National Day Patriotic Spending

Lots of patriotic red at the Convention Centre this morning

Now Hongkongers know how Beijing residents feel when National Day comes on October 1.

Roads and walkways near the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre were roped off, apparently some 8,000 police officers were out on the streets, and while pro-Beijing events that had gatherings of more than four people (wearing red masks of course) went ahead, others were given tickets by the authorities for contravening social-distancing measures.

Yesterday people could not go near the HKCEC

Luckily Hong Kong residents had a distraction from the patriotic festivities -- the second batch of the consumption voucher scheme was released today, and many took advantage of either HK$2,000 if they used Octopus cards (and HK$1,000 in December), or HK$3,000 for three other designated apps to go shopping.

One 50-year-old man shelled out HK$134,000 for a gold bridal necklace at Chow Tai Fook.

"Since I planned to buy a gold necklace as a future wedding gift for my one-year-old daughter, I decided to buy it today, as it just so happened that the second round of the e-voucher scheme was kicking off," he said. "When she is 18, I will present this gift to her."

Hope she likes it, 17 years from now...

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po thinks the local economy is improving significantly because of the e-voucher scheme.

People went mad shopping instead in the malls

"From what I've observed, the market sentiment is really good. Many people told me that as the economy is getting better, they are willing to spend more," he said.

However, he said what was a priority was to keep the pandemic under control and reopen the border with the mainland.

Ah yes, that.

Hong Kong has gone 44 days without a local infection, but apparently that is still not good enough for China.

A few days ago Chinese authorities hinted Hong Kong needed to further step up its testing of inbound travelers and quarantine. But perhaps there are expectations for Hong Kong to implement the use of the mainland's health apps it developed during the pandemic?

But in the meantime our government officials are getting a kick in the arse by lawmakers and social workers for not visiting grassroots residents regularly in a bid to understand their needs and try to solve their livelihood issues.

Ip says officials need to meet locals regularly

That put senior government officials on the defensive, however, it wasn't enough for Executive Council member and former secretary for security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee.

"The cabinet as a whole has yet to form a habit to stay close with the people regularly. The government needs to respond to public demands speedily, but [Carrie] Lam has mainly been visiting public facilities and universities, and hasn't stepped out of her comfort zone yet. Even though Lam hosted a town hall meeting in August, it was held on the seventh floor of the Xiqu Centre."

Ouch.

Lam and co. still have a lot of work to do to please everyone...

Local Tourist in Kowloon

M+ looks like a hard drive in West Kowloon

 

The coronavirus pandemic has turned many Hongkongers into tourists in our own town. This afternoon we did the same, walking from West Kowloon all the way to Kowloon Bay, a 15k stretch that surprisingly was accessible for the most part. 

The pavilion inside Xiqu Centre has disappeared

However starting the walk was a bit frustrating. We got out of Kowloon MTR station, but then it took a while to figure out where to get out -- it turns out the exit is near the ice rink -- which sadly at the moment is half melted.

Once we got out we were confronted with lots of water barriers here and there, and the place is still pretty much a construction site. We managed to get across to the area closest to the water and saw the Palace Museum being constructed, which will house a temporary exhibition of items from Beijing's Forbidden City. 

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor got a lot of flak for not having a proper public consultation of the project, and instead just announced that it would happen in December 2016. Even those involved in the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority didn't even know about the project, and the architect, Rocco Design Architects  was chosen without a tender. 

Smoked salmon on toast with passion fruit tea

Workers were installing the gold metal perforated sheets on the outside of the building, which is expected to be completed next year.

M+ is the new museum for visual culture, and so far it looks like a giant... hard drive. But upon closer inspection, it seems to be made of what looks like black bamboo poles. Interesting!

The park area is occupied by many young families and people with dogs. Many domestic helpers set up small tents to hang out for the day. 

Not soon after we passed by Xiqu Centre, for traditional Chinese opera. The last time I visited, there was a Chinese-style pavilion in the middle with a tree, but that seems to have been taken away and is empty now, pretty sad looking. One of the restaurants is actually open with customers in it which is good to see. Perhaps an alternative dining spot for people in the area?

We then headed down Canton Road towards the Star Ferry and interesting to see people lining up at luxury brands to go shopping. Previously it would be mainlanders queuing up but now it's locals... but why Gucci?

Cute painting of a ferry at the Hung Hom pier

Then we walked along Avenue of the Stars and passed by the InterContinental that shut down in April. The other day I had lunch with the former executive director of communications for the hotel who was laid off at the end of June. She said she and some 20 others were left behind to literally pack up everything in the building, plates, glasses, and put them into boxes and label them.

After we passed Tsim Sha Tsui East, we headed up a bridge that quickly took us to Hung Hom, another scenic area where we took a break at NOC for a snack before powering on.

However, the waterfront promenade just kind of ended at a complex of flats and we had to walk around to get back onto another part of the waterfront towards Kai Tak, which is still a massive construction site.

When we were at Harbour City we were accosted by many real estate agents promoting a new complex called Monaco and then in Kai Tak we saw it being built. Ahhh, the pre-sale, but not many takers from what we saw.

Wanna buy a flat in a development called Monaco?

Finally after a bit of a detour we made it to Mega Box, a large orange shopping mall in Kowloon Bay. Needless to say the Ikea in there was not socially distanced, as lots of people went through there to look at and buy furniture. Afterwards we walked a block away to the bus terminus to take the bus to Causeway Bay and then I took the MTR home.

Lots of exercise and had another perspective of Kowloon side I'd never been before!

Picture of the Day: Xiqu Centre Update

Lots of metallic-like scales on the building that's meant to look like curtains

Vancouver architect Bing Thom's building in West Kowloon is taking shape. I drove by it the other day and it's quite a sight.

Called the Xiqu Centre, it's a performance arts space, which is why the building looks like both a lantern when lit at night, and curtains that are parted so that curious visitors can see what's going on inside.

The building has a Grand Theatre that seats 1,073 seats and a smaller Tea House Theatre for 200 people. There are also eight professional studios and a seminar hall for Chinese opera development.

Up close the building is made up of lots and lots of twisted scales, much like a fish. It looks very industrial from the outside, but hopefully when it's lit at night it will have a warm glow to it.

It's a pity Thom isn't here to see this building completed -- he died suddenly in Hong Kong in October 2016. The architecture firm he founded 35 years ago has also changed its name from Bing Thom Architects to Revery Architecture, in the firm's goal of striving for exceptional architecture.

Nevertheless, for me it's Bing Thom's building, his mark on the city he was born in, and I look forward to visiting it when it opens.

Remembering Bing Thom

Architect Bing Thom had thought deeply about good design around cities

It was a shock to find out that Chinese Canadian architect Bing Thom died suddenly yesterday afternoon in Hong Kong.

He had a brain aneurysm and died at Eastern Hospital with his wife Bonnie of over 50 years by his side. He was 75.

Thom was supposed to be a keynote speaker at Walk21, a week-long conference about how to make cities more accessible by foot. Thom was an advocate for making cities more livable, more connected, more accessible.

He was also here to check up on his Xiqu Centre, a theatre for Chinese opera that is being built in West Kowloon together with M+.

The Chan Centre at UBC is well know for its acoustics

I met him around 2005 in Vancouver when I was working for CBC Radio Vancouver. The public broadcaster presented a massive community discussion called Think Vancouver, getting people's thoughts about the city, what we love about it, how to make it better, its past and present, so many aspects.

We invited Thom talk about the city to an audience at the Vancouver Museum and he was so passionate about it, that one couldn't help but be swept along with his enthusiasm. Afterwards he talked to me about how pleased he was that we had organized such an event and that it was run very well.

Soon afterwards I was summoned to his office for an "interview", but nothing came out of it. While I admired Thom very much because he has thought very deeply about things as well as details, doing communications for an architect firm wasn't in the cards for me.

That was the last time I had contact with him, and then I moved to Beijing and then Hong Kong.

The Xiqu Centre is being built in West Kowloon

I was thrilled to read that he was going to design the Xiqu Centre and hoped there was some possibility of our paths crossing again; sadly it was not to be.

To me, his buildings can only be described as serene, strong and graceful. Everything is functional and practical. At The Chan Centre, a performance hall at the University of British Columbia, he was very proud of the acoustics which musicians have raved about. He worked very hard to learn as much as he could about acoustics and how to get the best sound from the design of the room.

An interesting side note is that the building has more washrooms for women than men, as there is always a line for women.

Another piece of trivial information is that he swam everyday in the Kitsilano Pool every morning when he was in Vancouver. 

In a way it's quite fitting Thom passed away in his hometown of Hong Kong, his life coming full circle.

He immigrated to Vancouver when he was very young and in a radio interview admitted he didn't know a word of English let alone the alphabet. He later studied architecture at UBC and UC Berkeley, and then worked at the offices of Fumihiko Maki and Arthur Erickson before opening his own firm, Bing Thom Architects.

We will miss him terribly. He had so much more to contribute with his ideas and passion, but one man can only do so much. Thankfully we have his buildings to remember him by, and hope we can continue to fulfill his vision.