The earliest traceable name referring to the area nowadays known as Tiu Keng Leng was "Chiu Keng Leng", being a reference to the clearness and calmness of the adjacent bay. The name was given by Tanka residents in the area. Both the names "Tiu Keng Leng" and "Rennie's Mill" come from a 19th-century Canadian businessman named Alfred Herbert Rennie, who established the Hong Kong Milling Company at Junk Bay. The business failed, and Rennie drowned himself there in 1908, though it was mistakenly reported that he had hanged himself. The incident gave the Chinese name for the site 吊頸嶺, meaning "Hanging Ridge", a pun on the name "Chiu Keng Leng" mentioned above. Because it was inauspicious, the name was later changed to similar-sounding 調景嶺 On 26 June 1950 the Hong Kong Government's Social Welfare Office settled a considerable number of refugees from China – former Nationalist soldiers and other Kuomintang supporters – at Rennie's Mill, following the Chinese Civil War. The Hong Kong Government's original intention was to settle these refugees temporarily before they would be repatriated to Taiwan by the Kuomintang or to Mainland China by the Chinese Communists. But this day never came for the Kuomintang, the residents of the enclave became more supportive to the Kuomintang cause. Thus, by the late-1950s, in correlation with the Cold War context in Asia at the time, Rennie's Mill gradually became a "Bastion Against Communism", with the flag of the Republic of China flying, its own school system and practically off-limits to the Royal Hong Kong Police Force until 1962 when the Hong Kong Government decided to turn it into a resettlement estate due to its apprehension of the growing Kuomintang presence in the enclave. It also had a significant missionary presence. Due to its pro-Kuomintang atmosphere, the 1967 Riots did not have an effect on Rennie's Mill. Rennie's Mill was badly damaged by Typhoon Wanda in 1962, rendering many homeless. In 1996 the Hong Kong government evicted the last of Rennie's Mill's original residents, ostensibly to make room for new town developments as part of the Tseung Kwan O New Town, but widely believed to be a move to please the CommunistChinese government before the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997.
Housing
After the handover, the English name of the area was changed from "Rennie's Mill" to "Tiu Keng Leng", following the Cantonese name. Tiu Keng Leng became redeveloped as a modern high-rise residential district. Metro Town is a private housing estate situated directly above the Tiu Keng Leng Station. With nine towers built on top of a carpark/shopping mall podium, it is the tallest structure in the area. To the south of Metro Town, on the site of a former steel mill operated by Shiu Wing Steel, is another private housing estate, Ocean Shores. The three public housing estates in the area are: Kin Ming Estate, Choi Ming Court and Shin Ming Estate.
Transport
Before the redevelopment and reclamation in the surrounding area, Tiu Keng Leng could be reached by the winding, hilly and narrow Po Lam Road South, which ran past numerous busy quarries. At that time, Tiu Keng Leng's only public transport connections were Kowloon Motor Bus routes 90 and 290, served with minibuses, and by water transport. In 2001, with the redevelopment, a segment of Po Lam Road South was rebuilt and extended to near Kwong Tin Estate in Yau Tong. The reconstructed road was renamed O King Road and became the first road connection to modern Tiu Keng Leng. The new Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin Tunnel to be finished in 2022 will provide a direct and fast route into Kowloon and the city centre. The various centres of Tseung Kwan O were always intended to be served primarily by the MTRmetro system, and the 2002 opening of Tiu Keng Leng Station of the Tseung Kwan O Line and Kwun Tong Line provided a much-used link to the urban area of Kowloon.
Education
The Hong Kong Design Institute is well known for the shape of its building. Designed by French architects Coldefy & Associs, it resembles a piece of paper floating mid-air featuring a glazed box raised seven storeys above the ground on four lattice-steel towers that rest on a sloping, grass-covered podium. Total construction cost amounted to HK$1.2 billion, it was opened in November 2010. The Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education – Lee Wai Lee campus is located next to HKDI. Also, the campus of Caritas Institute of Higher Education is located at Tiu Keng Leng. The institute has the aim of becoming the first Catholic University in Hong Kong.
