Diamond Hill: Memories of Growing Up in a Hong Kong Squatter Village
?œDiamond Hill was one of the poorest and most backward of villages in Hong Kong at a time when Hong Kong itself was poor and backward. We moved there in 1956 when I was almost 10. I left when I was 19. Those were the formative years of my life. It?™s a time that I remember well and cherish.??/p>
This memoir of a native son of a Kowloon-side squatter village ??the first book ever on Diamond Hill, in either Chinese or English ??presents the early days of a life shaped by a now-extinct community. Penned by a high-achieving Hong Kong professional, Feng Chi-shun?™s sharp recollections of his humble upbringing contain warmth, humour, and an abundance of insights into a low-income Hong Kong neighbourhood that no longer exists ??but remains close to the hearts of many who lived there.
Diamond Hill will invite comparisons with Martin Booth?™s Gweilo. If you enjoyed the latter, you will likely find the former similarly absorbing, because the young Feng was, for many a ?œgweilo?? the inaccessible yet intriguing face of an altogether edgier Hong Kong.
?œDiamond Hill was one of the poorest and most backward of villages in Hong Kong at a time when Hong Kong itself was poor and backward. We moved there in 1956 when I was almost 10. I left when I was 19. Those were the formative years of my life. It?™s a time that I remember well and cherish.??/p>
This memoir of a native son of a Kowloon-side squatter village ??the first book ever on Diamond Hill, in either Chinese or English ??presents the early days of a life shaped by a now-extinct community. Penned by a high-achieving Hong Kong professional, Feng Chi-shun?™s sharp recollections of his humble upbringing contain warmth, humour, and an abundance of insights into a low-income Hong Kong neighbourhood that no longer exists ??but remains close to the hearts of many who lived there.
Diamond Hill will invite comparisons with Martin Booth?™s Gweilo. If you enjoyed the latter, you will likely find the former similarly absorbing, because the young Feng was, for many a ?œgweilo?? the inaccessible yet intriguing face of an altogether edgier Hong Kong.