A Kung Ngam- Who is A Kung
On Hong Kong island, located at the eastern end of Shau Kei Wan, there exists a place named A Kung Ngam. Its an area where you find a unique community with a combination of western and local religious beliefs.
If you browse around here, you will find mini temples worshiping gods like Tin Hau, Tam Kung, Sing Wong and Yuk Wong. Among these gods, Sing Wong and Tin Hau has the highest number of worshipers.
However, part of name of the place A Kung means the god Tam Kung, he was once a god worshiped by fishermen in many parts of Hong Kong. But now A Kung Ngam is the only area in Hong Kong you can find the temple worshiping Tam Kung.
There are several versions of folklore about this special god: One version says initially Tam kung was a shepherd boy. Then one day he met a divine being and he was enlightened to know the secret of life. Finally he became one of the gods himself.
Another version states that when Tam Kung was young, he was a well educated man and he cared much about the poor and unlucky people within the community where he resided.
As he grew older he became extremely eager to know more about the meaning of life, so he traveled to remote areas to find sages to teach him the secret he had been longing for. Finally he became a god who is willing to extend helping hand to the poor or people in trouble.
The last word of the name is Ngam. In Cantonese it means rock. And at first the Tam Kung temple was built behind a rock. One folklore states that the rock was a huge stamp from heaven which denote the authority of Tam Kung. That means Tam Kung was assigned by the king of all divines to manage events happen around the spot.
History of Hong Kong tells us that before 1800s A Kung Ngam was a port for export of stone materials. As people living around the area were fishermen, there were numerous boats and ships in the vicinity, so it became a typhoon shelter.
Since boats as well as ships needed maintenance regularly, shipyards were built along the shore here. Up to now these shipyards have been producing boats for the special moment of boat racing during Dragon Boat Festival every year.
At the end of the 20th century, land reclamation from the sea caused fishing boats to anchor elsewhere. Nowadays, the number of shipyards has largely decreased due to a shrinking in number of ships going there.
Other than the local beliefs of gods, there are churches in A Kung Ngam too. If you walk along the main street, you will easily see the building of Tsung Tsin Church. It was built in 1862 by local Hakka and priests from the Swiss Basel Church. The church was once occupied by the Japanese during the Second World War. They used it as a military police headquarter.
If you happen to travel in Hong Kong and want to visit this area, you may go to Hong Kong island, climb on the tram heading for Shau Kei Wan. In about 30 to 45 minutes, you will arrive the terminal in the eastern part of the island. From there your walk along Shau Kei Wan Main Street East, you will soon find yourself moving in A Kung Ngam.
