Hong Kong's very own 'toy story' is about to be told with an exhibition of retro toys that could set the scene for a museum showcasing the industry's 60-year history in the city.
Organised by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, the exhibition at the Hong Kong Design Institute in Tseung Kwan O displays about 1,000 toys from as early as the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) to the 1950s and onwards.
The show refreshed collective memories about the toy industry, which helped trigger the city's economic takeoff in the 1970s, said Yeung Chi-kong, executive vice-president of the Toys Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong.
'We hope the show will raise public and government awareness of the importance of preserving the cultural heritage of the industry and keeping the legacy going,' Yeung said yesterday. 'We need more new innovation to keep the torch being passed on.'
Hong Kong's toymakers, who now primarily operate in the Pearl River Delta, are facing tough times amid rising wages and other costs. Guangdong's policy of pressing for industrial upgrades and the global economic downturn are also hitting the industry.
China produces nine in every 10 toys sold in the United States.
Yeung said toy-industry bodies were lobbying the government for a site in the West Kowloon Cultural District as the location for a planned toy museum.