FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1980
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SAM TUNG UK DECLARED A MONUMENT
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AN 18TH CENTURY WALLED VILLAGE IN TSUEN WAN HAS BEEN DECLARED A MONUMENT.
SUBJECT TO THE PROVISION OF FUNDS BY THE FINANCE COMMITTEE, SAM TUNG UK VILLAGE WILL BE RESTORED AND USED AS A LOCAL HISTORY MUSEUM, TO BE MANAGED BY THE URBAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT IN CONSULTATION WITH THE TSUEN WAN DISTRICT ADVISORY BOARD.
A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN SAID THE DECLARATION WAS BASED ON THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE VILLAGE, WHICH IS LOCATED ON HIGH GROUND ABOVE CASTLE PEAK ROAD.
ACCORDING TO LOCAL TRADITION, THE CHAN FAMILY MOVED INTO THE AREA AND ACQUIRED THE LAND SOME 200 YEARS AGO. LABOURING HARD FOR MANY YEARS, THEY BUILT THE VILLAGE THEMSELVES AND OCCUPIED IT
IN THE 51ST YEAR OF THE EMPEROR CHIEN LUNG (1789).
THE NAME OF THE VILLAGE DERIVES FROM THE FACT THAT ORIGINALLY THERE WERE THREE ROWS OF HOUSES INSIDE THE ENCLOSURE- ANOTHER ROW WAS BUILT AT THE BACK A HUNDRED YEARS LATER.
THE THREE ORIGINAL ROWS COMPRISE ABOUT 30 DWELLINGS, WITH A FINE ANCESTRAL HALL IN THE CENTRE, ALTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN SOME CHANGES, THE VILLAGE IS STILL VIRTUALLY IN ITS ORIGINAL CONDITION AND A GOOD EXAMPLE OF ITS KIND, THE SPOKESMAN SAID,
CLOSE TO THE VILLAGE IS A WELL-PRESERVED, PRIVATELY- MAINTAINED TIN HAU TEMPLE, MUCH FAVOURED BY THE LOCAL RESIDENTS, WHICH HAS BEEN INCORPORATED INTO THE REDEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR NORTH TSUEN WAN.
AS PART OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF TSUEN WAN NEW TOWN, SAM TUNG UK WAS VACATED IN APRIL THIS YEAR AND ITS RESIDENTS WERE REHOUSED IN NEW ACCOMMODATION. RENOVATION WORK ON THE VILLAGE WILL BEGIN IN MID-1982, FOLLOWING THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW ROAD SYSTEM AND A MASS TRANSIT RAILWAY DEPOT IN THE SURROUNDING AREA.
THE AREA WILL BE DEVELOPED WITH OPEN SPACE AROUND THE VILLAGE.
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