TOP civil servant Anson Chan Fang On-sang yesterday defended Hong Kong's millennium fireworks display, saying the SAR should not be a copycat.
As Sydney, London, New York and Paris ushered in the 21st century with a big bang, the SAR, which aspires to be in the same league, staged a much smaller show of pyrotechnics at Happy Valley racetrack.
The switch from the normal Victoria Harbour-wide display at Lunar New Year prompted questions as Mrs Chan faced the press at a New Year briefing.
'I think every country and every territory celebrates the turn of the century in its own different way.
'We don't want to copy what other people do,' Mrs Chan said, adding that the most important thing was that everyone had a 'jolly time' and that no life or property had been endangered.
The seven-minute display kicked off at the stroke of midnight, but only the 46,000-strong crowd at the course and residents in surrounding buildings witnessed the fireworks.