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Sham Shui Po District
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 Location within the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ([{{{google}}} Click here for satellite image]) |
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| District Council Chairman | Tam Kwok-kiu, MH, JP | ||
| Constituencies | 21 | ||
| Area –Land –Water |
9.48 km² km² km² |
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| Population –Total (2001) –Density |
353,550 37,294/km² |
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| Latitude Longitude |
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| Official website: Sham Shui Po District Council |
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![Official emblem] of Sham Shui Po](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:ShamShuiPo_D.gif)
Sham Shui Po District (Traditional Chinese: 深水埗區) is one of 18 districts of Hong Kong. It includes Sham Shui Po, Cheung Sha Wan and Lai Chi Kok of New Kowloon, and Stonecutter's Island of Kowloon. The district covers an area of about 10.47 km² with population about 372,200 as of 2000.
Contents |
- Cheung Sha Wan
- Kowloon Tong (west of the route of KCR East Rail)
- Lai Chi Kok
- Tai Hang Sai
- Tai Hang Tung
- Tai Wo Ping
- Sham Shui Po
- Shek Kip Mei
- So Uk
- Stonecutter's Island (excluding the reclaimed lands for Container Terminal 8)
- Yau Yat Tsuen
Sham Shui Po was already a densely populated district in 1950s and 1960s. It is heavily poverty-stricken, having the lowest median monthly domestic household income among the 18 districts. It has the highest percentage of elderly over 65 years. The percentage of new immigrants is also very high.
Local private housing Mei Foo Sun Chuen in Lai Chi Kok, which was built in 1966, was Hong Kong's first large-scale private housing estate, comprising 8 phases with a total of 99 blocks.
Partly because of the large presence of the low-income group in Sham Shui Po, the area has bred many pro-grassroots politicians. The current chairman of the Sham Shui Po District Council, Mr Tam Kwok-kiu, is a veteran local politician fighting for the interests of public housing tenants for many years.
Sham Shui Po is the stronghold of Tam's political party, the Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood. Of the 26 District Councillors in Sham Shui Po, nine belong to his group, including party chief Frederick Fung Kin-kee. Fung was returned to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in 2000 by direct election in the geographical constituency of Kowloon West, in which Sham Shui Po is the biggest area.
However, Hong Kong's largest pro-government and pro-Beijing party, the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), has gained a foothold in Sham Shui Po too. In 2000, Tsang Yok-sing, the then chairman of DAB and member of the Executive Council, Hong Kong SAR chief executive Tung Chee-hwa's inner cabinet, won a seat in the Legislative Council representing the Kowloon West constituency, which includes Sham Shui Po.
DAB members Chan Wai Ming, representative of So Uk, Fu Shu-wan, a representative of Lei Cheng Uk, and Cheung Man-to, a representative of Nam Cheong Central are District Councillors in Sham Shui Po.
The Democrats have been less successful at canvassing grass-roots support. Pro-Beijing politicians have won favour in Sham Shui Po by organizing such things as free banquets and tours to southern China.
There are four railway lines serving Sham Shui Po District:
- Kwun Tong Line: This oldest MTR line's original western terminus is at Shek Kip Mei Estate in this district.
- Tsuen Wan Line: Stopping at stations Sham Shui Po, Cheung Sha Wan, Lai Chi Kok and Mei Foo.
- Tung Chung Line: Having a stop at Nam Cheong.
- West Rail: Having a terminus at Nam Cheong, its trains also call at Mei Foo. Both stations allow interchange with the MTR.
There are also various bus route serving the district. Most of them are operated by Kowloon Motor Bus, and some by New World First Bus and Citybus. These three companies also jointly operate some routes, most of these crossing the harbour to the Hong Kong Island.
| Districts of Hong Kong |  |
| Hong Kong Island: Central and Western | Eastern | Southern | Wan Chai | |
| Kowloon (including New Kowloon): Kowloon City | Kwun Tong | Sham Shui Po | Wong Tai Sin | Yau Tsim Mong | |
| New Territories: Islands | Kwai Tsing | North | Sai Kung | Sha Tin | Tai Po | Tsuen Wan | Tuen Mun | Yuen Long | |