Q How can Hong Kong better protect its heritage?
During the holidays I visited Tung Loong Island and had the opportunity to see some historical rock carvings. Something that struck me initially was that a great deal of effort had been made to allow people to visit an obscure site by building some 500 or so steps solely to see the carvings.
What made the greatest impression on me, however, was a plaque announcing that these carvings were protected and had been declared monuments under legislation enacted in the 1970s.
Why were the Star Ferry and Queen's piers not protected under this ordinance? Surely, Queen's Pier, the site of the departure of the last governor of Hong Kong which signalled a new era for the city and the Star Ferry pier which for decades has provided the most affordable, convenient and scenic means to crossing the harbour, were of sufficient significance to warrant not only their protection but additional allocation of resources to ensure their upkeep.
Instead, a highway, which will do little to enhance the site that has been the subject of so many idyllic postcards, will be built. In addition to a shopping centre, whose prime location ensures that only generic super-brands will be able to afford the rent and at which less than 5 per cent of the population will be able to afford to shop.
The closure of both piers not only represents a failure of the Antiquities and Monuments Office arising from an inability to protect the monument, but a failure of the government.