Hiram's Highway

Hiram's Highway (traditional Chinese: 西貢公路; simplified Chinese: 西贡公路; pinyin: Xīgòng Gōnglù; Cantonese Yale: sai1 gung3 gung1 lou6) is a road in Hong Kong. It connects the town of Sai Kung to the Clear Water Bay Road at Ta Ku Ling. It connects with Po Tung Road in the north. Unlike other roads in Hong Kong with the word "Highway" as part of their names, the Hiram's Highway is not a motorway.

The highway's Chinese name literally means "Sai Kung Highway". It earned its English name from its reconstruction of a Japanese track in the immediate post Second World War years by the Royal Marines using Japanese prisoner of war labour.[1] The road was a reward to the people of Sai Kung for their resistance during the occupation.[2] The officer in charge of construction, Major John Wynne-Potts, was nicknamed Hiram because he shared the name "Potts" with the "Hiram K. Potts" American brand of tinned sausages, although an alternate story exists whereby the officer in charge was nicknamed for his "addiction" to the sausages.[1][3] The road was named after him, hence "Hiram's Highway".

A new straightened road, the New Hiram's Highway, near Nam Wai was opened recently to provide an alternative route, bypassing a steep, twisty section of the original road.

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Sinclair, Kevin (23 January 2002). "Highway in a bigger mess than in the days of Hiram's". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  2. ↑ Bray, Denis (2001). Hong Kong Metamorphosis. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. p. 106. ISBN 9789622095502.
  3. ↑ Schoonakker, Bonny (29 May 2007). "Slice of Life". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
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