St Francis of Assisi Primary School, Shek Kip Mei
To start off the year I am lacking a bit of inspiration and motivation to write about much (just seem to be getting one cold after another at the mo) but until I am back and fully fit here is a quickie from down the road.
It’s a rather well-known local religious school that is worthy of note due to its so-called ‘Chinese Renaissance’ architecture.
To people like me (i.e a little bit stupid) that just means a normal building with a Chinese Temple-style roof.
There are a few notable examples of this style of architecture and I have included a couple in this blog before (King Yin Lei, Tao Fung Shan, St Mary’s, Tiger Balm Mansion etc) however, one of the most famous examples is about to be knocked down (or has it gone already?) because the extremely batty but wealthy owner (grand daughter of Robert Ho Tung) has decided that she hasn’t got enough zeroes in her bank account and a piece of nice old HK is going to suffer as a result. Debatable historical significance aside, Ho Tung Gardens is still a building worth preserving and it’s a real shame that 1. She feels the need to do this in the first place (despite the Govt offering her 3 billion and a land swap deal) and 2. that there isn’t a more cohesive heritage policy in HK.
Anyway, on that note, Happy New Year…
April 1, 2013 at 4:37 am
I graduated from this school in 1967. So touched to see the church and school!
April 1, 2013 at 9:39 am
Hi Goo – glad you liked it. Cheers, Phil
January 4, 2013 at 6:43 pm
Hi Phil,
The Church in the compound is the biggest Roman Catholic Church in town too, in terms of size and volume.
Best Regards,
Thomas
January 4, 2013 at 6:52 pm
Hi Thomas – thanks for that, I had no idea. Do you mean in Kowloon or in the whole of HK? I’d be surprised if it was bigger than the main Catholic Church in Central.
Cheers
Phil
January 5, 2013 at 1:11 am
Hi Phil,
Not just the district, the bigger Hong Kong. I have an impression that it could accommodate over 1,000 worshippers very comfortably.
Best Regards,
Thomas
January 5, 2013 at 11:45 am
well, I’m impressed Thomas. Many thanks (and perhaps see you on Wednesday
)
January 3, 2013 at 11:17 pm
Hey Phil,
Nice post on St Francis SKM – the building looks great, wonder why I’ve never noticed it before. Reminds me of the colonial British Raj sort of empathy with things local but with nicer clean lines.
Sorry to hear you’ve been under the weather for a bit. Here’s the cure:
3 slices of fresh ginger, slice of lemon (plus juice to taste), spoonful of honey – all in a hot mug and cover for at least 5 minutes before administering. 3 times a day with a tot of scotch afore bedtime.
Take it easy and get well soon.
Happy New Year!
Henry
January 4, 2013 at 9:24 am
Hi Henry
thanks for the tip, I’ll give it a go because I’m a big fan of ginger (the root at least hehe) .
I think the school has been around for some time – the website says 1955 – but I’m not sure if that includes this building. Still it’s certainly nice to look at.
Cheers
Phil