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Ding wu mainly came from the trust's cash dividends and from compensation for resumption of his private lands. As mentioned, in 1981 he received about two hundred thousand dollars as compensation for the government's resumption of his over 2,000 square feet of agricultural land. And since the 1980s, he and his family members have been granted about six hundred thousand dollars from their ancestral trusts. These two cases reveal that cash compensations for land resumption has become the Pangs' major financial sources to support the building of the ding wu.
In short, the Pangs' building applications were not large in the late 1970s because not many of the villagers could afford the construction costs. But from the 1980s on, their improved financial conditions had increased the applications rapidly, and thereby a set of newly-defined criteria was later introduced in the selection process.
Ding wu: Its Economic and Social Values
By and large, the ding wu built in the late 1970s and the early 1980s were rented out. One villager rented his house to an outsider after it was built. He moved into the ground floor only after marriage, and the second floor was still being rented to a couple, at $4,000 a month in 1994. Another village rented it to some American missionaries in the mid-1980s and the monthly rent was around $1,300 to $1,500. The rent was still less than $2,500 a month per floor in 1993, and was finally raised to $4,500 per month in 1994. He emphasised that he did not care much about the rental income and his only concern is that the house should not be left unoccupied. This is because the villagers had uncomfortable and bad feelings about empty houses (xiong wu in Cantonese is homophonic with the meaning of a haunted house). In fact, the Pangs could generate rental income from their ding wu; yet their low rents indicate that at that time, building ding wu was not considered as a very profitable investment. And the Pangs simply did not have any intention in the 1970s to make huge profits from the sales of this housing.
However, the boom of real estate market since the 1980s has been changing the meaning of building ding wu. More urban people are willing to rent village houses, particularly the ding wu, in the New Territories because of their lower rent. For instance, in 1995 the rent
70
ding wu mainly came from the trust's cash dividends and from compensation for resumption of his private lands. As mentioned, in 1981 he received about two hundred thousand dollars as compensation for the government's resumption of his over 2,000 square feet of agricultural land. And since the 1980s, he and his family members have been granted about six hundred thousand dollars from their ancestral trusts. These two cases reveal that cash compensations for land resumption has become the Pangs' major financial sources to support the building of the ding wu.
In short, the Pangs' building applications were not large in the late 1970s because not many of the villagers could afford the construction costs. But from the 1980s on, their improved financial conditions had increased the applications rapidly, and thereby a set of newly-defined criteria was later introduced in the selection process.
Ding wu: Its Economic and Social Values
By and large, the ding wu built in the late 1970s and the early 1980s were rented out. One villager rented his house to an outsider after it was built. He moved into the ground floor only after marriage, and the second floor was still being rented to a couple, at $4,000 a month in 1994. Another village rented it to some American missionaries in the mid-1980s and the monthly rent was around $1,300 to $1,500. The rent was still less than $2,500 a month per floor in 1993, and was finally raised to $4,500 per month in 1994. He emphasised that he did not care much about the rental income and his only concem is that the house should not be left unoccupied. This is because the villagers had uncomfortable and bad feelings about empty houses (xiong wu in Cantonese is homophonic with the meaning of a haunted house). In fact, the Pangs could generate rental income from their ding wu; yet their low rents indicate that at that time, building ding wu was not considered as a very profitable investment. And the Pangs simply did not have any intention in the 1970s to make huge profits from the sales of this housing.
However, the boom of real estate market since the 1980s has been changing the meaning of building ding wu. More urban people are willing to rent village houses, particularly the ding wu, in the New Territories because of their lower rent. For instance, in 1995 the rent
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