For discussion
on 18th August 1981
RESTRICTED
XCR(81)210
Copy No
HKK 294/1
ME MORANDUM FOR EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
I
Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance
(Chapter 53)
DECLARATION OF LAW UK AT
CHAI WAN AS A MONUMENT
32...
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Introduction
Section 3(1) of the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance (Chapter 53) provides that the Authority may, after consultation with the Antiquities Advisory Board, and with the approval of the Governor, declare any place, building, site or structure, which the Authority considers to be of public interest by reason of its historical, archaeological or palaeontological significance, to be a monument.
Law Uk
2
Until the late 1940's, Chai Wan was a farming area with several long-established Hakka villages which have since been cleared for development. There is now only one of the original village houses left intact in Chai Wan. This is known as Law Uk. It is a typical medium-sized Hakka -style structure, with a main room, side rooms, stone footings, granite door -frame, and tiled roof. Two old and tattered documents, clearly objects of some pride, hang framed on a wall; one is a title deed dated the 32nd year of the emperor Chien Lung (1768), and the other is dated the 1st year of the emperor Chia Ching (1796). This would suggest that the house is some 200 years old. The house is of considerable historical interest, since it is one of the few traditional rural dwellings of this age remaining on Hong Kong Island. The annexed plan indicates the location of Law Uk.
3
Preliminary examination indicates that, despite dilapidation, the building is basically sound and still in serviceable condition. Some structural repairs will be needed, such as replacement of timber, but the building appears otherwise in reasonably good order. It is, however, surrounded on all sides by squatter structures, with high-rise industrial buildings further away. The building is privately owned, and, together with the surrounding area is zoned as local open space under the Chai Wan Outline Development Plan.
Proposals
4
Public Works Programme Item No 15U(A), currently in Category A, provides for the restoration of Law Uk and its conversion to a folk museum, after resumption of the private land involved. The intention is to use the
G.S. 84
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