Sai Kung Town

Sai Kung Town or known as just Sai Kung, was established as a market town for the surrounding villages as 西貢墟, around 100 years ago.[2] Nowadays, in the legal documents, the town is more often referred as 西貢市. Despite in modern transliteration, 市 usually means city, but in Classical Chinese, 墟 and 市 both means market. The word 市 was also used by the colonial British government to transliterate the word Town, such as Tai Po Town.

The town is named after Sai Kung (Chinese: 西貢). Which the name was appeared in the Western publications dated back to the early 1900s, but only stated as "the village of Sai Kung".[3] Sai Kung also probably first appeared on the map of the Xin'an County,[4] made by Simeone Volonteri in 1866. The origins of the name Sai Kung is unknown.[4] Moreover, there are criticisms on the accuracy of Volonteri's map in general, [5] or for specific place name such as Green Hill, which historically known as Tuen Mun Hill.[6]

According to Professor David Faure, the is no market in the modern day Sai Kung District, that were recorded in the Qing dynasty's Xin'an Xianzhi (Chinese: 新安縣志; lit.: 'Gazetteer of the Xin'an County'), neither in Kangxi edition (1688) nor in Jiaqing edition (1819).[7] Instead, he stated that due to inaccessibility of the land based transport, Leung Shuen Wan was probably developed into a moorage inlet in the 18th century.[7] Shops were open on the Leung Shuen Wan Island (known in English as the High Island, and not inside the modern boundary of Sai Kung Town), as well as a Tin Hau Temple, for the boat people that lives on their boats.[7] Objects in the Temple dated back to year 1741 of the western calendar.[7]

He also stated, market(s) for Sai Kung Peninsula was founded before the signing of the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory in 1898, which ceded many places along with the whole Peninsula to the Hong Kong colony as the New Territories and New Kowloon. In the early 1900s, the Sai Kung market had expanded into 50 shops, plus 4 boat building sheds. At the same time, a smaller market of 18 shops was existed in Hang Hau.[7] (Hang Hau became part of the built-up area of Tseung Kwan O New Town, and not part of Sai Kung Town)

It was not an education centre of Sai Kung Peninsula at that time, as traditional study halls were located inside their own villages. However, the Catholic Church of Hong Kong had established a primary school at the end of the 19th century, which teach western curriculum in the market town.[7] The colonial British government also established a police station and a dispensary near the market town.[7]

During the World War I, ships were required to be inspected by the Royal Navy when entering or leaving the Victoria Harbour. The Port Shelter and the Sai Kung market town were located outside the harbour, thus benefited from the policy to become a place for resupply.[7] A temple inside the Sai Kung market town, also became the local civic centre that settle disputes.[7] The shop owners, which were not from the surrounding villages, even represented Sai Kung in Heung Yee Kuk in the 1920s. Heung Yee Kuk represented the interests of the rural villages of the New Territories and recognized by the colonial government as a consulting institution. However, in the 1930s, the local merchants formed their own chamber of commence and gradually took over the political influence on the market town.[7] Nowadays however, the seat for the Sai Kung Central constituency is elected by the local residents of the town as universal suffrage. The rural villages surrounding the town, still elect representatives to Heung Yee Kuk, however.

According to another author, the Sai Kung market town received the economic expansion in the 1950s. At the time, the world was enforcing an embargo policy to the newly established the People's Republic of China, which the market town became a place for smuggling goods to the Republic.[8]

Sai Kung town underwent significant expansion during the 1970s when the High Island Reservoir and associated water schemes required some villagers and fishermen to be rehoused in Sai Kung. This provided a core of government-funded new development, both housing and commercial, in the town centre. This was followed by the Tui Min Hoi (literally 'over the harbour') development under the government's market town programme.

Before the relocation of the airport of Hong Kong from Kai Tak to Chek Lap Kok, the town was a popular residential area for airport staff from all over the world.

The town is next to Sai Kung Hoi, which was a fishing harbour. The harbour is now a typhoon shelter, where motorized junks used in the local tourist trade are moored. They are boats that can be hired for fishing and swimming trips.

The statutory boundaries of the town were Hiram's Highway, Po Tung Road and Tai Mong Tsai Road in the north and west. In the south the town is bordered to the conservation area Tsiu Hang Special Area, as well as Pak Sha Wan Peninsula. In the east the coastline served as the boundary.[9] Sai Kung Town Outline Zoning Plan, which regulated the boundaries and urban planning of the town, was prepared in the 2000s.[10] It was approved circa 2006.[11]

The coordinate of the weather station is 22°22′32″N 114°16′28″E.

Hoi Cheung Lau, Tui Min Hoi Chuen

Tui Min Hoi Chuen (Chinese: 對面海邨) is a public housing estate in Tui Min Hoi, developed by Hong Kong Housing Society. It is the first rural public housing estate developed by Hong Kong Housing Society. It consists of 4 blocks of 5-storey buildings completed in 1984, 1985 and 1986 respectively.[15][16]

Lakeside Garden

Lakeside Garden (Chinese: 翠塘花園) is primarily a subsidised private housing estate[17] and Flat-for-Sale Scheme estate on the reclaimed land.[18] It is the third rural housing scheme developed by Hong Kong Housing Society.[19] It consists of ten private residential blocks and one rental residential block, completed in 1997.[20] The rental block provides affordable rental housing similar to those of Hong Kong Housing Authority.[20][21]

Sai Kung Town is primarily served by double-decker buses, public light buses and green taxis. There is no MTR link to Sai Kung Town. Ferry services are available to the neighbouring islands and isolated coastal villages in the Sai Kung Hoi, as well as to the public golf course on one of the nearby islands.

Sai Kung is served by Sai Kung & Clearwater Bay Magazine, a free-distribution English language monthly magazine and the community website Saikung.com.

Hong Kong Academy is in Sai Kung. Sai Kung Sung Tsun Catholic School (Primary Section & Secondary Section) is also in Sai Kung.