In the misty drizzle, it seemed so hard for us to find our way to the peaceful village on a country road in Coloane. It all happened when we saw a sign of Ka Ho Village. A pack of dogs showed up and barked at the "strangers" with curiosity and alertness. The tense situation changed when an old man with a wrinkled smile welcomed us. The story began as we, "the strangers" started our unusual visit to Ka Ho.

The old man, Ho Wa Lin is the president of the Ka Ho Village Inhabitants Mutual Help Association and the village leader of Ka Ho. Mr. Ho, now 77, still wore a neat suit and talked energetically.

"You guys are not the first group of strangers who have brought a rippling in our peaceful life, but what really threatens our rustic and tranquil lifestyle is the 'disturbance' surrounding us," said Mr. Ho.

"Yeah! Exactly! Ka Ho has been left neglected by the government. Either the Portuguese or Macau government has shown no care for us. They often ignore our needs," one of the villagers echoed.

Pollution complaints

The speaker is Chong Wa Kan, a 60-year-old Ka Ho villager.

What they have asked from the government is to decrease the polluting emission generated by the three large factories that surround the village. They are the Macau Power Plant in the north, the Macau Cement Factory in the east and the Industrial Magran - Transformation of Marbles and Granites in the west. All of the factories are in full operation everyday; they are what Ho called the 'disturbance'.

"As you know, many of the villagers in Ka Ho now are over 60. We are surrounded day and night by the dust and toxic gases from these plants. How can such a group of old people stand it? We have complained many times to the government, but no reply at all," said Wa Kan.

Wa Kan said that his family had been rooted in Ka Ho for over 20 generations. They used to have many pieces of farmland and several fishing boats, but all were sold throughout the changing times of Macau.

Indeed, these changes had a great influence not only on the scene of the village, but also on the culture and way of thinking of the villagers.

The history and tradition

Ka Ho, located in the south-east part of Coloane, is one of the historical places in Macau. It was recorded in the documents of the Ming dynasty dating back to over 400 years/ . It had been under the jurisdiction of Xiang Shan County (now Zhong Shan) until 1912 when the Chinese government transferred Ka Ho to Portuguese sovereignty.

Ka Ho is an agricultural and fishing village, covering an area of 36 square meters. There are currently about 100 villagers still living in Ka Ho, mostly the elders. The main family name in the village is Chong and Cheang. Especially, Chong is a big family name accounting for 2/3 of the population in Ka Ho.

Most inhabitants in Ka Ho are Hakkas. Some of the Hakka's traditional food like Big Bowl Feast or Whole Village Banquet once were popular in the village, but now, they are just gone with the wind.

The 13th of May in the Chinese Luna Calendar is one of the most important dates of the year for the Ka Ho Village. It is the birthday of San Sheng (Three Gods), who are Hong Sheng (The God of Water), Tangong (The God of Sea) and Guangong (The God of War). Every villager of Ka Ho would gather at the San Cheng Temple, worshiping and celebrating the festival.

There has been a miraculous legend about this temple. It is said that once upon a time, a group of pirates planned to loot the village in a secret attack. However, when they approached the village, they saw a flag had been raised. The pirates thought the villagers had prepared for defense. Therefore, they just left the village. However, nobody in the village later admitted to have raised the flag. All the villagers believed that it was the miracle of the Three Gods in the temple.