Ng Fat Chuen
Ng Fat Chuen
A farmer in the city with strong sentiment to rural lives
Uncle Fat Chuen’s days are full of yearning for the rural life and landscapes of the past. Looking for land and water, he often migrated between villages, continuing to farm despite the rapid pace of urban development.
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Ng Fat Chuen was born in 1935 in Mau Chin, Nga Tsin Wai. He was in the 25th generation of the Ng clan of Nga Tsin Wai, belonging to the branch of “Ng Hon Ko Tso”. He was raised in a family of farmers, and his parents grew vegetables and kept pigs. His mother came from Lam clan of Po Kong Village and his grandfather was the headman of Chuk Yuen Village. In search for farmland and water supply, he and his family migrated frequently around neighbouring villages. From around 1944, they settled down in Wong Tai Sin. In 1950, he got married under the arrangement of his mother. His wife, came from Wong clan of Kwun Yam Shan Village. After the wedding, he studied in Lok Sin Tong Primary School in Kowloon City for three years. After 1957, the British administration started developing the Wong Tai Sin District on a stage-by-stage basis and requisitioned farmland from the indigenous settlers. Ng’s family ceased to grow vegetables as a result, but they kept on raising pigs until 1986. After his children were born, he made a living by being a farmer as well as a factory worker, a ticket seller for Kowloon Motor Bus, and a warehouse assistant. He retired at the end of the 1990s. Ng Fat Chuen was affectionate with tai gong Ng Hon Ko Tso. The Manager of Ng Hon Ko Tso since 1988, he was responsible for overseeing its deposits and ancestral cemetery, also preparing the annual grave sweepings during Chung Yeung festivals. His role was to maintain branch unity. Over the years, Uncle Fat Chuen has compiled many historical materials about Nga Tsin Wai and is regularly interviewed by researchers.