Childhood memory

When we continued to ask Mr. Ho for more information about Ka Ho, a woman walked by and joined the conversation. She is Chong Iok Ha. Her whole childhood was spent in Ka Ho and now she is working and living in Macau. She was more than delighted to share with us her cheerful memory in Ka Ho.

"Every weekend, if I have the time, I will come back to my hometown and recall my memory about the past," said Iok Ha. She said that there was almost no change in Ka Ho in her memory, except lots of people have moved out.

Regarding the birthday of Three Gods, Iok Ha showed a great yearning for it.

Iok Ha said: "You can't imagine the scene. Every family would burn paper money for worshiping at night, and you could see a line of fire moving from Ka Ho all the way to the Hac Sa Beach. It was just beautiful," she said. "As a child I was very happy on that day, too, as we received a pack of food including fried pork, peanuts, bananas and sweetmeats."

Further more, she still remembered the scene of the Whole Village Banquet and described it with excitement. She said that when she was young, her elder brother once held a Whole Village Banquet for his wedding.

"Every villager would help to organize the banquet. Each family would move their dinner table outside and join the feast. The couple would be very tired because they had to walk through the whole village for the toast," Iok Ha said.

Iok Ha also mentioned that the biggest disturbing event that has ever happened in Ka Ho was the sudden arrival of Vietnam refugees between 1978-1988.

During that period, thousands of Vietnamese refugees were allocated at the Don Bosco Youth Village which was directly opposite the village. There had been some quarrels and squabbles among villagers and refugees. By the end of 1988, Vietnamese Refugees were repatriated or accepted by foreign countries in succession. The camp now is a center for youth activities, and the village life is once again back to its old peaceful routine.

Young generation

When we were in the village, we could hardly see a youngster except us. So, what does Ka Ho's new generation think about Ka Ho?

"For sure, my children love Ko Ho, this is their roots," said Wa Kan. His children are working in Macau and at night they will come back for dinner and sleep.

Iok Ha said: "All of them have the sense of belonging to Ka Ho, since they have spent their childhood here like me." Her children are living in Macau too. Nevertheless, each summer holiday they will go back to Ka Ho and spend all the time here. She said that they are familiar with the life of Ka Ho, such as how to pick fresh fruits or how to ride a bicycle to Hac Sa Beach, they know all the ways of Ka Ho.

We also spotted some expensive cars parked outside village houses. This may indicate young people's sense of belonging. Although the younger generation has earned more money than their parents, they still live in their village and they would never forget their village.

Future of Ka Ho

For the future of Ka Ho, Mr Ho, as a village head, may be the most suitable person to answer this question. However, he didn't give any answers. After all, the only feedback was again by his wrinkled smile.

The drizzle stopped. It was time to leave this lovely village. This time, the dogs just showed their waggling tails and remained quiet. All the things were about to return to silence and peace again while we were leaving.

Maybe the genuine smile of Mr. Ho tells us all: Ka Ho villagers just want their peace and tranquility without outside disturbance.