Ng Pok Kong

Ng Pok Kong was born in 1951 and was raised in Kowloon City where he first began to make sense of the world around him. It was said that before the war Ng Pok Kong’s family had two houses in Nga Tsin Wai village which were adjacent to Ng Chin Hung’s home. Both properties were eventually sold during the Japanese occupation. Ng Pok Kong’s family also owned lot of land they rented out in order to make money. His elders just sat by, gradually watching as their land dwindled away. Ng Pok Kong’s grandfather studied at Queen’s College and did not really work at a proper job after graduation, instead relying on the rent received from the land, farming and raising pigs for his living. The old man was regarded as a fop who lived a carefree life and left his wife to take up all the burdens of work around the house and farm.

Ng Pok Kong’s grandfather was much better educated than his fellow villagers. The fact that he lived on the periphery of Nga Tsin Wai may well have further added to his high regard of himself. When Ng Pok Kong was small, he often visited his grandfather’s home in Chung Sum Nam Street near Tung Tau Village. Ng Pok Kong’s family members were educated people who did not care about the village or clan affairs and seldom took the villagers’ side. However, should there be any important decisions to be reached in the village, his grandfather would play a major role. As educated people enjoyed a high status within the village walls and the old man was a senior elder, he was regarded as having supreme authority by other residents. As a result, his fellow villagers dared not dispute his words or actions. One day, Ng Pok Kong’s grandfather decreed that the open space behind the new ancestral hall (Editor’s note: the present Ng Clan Ancestral Hall) be leased to either a grocery store or fruit shop with he himself pocketing the rent. He continued to profit from this arrangement for many decades. After the old man passed away in the mid-1970s, the rental income passed to Ng Pok Kong’s father. When village affairs later became more transparent, some residents raised objections and the bulk of the rent was then became public income. Even so, a few hundred dollars per month was still allotted for Ng Pok Kong’s grandmother’s living expenses.  

Ng Pok Kong’s father seldom talked about clan affairs to his children, only occasionally casually mentioning it in passing to Ng Pok Kong. Back then, when the Ng clansmen paid respects to Ng Shing Tat Tso, the whole family including a cousin called Ng Pui Sum returned to the ancestral hall for worship. When Ng Pok Kong was young, females were not allowed to enter the ancestral hall and had to watch the ceremony from the side while preparing various sacrificial offerings. Children entering into the ancestral hall were also scolded and chased away by the elders, but Ng Pok Kong still managed to sneak in and grab pieces of roasted pork for his mother!

Ng Shing Tat Tso was divided into four branches with each branch taking turns to preside over the ceremony. The Ceremonial Master was responsible for buying the offerings and had some rewards. Until it came for the third branch of the Ng Tai Un Tso line to officiate, Ng Pok Kong had never seen his grandfather preside over a ceremony or his eldest uncle so actively involved in clan affairs. Mostly, it was Ng Pok Kong’s father who acted in such capacities if only in name as all the work was actually done by Ng Shui Chuen’s wife who prepared the pork, chicken and other offerings. Ng Pok Kong’s father did however lead the first incense offering during the official worship. Not really minding who paid their respects first, various uncles of different branches but the same seniority stood by his side. 

Ng Pok Kong’s grandfather had four wives in quick succession, remarrying each time his previous wife died. His first wife gave birth to Ng Pok Kong’s first and second aunt and eldest uncle. A second wife, surnamed Chan from Lamma Island, gave birth to Ng Pok Kong’s third aunt while a third wife, surnamed Wong from Tseng Lan Shue, gave birth to Ng Pok Kong’s father and was Ng Pok Kong’s official grandmother. The old man’s fourth and final wife gave birth to Ng Pok Kong’s two younger uncles and two younger aunts. Ng Pok Kong was one year older than the eldest of these two younger uncles. Ng Pok Kong’s eldest uncle graduated from Wah Yan College, Kowloon and worked as a translator in the police force. A gentleman famed for his manner and style, the uncle had two wives. The first of these gave birth to a son and three daughters, all of who were Ng Pok Kong’s cousins. The mother of a son and two daughters, his second wife lived in Kam Tin where there was also a local Ng Ka Tsuen. After they got married, his eldest uncle and his first wife lived in Sai Yeung Choi Street in Mong Kok. Ng Pok Kong’s cousin dropped out of school after primary graduation and subsequently joined the police force. He migrated to the US after he retired. Ng Pok Kong had seen the two daughters of his eldest uncle’s second wife when the girls had visited the Jiao festivities in Nga Tsin Wai village and met the other relatives. Ng Pok Kong never got to see his second elder uncle who died while still a young man.

Ng Pok Kong’s father was born in 1928 and was the third son in the family. Ng Pok Kong’s grandfather still owned land early on and his father helped him to collect rent. Ng Pok Kong’s father later enrolled in Tai Tung Middle School after primary graduation. In 1941, Hong Kong fell to the Japanese while Ng Pok Kong’s father was in Form 1. He later became an electrical apprentice after dropping out of school and then subsequently performed field duties such as maintenance and the laying of cables for CLP. Originally from Nanhai, Ng Pok Kong’s mother came to Hong Kong from the Mainland during World War Two. Two years older than Ng Pok Kong’s father, she had five children. Ng Pok Kong applied for a civil service post in logistics in 1971 after he had taken HKCEE. Ng Pok Kong’s second younger brother completed his own matriculation at Ying Wa College and unsuccessfully sat a university entrance examination. He eventually successfully applied for a civil service job in 1970. Ng Pok Kong’s third younger brother graduated from TVB’s 8th Artist Training Class, playing some second or third billed roles. Ng Pok Kong had two younger sisters. Coming from a patriarchal home, they were forced to work to support the family and help pay for their brothers’ schooling.

Ng Pok Kong believed himself to be an “urban walled villager” who had departed from the traditional customs of his spiritual home. He had never performed the lantern lighting ritual to mark the birth of his son, preferring to just add his boy’s name to the clan genealogies. He was also not sure whether the lantern lighting ritual was performed when he himself was born. His grandfather and father rarely took an interest in village affairs. That said, as the manager of the third branch, his father would return to Nga Tsin Wai on both the Birthday of Tin Hau and Jiao Festival. The old man did not take his children to attend the former celebration, only letting them back to the village to pay respects to their ancestors and visit various Festival. Ng Pok Kong has no memories of the Tin Hau Festivals of his younger years. He really only started to get involved more recently after he became the third branch’s manager. As a child, Ng Pok Kong did not really comprehend the meaning of the Jiao rituals, but adored the festive trappings such as the wooden doll puppet shows, parades and tasty vegetarian meals.

As all his family members were Catholics, Ng Pok Kong had been baptised when he was born. While his mother and younger brothers and sisters were all devout Catholics, Ng Pok Kong considered himself to be the “black sheep” of the family when it came to religious matters. As the representative of the third branch, he had to burn incense to worship the Goddess of the Sea during the Tin Hau Festival. Such practices were in direct contravention of Catholic doctrines. He thought that as grave sweeping was a show of respects to one’s ancestors it could not really contravene the Catholic faith.