Five myths the media is accused of inventing
Harbour Fest organisers, who have been under fire in the media during the past few weeks, seized the opportunity during yesterday's announcement to even the score.
Mr Rowse accused the media of fabricating 'five myths' about the festival. 'There are probably more than five myths out there. No matter how many times the rumours are repeated it will not make them true,' he said.
According to Mr Rowse:
The Chinese-language media should not refer to Harbour Fest as just 'a Rolling Stones concert';
The government did not pay three times the market price for the Stones (although he would not say how much they got paid);
The government did not steal the Stones from another promoter and it is not true that the band would have come to Hong Kong anyway. The Stones had approached the government about performing at Tamar;
Local promoters have not been left out (but he did not reveal what exactly they were doing and whether they were being paid); and
Harbour Fest is not an InvestHK event. It is organised by the American Chamber of Commerce.
