HONG KONG (SE): As the Church celebrated the Season of Creation in September, the Diocesan Working Committee for Following Thy Way received a funding grant from the Environmental Protection Department for a project to restore the historical Epiphany of Our Lord Chapel, and a primary school in Sham Chung to promote the conservation and revitalisation of the former Hakka Catholic village in Sai Kung.
At the end of August, the Countryside Conservation Funding Scheme under the Environmental Protection Department approved a subsidy of two million dollars for research on the church-cum-school, which was rebuilt in 1956.
Anthony Yeung Kam-chuen, a member of the committee, told Kung Kao Po on September 5 that the project would develop a centre introducing the natural environment, ecosystem and human relationship of Sham Chung and encourage ecological conservation. He believes it will provide a good nature classroom, introducing the freshwater ecosystem and ecological diversity.
The abandoned fields nearby can also help people catch a glimpse of the contributions of the early missionaries.
According to the website of the diocesan committee, the chapel was first built from 1875 to 1879. In 1870, Father Luigi Piazzoli started his missionary work in Sham Chung and helped farmers build a dam with water gates draining into the sea and preventing the flooding during storms. In 1875, while delivering bricks to build the chapel by boat, Father Antonius Tam and a carpenter were killed in a sea storm.
Pirates stopped appearing in the village after missionaries started to work there.
Missionaries later established a school called Kung Man School. In 1959, there were around 120 people in the village, but the chapel and the school were later abandoned after villagers gradually moved out of the area in the 1960s.
Yeung said one characteristic of the chapel is its design which makes good use of sunlight by having windows facing both the east and west so that light comes in during sunrise and sunset, showing how well the ancestors of the village utilised the resources of nature. However, he pointed out that, left unattended for decades, the church building was at high risk of collapsing so large-scale restoration is necessary.
Yeung expressed hope that Sham Chung can become another Yim Tin Tsai where the rehabilitation of St. Joseph’s Chapel, the revitalisation of salt fields and activities promoting ecological spirituality have made it an attraction in Sai Kung. In fact, hikers already favour Sham Chung for its vast grasslands and its proximity to a pier.
The diocese set up the Following Thy Way committee in 2018 with the objective of restoring preserving and managing the disused Catholic churches. The committee plans to renovate and link 10 derelict chapels in the Sai Kung area to create a pilgrimage route.
Earlier this year, the renovation works of the Star of the Sea Mass Centre at Sai Wan Village began on May 24 with a ground-breaking and blessing ceremony officiated by Father Peter Choy Wai-man, president of the Diocesan Working Committee for Following Thy Way. (Sunday Examiner, June 14)
