1st August
HONG
KONG BUILDING INDUSTRY
DIARY
SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT AND INTERESTING EVENTS DURING
AUGUST, September & OCTOBER, 1950.
The purchase of an estate of three-shop space at Connaught Road for the construction of a new Chinese General Chamber of Commerce Building has been made, it was announced by Mr. Ko Cheuk-hung, the Chairman, at a meeting of the Chamber yesterday. A donation of over $488.000 for the proposed building had already been raised, it was learned.
The leper establishment at Mount Davis will be a tem- porary expedient until plans are completed for a leprosarium on Lantau Island. It is a long distance from residential areas and is to be built near the site where a number of lepers were housed in a matshed last year without any complaints being received from residents at Mount Davis or Pokfulum.
2nd August
Additional information concerning the size and construc- tional details of the new Bank of China building was released by the architects, Messrs. Palmer & Turner.
6th August
An article appearing in the China Mail gives facts purport- ing the proof that the housing shortage in the Colony is easing. For the first time in years, "To Let" signs have re-appeared on walls and pillars of houses-the first sign of an easing of the housing shortage.
It was announced that the Hong Kong's new Police Head- quarters building will be located in Wanchai, at the junction of Queen's Road East and Arsenal Street, but it will not be ready until 1952 at the earliest.
8th August
It was announced to-day that Mr. T. L. Bowring, O.B.E.. was appointed the new Director of Public Works for Hong Kong. Mr. Bowring aged 49, was educated at Chatham House, Ramsgate, and at the Crystal Palace School of Practical Engineering. He is а Member of the Institute of Civil Engineers and of the Institute of Structural Engineers. 17th August
An application for the eviction of occupants from business premises at 168 Wanchai Road, ground floor, was dismissed by Made Mr. C. Q. Lim, Chairman of the Tenancy Tribunal. under Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance of 1947, the application was filed after a lapse of three and a half years from the time alleged unlawful sub-letting took place.
At a meeting of the City Hall Committee held last evening, two suggestions were submitted for sites for the new City Hall which were considered better than the proposed location of the new reclamation. The suggested alternative sites were the Government House on Albert Road and Murray Parade Ground.
19th August
A brief history of the Hongkong Electric Co. Ltd., with reference to the difficulties in which the Company was operat- ing since the occupation, was given in a broadcast over Radio Hongkong by the Manager, Mr. F. F. Duckworth.
At an executive meeting of the Hongkong Society for the Protection of Children held on the 17th, members heard details of the final plans for the new child welfare centre the Society is proposing to build at Portland Street.
The Governor-in-Council has ordered and directed that section 121 of the Buildings Ordinance, 1936, shall apply to the New Territories and that in the application thereof the term "building authority" occurring therein shall be construed as if there were substituted therefor the term "District Officer of the district."
20th August
Ten more emergency regulations were brought into force in the Colony. These included the posting of placards, pro- hibition of publications, declaration of special areas and duties of persons therein, transfer of persons in custody, restrictions on movement and possession of certain articles, further deten- tion after arrest or detention, control of traffic on highways and in territorial waters, powers to stop and search vehicles. including railway vehicles and tramways, and requisition of property other than land and identification of persons in custody.
A new scheme for the development of Repulse Bay was released by Government to-day when it called for tenders for 25 years concession.
22nd August
Pressure on police accommodation on the mainland will be considerably relieved when the temporary quarters now in course of erection on Chatham Road are completed at the end of the year. The new quarters will accommodate from 600 to 700 persons, but it is not expected that more than 300 to 400 will move in when the building is completed,
Workmen are now putting the finishing touches to Gap Road Vernacular School. The new building will be ready for occupation when the next term begins early in September. 25th August
On the grounds that they required possession of the pre- mises for the purpose of erecting on the site a block consisting of two five-storeyed building, the owners of 126-128 Johnston
41
Road, Wanchai, brought an application before Mr. W. A. Blair- Kerr in the Tenancy Tribunal for exemption of the premises from the provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, 1947. Decision was reserved.
27th August
Despite rapidly changing conditions in the Far East, with the threat of Communism overshadowing the major area of this region, the University of Hong Kong, the seat of Western culture in the Far East, is forging ahead, unaffected by the changes around it.
First payments of compensation in connection with the reversion of and to the Crown under the Airfield (Kai Tak) Extension and Reversion Ordinance, 1948, were announced in the Gazette.
28th August
An auction sale was held in Mr. A. E. B. de Sousa's sales room, in which eight houses fetched $180,000.00. The proper- ties offered for sale consisted of Nos. 254, 356, 358, 360, 362, 364 and 366. Des Voeux Road West. The houses cover an area of 8,541 square feet and the total annual Crown rent is $161.23.
A block of buildings from 336 to 350 Des Voeux Road, West, was sold at De Sousa's Auction Rooms for $241,000. Upset price for the buildings, which cover 7,583 square feel, was $200,000. The purchase made by Mr. Lui Wai-chau, of Messrs. Lo and Lo, acting as agent for the buyer. 1st September
There was no truth in the report that the authorities have ordered all enclosed verandahs to be removed by next December, said an official of the Urban Council. The Council's policy had not been changed.
Portions of Marine Lots on which houses are situated, known as Nos. 12, 13, 14 and 15, Sai On Lane, were sold at De Sousa's Auction Rooms for $164,000 to Mr. Lui Wai-chau, of Messrs. Lo and Lo, who were acting on behalf of a buyer whose name was not disclosed. The upset price was $120,000. Section A of Inland Lot 746, situate at Nos. 22 and 24 Russell Street, was afterwards sold to Miss Norah Ho, 29 Hill Wood Road, Kowloon, for $30,000. The bidding had started at $20,000.
5th September
In the correspondence column of the South China Morning Post, a note is made of the fact that the key money racket seems to be dying down and that it is now possible to obtain living accommodation without having to advance extortionate payment.
Put up for auction by Mr. A. E. B. de Sousa, three houses, Nos. 139, 141 and 143, Jaffee Road, were sold for $118,000 to Mr. Lau Man-yan, 112 Namchang Street, Shamshuipo. Divided into three lots, the total area of each lot is 780 square feet, and the annual Crown rent $12. 8th September
The Appeal Court overruled a Tenancy Tribunal decision which held that if rent is made "payable in advance" it is so stipulated for rent that has not yet accrued. 11th September
Un Long Public Middle School, the Colony's first "dollar for dollar" and secondary school to be built in the New Territories, was officially opened by Mr. T. R. Rowell, the Director of Education, to-day. The cream and chocolate brown single-storey building, commanding an imposing view of Un Long valley, is the result of almost three years striving by the local people to provide their children with improved education facilities.
At de Sousa's Auction Rooms to-day, a half share in the leasehold property known as No. 3 Ning Yeung Terrace was purchased by Mr. T. Y. Wong, of No. 15 Stock Exchange Build- ing, for $23,000. The upset price was $20,000. The properly has an area of approximately 3,402 square feet. 12th September
The new Kowloon Junior School in Kowloon was officially handed over to the Education authorities to-day. One of the most modern schools of its type in the Colony, it will accommodate close on 300 pupils. Messrs. Palmer and Turner are the architects.
14th September
The proposed building of an HK$800,000 structure con- taining eight shops and 16 large modern flats to replace a tin factory at North Point was mentioned at a Tenancy Tribunal
case.
15th September
He
Mr. Pang Yun-ting, aged 66, manager of Lai Kee Company, 153, Wanchai Road, died at 1 p.m. to-day at his home. had been ill for more than five years. An old resident of the Colony, Mr. Pang was well known in both the Chinese and European communities in Hong Kong. He did much in helping Stanley internees during the Japanese occupation. 26th September
At an annual meeting of the Shanghai Land Investment Co., Ltd., the acting Chairman, Mr. John Gadsby, C.B.E.,
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