, therefore, I was surprised to see that the editorial referred to and commented on a new Lantao scheme which had been announced. The editorial was headed "Decentralization," and it appeared that a move- ment was on foot to attract some of the surplus popula- tion to Lantao and Hebe Haven. This was the first I
had heard of the project and I was curious to learn what it was all about. The object of the scheme, it appeared, was to reduce as much as possible the congested population in the over- crowded slum areas of Victoria, so that in case of raids on the Colony there would be fewer people to provide for and less danger of casual- ties in collapsed and destroyed buildings. The article continued that evidently the project had been given considerable thought as settlers under the scheme were to be given land, seeds, tools, fertilisers, some materials for building huts, medical care, protection and some sustenance.
In effect, the scheme gives the poor and destitute an opportunity to earn a modest in- dependence by the fruits of their labour on the land, and since there are tens of thousands of these unfortunates in Hong Kong, living in squalor, suffering hardship, starvation and disease, it certainly sounded like a good idea. A further element of interest lay in the fact that it was the first comprehensive scheme put
1