HOW KAI TACK CAME TO BE MADE
(contd.)
595
"Kai Tack" was evolved from taking the "Kai" from Sir Kai Ho Kai's name while "Tack" was taken from the name of Mr. A Tack, proprietor of the well-known photographic store of A. Tack & Co.
Both these gentlemen have since joined the great majority, but amongst the promoters of the scheme were men like Sir Shou Son Chow, the late Hon. Mr. Chau Siu Ki, the Hon. Dr. S. W. T'so, Mr. Wong Kwong Tin and Mr. Li Kwai Pui.
The work involved in so large a scheme was of necessity took a very long time and quite a number of obstacles had to be overcome before it was completed, but the promoters went about their task in so efficient a manner that at last their efforts produced that large area of reclaimed land which includes the site on which the Kai Tack Aerodrome now stands. It is hardly necessary to say that the land occupied by the aerodrome has since been resumed by the Government, but even then, quite a large area is left for the residential section.
No sooner was the reclamation work completed than building operations were commenced and so ambitious were the promoters that they were not satisfied with putting up anything less than 200 houses for a start.
At first the public rather fought shy of the place as there were rumours about Kai Tack being an unhealthy spot, "swarming with malaria" but when some of the more enterprising ones who went out to live there despite all the rumours, reported that they could not hope to find a more delightful place to live in, an Exodus for Kai Tack began so much so that more and more houses had to be put up to cope with the demand. Kai Tack is almost full to capacity but there are still a large number of people waiting for the chance of taking one of the many nice flats on Kai Tack Bund.
These houses are built in such a way that they got the full benefit of the sun and the sea breezes. One gets all the fresh air one desires in Kai Tack and as for the place being out of the way, all that need be said is that a bus will take anybody from the Star Ferry in well inside fifteen minutes.
Residences along Kai Tack Bund include that of Madame Wu Tin Fan, mother of Dr. C. C. Wu, the well-known Chinese politician. Mr. C. G. Anderson, the popular manager of the Assurance Franco-Asiatique also lives out there, and Mr. Li Chor A Chi, the well-known Chinese tenor. The Royal Air Force has its Mess in Kai Tack and in the whole the place is developing tremendously.
Of late, some of the residents in Kai Tack have formed a private tennis club and in the evenings they can be seen playing on the court which is fenced in by wire nettings.
KING GEORGE CORONATION
It will, in a few months', be just twenty-five years since King George ascended the throne on the death of his father, King Edward VII. No doubt, this jubilee of our popular Ruler will be fittingly celebrated in Hongkong as elsewhere in the Empire, so it is interesting to look back a quarter of century and discover what was done in the Colony at that time. We find, of course, that the late King's illness, when he was stricken with bronchitis, caused much anxiety out here, and the news of his death, early in May 1910, was received with great sorrow. There was an impressive ceremony on the Hongkong Cricket Club ground when the new King's ascension was proclaimed out here. The S.C.M. Post of May 10, 1910, reports how in the presence of the Official Body, the members of the Executive and Legislative Councils and the British residents of the Colony, H.E. Sir Henry May, the Officer Administering the Government, read the Royal Proclamation. Punctually at 5 o'clock Sir Henry, accompanied by Rear-Admiral Lyon, and Captain Garnett, A.D.C., entered the ground and mounting the platform, which had been erected on the centre, in a loud and clear voice read out the Royal Proclamation.
Upon the conclusion of the reading, which was listened to respectfully by the large gathering on the ground, the Royal Standard was unfurled, the band playing the National Anthem, while the troops, who lined three parts of the square, the Indians on the East and West and the Europeans on the South, in addition to a Naval contingent of blue jackets and marines immediately in front of the platform, presented arms. Three cheers were then given for the King, on the call of ...