Saturday, August 25, 2012
Kau To Shan (九肚山) 15 August 2012
Kau
To Shan oversees Shatin Racecourse - could it be the reason for the many horse
related street names/house names in Kau To Shan? Ma On Path马鞍径,
Ma Lok Path马乐径, Ma Ling
Path马铃径, Winner Lodge, The Barogue伯乐居2. I’m not too
sure. Maybe these names got to do with the nearby area called Ma Liu Shui 马料水 and/or
the Ma Liu Village马料村.
As
we strolled along Ma Lok Path马乐径,
taking in the sights of many posh houses, private swimming pools, tennis courts
and luxury cars, we stumbled on another small signboard “Ma Liu Village马料村”. We followed the sign
and walked on. We saw many typical village houses, we heard villagers chatting
loudly and happily, we caught sight of huge hanging jackfruits and bananas. We were
‘welcomed’ by many dogs (behind the fence) but had to put on a ‘brave’ face as we
slowly & steadily walked past a pack of wandering fierce barking dogs.
We
were intrigued by this place and did further research on the net when we got at
home.
Kau
To Shan (九肚山) also known as 狗肚山 is originally an indigenous
Hakka village settlement. The main Hakka family, surnamed Lo (罗) found many wild dogs (豺狗) in the area and called the place 狗多. This Hakka name got twisted
a little and became 狗肚 (dog’s
stomach). Having a ‘dog’ as a name wasn’t too elegant and so it was
subsequently changed to九肚 (nine stomachs). The number ‘Nine’ sounds the same as ‘Dog’
in Cantonese.
So,
what has happened to the vast villages and wild dogs? I guess they were mostly
‘chased’ away by big property developers. Two remaining villages viz. Ma Liu
Village & Kau To Village are now obscured by the luxury houses – there is
no clear sign/direction to the village. I imagine the struggle of the villagers
and their fight to stay. I applause the existence of these indigenous residents
in Kau To Shan. I wonder for how long the villagers will stay united before
caving in to the big fat cheque offered by the unscrupulous developers.
From
Google Map, we discover a hiking trail from Kau To San to Taiwai. We look
forward to exploring it one day.
And now,
I think I know why no green cab is allowed in Kau To San.
1 Hong Kong has 3 types of taxi
– Red color taxi, the most expensive and could travel anywhere in Hong
Kong. Green color taxi, the 2nd
most expensive is restricted to New Territories. Blue color taxi, the least expensive is
restricted to Lantau island.
2 伯乐 is a Chinese mythical God who manages horses in
heaven. 伯乐 is also used to describe
someone who excels in recognizing and managing talented people.
# posted by Mae @ 6:16 PM 
