Historical monument

Gazing out from my balcony on a lazy Sunday afternoon, this is the spectacular view that I see.  A lonely crow stands on top of an Italian Renaissance architectural against pleasant greenery.  Who would expect to see such a house in the highly urbanized city of prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /Hong Kong today?!  In fact,the Hong Kong Government has declared this building on Pok Fu Lam Road as a Proposed Monument in April of this year.  The declaration will give the building temporary statutory protection from demolition and allow 12 months for the Antiquities Authority to fully consider whether a declaration of Monument should be made, and also for negotiation with the owner with a view to reaching a consensus on preservation of the building because the owner of the Building has filed an application to the Buildings Department to demolish the Building in March 2007.  So, until next April, no demolition works could be carried out on this building except with a permit granted by the Antiquities Authority or if the Chief Secretary of HKSAR grants his special permission.

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This building is a rare surviving example of European-style mansions in the Southern District of Hong Kong. It is of Italian Renaissance architectural style with interesting Art Deco variations. The building was built in around 1931 by Mr. William Ngar Tse Thomas Tam (譚雅士) who was a barrister and well-known social figure in Hong Kong in the mid-20 th Century. He was appointed as a Magistrate in 1947 and was enthusiastic in social services. It would be a real pity that this beautiful piece of work be demolished.  So let us hope that the owner and the Antiquities Authority can come to term on a fair compensation to the owner to retain this historical monument in Hong Kong.