Dear all,
I received a query why is DB called DB, I always thought it was a marketing ploy , as they were promoting it as discovering a new land etc . But I just saw a printed bilingual document saying there are two theories.
a) When the British surveyors landed at Tai Pak Bay , the villagers did not understand and they replied 'digging for clams ' which apparently sounds similar in Cantonese
b) HEICS Discovery surveyed the area
Does anyone know any more?
I have not seen the name
I have not seen the name Discovery Bay printed on any Hong Kong map before the mid 1970s so its likely that the name was just a marketing ploy by the land company.
Discovery Bay
There were two bays, referred to as Dai Pak (Big White) and the adjacent smaller one Yee Pak (Second White). The term "Dai Pak" is also a common expression used in relation to the investigation of a case as in "On Ching Dai Pak" (The facts of the case were clearly discovered...). Hearsay that a marketing agent recommended to the developer that it could be named Discovery Bay in English.
BTW, hearsay also that on their way to the site in a boat, the Dolphins came along side. To their surprise, the dolphins were pinkish rather than grey. Hence, the original logo of the Discovery Bay development project was a school of pink dolphins.
Lawrence
I found a reference to
I found a reference to Discovery Bay in a 1964 article written by K M A Barnett, District Commissioner, New Territories (Also a POW during WW2)
Discovery Bay is the bay NW of Peng Chau on which stand the villages of Tai Pak, Yi Pak, Sam Pak and Sz Pak.
Source: Hong Kong before the Chinese K. M. A Barnett RASHK Vol 4 (1964) p. 61
So there much have been an older reason for the name than mere marketing by a Hong Kong property company
"Discovery Centre" in Sze Pak Wan
Tai Pak, Yi Pak, Sam Pak and Sz Pak in Chinese is 大白、二白、三白 and 四白 respectively. The numeral sequence suggests that these four areas (basically beaches with white sand) are closely linked from one to the other.
I do not know which comes first, but there was a place called Discovery Centre or DC for short in Sze Pak Wan (四白灣). DC was a non-profit organisation established by a group of voluntary Christians led by a British couple - Mike and Pamela. At that time, Mike was studying at the University of Hong Kong while his wife Pamela was teaching at Diocesan Girls' School. Activities at DC included dinghy sailing, boat rowing, mountaineering, making dinghies as well as maintenance of the huts during the daytime and religious studies after sunset.
In early 1970s, I was introduced to DC by my English teacher (Miss Ivy Cheung) and became a frequent visitor there until I left Hong Kong for Canada in the summer of 1975. There was no public transportation going directly to Sze Pak. We usually took a ferry from Central to Peng Chau and DC had its own motor boat which took us to the beach of Sze Pak.
I remember that we were able to walk along the coast from Tai Pak to Sze Pak for at least a few times.