'Here, we will see on stage some of the world's finest performers, while on the in-field we will witness many stirring contests.' - Ronald Leung Ding-bong, Urban Council chairman, at the Hong Kong Stadium gala opening, March 11, 1994 The corporate movers and shakers of the leading hongs have all but surrendered in the battle over the Hong Kong Stadium.
Collectively, as one observed this week, they represent Hong Kong Inc. 'But pitted against the faceless bureaucrats of the Urban Council and the managers of the Hong Kong Stadium, we never stood a chance,' he lamented.
Three years ago, when Urban Council Chairman Ronald Leung Ding-bong made his opening-day boast of events in store at the territory's shining example of 'can-do' spirit - the new $1 billion Hong Kong Stadium in So Kon Po - the future was so bright, even Leung could wear shades.
The joke is wearing a little thin now. Instead of shades, how about white gloves to muffle the noise of fans. And headphones instead of amplifiers for Elton John handover concerts? Fortunately, a dismayed Elton last week aborted his tour, thus saving Hong Kong the international embarrassment of seriously considering legislator Fred Li Wah-ming's suggestion that the crowd could be wired for sound. An anonymous tongue-in-cheek crowd-pleaser plan - to tether a giant helium-filled white elephant balloon over the stadium - might, symbolically, be closer to the mark.
But while the Urban Council-driven fiasco over how Elton could be seen if not heard at the stadium in the last week of June, set eyes rolling from Government House to Man Kam To, Matthew Hui Pak-wo knew better than to be surprised.
'When I heard that Elton was booked to perform for the handover, my reaction was 'forget it',' he said.
'I imagined the problems his promoter would be experiencing; the blank faces and the closed doors he would be up against. I knew that there would be no chance.' Mr Hui works for Jardine Pacific, one of several dozen hongs which shelled out up to $1.2 million each for a 30-seat executive suite at the stadium in early 1994 when fawning publicity and hype over its future as an entertainment and sporting showpiece was greatest.