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Ocean Park
OpinionLetters

Letters | Ocean Park must be more than an amusement park to survive for the ages

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An aerial view of Ocean Park in Wong Chuk Hang on January 14. To be true to its name, the park must return to its original mission and reason for being. Photo: Martin Chan
Letters
The photo of Ocean Park that you printed last week revealed a tangle of unsightly structures that totally ignore any sensitivity towards nature or the original mission and reason for the park itself (“Ocean Park must prove it is worth so much public cash”, January 18).

The park was meant not only to entertain but, very importantly, to promote an appreciation of – and provide information on – the ocean, its beauty, its gifts to humanity. This was one of the most important reasons the valuable peninsula was granted by the government to Ocean Park.

At one time, before the park was turned into a mundane, ugly amusement centre which could be located anywhere, there was an opportunity to emulate the Eden Project in Cornwall, in the UK, which is successful, educational, entertaining and environmentally responsible.

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Changing its emphasis to a focus on oceanography, on learning about marine life and the ocean environment, its conservation, and its crucial importance to humanity as well as being one of the foundations of Hong Kong’s prosperity, Ocean Park could collaborate with scientific and academic marine centres of note locally and internationally.

The park appears to have become little more than an overbuilt and crowded ugly amusement park – a sorry mess

Hong Kong Ocean Park could be a pioneer in a worthwhile and important venture for our “world city”, leading the world in environmental awareness of the seas, and the education of local and visitors to the park.

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