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artisans. In many of the uncle-and-nephew joint ownerships, the older man would work the farm, while the younger went off as a seaman - when the older man died or got too old to work the land, the younger would return to work the farm and marry, while the uncle's son in turn would go off as a seaman. In others, one of the owners would work a shop in the Market, with his brother or cousin working the farm. In all these cases the subsistence income from the farm, and the cash income from the shop or ship were regarded as the joint property of the whole family. These joint ownerships, therefore, tended to allow more flexibility in management of the economic opportunities available than the single-ownership properties.
Of course, where, as at Nga Tsin Wai after the foundation of the City at Hong Kong in 1841, a good deal of the land was devoted to market gardening, then a household could subsist on less land than was needed for rice subsistence, so long as the village had good access to a vigorous market. Market gardening, however, required considerably more labour than a rice farm, perhaps three or four adults to the acre.
Nga Tsin Wai was, therefore, not seriously short of arable land. The villagers could, in normal years, feed themselves, especially since a good deal of the land was devoted to market gardening, even in the nineteenth century. Indeed, even as late as the Japanese Occupation, the village could subsist on its own land: Nga Tsin Wai is one of the few New Territories villages where no-one died of starvation under the Japanese - the village fields (by then entirely given over to market gardening) could still feed the village, even when a third or more had been confiscated by the Japanese for the construction of the Airport Extension and the new nullah.
very
The Ng clan comprised 58.8% of the recorded 1902 Nga Tsin Wai house-owning households (including those households only owning land in Sha Po or Kowloon City), but owned 68.59% of the arable land (including land held by Ng clan trusts). If the Chan and Yung households who held only houses are ignored, then the Ngs represent 63.09% of the recorded house-owning households. At the same time, the Ngs owned 20 of the 30 premises owned by villagers within the Market at Kowloon, (66%), and their premises were equivalent to 73 standard shop-sites (76.84%). The Ng clan was thus a little wealthier than the rest of the village.
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artisans. In many of the uncle-and-nephew joint ownerships, the older man would work the farm, while the younger went off as a seaman - when the older man died or got too old to work the land, the younger would return to work the farm and marry, while the uncle's son in turn would go off as a seaman. In others, one of the owners would work a shop in the Market, with his brother or cousin working the farm. In all these cases the subsistence income from the farm, and the cash income from the shop or ship were regarded as the joint property of the whole family. These joint ownerships, therefore, tended to allow more flex- ibility in management of the economic opportunities available than the single-ownership properties.
Of course, where, as at Nga Tsin Wai after the foundation of the City at Hong Kong in 1841, a good deal of the land was devoted to market gardening, then a household could subsist on less land than was needed for rice subsistence, so long as the village had good access to a vigorous market. Market gardening, however, required considerably more labour than a rice farm, perhaps three or four adults to the acre.
Nga Tsin Wai was, therefore, not seriously short of arable land. The villagers could, in normal years, feed themselves, especially since a good deal of the land was devoted to market gardening, even in the nineteenth century. Indeed, even as late as the Japanese Occupation, the village could subsist on its own land: Nga Tsin Wai is one of the few New Territories villages where no-one died of starvation un- der the Japanese - the village fields (by then entirely given over to market gardening) could still feed the village, even when a third or more had been confiscated by the Japanese for the construction of the Airport Extension and the new nullah.
very
The Ng clan comprised 58.8% of the recorded 1902 Nga Tsin Wai house-owning households (including those households only owning land in Sha Po or Kowloon City), but owned 68.59% of the arable land (including land held by Ng clan trusts). If the Chan and Yung house- holds who held only houses are ignored, then the Ngs represent 63. 09% of the recorded house-owning households. At the same time, the Ngs owned 20 of the 30 premises owned by villagers within the Mar- ket at Kowloon, (66%), and their premises were equivalent to 73 stan- dard shop-sites (76.84%). The Ng clan was thus a little wealthier than
the rest of the village.
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