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13 'Hong Kong People Ruling Hong Kong'£ \ efor e decidin g wit h th e suppor t o f hi s Executiv e Counci l t o embark upon his visionary programme to build homes for one \ an d a half million people in ten years, Sir Murray MacLehose f ha d remarke d tha t th e shortag e o f decen t housin g wa s th e biggest singl e sourc e o f unhappines s i n Hon g Kong . No w thi s source of unhappiness was to be removed. But it was not simply a question of housing ; schools , polic e an d fir e stations , clinics , shoppin g centre s and markets, parks and playgrounds, all these had t o be provided i f th e people were t o be persuaded t o leave the familiar environmen t o f Hon g Kong and Kowloon and move to the unknown Ne w Territories. Work began simultaneously at six small towns and almost overnigh t the inhabitants o f these peaceful site s found themselve s living next t o a great construction effort . Eac h was a world o f trenches, cranes, diggers, steel rods, hammering pil e drivers, truck s an d concrete , an d swarmin g workers. Fields were buried beneath a deep layer of orange dirt from th e hills, and where land was reclaimed from th e sea, no sooner had it been filled than piles were driven deep down through it, sometimes sixty metres or more, until they reached bedrock. A little more than three years later, families were moving into their new but small apartments, excited at their new environment and their escape from being crowded together in bunk beds with toilets doubling as kitchens. The new arrivals to the old market towns were so content with their new homes and living environment tha t the though t neve r seeme d t o ente r thei r head s tha t the y had n o on e t o 13 'Hong Kong People Ruling Hong Kong' efore deciding with the support of his Executive Council to embark upon his visionary programme to build homes for one and a half million people in ten years, Sir Murray MacLehose had remarked that the shortage of decent housing was the biggest single source of unhappiness in Hong Kong. Now this source ofunhappiness was to be removed. But it was not simply a question of housing; schools, police and fire stations, clinics, shopping centres and markets, parks and playgrounds, all these had to be provided if the people were to be persuaded to leave the familiar environment of Hong Kong and Kowloon and move to the unknown New Territories. Work began simultaneously at six small towns and almost overnight the inhabitants of these peaceful sites found themselves living next to a great construction effort. Each was a world of trenches, cranes, diggers, steel rods, hammering pile drivers, trucks and concrete, and swarming workers. Fields were buried beneath a deep layer of orange dirt from the hills, and where land was reclaimed from the sea, no sooner had it been filled than piles were driven deep down through it, sometimes sixty metres or more, until they reached bedrock. A little more than three years later, families were moving into their new but small apartments, excited at their new environment and their escape from being crowded together in bunk beds with toilets doubling as kitchens. The new arrivals to the old market towns were so content with their new homes and living environment that the thought never seemed to enter their heads that they had no one to Feeling the Stones represent them. What representation there was, was by a committee elected by the villagers who had been surrounded and swamped by the high-rise buildings. Tsuen Wan , whic h i n 195 8 ha d receive d th e firs t thrus t o f urba n expansion, by 1978 had grown to the size of a city. Multi-storey apartments had climbed over the hills and into the next valley, and bridges had linked it to its neighbouring island. It was a quaint anachronism that a population of several hundred thousan d wa s still represented b y a rural committe e elected by a few hundreds. Sir Murray asked me what I thought. My interim solution was to create an advisory board whose members would be chosen...

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