I had never been to To Kwa Wan before I joined this summer programme. I used to think that To Kwa Wan was simply an old district in Kowloon. Having visited the district in person and listened to the sharing of the tour guide, I gained a deeper understanding of the district. In addition to being a physical place, To Kwa Wan is essentially a community marked by an acute sense of human touch, as well as an old district undergoing urban renewal. There is a vivid memory that lives in my mind: I was intently searching for the assembly point after a break when an old lady came and checked in with me upon noticing my worried face. Her regards warmed my heart. I think this sort of heartwarming tenderness, even more heartwarming than neighbourly care, is unique and native to To Kwa Wan. At the end of the day, urban renewal is a fate from which To Kwa Wan cannot escape; I understand that all good things must come to an end, and that “out with the old, in with the new”. Time passes and things change. What has existed is destined to be part of history eventually. No matter how things change, one’s memory remains unchanged and the same. There is always one To Kwa Wan that lives in the very heart of every one of us.
I recorded the ongoing urban renewal that To Kwa Wan has been experiencing by photographing one of the distinctive streets of To Kwa Wan—Ngan Hon Street. Ngan Hon Street is special in that one side of it is a row of shops still in business, with another side of it being a row of shops forced to be either closed or relocated. It is very telling of the situation that the district is now in. 參加這活動之前，我從未去過土瓜灣。當時，我覺得土瓜灣單單是一個位於九龍的舊區。當我親身到訪土瓜灣，並且聽了導賞員的講解後，才對土瓜灣有了更深入的了解。土瓜灣不單是一個地方，更是一個充滿人情味的社區，亦是一個正面臨重建的舊區。記得有一次自由活動時間，我埋頭苦幹地尋找集合的地點。一位婆婆見我苦惱的樣子，主動前來關心我。她的問候令我感到人情味。我想這是土瓜灣獨有而且特別的溫暖，對比鐵閘外的左鄰右里更要真摯。可是土瓜灣最終也難逃重建的命運。我明白天下無不散之筵席，亦知道舊的不去，新的不來。土瓜灣隨著時間的流逝而改變。昔日存在的人和事也會變成歷史。即使如此，回憶卻不變。每個人心中都有一個土瓜灣。
