The roaring sound of bulldozers radiating out from a dusty construction site in Hong Kong’s Sai Wan District bears witness to site formation and infrastructure works being carried out for a public housing development at the Ka Wai Man Road and the former Mount Davis Cottage Area. Once again, the Kennedy Town landscape is being transformed.
Mount Davis earned a specific place in history when Hong Kong endured repeated bouts of the bubonic plague. After it first broke out in 1894, the plague killed 2,500 people in just four months. In order to bury the victims, the government established a temporary cemetery at Mount Davis. The shabby tombstones from the area are a testament to the century-old epidemic during the early days of Hong Kong’s history.
In the early 1950s, Kung Man Tsuen (the Mount Davis Cottage Area) provided its slice of history by introducing a public housing scheme during a period when there were considerable housing shortages. However, the remaining traces from these earlier periods in Hong Kong’s history are being removed and replaced by new public housing initiatives.
The plague cemetery location is not part of any official historical heritage site, but photographer, Lau Wing Hong, founder of the “Hong Pics” social media page, has been following the site’s development since 2017. The plague cemetery site is located 50 to 80 meters higher up from the top of the first district village in the Mount Davis Cottage Area.
Reflecting on his first visit in January this year, Mr. Lau noted that the land leveling of the Mount Davis Cottage Area in Kennedy Town had just begun. Trees had already been felled, but everything else remained untouched. When Mr. Lau made a second visit to photograph the area, he found that the landscape had drastically changed. The entire lower section of the Mount Davis Cottage Area had been leveled to the ground. While the top section of the site had not been demolished, support allowing the project to proceed was already in place. With that imminent possibility, Mr. Lau began documenting the site.
A Plague History Buried Underground
In Hong Kong, there is a common saying, “Clearing Tai Ping Tei (the land of peace).” It refers to the “great cleansing” of an area for political reasons, and the transforming of its atmosphere into one which embodies that of a peaceful environment, as if nothing had ever happened there. The origin of the phrase contains a story with an ironic connotation.When the plague broke out in 1894, the British Hong Kong government implemented “Operation Clearing Tai Ping Tei” to search each and every household for any infected individuals. The densely populated Tai Ping Shan Street in Sheung Wan was the area that was hardest hit. The terrifying operations were mostly carried out as unexpected raids, mainly affecting Chinese communities. Those found with any symptoms were forcefully taken away and held in quarantine. Their clothing was burned and their households were disinfected. In contrast, it was also a common sight to see the infected people left abandoned in the streets.
In 1897, the British Hong Kong government established a temporary cemetery on Hong Kong Island’s Mount Davis. To prevent any possible transfer of the disease, the thinking at the time determined that the corpses be buried under nine feet of soil. The tombstone information for the deceased was simple. It included the serial number, the gender, and the date of death. Some tombstones were even marked “unknown.” Historians believe that this ruling prevented relatives from recognizing and recovering the remains of family members. The cemetery site was closed and relocated in 1948. In 1952, the Mount Davis Cottage Area was built on the same slopes of Mount Davis, providing shelter for the Shek Kip Mei fire survivors.
The Mount Davis Cottages were constructed with brick walls and tiled roofs. It was bungalow-style housing in rows of two or three, starting at the foot of the mountain, and moving up in a step-like formation.
Architect Lam Chung-wai grew up in the Mount Davis Cottage Area. He has written a book entitled “The Joy of the Hills - Mount Davis Cottage Area,” which reflects on the satisfying experiences in his hometown. After finding a government map dating back to 1923, he discovered that the original site of the Mount Davis Cottage Area was marked as ‘plague cemeteries.’ He believes that by being associated with the plague, the civil war, and post-war settlement policies, the area contains outstanding historical importance.
Hong Kong’s plague of more than a century ago has also profoundly affected the subsequent urban planning regulations which remain in force today. To control building density and limit the spread of disease, the ordinance at that time established regulations for the width of streets, a building’s height, its ventilation, and its lighting.
Mr. Lau first visited the plague cemetery in 2017 after reading a media report in the webpage of the community group “Hong Kong Heritage Exploration.” From the report, he followed the route to the intersection of Victoria Road and Sai Ning Street. At the staircases of HKSKH St. Luke’s Church and Hong Kong Bayanihan Trust, he discovered several old tombstones which were numbered and dated, with some bearing names. There were dozens of these poignant reminders being used as stepping stones in the staircases.
Preservation of the Plague Tombstones Might Not Happen
In the last few years, the founder of the voluntary organization Hong Kong Heritage Exploration and architect Nicky Wong have both been fighting to conserve the plague cemetery. Central and Western District Councilor, Jordan Pang Ka-ho, has also voiced his concerns. Mr. Pang Ka-ho sent details of the issue of whether to preserve the plague cemetery to the Central and Western District Council for discussion. A proposal to preserve, dig and relocate the tombstones was suggested. It was argued that before the public estate project be started, tombstones should be relocated to a site within Kennedy Town and that a memorial garden be built, allowing residents to understand the history of the cemetery.In a reply from the Antiquities and Monuments Office in March 2017, it was stated that the cemetery and tombstones are within the “List of Items Not Falling Under the Usual Category of Buildings/Structure,” and that items on the list will not be evaluated.
The last public reply from the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) in July of the previous year stated that there was no direct correlation between the tombstone and the plague. The CEDD also stated that the building contractors will be requested to collect and temporarily store any tombstones found on the construction site and that CEDD will collaborate with relevant departments to determine a suitable outcome for the preservation of the headstones.
When Mr. Wong and Mr. Pang Ka-ho visited the ex-Mount Davis Cottage site in July 2022, they discovered that, although there was the possibility of finding more granite tombstones or even coffins from the Qing dynasty, further expeditions could only be made by an engineering and technology team provided by the government.
In January this year, Mr. Lau went on an expedition to the highest point of the first district in the Mount Davis Cottage Area. He found a set of tombstones that were possibly from the plague cemetery. Going on the serial numbers of each tombstone, he knew that they were numbered 48XX to 62XX and were in orderly rows. Yat Ting, an undertaker friend, who accompanied him on the expedition, acknowledged that body remains could still be buried underneath. At the bottom of the mountain, there were more tombstones found with serial numbers, names, gender, and dates.
In July this year, Mr. Lau revisited the location to observe the tombstones marked 48xx to 59xx. He found that most of them had disappeared. In row 55, there were a few slabs left, but they had been moved. On one of the stones in row 55, there seemed to be some broken human bones, which, according to Mr. Yat Ting, resembled pieces of upper human vertebrae.
Mr. Lau and his friends tried to visit the paths between Sai Ning Street and Victoria Road again, where the tombstones had been found, but the roads were closed off. A government notice posted nearby stated that the area is the building site for a proposed pedestrian escalator link between Ka Wai Man Road and Victoria Road. After receiving information from communications between the Hong Kong Heritage Exploration and the CEDD, it was understood that the proposed construction would not affect any of the gravesites.
The Tung Wah Smallpox Hospital’s surviving arch might be the only remaining architectural structure that can provide confirmation of the plague’s history. In 1901, the then-named Tung Wah Hospital established the Sai Wan Department to treat plague patients. After plague numbers had declined, the hospital treated smallpox patients, hence the surviving memorial arch bearing the name Tung Wah Smallpox Hospital. In 1938, it became an isolation hospital, and after the Second World War, it was demolished, only leaving the memorial arch to commemorate its existence.
Mr. Lau hoped that the tombstones from the plague cemetery and the Tung Wah Smallpox Hospital arch could both be preserved to establish a historical recognition of the founding of Hong Kong. However, following the demolition and transformation of the Mount Davis Cottage Area, all the unearthed tombstones which existed on the slopes of Mount Davis disappeared without a trace. In an effort to retain this fragment of Hong Kong’s cherished history, a photographic record of the gravestones has been accomplished by Mr. Lau for the benefit of future generations.
