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| SHA Tin has a rich cultural heritage. It was the role model of the expansion of new town and infrastructure development and, of course, it has been the training ground for some of our leading civil servants. |
It has preserved much of Hong Kong's natural heritage. It is where the Lion Rock Country Park is situated and it has one of the finest racecourses in the world. A visit to Sha Tin is culturally inspiring.
Much of Sha Tin's success can be attributed to the professionalism of the civil service. For example, the Chief Secretary for Administration, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen; Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Michael Suen Ming-yeung; Director of the Chief Executive's Office, Lam Woon-kwong; Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, John Tsang Chun-wah, and many others were the District Officer (DO) or Assistant District Officer (ADO) of Sha Tin when it was emerging as Hong Kong's first new town.
The Chief Secretary for Administration, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, was DO, Sha Tin from 1982 to 1984. He remembered his days in the district as one of the most memorable phases in his career. ''Sha Tin was young and full of possibilities in the early 1980s. The community was growing and expanding fast at that time. A full range of community facilities and infrastructure was being planned and developed, while thousands of new residents moved into the town every month. I felt privileged to have not only witnessed its growth but also taken part in laying the foundations for its success today. It is still my home town of choice today.''
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Donald Tsang Yam-kuen as DO, She Tin (1982). |
Occupying an area of 6,940 hectares, Sha Tin (literally translated as 'sandy farm') lies in a valley to the north of the Kowloon Peninsula and was originally a rural area known as Lek Yuen ('source of clear water'), obviously referring to what is now known as the Shing Mun River running through the centre of the town.
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In the early 1970s, Sha Tin was a large rural area with 30,000 inhabitants engaged in farming and pottery making. Thirty years later, it is a major metropolis built on reclaimed land with more than 640,000 residents, including around 20,000 living in
48 indigenous villages. Perhaps one of the
best-known areas is Tai Wai. Built in 1574, it
was a walled village
and is renowned today
for its famous pigeon restaurants.
The first new town
The Administration first started to implement decentralisation programme in Sha Tin to draw people away from the overcrowded urban areas. Completed in 1976, Lek Yuen was the first public housing estate in the area. Soon after, the settlement began to expand. Private developers carried out developments there and soon it became a totally self-sufficient satellite town. It also became a showcase of the Administration in the building of a modern new town and was always included in the itineraries for foreign dignitaries.
An aerial view of Sha Tin Racecourse and Fo Tan Industrial Area (1978).
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