Relocating Wah Fu Estate’s residents is a huge task. The Site at Kai Lung Wan North is part of this plan. It is one of five Pok Fu Lam South sites.
The Housing Authority is redeveloping Wah Fu Estate. This redevelopment will occur in three phases. The five Pok Fu Lam sites will provide about 8920 public housing units. After redevelopment the number of flats in Wah Fu Estate is expected to increase. It will go from about 9200 to about 12200. Upon completion of the whole redevelopment about 21120 flats will be provided.
The anticipated intake date of phase two Kai Lung Wan South and Kai Lung Wan North sites will remain unchanged. It is expected from 2030 to 2031. The anticipated intake date of Phase 3 at existing Wah Fu Estate will remain as from 2040 to 2041.
Wah Fu Estate is in the southwest of Hong Kong Island. It sits on a slope leading to Waterfall Bay and Kellett Bay. Mount Kellett protects the estate’s north side. The south faces the East Lamma Channel. Before Wah Fu Estate, the site’s history had two keywords: waterfall and cemetery.
Kellett Bay is west of Waterfall Bay. It was named after Lieutenant Henry Kellett. Its Chinese name Kai Lung Wan may come from the cove’s shape. It is said to resemble a Chinese chicken coop.
In 1841 the British troop took control of Hong Kong Island. The census did not indicate any village at Waterfall Bay and Kellett Bay. The hamlets were probably too small to be recorded.
The colonial government reserved Kellett Bay as a cemetery after the typhoon in 1874. The dead bodies were arranged by Tung Wah Hospital to be buried in Kai Lung Wan. Tung Wah Hospital also built a memorial pavilion on site. This marked the most important change to Kellett Bay before Wah Fu Estate. It became a site for cemeteries. There were graves before, but not on the scale of Kai Lung Wan Cemetery.
Kai Lung Wan became a major burial area for the Chinese community. The government planned to relocate the cemeteries in the 1930s. However, political instability delayed this. During the Japanese occupation, Kai Lung Wan Cemeteries were used for unclaimed Chinese and Japanese dead bodies. This continued after Britain regained control in 1945.
With refugees fleeing the Chinese Civil War a housing shortage emerged. Refugees lived in squatter huts pre-war buildings and rooftop houses. Some refugees used gravestones from Kai Lung Wan Cemeteries for their huts. Some gravestones around Chi Fu Valley were preserved this way.
In October 1947 the government began to cease the operation of Kai Lung Wan Cemetery. Kellett Bay remained home to many refugees for over a decade. In 1963, the Hong Kong Housing Authority planned to build Wah Fu Estate on the same site. The clearance of remaining graves began in July 1963. The landscape of Kellett Bay and Waterfall Bay changed almost completely.
Now you know more about Site at Kai Lung Wan North. It plays a vital role in Hong Kong’s past and future.