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1 !"#$%&'()*!"#$%&'()*!"#$#%&'()!"#$!%&'()*+, -!"#$!"#$%&'()*+,-.!"#$%&'( )*+,-.!"#$%&'()'*+,-.!"#$%&'()*+,-.!"#$%&'()*+,-.!"#$%&!'()*+,-.'!"#$%&'!!!"!"#$%&'()!"#$%&'()!!"#$!"#$%&!"!"!"#$%&'!(!"#$%&'()!"#$%&' NUP

2 Section 2 Islands Chapter 2 The Islands District provides Hong Kong with a vast green space. In early times people inhabited only a few islands. Among them the best-known are Cheung Chau and Tai O on Lantau Island; Mui Wo and Peng Chau are also important.!"#!"#$%&'() Ngong Ping, where the great Buddha Statue is situated, is the centre of Hong Kong s Buddhism Mr. Charles Mok, former CLP Organization Development Manager, and Mr. Cheng Ka Shing, former CLP Regional Manager, have been serving the people of the Islands District for many years. During the early years of the 1960s, Lord Lawrence Kadoorie initiated the expansion of the Rural Electrification Scheme to Lantau Island. At that time there were very few people (less than 30 families) living in Ngong Ping and around Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island. Ngong Ping got its electricity supply between 1964 and 1965, while the bungalows at Tai O had received electricity supply earlier. Since the bungalows were mainly built with iron sheets, the installation of electricity was very difficult. The people there used a kind of wood named Kun Dian as posts to hold the electric cables. NUQ

3 !"#$%&'()*!"#$%&'()*!"#$%&'()* 0!"#$% &'(&)*+'!"#$%&'()*+",-.!"#$%&'()*+,-!.!"#$%&"'() *+,!"#$%&'()*+,-.!"#$%&'()*+,-$.!"#!"! Tai O was famous for its bungalows!"# Village scene of Tai O NUR

4 The town of Tai O already has over 200 years history. According to Mr. Lee Chi Fung of the Tai O Rural Committee, the Tai O Kwan Tai Temple was built during the Ming Dynasty ( ). There is also an old herbal shop named Kwong Chung Wo with a long history in the Tai O Market. Tai O is one of the four great fishing ports in Hong Kong with fishing and salt as its main industries. In the 1940s and 1950s, fishermen could catch several hundred catties of fish a day. The different kinds of fish were then transferred to the Wholesale Fish Market at Aberdeen for sale. There were also some seafood restaurants which bought fresh fish from Tai O directly. During the 1950s, tungsten ore was found in Sha Lo Wan, and following this, three companies came to mine the ore. At that time many rural people (as many as 3,000 to 4,000 in the peak period) went to these areas to mine the ore and sold it to buyers. The price was 16 dollars per catty. This made Tung Chung and Sha Lo Wan very busy towns. Later, the police came in to stop the collection of tungsten ore and the rural areas became tranquil again. Section 2 Chapter 2!"#$%&'()*+,- Power supply for the construction of Shek Pik Reservoir, 1963 NUS

5 !"#$%&'()*!"#$%&'"()*!"#$%&'()*!"#$%&'(()*!"#$%&'(!)*+,-.!"#$%&'()*()+,!"#$%&' ()*+,-.!"#$%&'()*+,-.!"#$%&'()*+,-#./!"#$%&'()*+,-.!!"#$%&'()*+,-!"#$%&'()*+,-.!"#$%&'()*+,-.!"#$%&'()*+,-".!"#$%&'()*+',-!"#$%&'()*+,-.!"#$% NUT!"#$%&' CLP accounts office at Tai O, 1955

6 01234*256789: A new cash register for the Company s accounts office at Tai O on Lantau Island arrived by sampan in 1960 The bungalows have given Tai O the name of Venice of Hong Kong. These houses were first built by the local inhabitants and the immigrants from Panyu, Dongguan and Taiping in mainland China. Later in the 1960s, because of the increasing number of such houses, the government had to control them through the issuing of licences. The design of the bungalows varied at different times, first from dome-shaped to pyramidshaped, then flat-roofed. The waterways between bungalows are called fire emergency passages. In the 1940s and 1950s, an electric company supplied electricity to Tai O from one small power station. The company was named Tai O Union Electric Company. But the output was small and electricity could only be supplied to the restaurants during daytime. People living there had to wait until night time when the electricity supply shifted to domestic use. This power station lasted only for seven or eight years. In September 1955, CLP acquired the Tai O Union Electric Company. Thereafter people living there enjoyed whole-day electricity supply. The fishing people in Tai O love Cantonese opera. When the electricity supply became sufficient, it was easier to arrange such opera shows. The opera players no longer needed to carry with them the large, heavy and noisy electricity generators. In 1968 the government gave as a gift a 20-inch television set to Sha Lo Wan Village of Tai O. On that occasion hundreds of people rushed to watch television and created a memorable scene. Upon the request of the Tai O Rural Committee to raise safety standards, CLP changed the originally unified set of electricity meters into individual meters and installed them separately in each house. This not only helped prevent fire, but also made the electricity supply more convenient to manage. Section 2 Chapter 2!"# $%&' ()*+! The CLP Substation at Tai O was the first on Lantau Island NUU

7 !"#$%&'()*!"#$%&'()*+!"#$%&'()*!"#$%&'()*+,!-!"#$%&$'()*+,-.!"#$%&'()*+,-+.!"#$%&'()*+,-.!"!"#$%&'()*()+()!"#$%&'()*+,!"#$%&'()*$%+,!"#$%&'()*+!,-!"#$%&'()*+,-.!"#$%&'()*+,)-!"#$%&'"()*+,"!"#$%&'()!"!"#$%& The Cheung Chau Tai Ping Ching Chiu is one of the island s most famous events NUV

8 !"#$%&'()* Lord Kadoorie attending the ceremony to supply power to Cheung Chau While Tai O is famous for its bungalows, the island of Cheung Chau is widely known for its Bun Festival in the Tai Ping Ching Chiu and paying their tributes to Pak Tai ( God of the North ). Cheung Chau is the most populated among the places in the Islands District. Mr. Kwong Kwok Wai of the Cheung Chau Rural Committee describes how he witnessed the change of Cheung Chau from a small fishing village to a favourite scenic spot for tourists: In the 1920s and 30s, the people living on Cheung Chau, Peng Chau and also Lamma Island and Mui Wo were closely related through marriage and trading activities. Later, due to the individual development of the islands and the small number of inter-island sailings, communication between Cheung Chau and other places was reduced. In the 1950s, there were small factories of leather, incense, paper, ice, ship-building and plastics on the island. Most of the inhabitants worked on the island and electricity was supplied by the Cheung Chau Electric Company. Kerosene was the fuel for electricity generation and thus the cost was high. Representing the inhabitants, Mr. Kwong Bing Yau, Mr. Kwong Kwok Wai s father, called on the government to improve the electricity supply on the island. Sir Edward Youde was at that time the Governor of Hong Kong. He received Mr. Kwong Bing Yau s appeal and was eager to solve the problem. In 1984, CLP acquired the Cheung Chau Electric Company and reinstalled new machines to improve the supply to Cheung Chau. The tariff was unified with that of customers in Kowloon and the New Territories. This helped the Cheung Chau people save over a million dollars every month. This improvement of the electricity supply brought prosperity to Cheung Chau. It also attracted many foreigners who enjoy the atmosphere of a fishing port, to live on the island. Section 2 Chapter 2!"#$%=!"#$ Cable-laying at Cheung Chau, 1983 NVM

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10 As Mr. Lam Wai Keung, GBS JP, of the Islands District Council points out, it is often foggy in the islands and hence a stable supply of electricity is extremely important to provide sufficient lighting to guide ships. Besides, the electricity supply helped the development of small scale industries and provided jobs for the inhabitants. Take the island of Peng Chau as an example, the light industries on the island include rattan work, chinaware and weaving. During the 1950s and 1960s industrial developments were flourishing. The working population reached a total of 2,000-3,000. Electrification not only raised people s living standards, it also brought more variety to the cultural and entertainment activities on the islands. Section 2 Chapter 2!"#$%&'()*"+,-./ Young faces light up when Peng Chau receives its power supply, 1955 NVO