Cantonese opera enthusiasts vowed yesterday to keep pushing the government to build a permanent venue for the art form on Hong Kong Island.
The vow came as opera fans celebrated a reprieve for North Point's landmark Sunbeam Theatre after a last-minute, four-year deal between the landlord and a new tenant.
But the chairwoman of the Hong Kong Chinese Opera and Performing Arts Group Association, Jennifer Chow Kit-bing, last night accused the government of failing to offer any help to save the theatre.
'What we saw was the government officials just sit back and watch,' Chow said.
'If the government is sincere in promoting the art form, it should have done something to help negotiate an acceptable deal sooner.'
This is not the first time the theatre has won a temporary reprieve. In 2009, the year Cantonese opera was included on the Unesco list of intangible cultural heritage, the rent for the theatre's previous tenant was raised from HK$490,000 to HK$698,000 a month, prompting the government to step in and offer HK$3.6 million in subsidies.