10-10-22

National government wants Hong Kong to be a cultural exchange centre.

Path to success is full of frustrations and setbacks. Failure does not matter but regret does.

Let us not judge West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD西九文化區) by how many times it fell down in the past, but by how many times it will be able to get up in future.

The WKCD has gone through a number of well-publicized hard times for nearly 20 years leading up to the present partial opening of WKCD. It is evidently in safe hands with the new CEO Betty Fung.

In 1998, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong Tung Chee-hwa announced the bold establishment of the West Kowloon Cultural District, the biggest in the world, consisting of 17 museums, concert halls and theatres, endeavouring to develop Hong Kong as the best cultural hub in Asia. The District could attract many tourists and strengthen Hong Kong’s cultural power.

Some visions and plans were later traumatized because such an ambition looked like a blessing wrapped in the clothing of a chain of curses:

1. In 2001, government employed the world-class architect Norman Foster to come up with a Grand Canopy concept for the whole district. The canopy could create a ‘microclimate’ in which, by forming convection air currents, hot air would leave and cool air would flow into the area, thus producing a cooling effect. The design faced strong opposition claiming that the concept was unrealistic and expensive. The design was scrapped.
2. In 2003, government put out to tender a PPP (public-private partnership) in that a single private developer would be invited to finance, build and operate the whole WKCD project. Again, the initiative was perceived as an exploitation of the public resources to dispense favour to just one developer. The proposal was defeated.
3. In 2008, government set up an independent West Kowloon Cultural District Authority to manage all the affairs of the district. There rapidly ensured a series of hot debates as to what should be built in the district. The variety of demands, ranging from children’s museum, arthouse cinema, Chinese ink works museum to literature museum formed a series of problems which were fundamentally insoluble. Also, the separate bidding of individual infrastructure projects resulted in extra tedious processes, heavy concurrent responsibilities and pressurized co-ordinations.
4. Government initially approved a HK$21.6 billion budget for WKCD. The construction cost unfortunately kept climbing and the estimated cost after a few years alarmingly went up to HK$47 billion. Politicians rebuked the WKCD Authority for failing to manage construction properly and so allowing it to be a bottomless ‘black hole’. At present, WKCD is still trying very hard to raise capital and hopefully it may not spark another financial tribulation.
5. In 2012, WKCD agreed to purchase about 47 contemporary art works from a Lucerne-based collector Uli Sigg for HK$177 million in consideration of his donating more than 1,000 other works to the M+ Museum of WKCD. This deal induced the great attacks from the public that there might have been some kind of ‘irregular transfer of benefits’ behind the arrangements. In 2014, M+ bought a ‘sushi bar’ for around HK$15 million with public funds which was an old renovation of a closed-down restaurant in Tokyo. Artists in Hong Kong disagreed that the item was worth the high price of collecting and bucked the wisdom of such an acquisition.
6. In 2017, one party-goer died and 3 were in a critical condition when attending an electronic rave concert at WKCD. They were sent to hospital and the police seized some amount of drugs from the site. There was a public accusation that WKCD should not allow such kinds of vulgar concerts to be held and these outdoor music festivals were about dirty language, anti-government sentiment and drugs.
7. In 2018, Hsin Chong Construction, the main contractor of M+, faced severe money troubles and was unable to pay its workers. Its significant delays caused WKCD to incur substantial losses. In March, the Authority issued a press statement to formally fire Hsin Chong owing to its alleged insolvency. Hsin Chong rebutted it as an incorrect accusation. The parties finally referred the disputes to litigation in the courts. There was, again, bitter political mudslinging in the battle against the reputation of WKCD.
8. In 2020, Duncan Pescod, chief executive of WKCD, tendered his resignation before his contract ended. He hinted that the government would like him to leave. The authority’s first head, Graham Sheffield, quit just 5 months into the job in 2011, citing health reasons, while the second chief, Michael Lynch, left in 2015 after working for a relatively short period of years. At the same time, the arts and culture sector had long been pointing its finger at these foreign CEOs, saying that they did not know well enough the local needs and circumstances. These awkward high-level personnel changes made a bad situation worse for the cultural district.
9. The Hong Kong Palace Museum, a local version of the national museum in Beijing, opened its doors in July 2022 showcasing Chinese precious exhibits and relics. The Palace Museum’s launch came a few months after the opening of M+ Museum, the contemporary arts centre in WKCD.

‘When ill luck begins, it does not come in sprinkles, but in showers.’ People denounced the absence of public consultation for the idea of building a Palace Museum in 2016. Some interpreted it as a wilful ‘cultural re-education’. I disagree and think the present Palace Museum is impressive and meaningful. M+ is however still being under constant bombardment by the unfriendly forces: that the project was too expensive, the collections are of a bad taste or anti-national and there are insufficient local art works…

10. In 2021, WKCD tried to market its commercial site Artist Square Towers amid Hong Kong’s property market downturn. The tender was cancelled without a successful bid. In 2022, developers were re-invited to submit bids for the commercial project worth as much as HK$10.7 billion upon completion. Pray that such money will help WKCD.

Bad decisions and bad luck are a good pair which, through thick and thin, have sabotaged the painful past of West Kowloon Cultural District for more than 20 years. There are present signs of good pathways on the road to recovery. We can see at every weekend, thousands of citizens pour themselves into the beautiful District to support and peek into the cultural and architectural pride of Hong Kong. The future belongs to those who believe in the ‘can do’ spirit of our city.

From now on, apart from not making mistakes which may stunt WKCD’s growth, there will be 3 critical shots to make. Such 3 shots should take bona fide precedence over any direction of the cultural hub: to produce or encourage the production of top-grade cultural activity and program. By subsidizing these activities and programs, through overseas collaborating effort or otherwise, we can incubate the internationally outstanding status of West Kowloon and also artists in Hong Kong. Secondly, through bestowing charming characteristics on such art progeny, WKCD can help maximize the spread of the cultural preponderant influence of Hong Kong in the world as a result of art market expansion. The third heads-up is that the works must also be ‘Hong Kong-relevant’, speaking volumes about our cultural beliefs, preferences and tastes to other countries.

The best index to Hong Kong’s success should be how we will show the world that the striking ‘East-meets-West’ character of Hong Kong shall remain. Let us pray for a little hope that through West Kowloon, our city will excel culturally one day!

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