Villagers reluctant to say goodbye to one of Hong Kong’s last squatter settlements

HONG KONG (AP) — In months, Lo Yuet-ping will bid farewell to a centuries-old village he has called home in Hong Kong for more than seven decades.

The Cha Kwo Ling village in east Kowloon is filled with small houses built from metal sheets and stones, as well as old granite buildings, contrasting sharply with the high-rise structures that dominate much of the Asian financial hub.

Lo, 72, has spent his entire life here and is among an estimated 860 households required to move under a government redevelopment plan. He said he will miss the rich history, unique culture and warm interpersonal kindness that defined life in the village.

“I’m unwilling to part with anything,” said Lo, who expects to be relocated to a newer district of east Kowloon.

The ongoing demolition of the Cha Kwo Ling village, set to enter its final phase in 2025, is erasing one of Hong Kong’s last remaining squatter villages, making way for public housing. This settlement has witnessed the former British colony’s transformation from a fishing village to an industrial hub and finally to a global financial center.

Originally a settlement for the Hakka people, a Han Chinese group, Cha Kwo Ling saw an influx of mainland Chinese immigrants over the years, just like other squatter villages in the city.

Some of the immigrants arrived in the city between late 1940s and 1950s, fleeing the civil war in China or seeking better economic opportunities. The influx swelled Hong Kong’s population from 600,000 in 1945 to 2 million by 1950, according to a government’s website. Unable to afford housing, many people built wooden homes in squatter villages. In 1953, an estimated 300,000 people were living in such settlements across the city.

Researcher Charles Fung,