Farewell to Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate

Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate is never strange to me. This is the place where I was born, where I took primary school, where I met my best friend, and where I lived before I went to university. Nonetheless, Blocks 1 – 7 of the Estate were first demolished in 2003. Whenever I pass by that vacant land, it calls forth many pleasant memories. This year, people still living in Blocks 8 -14 are finally required to move away in the coming one or two months.

Organized by the common folk, the residents, the public, and the community, an exhibition called “Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate Dinner Bell – Resettlement Estate Farewell Exhibition (牛下開飯 – 徏置生活九大簋 1969-2009) ” is now being held in the Site from March 1 until its closure. There are nine artists recapturing the days of the resettlement estates and their authentic culture to the viewers through photographs, videos, illustrations, sounds, installation art, and text. Three related talks on people's living style and spirit, neighborhood culture, and its reflection on the West Kowloon Cultural District project will also take place on March 8, March 22, and April 19.

Let's dine out now!

Welcome to Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate.
Have you made any reservation?
A table for how many please?

Here comes the menu for you: http://www.imanfok.com/NTKopenRice/

Appetizer:





Who are outside the door?


Please jot down your memory of Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate for sharing.

Today's Specials:


In each block, there are sixteen storeys with two lifts only, one to the 9/F and the other to the 14/F. The design, however, causes much inconvenience to the elders if they do not reside on the mentioned floors. The long corridors and the spaces at each end perfectly functions as a playground for children. I still remember the games I played with my neighbour friends - hopscotch, hide-and-seek, rope skipping, and stair jump. In old days, people also liked to play mahjong, feast their friends, and even sleep there when the weather was hot.

Drawing on the wall or floor (with chalks) is common, but NOT allowable in the Estate. However, works of art do give livingness to the building, don't they?

Why no one did it until now?


Photogram Wall by Terris Choi

Sorry, the sunlight was sold out this afternoon. Only the paints can be seen.


HOME anytime anywhere in corridor by Da


Wanted Wastes by Mon Chan

Is the installation still under "cooking" or are these the leftovers?

Postmen will deliver letters from door-to-door every day. The letter box is mostly attached to the iron door with an opening outside, in which only two to three letters can be inserted. In the daytime, people seldom shut their wooden door. I loved sitting in the doorway and chatting with my neighbour friends. Sometimes, we even climbed up the iron door to watch people passing by and to greet them! My father would probably repaint the iron door every other year. It was never an easy job to paint the whole door on the inside and the outside, especially the bars with different colours. Beige, yellow, orange, red, green, and blue were in common use. While other families usually matched two colours, we preferred three! I believed our door was the most beautiful one.

Some people drew on their doors. What a wonderful corridor / museum will be if there is a painting posted on every door!






Side orders:
The streets seem different now. Some tenants have gone while others stay behind until everything is closed down. Who stand back? Who step forward? Where will they go? We care for their services and good food there.

Having gained publicity through mass media, this vanishing place becomes well-known. This may be good for someone’s business. The lineup for an egg puff is long even though the price goes up.




This is where we bought our primary and secondary school uniforms. The old man will retire soon. Wish him the best!




Usually, we do not pay much attention to our surroundings until something has to be gone. While some people regret the loss of this typical housing environment, other residents, the elders especially, would prefer leaving for a better resettlement. If the buildings are found no way to be retained after forty years, we should learn how to cherish the old community culture, from which our life is enriched and Hong Kong history is laid.

How well you know about your neighbours? We just feel remote from people and the community. Please don’t give us high buildings only, but a place we can see a big sky and a community we can keep and extend indigenous living style and spirit.

Thank you for bringing many people including the residents to involve in the event. It is not simply their own “business” in Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate, but also related to our cultural development in the whole community - Hong Kong.

The Dinner Bell is now ringing. Please go and have a look, but don’t make it a zoo! Be considerate of the residents!