With Hong Kong leader John Lee set to deliver his annual policy address on September 17, the Post examines key topics the chief executive is expected to focus on, including a mega infrastructure project near the border, new economic drivers and livelihood issues.
Advertisement
In the first of a seven-part series, Vivian Au finds out how villagers and businesses are surviving in an area the government has promised to transform into a new economic engine.
Fish farmer Kwok Chi-yau has spent more than half a decade in a quiet corner of Hong Kong, a rural area set against the backdrop of mountains in the New Territories.
Kwok, a leading entrepreneur managing eight fish ponds with 28,000 fish on a 1.8 million sq ft site in San Tin, said the unique environment, with brackish water, created the perfect habitat.
His aquaculture business, which is a major local supplier and offers a variety of fish, including empurau and giant mottled eel, to restaurants across the city, earns him a monthly income of between HK$200,000 (US$25,640) and HK$300,000, employing about 14 workers.
Advertisement
But the 68-year-old never imagined his career would end abruptly with the development of a megaproject, dubbed the Northern Metropolis, under which his fish ponds will be transformed into a wetland park next to a future tech hub.
“The government has totally given up on our industry,” he said. “There’s zero chance for me to restart the fish-farming business.”