No_5_July_and_August__1950 — Page 61

NEW CEMETERY DEPOT

HUNGHOM

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General view of the four buildings, with the offices and quarters in the foreground.

The new Hunghum Cemetery Depot, comprising three single-storey and one double-storey buildings erected close to the railway line at the junction of Chatham Road and Gascoigne Read, was officially opened on 29th September, 1950, by the Hon. R. R. Todd, Acting Colonial Secretary. Members of the Urban Council, and many prominent foreign and Chinese residents in the Colony attended the ceremony.

Outlining the purpose of the buildings, Dr. the Hon. J. P. Fehily, Chairman of the Urban Council, said:—

"Most of you will be aware of the fact that the Wo Hop Shek Cemetery scheme was formulated before the War. Government was then very seriously concerned over the amount of space required for cemeteries in the Urban District and, eventually, it was reluctantly decided, in view of the rapid development of the Colony and out of consideration for

the living, that all non-permanent cemeteries in the Urban District should be closed and be replaced by one large cemetery at Wo Hop Shek.

"With this end in view, the necessary preparations were made and the proposed new cemetery would have been opened early in 1942 were it not for the outbreak of war.

"After the liberation of the Colony in 1945, the whole position regarding cemeteries in the Urban District was then re-considered and Government again decided that, in the interest of the population. It was necessary to proceed with the Wo Hop Shek Cemetery scheme.

"However, it was found necessary to modify the original scheme owing to the need for additional catchment areas for the provision of adequate water supplies for the increased and growing population of the Fanling and Sheung Shui Districts.

CEMETERY OFFICE

Detail of the Farewell Parilion.

OVERSEER MARKED BATERS

BED KARNÍ

LIVING DINING ROOM

SANGLE MEN OSTERS

ron à la Ġ PERSEN

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Ground and first floor plans of the two-storey building.

Consequently. It was decided that two cemeteries should be established in the New Territories—one at Wo Hop Shek and the other at Sandy Ridge."

Dr. Fehily also acknowledged the very valuable assistance and eager co-operation of the General Manager of the Railway. and his staff in planning and supervising the construction of the building. Mr. Hu, the Railway Engineer, was also warmly congratulated on the simplicity and dignity of design, which are in keeping with the purposes for which the buildings are intended.

The Hon. R. R. Todd, in his address, remarked:

"One of the noblest features of Chinese civilization is the great reverence which our Chinese friends have for their ancestors—a characteristic for which we Westerners admire and respect them.

"This group of buildings has been erected with the object of lessening the inconvenience which the new scheme makes Inevitable and in order that the remains of the departed may be collected at une central spot, easily accessible from the Island of Hongkong and from all parts of Kowloon, before they begin their last journey to the resting place in the New Territories.

"The buildings include an office, quarters for staff, a store where cuffins may be deposited, and a Farewell Pavilion- which will be known as the Hunghom Wing Pit Teng-where relatives and friends may conveniently and reverently pay their last respects and bid their last farewells to the deceased. "I now declare there buildings open and in so doing 1 express the hope that they will for long be a convenience to the community and that they will be something to ease the sorrow of the bereaved."

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