A Tsing Yi Story: Miao 表哥
Jan 28, 2021
In the weeks leading up to the Lunar New year, Miao orders tangerines and water lilies to sell. Lined up across the open space at the village administration office the tangerines create a sea of orange in the village. As a child I used to play in the rows in between each tangerine plant.
I visited Miao at around 9pm, he was watching over his tangerines from the village administration office. He does this alone now that his kids are working and out of the village.
He seemed happy about my visit. I ask him what he’s been up to. “Watching TV” he answers. He tells me it’s pretty boring. He usually stays here watching his tangerines deep in to the night only to take a nap at around 1-4am.
Talking about water lilies and their bulbs
As I ask him about some water lilies he offers to teach me about growing water lilies and tangerines. For the generation of villagers that grew up on the island pre-development, horticultural knowledge was essential for survival.
In the 40 years he’s been doing this, much has changed. He no longer grows his own tangerines. They’re grown and delivered from mainland China and with COVID he’s worried if he’ll make a return this year.
He longs for the days when he had the land to grow his own tangerines and other plants. Through land resumption and village resiting, there is no land left in Tsing Yi for agriculture. Though it was harder work, the sense of reward was much more fulfilling.
What a great loss to be inflicted on indigenous horticultural knowledge when the last of their knowledge fades away.
As I left he went back to the TV.
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