Retired fish farmer Lai Koon-shing has spent most of his life in a quiet corner of Hong Kong, a rural area set against a backdrop of mountains in the New Territories.
Yau Tam Mei Tsuen in Yuen Long has long been home to a farming community that produced rice, vegetables, poultry, pigs and fish.
Lai, 76, and his wife raised their four children there. Their extended family of 19 individuals from three generations occupy two village houses built on 8,000 sq m (86,111 sq ft) leased from the government.
When it is mealtime, everyone comes together. “This is one of the happiest moments for me,” Lai said.
He still has his fish pond, and some of his neighbours continue keeping chickens, but the close-knit community of about 1,300 knows their days there are numbered.
Yau Tam Mei Tsuen lies within the 63,790 sq m development site for the new development of Ngau Tam Mei, a key centre in the proposed Northern Metropolis megaproject near the border with mainland China.
