Wong Wan Pui

HLT 002
The course of redevelopment of a single block on Shanghai Street
The land lease of the shop building (No. 367 Shanghai Street) was expired in the 1960s. His grandfather discussed with the government for renewal. The government wanted to demolish the old wooden buildings because they were prone to fire. The renewal was approved on condition that the Wong family redeveloped the superstructure according to the government’s requirements. The lease would be extended to 1997, the fee shall be paid by installments in several decades. The building had a small site of 600 sq. meters. The Wong family worked with the owner of the adjacent building to redevelop the 3-storey building into a 6-storey one. The piling fees was about $10,000, the construction fee for each storey was $8,000. Each storey of the new building would be connected with a stairway and provided with a water closet and bathroom. The ventilation would be improved too. The total redevelopment cost for the entire block was no more than $80,000 which shall borne by the two property owners on a 50-50 basis. Later, the adjacent property owner sold all storeys of his building except one for self-possession. The Wong family kept the whole block for their own use. Part of it was occupied by the electrical appliance shop, the remaining was for residence of Pui Gor and relatives of the family. The Wong family hired an architect referred by the adjacent property owner. The architect designed the new building in accordance with the Buildings Ordinance. Pui Gor had contributed his ideas. He had revised the stairway design several times. 

In the early years, the titles of the buildings on Shanghai Street were clearly specified. Generally, each block (one porch number) was owned by one single owner, who shall design the layout in case of redevelopment. This is different from today when the redeveloped buildings are given standard design by the developers. He would even discuss with the owner next block, so all the new buildings were different in styles. To contribute his ideas to the redevelopment, Pui Gor has studied the designs of the buildings nearby. Such extensive observation brought him much knowledge about balcony designs. As a kind of advertisement for the grandfather’s shop, Pui Gor displayed the shop name on the external walls of each storey to show their strength.

For safety reasons, Pui Gor’s family always advised him against going to the seafront. Besides, he felt that potable water was not conveniently supplied at the typhoon shelter and it was an unhygienic place, so he seldom visited the Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter; he has little memory of it. But, Sheung Kwong has provided services to the boat people in the typhoon shelter. Many boat people bought flashlight or batteries from Sheung Kwong for resale in their small community. Sometimes, Sheung Kwong provided engineering services to the boat people, such as installing lamps on large vessels. Most of the vessel lights were provided by the shipyard, Sheung Kwong only did the repairs or alterations. Pui Gor sighs that boat people had supported the living of many onshore residents when the typhoon shelter was at its prime. After the boat people left the typhoon shelter, the coastal retailers lost much business.