Newsletter No. 266

TheBridgeonthe River Po One morning in early summer, Edward Ng, professor in the Department of Architecture, went to the office of a large construction company in Wan Chai to see the man who would make the project that had occupied his mind days and nights for 18 months apossibility. He was ushered into a conference room. Shortly afterwards, a troupe of men in black came in and seated themselves across from him, each brandishing a file. They waited in silence, then a man in his 50s, donning a white shirt, breezed in. Ng knew right away that he was the one they were waiting for. The newcomer asked him, 'So you' re Edward Ng. How much do you need?' '$400,000.' Thefounder of the company looked pensive. He said, 'How long have you been teaching?' 'Does it matter?' 'Yes, it does because your estimate is not realistic. Let me round it off to HK$1 million.' Ng was dumbfounded. The donor explained that, in case Ng had been in academia too long to realize, 'palm o i l i n g ' should have been included in the estimate. He wrote out a cheque which he handed to Ng, then he vanished from the room. When Ng left Wai Chai that day, his pocket had more money than it had ever had or, perhaps, will have in its lifetime. The HK $1 m i l l i on set in motion the coming true of a dream called 'A Bridge Too Far' — Ng's dream and that of participating academics and students of CUHK, PolyU, HKUST, and Xi'an Jiaotong University; also the dream of hundreds of schoolchildren in Maosi Village (毛寺村) who had to cross the temperamental Po River on a single-log bridge balanced on pillars of rock, straw and earth at least twice a day. Ng had come across the plight of the villagers of the impoverished Maosi Village while doing field work to study the thermal properties of cave dwellings in the area. Volunteers and other donors contributed another HK$200,000 to the project. The Structure Wuzhi Bridge (無止橋） is a 90-metre bridge to 'never-ending knowledge and a prosperous future'. In Cantonese, Wuzhi sounds the same as Maosi ('Mo Tsi'). Wuzhi Bridge was designed to use mostly natural local materials, to be maintained by the villagers and to serve as a prototype for other bridges. It is also the first bridge in the world to stand on metal cages filled with rubble — the innovation of designer Anthony Hunt. Bamboo and steel planks, designed for easy retrieval from the river bed after heavy storms, make up the walkway. The bridge is stepped to prevent hea vy v e h i c l es a n d, according to Ng, ghosts from using it as the corners are too sharp for both. Stepping also produces a sort of negative table between alternate sections of the bridge allowing villagers to sit and chat, feet hanging several feet above the water. It has a bamboo footrail to soften the effects of vertigo, a nod to a very distant relative — the precarious wooden bridge at Saikung's Ham Tin beach with which hikers in Hong Kong are all too familiar. The bridge cost about HK$700,000 to build with about a sixth having been used to oil someone's fleshy palm. The main construction materials were bought in nearby towns while minor spare parts were brought all the way from Hong Kong. The Process For five days in mid-August, 50 volunteers from Hong Kong, 30 from Xi'an, and dozens of villagers worked from dawn till dusk. Thanks to their efficiency and impeccable planning, the bridge was completed in five days instead of the scheduled six. On one of the days, the t r u ck supposed to bring rubble f r o m a n e a r b y construction site did not arrive. Just as all the builders were losing their cool, a handful of school children trickled into view each with a rock or brick in hand, followed by more of these messengers of hope. Lesson learnt: 150 schoolchildren are more reliable transporters of rubble than a dusty truck. On another day, adviser and patron of the project, Sir David Akers-Jones, showed up in Maosi Village with a suitcase and an interpreter. He had flown to Xi'an from Hong Kong, spent a night there, and travelled four hours by car to Maosi to show his support. Pleased with what he saw, the former Chief Secretary of Hong Kong l eft Maosi that very day for Xi'an, spent a night there, and flew back to Hong Kong. The bridge was opened on 17th August with the placing of the last gabion. The Spin-off The Hong Kong students had gone there to help others but ended up helping themselves. Many, Ng said, never thought they could build a bridge in five days in the dry heat. On the fi rst day, over 10 suffered from heat stroke, on the second day, three, and on the third day, none. He told the students, 1 could have found all my volunteers on the mainland. But 1 decided to bring you because I want to show you that you can do it. Everyone says Hong Kong students are too used to the good life but it's really up to the teachers to inspire them to action.' Ng was right. One student told him, 1 never knew I could be this much more!' The achievement was celebrated in A Bridge Too Far, A Dream Come True, an exhibition at Taikoo Place, from 26th to 31 st August, and then in the CUHK Department of Architecture and at PolyU's School of Design. The Laurels Ng submitted the b r i dge design to an international competition in August and has just heard from the jury that it has b e e n ' h i g h l y commended', placing it top eight out of some 500 entries. The jubilant Ng said, 'This is excellent news in that our bridge is not only helping people, the design is now internationally recognized as one of the best and most innovative.' The Future The rest of the money will be used for another of Ng's projects — building environmentally friendly schools for Maosi Village. But this project is relatively expensive as it involves experimenting with natural local materials suitable for the Northwestern climate. One day, as Ng was again crunching numbers, Sir David asked him how much more he needed. 'Approximately HK$500,000.' The older man then made what seemed to be an outrageous suggestion, 'Why don't you write Jackie Chan?' 'You might as well ask me to write Bush!' Ng retorted. 'No, I'm the chairman of the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation!' So to Jackie Chan Ng will write after he has figured out exactly how much needs. Piera Chen 3