Must learn to value innovation and creativity
The Chief Secretary for Administration, Anson Chan, recently defended Hong Kong's modest millennium fireworks display by pointing out that 'we do not want to copy what other people do'. If only we took this admonition seriously.
Hong Kong is home to some of the most able plagiarists, mimics and copycats in the world, and hardly a day goes by that I do not encounter another outrageous rip-off from the United States, Japan or Europe - whether it is a piece of architecture, a consumer product, a business model or a corporate identity.
What I do not understand is how little originality seems to be valued in this affluent and sophisticated society. If Hong Kong is to become a city of truly global significance, it must place greater emphasis on path-breaking innovation and creativity - and distinguish these from the clever adaptation of good ideas from elsewhere. It must create a seedbed for the kinds of originality that produced the airplane, the silicon chip or Yahoo.com.
This is, incidentally, a frame of mind and not something that can be bought or built out of bricks and mortar. Costly infrastructure projects meant to launch Hong Kong into a hi-tech future will, by themselves, do little to create a culture of innovation where one is lacking.
The global computer revolution was born in a California garage, not in a purpose-built, billion-dollar facility.
Dr THOMAS J. CAMPANELLA Sha Tin
