Chi Lam Village residents told the Post on Saturday that at about 9:45 a.m., when the local observatory hoisted the Red Rainstorm Warning Signal, even more damage was caused to an over 80-year-old house at 10 Travessa Três in their ancient neighbourhood.
This long-abandoned house features a predominantly wooden structure with brick exterior walls. Recent prolonged heavy rains have accelerated the building’s deterioration. The villagers told the Post that they observed on Saturday that portions of the front brick facade had collapsed, leaving the area strewn with debris.
Villagers reported that the collapsing house nearly injured passersby during the incident. Records show the structure had already partially collapsed once on July 21 when Typhoon Wipha struck, with its side walls bearing the initial damage.
Lands and Urban Construction Bureau’s (DSSCU) officials initially surveyed and filed for the building’s demolition on July 21. When inspectors returned this Saturday, they confirmed the application had been marked as ‘urgent’ - though fourteen days have now passed without action.
Chi Lam Vai (茨林圍) has been described by observers as a “living history” hamlet, where, for instance, Macau’s first anatomy textbook was translated from English into Chinese, and is the village featured in Bruce Lee’s (李小龍) classic film “Fist of Fury”.
Chi Lam Chuen (茨林村) is just a street away from the UNESCO World Heritage-protected Na Tcha Temple (known as “Na Tcha” in the local Cantonese dialect), one of Macau’s two Na Tcha temples. The village also features a café dedicated to the Taoist tutelary deity whose popularity has immensely risen since the huge commercial and cultural success of the Chinese mainland’s “Ne Zha 2” film earlier this year –the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time, and the highest-selling animated film in terms of ticket sales – which stand at over US$2.2 billion.
The village includes a café dedicated to Taoist protection deity Ne Zha (known as “Na Tcha” in the local Cantonese dialect). One of Macau’s two Na Tcha temples is located near the village. “Ne Zha 2”, which was released early this year, has become China’s most successful film to date, raking in over US$2.2 billion so far.
This photo taken on Saturday shows the cordoned-off old house damaged further by heavy rain in Chi Lam Village. – Photo: Armindo Neves
