Whatever else happens on July 20, the 35th anniversary of Bruce Lee's death, it is a sure bet that the bronze statue of Hong Kong's most famous movie star on Tsim Sha Tsui's Avenue of Stars will be the focus of attention - because we have nothing else commemorating the late martial arts legend.
The closing on Thursday of tenders for Lee's former residence, a 5,699 sq ft two-storey house in Cumberland Road, Kowloon Tong, has once again sparked calls for a Bruce Lee museum.
'It's a shame that the government has done so little for someone who was known as Hong Kong's No1 son,' says Anders Nelsson, a veteran Hong Kong actor who played a thug in a gang pursuing Lee in Way of the Dragon and has remained in contact with Lee's fans across the globe ever since.
'A lot of people around the world, from Germany, Japan, Korea and the United States, idolised him and they were always disappointed when they came to Hong Kong. 'Where's the museum?' they would ask.'
Although billionaire philanthropist Yu Panglin intends to sell the house - affectionately known as the Crane's Nest by Lee - together with four other assets in Hong Kong and Shenzhen to raise funds for Sichuan earthquake victims, fans and cultural critics are concerned it could be the end of Lee's legacy in the city because it is the only place connected to the kung fu star that has not been demolished. Other locations, such as the Golden Harvest studio, are long gone.
Fans fear that if the house where Lee spent his last years is sold to a private developer, it will be demolished and replaced by another cookie-cutter high-rise.
