The Jumbo Floating Restaurant as seen on June 1. The fate of the historic restaurant is in doubt as calls for its preservation have run up against complaints about the economic cost and more pressing economic priorities elsewhere. Photo: Reuters
Opinion
Dennis Lee
Dennis Lee
Look beyond dollar signs to see Jumbo Floating Restaurant’s true value to Hong Kong
The debate over whether and how to aid the struggling restaurant involves asking what makes some buildings worth preserving and not others
Some carry cultural value beyond their economic output, which makes them worth saving as part of our collective history and heritage
Often we rely on government departments such as the Antiquities and Monuments Office and Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) or non-governmental organisations such as the Conservancy Association to conduct a heritage impact assessment and prepare recommendations for stakeholders to consider.
However, whether intentionally dodging the matter or not, AAB member Vincent Ho Kui-yip said on a recent radio show that the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance applies only to buildings on land, not floating structures on sea. Therefore, the Jumbo Floating Restaurant will not be evaluated and categorised.
Over the past several weeks, we have had people call out the painful reality of the restaurant’s high operating and maintenance costs and sluggish returns before it shut its doors in March 2020. On the other hand, we have had preservationists reminding us of the structure’s cultural and architectural significance to the city’s heritage, which can hardly be measured through commercial viability.
Sceptics such as lawmaker Andrew Lam Siu-lo have questioned the rationale for keeping the floating restaurant alive and dismissed its social value when it no longer had commercial appeal. He also questioned the purpose of the structure if it was rescued but did not serve as a seafood restaurant afterwards.
The Jumbo Floating Restaurant seen in 1976, the year it opened. Photo: SCMP Pictures
As a former chairman of the AAB, Lam of all people should know that worthiness of conservation and preservation is often evaluated not just on cost and revenue factors but on the structure’s intrinsic value in the cultural and heritage realm.
As a rule of thumb, construction costs for refurbishing existing structures are almost always higher than newly built ones. Architects and engineers often have to go through painful building surveys and structural analyses before redesign begins.
However, we conserve and preserve some selected structures because they carry meaning deeper than monetary value. Often such meaning becomes its rebranded identity in its new life.
For buildings that survive the test of time, they grow and evolve, and would often breathe second lives serving completely different purposes and uses as generations went by. Hagia Sophia was built as a cathedral for the Eastern Roman Empire in AD537, converted into a mosque by the Ottomans in 1453, established as a museum in 1935 and reverted to being a mosque two years ago.
The changes and evolution of buildings chronicle the past and the present, and they collectively contribute to the meaning of the place in contemporary times.
The Great Wall of China no longer fortifies against invaders from the northern steppes, the Colosseum in Rome no longer holds gladiatorial games and Alcatraz no longer serves as a prison. Even so, we visit these places and soak in their tales because these structures are the bits and pieces that built up the stories of humanity.
The Jumbo Floating Restaurant is not an architectural wonder or a Unesco treasure. However, the collective ingenuity of decision-makers and stakeholders can still revitalise it with new ideas and purpose which complement market demands, which is what architects call “adaptive reuse”.
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Why Hong Kong's Jumbo Floating Restaurant could leave the city in a few weeks
Why Hong Kong's Jumbo Floating Restaurant could leave the city in a few weeks
The adaptation is not just about upgrading the structure’s hardware. More importantly, it is to conform with the social, commercial and economic environments at the time so the revitalised structure can remain relevant and functional.
Instead of jumping to a conclusion and determining the floating restaurant’s fate, the government can invite concept proposals from stakeholders and the public to contribute ideas for further assessment. Not only can we get involved in the image-building and branding of the city, the government can also foster stronger social inclusiveness as these memories are shared by all instead of just a few officials or lawmakers.
To architects, the Jumbo Floating Restaurant – perhaps an uninspiring replica of a Ming dynasty imperial palace – might merely be an imitation, not so different from the scaled-down Eiffel Tower in Macau or the miniature Statue of Liberty in Las Vegas. However, if imitation architecture carries no other intrinsic value, all the Neoclassical buildings outside Rome and Greece should be deemed unworthy.
The Jumbo Floating Restaurant in Aberdeen was the backdrop for numerous local and international motion pictures. Photo: Sam Tsang
We cannot deny the collective memories the place holds with its decades-long presence at the Aberdeen Harbour, as the backdrop for numerous local and international motion pictures, a venue visited by Queen Elizabeth, US President Jimmy Carter and other celebrities or simply as a place offering a unique dining experience on the water.
If King Yin Lei – which was designed by a British architect – could be officially made a monument after years of negotiation, and if the government could fork out HK$1 billion (US$127.5 million) for Northern Metropolis studies, loan HK$5.4 billion to Ocean Park and invest HK$27.3 billion in Cathay Pacific, the least outgoing Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor could do is end her term on a constructive note by realising a promise she made in the 2020 policy address and giving the Jumbo Floating Restaurant the new life it deserves.
Dennis Lee is a Hong Kong-born, America-licensed architect with 22 years of design experience in the US and China
