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!"#$%&'()*+,-./01234 PT The Tai Po phase of the -Canton Railway, constructed during 1910, was using small amounts of power Section 1

Chapter 3 Lighting up the (1931-1941)

ife in the 1930s was perilous The year 1931 marked a new era in the !"#$%&'()*+,-. in many parts of Asia with development of the New Territories. The Pumping station at using electric power, 1928 L continuing civil war among the coming of the light bulb to the New provincial warlords in China, and Japan Territories was like the dawning of a new gearing up for invasion. Immigration into day to many villagers. Mr. Lau Wan Hei what was seen as the safe haven of Hong of the Sai Kung Rural Committee recalls Kong grew in these years. With this the use of bamboos as torches in the old influx came capital and skills. The great days. The bamboos were chopped down worldwide depression began in 1929 but from the hillside, flattened at the ends, did not at first affect dried in the sun for four or five days, seriously. As a British colony, Hong immersed in water for a month, and then Kong’s industrial products had dried again under sunlight before being preferential tariffs within the British used as fire beacons. The light was said Empire, hence increasing their to be bright and produced no dark smoke. attraction and competitiveness. Entrepot—the lifeblood of Hong Kong— continued to flourish and new industries such as rubber shoes, garments, spinning and weaving, enamelware and light metal products became established.

!"#$%&'() Advertisement of a weaving factory using electric machines, 1934

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!"#$%&'()*+,-. !"#$ CLP supplying power to construction work of the main dam of Reservoir, 1936

PV ccording to Dr. Geoffrey Herklots, Mrs. Gloria Barretto, who was also

Section 1 Aprominently associated in the postwar years with the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association (KAAA), was a long-time resident of the New Territories. She remembers when living in her Fanling home during the 1930s having kerosene lamps

Chapter 3 because their own domestic generator was so unreliable. The family also had to order a 50- pound block of ice each day from Kowloon for the refrigerator, brought up by the train together with the day’s food supplies.

In 1931 CLP laid high-voltage cables through the Beacon Hill tunnel, together with 2.2 kV overhead lines, supplying electricity to the regions along the railway line, forming the first supply network. CLP was ready to take its next great leap forward to supply electricity to the New Territories, covering !"#$%&'()*+,-. , Tai Po, Fanling, Au Tau in Yuen Long, and . Even then only a few Tai Po Market in 1927, where there was still no power supply larger towns could enjoy electricity and most of the New Territories did not benefit from this new development. A major achievement was the laying of high voltage cables in time for the building of the , in the Kowloon hills, between 1933 and 1937.

!""#$ !"# !" CLP’s advertisement in Hong Kong Daily Press, 1933

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!"#$%&'() Hok Un Power Station at Hung Hom, 1931 QN y now, it was widely recognized that electricity needed close and Section 1

! ! ! regular supervision to avoid the ! ! " " B " " " # # dangers of damage and deterioration to # # # $ $ installations. The Government in 1931 $ % % % ! " & & required anyone possessing electric lamps & $ ' ' ' % $ or cables to have them inspected by CLP ( ( ( & ) ) staff every five years, with repairs to be " ! Chapter 3 ) * * * ' % + effected immediately. ( & + ! + , , , ) ' - " * ( - # # . . - + ) / $ , * / Light installations were one thing; lifts % 0 & - + ) & . , / and elevators were now an increasing ' feature of high-rise buildings. When Nathan Hotel in Yau Ma Tei opened in 1930, it told its residents: “no need to take the stairs when you go up or down.” And from the vantage point of your room you might be able to see the “towering Alhambra Theatre” and gaze on “the dazzling electric lamps.”

!"#$%&'( Advertisements of cinemas during the 1930s

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!!"#$%&'()*+ Headquarters of the Marine Police at Tsim Sha Tsui, built in 1884 QP ong Kong in its colonial days was always ready to celebrate

Section 1 H a right royal occasion and this came in 1937 with the coronation of King George VI. A grand parade was staged in which Kowloon and the New Territories took part, with CLP given responsibility for the lighting. All public

Chapter 3 places were lit up, but pride of place went to Signal Hill in Tsim Sha Tsui where two 20-foot tall illuminated letters, GR, were set up. Private homes and CLP substations were also festooned with electric lamps, particularly in Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok and Kowloon City—with 36,000 lamps being used for the occasion.

It was Kowloon’s last big celebration before the clouds of war loomed on the horizon. Following the Marco Polo Bridge (Lugouqiao) Incident in 1937, Japan launched full-scale war on China and as the invading armies swept south towards Guangdong province, Hong Kong took its own precautions with air raid drills and blackouts. People were asked to “switch off all outdoor lights and to cover any lights indoors when the (air raid) alarm is heard.” !"#$%&'()*+,-. Newspaper report on the coronation of King George VI, 1937

!"#$%&'( !"# Night clubs attracting customers by “sexy dance in the dark” during the blackout period

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!"#$%&'()*+,-./01234 Hok Un Power Station was inaugurated by the Governor Sir Geoffrey Northcote in 1940 !"#$%&'()* CLP advertisement, 1940 QR Despite the onset of war which brought CLP not only had to expand the capacity alarms and dangers, Hong Kong was of Hok Un, opened by the Governor, Sir

Section 1 striving to maintain its economic Geoffrey Northcote on 26 February 1940, development, with many firms and but to plan construction of its well known businesses moving from threatened areas administrative building at the junction of in China, together with management and Argyle Street and Waterloo Road, still in capital. New industries were given a use today. It would be the business centre boost, and in 1938 a Hong Kong Products of the company. A network of cash

Chapter 3 Expo was held to show off the new wares collection offices were opened around coming from local factories. In these Kowloon for the payment of bills. Clearly years, Tsuen Wan became a major the threat of war was no barrier to industrial area, with the opening of expansion and growth. breweries, dyeing works and factories producing soya bean products, preserved food, and woven cloth. One of the biggest was the Texas Oil Refinery at Mei Foo. Hong Kong was even supplying war materials to the Chinese armies with the Wah Nam Steelworks opening in 1938; !"#$%&'( and following the outbreak of war in CLP Deposit Receipt, 1938 Europe, Britain turned to Hong Kong for many of the products it could no longer buy from Japan or Europe. All these industrial activities were efficiently supported by the supply of electricity. Another memorable event was the introduction of air conditioning in what was then Hong Kong’s largest public hospital—Kowloon Hospital. In future, doctors and surgeons would be able to operate in a cool environment for their own and their patients’ comfort.

!"#$ Newspaper report, 1938

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