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Chiu Ping-kan (left), elder brother of Chiu Ping-yin (right), poses for a photograph outside the fortified structure at No. 55 Ha Pak Nai Tsuen, Yuen Long. Photo: Bruce Yan
Hong KongEducation

Hong Kong family with decades of residential ties to statutory monument poses heritage dilemma for officials

Yuen Long building that was once a lookout for revolutionaries has been declared a monument, but long-term residents do not want to leave

Allen Au-yeungandFANNY W. Y. FUNG
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A family who has for decades been occupying an operational base of China’s 1911 revolution in Hong Kong is in dispute with local authorities over an order for them to move out – more than four years after the building was declared a statutory monument.

The fortified structure at No. 55 Ha Pak Nai in Yuen Long was built around 1910 by Tang Yam-nam, a core member of Hsing Chung Hui, or Revive China Society, and a comrade of Sun Yat-sen. It served as an operational base in addition to Castle Peak Farm in Tuen Mun for revolutionists to watch across the Shenzhen border in the aftermath of their failed mutiny of the New Army in Guangzhou.

In 2011 – the centenary of the revolution that toppled the monarchy in China – the Hong Kong government declared the building a legally protected monument and later erected four plaques outside marking its historical significance.

However, the building has all along been locked up by the Chiu family who reside in the village. Government staff have not been able to enter and conduct repairs and maintenance works on the monument. Last Tuesday, heritage officials met with the four brothers of the family to discuss the blocked access yet a consensus could not be reached.

A visit to the family at the building by the South China Morning Post found old furniture still remained inside. Cracks were visible in the ceiling, with old wires and cables dangling about the interior and spiderwebs everywhere. The floor on the third and top storey was unstable and shook when the reporter stepped onto it.

An exterior of the fortified structure at No. 55 Ha Pak Nai, Yuen Long. Photo: Bruce Yan
“I was born here and grew up in this house with my father, Chiu Shun, and my brothers and sisters. My old bed was still inside the building,” said Chiu Ping-kan, 68. “We moved out around 2005 because we felt the building’s structure had become unsafe. I wanted to repair it on many occasions but I couldn’t.”

“We know the history of the building and want to preserve the house as well. But, problems started four years ago when the government said to us they wanted the house back. They said we occupied government land … We had already expressed wishes to hand back the house back in 2011. But we just want four licences for each of us brothers in return.”

A spokeswoman for the Development Bureau said the building was situated on public land and had been recorded as a squatter structure in 1976. Although a family of six, surnamed Chiu, had been registered as residents in that building in the 1984 Squatter Occupancy Survey, she stressed that registered squatters did not possess any legal title to the squatted building.
“Since 2011, the Antiquities and Monuments Office has been liaising with the occupiers of the fortified structure, including sending them letters, arranging meetings with them and visiting them on-site, with a view to conducting necessary restoration and strengthening works. However, no positive reply has been received from the occupiers,” she said.
Some furniture and dishes remain in the house but are covered by spider webs and dust. Photo: Bruce Yan
The occupiers of the fortified structure would be requested to submit documentary proof to confirm their eligibility for compensation. If proved eligible, they might be offered public rental housing or an ex-gratia allowance of up to HK$600,000, the spokeswoman added.

David Tse Kin-wah, a surveyor familiar with New Territories land matters, said disputes with villagers of this kind were very common when the government took back land in rural areas, especially on the occasions of public works projects.

“Whether the people involved can claim compensation depends on individual circumstances,” Tse said. “But in general, squatters’ registration status is not hereditary. The claimants themselves must be able to prove that they lived there. Secondly, there must be evidence that they had been living there for a certain number of years.”

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Family in fight for historic fort home
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