HONG KONG: VILLAGE'S REACTION TO HANDOVER

(13 Jun 1997) Cantonese/Nat

When the Chinese take-over Hong Kong on July 1, they will be handed back a booming metropolis of six million people.

It's a metropolis that had humble beginnings - springing up from the shacks of a fishing village.

Nowadays there are only a handful of places in the Territory where that traditional sea- faring life is preserved.

One of them is Tai 0 - the village on stilts.

This is the face of the old Hong Kong.

A face lined and weathered by a life at sea.

Wong Kim Mui has been ploughing her sampan up and down these waters for as long as she
can remember.

Tucked away on one of Hong Kong's outlying islands, Tai O has always been her home.

The fact that it will soon be ruled by China seems to matter little in her world.

But Ms Wong's world is changing.

Even the sampan ladies have to work hard to preserve their way of life.

Tourism is now the mainstay of Tai 0, not fishing.

But the traditions of the fishermen are still alive.

All the village has turned out for the annual Tin Hau festival - a festival to worship the goddess of the
sea - though few make their living from the sea any longer.

Fan Sum Kee's family is one of Tai O's oldest.

They've been living here longer than the British have ruled Hong Kong.

But the return of sovereignty to China will make little difference says Mr Fan.

SOUNDBITE: (Cantonese)
"The handover will not affect ordinary people like us. Basically we are Chinese, even when China takes over, we are not able to go anywhere."
SUPER CAPTION: Fan Sum Kee, Tai O resident

The population of Tai O has dwindled over the years.

Once 40 thousand people lived here, now the figure's around six thousand.

Renowned for it's salted fish - even the size of the local catches is down.

Station Sergeant Wong Kim Mui has seen it all.

For the past 17 years he has been patrolling the village on stilts.

SOUNDBITE: (Cantonese)
"Tai 0 was much more crowded before. It was a fishing village. There were quite a few people fishing and making salt fish. But due to the fact that there are less and less catches and the younger generation want to work in shelters from wind and storm, that is why most people have left."
SUPER CAPTION: Station Sergeant Kwok Yin To, Royal Hong Kong Police

Housing, not the handover, is of more concern to the people that still live in Tai 0.

Hong Kong's government intends to demolish the shoreside huts of tin and bamboo.

Already apartment blocks loom large over the fishing village, as every possible plot of land is redeveloped.

It is a strategy that will continue post-handover.

Tackling the shortage of accommodation in Hong Kong is likely to be one of the most vexing problems facing the new administration.

Lai Sub Luk has been catching and salting fish here for decades.

But the government wants her out - and that is occupying her thoughts more than anything else.

SOUNDBITE: (Cantonese)
"The government said they want our land and I'm willing to move. All I want them to do is to give me a place so that I could continue my business."
SUPER CAPTION: Lai Sub Luk, Fisherwoman

One of the oldest of Chinese traditions is still practised in one of Hong Kong's oldest villages.

Tai O's teams go through their paces to mark the yearly Dragon Boat festival.

Next year it will be held under Chinese rule.

And as a lone boat heads out to sea, there is a graphic reminder of the Hong Kong China will get back after 156 years of British rule.

It is a Hong Kong barely recognisable from those humble beginnings as a fishing village.

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