Elizabeth Lominska Johnson and Graham E. Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9789888455898
- eISBN:
- 9789882204331
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888455898.003.0006
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
Kwan Mun Hau, an original village and research focus, was re-sited in 1964, as the villagers could no longer tolerate the flooding in the old village resulting from unplanned development of ...
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Kwan Mun Hau, an original village and research focus, was re-sited in 1964, as the villagers could no longer tolerate the flooding in the old village resulting from unplanned development of surrounding areas, and government hopes to rationalize the development of the central area where the village had been located. This sealed the villagers’ move to a cash economy, a mixed benefit, with many employed in industry and some receiving rents from tenants of diverse origins, many of whom ran small factories. The lineage trusts were also converted to rent-yielding urban property. Families were still large, with many children, but their structures were limited by the configuration of the new houses. Interest in birth control was high. All children now went to school, studying in Cantonese, the lingua franca, which was also promoted by the increasing presence of television. Western medicine was readily available, but the very old were still cared for at home.Less
Kwan Mun Hau, an original village and research focus, was re-sited in 1964, as the villagers could no longer tolerate the flooding in the old village resulting from unplanned development of surrounding areas, and government hopes to rationalize the development of the central area where the village had been located. This sealed the villagers’ move to a cash economy, a mixed benefit, with many employed in industry and some receiving rents from tenants of diverse origins, many of whom ran small factories. The lineage trusts were also converted to rent-yielding urban property. Families were still large, with many children, but their structures were limited by the configuration of the new houses. Interest in birth control was high. All children now went to school, studying in Cantonese, the lingua franca, which was also promoted by the increasing presence of television. Western medicine was readily available, but the very old were still cared for at home.