CLOSE UP
END OF POLICE OCCUPATION IN PING SHAN
David A Whyte, Superintendent, Hong Kong Police Force
The closure last year of the Ping Shan Police Station drew to a conclusion the colourful chapter of the Police Force's occupation of this remote post.
The lease of the New Territories in 1898 necessitated the provision of a police presence to ensure security and to provide basic government services. Opening on April 22, 1899 with a commanding view of the rural enclaves of Yuen Long and the coastal areas of Deep Bay, the station served as the only police stronghold in the area until the Yuen Long Divisional Police Station was completed in 1965.
THE TANG CLAN
Accorded Grade III Antiquities and Monuments status in 1988, Ping Shan (well known for its pagoda) is of particular significance to the indigenous Tang clan, specifically the Tang Wai San Tong and the Tang Chap Ng Tso, descendants from one of the "Five Great Clans" residents in the New Territories since the 12th century.
The ancestral hall, located at the foot of Ping Shan
Police Station, has been a focal point of the nine Ping Shan Tang families for
800 years. With the Tang villages sited to the west of the hill and the ancestral
graves to the east, 'fung shui' demanded that there be no obstruction on the
summit in order to maintain a link between the past and present generations
of the Ping Shan Tang clan. Unfortunately, the Ping Shan Police Station mounted
a virtual road block squarely on the brow of the hill, giving rise to calls
for its demolition, a feat very nearly accomplished by tenacious termites devastating
its roof beams in 1995. Preservation is now ensured by the Ping Shan Heritage
Trail encompassing the station as an
exhibition hall and visitor centre depicting the history of the Tang clan.
TANGS SEE RED
In keeping with Ping Shan Police Station's colourful history, the original building's roof was finished in a flamboyant red. The local villagers, however, were indignant, declaring that the roof resembled a cooked crab and insisted upon replacing it by a more palatable shade of uncooked crustacean green.
The bountiful supply of fruit trees on the slopes below
the station was the impetus for one of the Tang clans starting a career with
the Police Force, and eventually a posting to the Ping Shan Police Station.
Inspector Tang Yiu-cheung, a senior member of the present Tang clan, was born
and grew up in the village immediately below the Ping Shan Police Station. One
of his childhood efforts to liberate fruit from the trees in the station compound
drew the attention of the local constabulary. The lasting impression of this
contact resulted in Inspector Tang taking up a police career and his posting
to the station for a number of years, culminating in his presence to draw to
a close a continuous occupation by the Police Force of 102 years, with a history
as colourful as the characters that served within its compound.
Last updated on 30 July 2002