Tiu Keng Leng

Originally called “Diu Keng Leng”, or “hanging the neck hill” in Chinese, this is an area in Sai Kung district in the northeast New Territories.

First established on June 26, 1950, Tiu Keng Leng was once a refugee village that housed former Kuomintang officials and supporters who escaped from the mainland to avoid persecution by the Chinese Communist Party.

Fleeing by ferry from Mao Zedong’s newly established People’s Republic of China, 7,000 nationalist refugees arrived at the once abandoned place.

According to a long-time urban legend, the area was named after retired Canadian official Albert Herbert Rennie, who was said to have hanged himself in 1908. Another version states, however, that his failing business had prompted him to jump into the sea at Lei Yue Mun, located several kilometres away.

The earliest traceable name of the area was “Chiu Keng Leng”, or “ridge of mirror reflection” – derived by the Tanka residents, or boatpeople, who were inspired by the tranquillity of the adjacent waters.

The refugee encampment was shabby but self-sufficient with its own management and schooling system.

In 1961, the Hong Kong government declared Tiu Keng Leng a part of the Resettlement Department, thus allowing the then slum-like area to develop facilities and infrastructure. With its strong ties to the Taiwanese government, the area was sometimes referred to as ‘Little Taiwan’, and considered a stronghold against the spread of Communism during the cold war.

The original Tiu Keng Leng village was cleared before the city’s handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997. Residents were evicted to make space for developing the Tseung Kwan O New Town. There are also three old public housing estates in the area: Kin Ming Estate, Choi Ming Court and Shin Ming Estate.

In recent years the area has been redeveloped as a modern high-rise residential district. In 2006, Metro Town, a nine-tower, private housing estate was built atop the shopping mall podium and Tiu Keng Leng MTR station. Developed jointly by Cheung Kong Holdings, Nan Fung Group and the MTR Corporation, it provides about 3,700 private flats.

Source: https://www.scmp.com/news/