The Welsh squatter of Tai Tam Tuk, Hong Kong

Tai Tam Tuk Village.

Just after the British took possession of Hong Kong, Rev. Lewis Shuck, the editor of the Friend of China newspaper came to Hong Kong for an inspection:. On the 14th of February, 1841 it was reported:

‘We slept in the ship and next morning returned to Wong Nai Chung and followed a narrow path over naked rocky hills and valleys and frequent streams. After several miles we found a larger stream with several fields along its banks which we followed to Tai Tam, a village of 10-12 families totaling 70-100 people. There was more natural forest here than anywhere else.

Today, at the base of Tai Tam Tuk Dam is the village of Tai Tam Tuk. In 1918 the new reservoir submerged the original Tai Tam Tuk Village, and the villagers moved to just beyond the dam. Over time quite a few squatters came to live around Tai Tam Bay.

(Tytam Bay on old colonial maps refers to the bay at Stanley Main Beach. There is also a Tytam (or Tai Tam) Village in Stanley, with an ancestral house and a few houses - but our village is called Tai Tam Tuk.)

In the 1980's the Government offered to re-house the squatters of Tai Tam Tuk into public housing. Almost all took the offer. Several of those who originally made a living from the sea here still regularly come and fish daily, returning to their Public Housing in Shaukeiwan in the evening.

The Tai Tam Tuk Association still maintains a presence, and villagers return to the area frequently for family gatherings and Tuk meetings. Each year, they also hold their own dragon boat race.

The area is under the control of two departments, Squatter Control (for the buildings) and the Lands Department.

(Photo undated, perhaps 1930s)

A new squatter, a Briton from Wales, moves in.

After the squatters were resettled, the entire area was zoned as public open space. There are a few pieces of land that are leased for recreational activities, boat houses and such.

But also at this time, in the 1980s, a Welshman took possession of one of the squatter huts. He claims to have "purchased" the hut from the previous occupant, and that the signatures were witnessed by a police officer.

For an unknown reason, he was left alone by Squatter Control and the Lands Department for over 25 years while he did excavation into the hillside and illegally expanded the squatter hut six-fold, adding three apartments. In the last 10 years he also completely enclosed the area between the squatter hut and Tai Tam Harbour preventing the public from using the open space and he and his tenants park their cars in plain view, blighting the beauty of Tai Tam Harbour. Derelict vehicles are also left out and part of the area is being used as open rubbish storage.

Who is this Welshman? According to court documents, the squatter's name is David Terence (Terry) Beynon aka D.T. Beynon. The squatter hut boldly announces that it is named "The Pines Garden". There are three rented apartments at present - units rather grandly numbered 550, 650 and 900. Of the current tenants, one claims to be a director of ManFirst Bank HK LTD. Another claims to be a barrister-at-law (though his name is not listed on the Bar Association website). The Welshman makes a rental income of well over HK$25,000 per month from these apartments.

Squatter Control is responsible for the building itself.

The Lands Department is responsible for the land around the squatter hut.

The Lands Department advertisement state that their job is to make sure our open space is not used for vehicle or other storage, and ask the public to report violations. Yet several derelict vans are being stored by the road, and other goods, such as jet skis - are being stored inside the fence - for a fee of course paid to the Welshman - all on public property to which the public is denied access.

When contacted, the Lands Department claims that they have no need to stop this illegal occupation, open storage and parking on this lovely stretch of waterfront because there are other ways for the public to reach Tai Tam Harbour.

So it seems, that the Welshman is getting special protection from the Lands Department even after there has been a complaint from the public.

Since this is public open space, anyone who walks along or runs on the path along Tai Tam Harbour will walk right past this squatter hut, and may have wondered why there are so many cars and so much rubbish in such a lovely area. The reason is - an illegal squatter - with the full knowledge of the Lands Department.

Photo:

56 Tai Tam Tuk Village as you are walking toward the bottom of Tai Tam Dam

This photo of the fenced in back garden shows how officially zoned open space has been annexed by a squatter in beautiful Tai Tam harbour.

Squatter Control have contacted the Welshman regarding the building, and it is "under legal action" but he continues to rent out the apartments.

The Lands Department since Sep 2007 has allowed the squatter to fence out the public from open space, as he has been doing for over 25 years.

In fact, "Private area no admission" signs were added after the Squatter Control instructed the Welshman to remove the illegal structures - and the Lands Department has not required the fences to be taken down.

Tai Tam Tuk Village is a lovely pubic asset, and a single squatter had taken it for himself, make twice as much in rental income as the median income in Hong Kong - and refuses to rent to Chinese.

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