The Lau Village Houses in Tung Shing Lei
I was intrigued by the Lau Village Houses in Tung Shing Lei, Yuen Long after seeing photographs online. Upon some research, I learned that the property was the subject matter in a highly contested court case. Therefore I will draw on the case to report on the history of the Lau Village Houses.
The History of the Lau’s in Tung Shing Lei, Yuen Long
The story of the Lau’s originated with Lau Wai Chau, who was the ancestor of the Lau’s in Tung Shing Lei. His hometown was Toi Shan in Guangdong, China. He was a successful businessman even before he came to Hong Kong. At some point he settled down in Tung Shing Lei, Yuen Long. He acquired land there and continued to do business. By the time he died in 1933, Lau Wai Chau has left behind a hefty inheritance consisting of properties and businesses in Hong Kong and China. The land that he owns in Tung Shing Lei alone spans a whopping 3.5 million square feet.
Lau Wai Chau had five spouses and eight sons. In Chinese, each son would be a lineage in the family line, known as “fong.”
Lau Village Houses
The Lau Village Houses in Tung Shing Lei, as shown in the photographs, are a row of five blue brick houses.
Although each house stands alone, each house is also perfectly aligned with the other four. The houses have two storeys, and symmetrical side chambers that were meant to house one “fong.” Although very much aged, the mural painting on the roof and the outer walls are still visible today.
Hak Sut Tong, No. 68 Tung Shing Lei
Amongst the five Lau Village Houses, No. 68 Tung Shing Lei is well-known as Hak Sut Tong. It was the ancestral hall for the Lau’s. As such, it served as the common area for the family, where they gathered for ancestral worship and meetings. Built in 1919, Hak Sut Tong was the first of the Lau Village Houses. Before WWII, Hak Sut Tong might have been a village school. After the war, it became mostly a storage space.
No. 67 Tung Shing Lei completed in 1926, with Nos. 63, 65 and 66 following in 1935. These four houses gave home to the eight “fongs” of the Lau descendants. Two “fongs” shared, with its own exclusive living space, half of each house.
Because of its vicinity to the Pok Oi Hospital, the general area of Tung Shing Lei originally stood for bad luck. For Pok Oi Hospital received leprosy patients. People then avoided this general area. It would not be far from the truth to say that Ancestor Lau Wai Chau acquired these land with very low price. By now, the land value has appreciated to more than HK $1 billion.
A Court Fight
As with many wealthy families, the Lau’s had decades-long fight about family properties. The 1998 judgment that I have come across shows the bane of wealth, which certainly sows relationship-breaking discord in the Lau family. Because this is a private matter made known only due to the fight in court, I shall be brief here. Please feel free to read the case itself for more.
The crux of the contention in this case concerns the eight fongs’ attempt to reach a unanimous agreement to sell the parts of the land in Tung Shing Lei that private developers have offered to purchase for development. The defendants contended that there was an agreement by all the fongs to sell their respective shares of land for which the private developers have shown interest. Although the size of the land to be sold to prospective buyers would be different for each fong, there was some evidence of agreement that the proceeds would be divided equally amongst them.
The court held that there was ultimately no legally-enforceable agreement from the years-long discussion amongst the family. It did have to walk through some pretty dramatic stories before reaching this conclusion.
Suffice to say, that Lau Wai Chau, the ancestor of the Lau’s in Tung Shing Lei, might have turned in his grave watching his descendants fighting in court this way.
Sources
The history above came from the following judgment:
LAU YUE KUI v. LAU LEUNG CHAU AND OTHERS [1998] HKCFI 1007; [1998] 1 HKLRD 579; [1998] 3 HKC 562; HCMP 3924/1995 (7 January 1998), available here.
Antiquities Advisory Board, No. 618 on Hak Sut Tong (Chin).
A Walk in Yuen Long: The 1 billion property of the Lau’s in Tung Shing Lei, blog.terewong.com.
Reminders
A few of the Lau Village Houses of Tung Shing Lei are still inhabited now. Be sure not to disturb the residents there.
As with all village visits, beware of unleashed dogs.
How to Get There
The village is very easy to get to. Bus Routes 54, 64K, 68, 68E, 68F, 76K, and 77K stop at the Yeung Uk Tsuen stop. Head on over to the overpass and cross Castle Peak Road. The entrance to Tung Shing Lei is right by the overpass, right at the San Kong Hotel.
