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Wong Tai Sin Temple is one of thefamous religious places in Hong Kong

�� !"#=�� !"#$%The old Wong Tai Sin Temple, 1930s

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Established in 1921, Sik Sik Yuenbrought to this community aunique name: Wong Tai Sin. The

worship of the god Wong Tai Sin hasattracted a lot of disciples. Mr. Peter Lofrom Sik Sik Yuen says that in the early dayselderly people did not know the exactlocation. So they just told the bus drivers tostop at “Wong Tai Sin”. Soon “Wong TaiSin” became the alternative name for thislittle village.

Mr. Lo Suk Ching from the New TerritoriesAssociation of Societies lived in Wong TaiSin during his youth. He remembers that atthat time, Wong Tai Sin was no differentfrom Sai Kung. They were both countryareas. The land from Wong Tai Sin to KaiTak Airport was all farmland and there wasneither electricity supply nor proper formsof transportation. Later, after the road toSan Po Kong was finished, the trafficnetwork was started, to link the area withthe other regions of Kowloon.

Wong Tai Sin

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Industrial area in Wong Tai Sin, 1951

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T he postwar Wong Tai Sin wass o o n d e v e l o p e d i n t o acommunity of industries and

public housing. The Star Industrial Co. Ltd.,which manufactured the famous “Red A”brand plastic products, was the most famousplastic producer in the 1950s and 1960s. Mr.Stephen Leung, who grew up with thiscompany, tells of the lives of the workers inthe 1950s. Most of them lived in hostels.They had to work over 10 hours every dayon shift. It was very harsh for them and theirmonthly salary was around $300. He alsothinks that the success of the factory wasgreatly related to the relatively cheaperelectricity generated in those times.

�� !"#$%&'()*=�� !�"#Kowloon City and Wong Tai Sin as viewed fromNgau Chi Wan, 1951

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Tze Wan Shan, 1951

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Wong Tai Sin, 1963

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S ituated near Kai Tak Airport,San Po Kong started to develop inthe 1960s from an unused piece of

land into an industrial region. Mr. TonyChow of Wong Tai Sin Industry andCommerce Association participated over along period in the development of this area.He remembers in those days that the majorlarge-scale factories were mainly makingplastics, garments and metal wares. Theworkers lived nearby. Upper and LowerWong Tai Sin Estates and Tung Tau Estate,completed later, provided the large labourforce needed by the San Po Kong factories.The 1960s and the 1970s were the goldenage of San Po Kong. It was also CLP’s mostimportant period of development in thisregion.

As for the people’s accommodation, thiscommunity lived in a mixture of publichousing and wooden huts. The quality ofelectrical equipment was obviously better inthe former. However, the economicsituation of the people was still not good. Inthe early 1960s, the people in some of theresettlement areas had to use instalmentplan buying to install even two electriclamps. They would first pay 50¢, though thecost of the whole work required a total of$16. The debt had to be cleared in a year.The electrical appliance shops even had an“electric fans club”. People could enjoy theuse of electric fans by paying several dollarsa month.

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Advertisement handout tells how to buy electrical applianceson the instalment plan in Wong Tai Sin resettlement house, 1962

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Squatter area of Tai Hom Village, 1970

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By comparison, the situation ofthe wooden hut dwellers was fardifferent. In a wooden hut area at

Tsz Wan Shan, electricity theft was veryserious. Mrs. Elsie Tu fought for the welfareof the people of this area for many years.When she talked about the conditions inthose years, she still became very angry. Sheremembers that the electricity supply wascontrolled by triad societies. They built theirown electricity network and connected it tothe electricity mains. Then they sold thiselectricity to the people. This situationimproved only at a later period.

With this historical background, in 1974 theelectrification of Upper Lion Rock Villagewas completed. Chairman LawrenceKadoorie of CLP hosted the inauguration.CLP installed legal electricity meters andlamps for each wooden hut. It was anextremely impressive scene, especially forMr. Mak Chang, an employee of CLP at thattime who also attended the inaugurationceremony.

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Inauguration of power supply to Upper Lion Rock Village by Chairman Kadoorie