The Race Course Fire Memorial

Grading: Declared Monument

On 26 February 1918, over 10,000 people from the Chinese and international communities joined the annual Lunar New Year Derby Day races at the Happy Valley Racecourse. Due to overloading, the bamboo-built stands collapsed and caused a disastrous fire that eventually claimed the lives of more than 600 people of various nationalities and backgrounds. After the calamity, the Tung Wah Hospital swiftly undertook relief work and assisted in the collection of the bodies of the deceased. The government then allocated an area known as Coffee Garden in So Kon Po for use as the permanent cemetery for the victims. The Race Course Fire Memorial commenced construction in 1922 and incorporated a blend of Western and Chinese architectural and decorative elements. The Chinese archway is inscribed with the characters "福" (fortune), "祿" (riches) and "壽" (long life), while the marble memorial plaques in the centre are inscribed with the characters "中西士女之墓" (the grave of men and women from the East and West) and the names of the victims with Chinese and English stone tablets on either side. The memorial is the first and only communal grave in Hong Kong constructed using donations solicited from the public and for the victims of a disaster. It was renovated in 1974, 1983 and 1993 using funds provided by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, and its original appearance is still preserved. In 2015, it was declared a monument.

So Kon Po, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong