deteriorate after a few years, the owner again rebuilding in similar style. A typical village dwelling consists of one ground floor room, entrance being made through the front door-there is no back door-into a partially roofed-over space, one side of which is reserved for cooking, and the other side for storage of dried grass, the principal fuel. An inner door gives entrance to the single room, the rear portion of which is screened off with wooden partitions for use as a bedroom. Over this rear portion, raised some 8 feet above the floor level, is a wooden platform or gallery known as the "cockloft" which is used for storage purposes or for extra sleeping accommodation if the family is large. The house has no ceiling, except the rafters and tiles, and no chimney. Windows are few.
Dwellings are sometimes built in rows of a dozen or so in the large villages, with the front of one row facing the back of another row; whilst at other times they are built irregularly to conform with "Fung Shui" ("wind and water"), a form of Chinese geomancy which traditionally governs the siting of dwellings and graves. The streets between the dwellings are usually not more than six to eight feet wide, and the drainage is primitive. Latrines are erected apart from the dwellings, and are similar, though inferior, to those still found attached to some rural cottages in the United Kingdom. The houses are for the most part kept in reasonable repair and the structural design is never altered. Furnishings consist usually of trestle beds, perhaps a table, and a few small stools.
New Buildings and Repairs
During 1949, 608 plans involving the construction of 1,290 buildings were submitted to the Director of Public Works for approval. These included 451 European-type dwellings, 749 Chinese type dwellings, 34 factories, 8 hotels, 10 schools, 5 churches, 32 godowns and stores and one theatre. There were also 2,231 plans covering rehabilitations, altera- tions and additions, mostly to domestic property, 57 site developments, and a large number of plans covering minor construction work such as garages and temporary buildings.
A total of 597 new buildings, comprising 490 European- type and 639 Chinese-type dwellings and 63 other structures were completed during the year. 201 other miscellaneous non-domestic buildings were also completed.
Town Planning
The Report of Sir Patrick Abercrombie, who was commissioned under the Colonial Development and Welfare Scheme to advise Government on town planning, was published in September and envisages far reaching develop-
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