The Hong Kong Stadium has become world renowned as the home of rugby's flagship Sevens tournament, but management problems and touchy neighbours have meant the arena has been heavily underused and dogged by controversy.
The stadium opened in 1994 after redevelopment of the old Government Stadium site and is the favourite venue for major sports events such as the Lunar New Year soccer tournament and, of course, the Hong Kong Sevens.
But apart from these crowd-filled dates, which account for just five days a year, the mega-spotlights in the 40,000-capacity stadium are rarely switched on.
Located in Happy Valley, the home of many of the high-income elite of the city, the stadium is required to keep its noise below 70 decibels during the day and 65 decibels at night (that's just five decibels above the level of normal conversation).
Noise levels have been strictly monitored since the stadium's former management company was fined $150,000 for breaching them during concerts by singer Alan Tam Wing-lun in 1994. The concerts had prompted a flood of complaints from residents.
Although the government claims the stadium is a world-class venue for entertaining and sports events, it fails to attract much concert business. Even when international superstars such as Elton John and Michael Jackson showed interest in gracing our shores, they were put off by the 'innovative' noise control measures suggested to appease silence-obsessed residents.