On November 2008, residents of Choi Yuen, a quiet Yuen Long village, got shocked as Lands Department notices are posted everywhere, saying they need to move out from their homes.
Hong Kong's high-speed rail plan to mainland China threatened the life of the villagers. They resisted, and thousands of Hongkongers came together and fought against the project, as well as their forced eviction. Some said it would be a white elephant, while others were not convinced that the cost of the project is HK$66.9 billion.
But, the outlay for the West Kowloon terminal and the Hong Kong section of the line increased to HK$84.4 billion.
"It turned out we were all prophets. There was indeed an overrun," said New Territories farmer Fung Yu-chuk, she remembered the pain and protests she experienced a decade ago. "The project was such a joke. What we said eight or nine years ago came true."
According to the South China Morning Post, ever since the rail link proposal introduced, a lot of controversies followed it. There have been building delays, chaotic Legco debates, and questionable decisions in allowing the Chinese officers enforce national laws in part of the terminal.
The Ambitious Vision Started In 2000
The transport officials proposed an express link to the mainland back in the year 2000. At that time, the Hong Kong leader was Tung Chee-hwa. He put the project in his policy address the next year and hoped that it would only take an hour to get to Guangzhou from Hong Kong by train someday.
His successor, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, announced in 2007 a huge plan of 10 major infrastructure projects that would add HK$100 billion annually to the GDP of the city - roughly 7 percent of Hong Kong's GDP during that time - and make 250,000 jobs.
According to Tsang, China was building a high-speed rail network to enhance its transport capacity at that time, while Hong Kong took the opportunity to be involved.
But in December 2009, a protest erupted mostly organized by Choi Yuen villagers and young people.
"There were people who came to us and said the rail was expensive, and it would not take us to the mainland very much faster. Why was there a need to build it?" said Wong Hin-yan, who was 24 at the time.
Wong, now 33, went on a 120-hour hunger strike in January 2010, the night before the Legco Finance Committee began its meetings to approve the project. The funding for the project has been approved after two days of meeting by 31 votes to 21.
Wong was still unconvinced that the high-speed rail was needed in Hong Kong, and believed the government hadn't listened to the opinion of the public on major infrastructure projects.
"There are already so many ways to get to the mainland," he said. "This rail link seems to have been built for political reasons instead of for its actual use."
The New Homes Of Choi Yuen Villagers
The Choi Yuen villagers had to leave their homes as the project proceeded. There are about 150 families (almost 450 people in total) who accepted the compensation of the government of up to HK$600,000 every family and left in 2011.
Some villagers created new Choi Yuen village, while others went elsewhere. The MTR Corporation built temporary homes of metal shacks at the site of their new village when they were vacated.
The work on the new village had been delayed when residents of nearby Yuen Kong village halted construction trucks from entering the area. The villagers reportedly owned the road that leads to the site of the new Choi Yuen village.
The issue was only resolved when Lau Wong-fat, then chairman of the powerful rural body the Heung Yee Kuk, stepped in.
Eddie Chu Hoi-dick, who is an activist turned lawmaker, helped villagers during their protests and after they moved. He got affected by the villagers' rallying cry that he named his daughter Bat-chin - means "not moving" in Cantonese.
"After 10 years, it is time to review whether such mega projects are what Hongkongers need," Chu said, referring to the high-speed rail, the third runway at the airport and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge.
The former chairwoman of the government-friendly Liberal Party Miriam Lau Kin-yee supported the line as Hong Kong couldn't afford to be "marginalized" amid the rapid economic development of China. However, she was disappointed that the link's cost had increased to HK$84.4 billion.
"The Hong Kong government should reflect on why the construction costs of the various infrastructure projects these days, including the express rail link, are so expensive," she said. "We used to be able to ensure our public work projects were completed on time and within budget. Why are there always delays and cost overruns now?"
