Video | Meet one of Hong Kong’s last neon sign makers and learn why LED lights haven’t put him out of business
Wu Chi-kai started in the business 30 years ago and, despite newer technology and government regulations, is still kept busy today. His craft, and the city’s neon light culture, is a focus of this month’s Lumieres Hong Kong event
A festival of light in Hong Kong this week will, among other things, champion the city’s neon signage.
As well as teaming up with artists to create 16 works at sites on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon, Lumieres Hong Kong, which runs from November 23 to 25, has joined forces with the Hong Kong Neon Heritage group to draw attention to the rapid disappearance of those icons of city culture in the era of LED lights.
One of the few neon light sign makers left is Wu Chi-kai, 50, who has been in the business for over 30 years. His father introduced him to the industry when Wu was 17 years old and his focus to begin with was just on making the signs.
“My father didn’t let me do what he was doing – installing signs – because it can be very dangerous climbing up on the bamboo scaffolding,” he says.
At the time, Hong Kong was experiencing a golden age of neon signs that first started booming in the 1970s. Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui and Lockhart Road in Wan Chai were particularly well known for the colourful neon signs suspended above the streets.
