This place is called Nam Sang Wai, a wetland area to the north of Yuen Long in Hong Kong. Some people call it the “paradise of birds” and “back garden” of Hong Kong because of its eco value and biodiversity. People usually go there on weekends or holidays to reach out to the nature. I am one of those people; my friends and I usually go cycling there. We love this place and enjoy the peace it brought us.
There was a large enclosed grassland where people used to picnic, play remote controlled(RC) drones, play with their kids, walk their dogs, take wedding picture and go cycling like us.
However, we won’t be able to see this anytime soon as it was burnt on 12th March. Monday at 3 in the afternoon, it started burning until 8 Tuesday morning (13th March). The fire lasted for 17 hours, reports say there were multiple sources for the blaze, which grew into 3 fires and affected 12 hectares.The Fire Service Department said the fire was spreading unusually fast and there were suspicious circumstances. We thought the fire was over but 7 hours later, fires were ignited again there.
It was odd since it was raining just a few days before, it’s spring and it’s humid, how can it allow for multiple fires? According to The Conservancy Association, the climate of Hong Kong itself can hardly produce enough heat to cause naturally-sparked fires. It went on to report that there were fires in Nam Sang Wai in 2007, 2008, between October and December in 2010, and on New Year’s Day in 2011. Those were all arson but police could never catch anything, not even a hair nor a fart!
Well, the police listed it as an arson case once again. There are speculations although parties that are more eager to see Nam Sang Wai become available to the market are property developers. It is suspected that the fires were set to lower the ecological value so that the land could become available for development.
This fire destroyed the ecosystem there and affected the resting spot for migrating birds.This bridge was lucky to have survived from the fire, I wish I can stand at the same place to look at the beauty of the nature again.
