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Small Traders New Village was built in 1963, it is 52 years old in 2015. As the village name implies, it was built by a group of small traders to improve their living environment in Yuen Long. The village is adjacent to Pok Oi Hospital (博愛醫院), there are some idle fish ponds nearby. The village is easily missed if you walk on the street. The whole village is in mango yellow colour.
There is the main entrance.
From a higher point, we can see the whole village. Totally there are 143 residential units, each unit with ground floor and second floor. This memorial arch is nice in appearance, though the arch at that time was also like this. But in 2015, it is different. Old stuffs become lovely.
The village is on an elevated level.
There are two stone seats near the entrance.
After the main entrance, this is the first block, with dark red roof and mango yellow walls. Each unit has an area of about 400 square feet. This is also the First Street.
This is the main alley connecting the whole village and eight streets. There is a public toilet at the end of the alley.
The Yuen Long Small Traders New Vill Better Living Cooperative Society Ltd. (元朗小商新村改善生活有限責任合作社) is of course to improve the living environment in the village.
The Fifth Street
The village is quite clean and tidy, we cannot find any rubbish on the ground at the time of our visit.
Most of the people living in the village are tenants only, this means they may not be the owners.
At the end of the main alley, it is the office of 'The Yuen Long Small Traders New Vill Better Living Cooperative Society Ltd. 元朗小商新村改善生活有限責任合作社'. It is still in operation.
Each unit has been registered and marked.
After some construction works near Small Traders New Village by developers, the road is therefore called Siu Sheung Road (小商路).
This is the street nameplate next to Pok Oi Hospital.
Small Traders New Village (Siu Sheung San Tsuen) looks good in appearance. It is managed by volunteers. Without money, it is not possible to further improve the village. In fact, the structure of each block is not good, as no steel bars were used in the construction. Maybe, it was mainly because of reducing cost or saving cost. The owners or dwellers know what is happening. But this should be the best choice for those who select to live here. Rental of each unit is about HK$3,000 in 2014, about half of market price only. The walls are not strong enough, termites are commonly found. Therefore dwellers are living in danger. This problem can only be solved by time and the owners themselves.
Related reading: Small Traders New Village Public School http://isletforum.com/home.php?mod=space&uid=58&do=blog&id=1001
