Read: 推土機前種花

Yesterday was hot, yesterday was full of sunshine, yesterday was a sweat-fest. And finding myself in the area of Yau Ma Tei didn't help (urban heat island effect! Geography 101.) Thankfully Kubrick was nearby, providing air-con, a cafe with plenty of nice beverages, and a bookshop. Needless to say, where there are books, my wallet opens. 

So say hello to 推土機前種花 by 周綺薇 (Maggie Chow.) The book revolves around the neighbourhood of Sham Shui Po, with the introduction taking the reader back to a 2007 meeting at the Sham Shui Po District Council between government representatives and the residents affected by a 2004 government initiative to redevelop the area. The meeting degenerated into confrontation when the government accused the residents of 'illegally using government property'. Further exchanges between government workers and the affected locals resulted with the questions of the latter being met with obtuse non-answers and threats of police action from the former. Nothing shockingly novel about that scenario, since it is a widespread problem in current Hong Kong and is often reported in the media. 

But by introducing Sham Shui Po to the reader through the context of a conflict allows us to see that it is precisely these conflicts that emphasize, and render visible, the strong community ties that exist. The structure of the book is divided into six sections titled; the district and I; following the path of the neighbourhood locals; telling our story; love letter to the community; the flower gives fruit, the flattened land; and Postscript. 

The first section examines the nature of a neighbourhood, and the author makes such a narrative coherent by weaving her own background and experiences into the text. Instead of presenting her Sham Shui Po neighbours as 'faceless entities', she includes the names and backgrounds of those in her building, and show the linkages between them. By 'linkages', it refers to how they are situated within the physical space (e.g. Old Man 雷 lives in the flat under Uncle 李, Old Man and Old Lady 高 lives upstairs from the author on the fourth floor, etc.); or their role in the community (e.g. Old Man 雷 uses his medical training from his youth to give advice to neighbours, Mr. and Mrs. 馮 run a stationary shop that serves as a centre for news to spread around the locals, Limbu is from Nepal and runs a little corner store.) The best thing about these character introductions is that they are highly personalized, containing the little mundane details that are important to the author herself. 

The other sections takes the reader away from the seeming timelessness of the author's immediate social surroundings, and back to the the problematic world outside. The text then provides a chronological description of the major events that happened, detailing the neighbourhood's progression from voicing their ideas out in public, refusing to play the role of the victims, envisioning their ideal Sham Shui Po through the help of a Dutch activist by the name of Elena, and more. The book does a good job documenting the different events and discussions that take place at different moments in time. One event of particular interest would be the 2007 'Story Telling Gala' on Hing Wah Street, where the author helped erect huge posters formatted to look like the shop fronts of local business owners. People were allowed to interact with the store keepers depicted in the posters, and to leave write comments to stick onto the images. Another event infused with humour includes creating a series of worksheets for Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor (Permanent Secretary for Housing, Planning, and Lands in 2003/2004 and later the Secretary for Development) including lessons asking Lam to think about what it means for the government development office to put 'people' first (and who these 'people' are interpreted to be), what directions development should take, and the way of life in Hong Kong. 

Ultimately, the efforts of the residents did not stop the Urban Renewal Authorities from tearing down the affected areas, displacing the community and severing the complex network of ties that were there. But the author concludes the book on an optimistic note, as from this episode there sprang a new empowering consciousness within the local population, manifesting as The Sham Shui Po Renewal Concern Group. I for one, am curious to know 'what is next?' and to see what sort of strategies the Group will employ in the face of future government development.      Other questions include; what does the author see as 'ideal development'? In the author's view, what is the degree of effectiveness in the strategies used? And while there are lessons learnt by the local residents, what can the government take away from all of this? How does development practices in Hong Kong compare to those abroad, and is there a model from abroad to learn and copy from? The book manages to force the reader to look with a critical eye at the term '活化' , and to rethink what 'urban renewal' really means (to replace or to rejuvenate?) 

On an unrelated note, is it hard not to notice the plethora of lovely illustrations and photographs in the book, rendering it almost into a graphic novel. 

Book retails for 110HKD at Kubrick (99HKD for Kubrick members). It is 148 pages long, published by MCMM Creations in 2011. Mostly written in Chinese, with a few pages of English translation in the back (though I must say that the English does not fully cover everything mentioned in the Chinese sections.)