Public participation on Hong Kong Palace Museum needed, but undisclosed details may overshadow process, advocate warns

Ada Wong Ying-kay not confident in government’s six-week consultation process

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Ada Wong Ying-kay, member of the public consultation panel for the Hong Kong Palace Museum project. Photo: Bruce Yan

Published: 12:10pm, 9 Jan 2017Updated: 7:51am, 10 Jan 2017

Participation, not consultation, is what the Hong Kong people need to connect with the government’s Palace Museum development, but a lack of transparency surrounding the project has bred criticism, a member of West Kowloon Cultural District consultation panel said.

Veteran arts advocate Ada Wong Ying-kay, one of the 16 members of the consultation panel that will serve as a bridge between the WKCD Authority and the public, said community participation was essential to fostering contemporary culture.

“Participation connects people through creating something together, and that’s the latest world trend,” Wong said on a radio programme on Monday – the first day of a six-week public consultation on the palace museum project.

“As a bridge with the public, we didn’t play our role well because we were not informed of everything,” she added.

She recalled the last consultation panel meeting on September 23 when there was no mention of a “mega performance venue”, which was initially proposed for the site but abandoned by the WKCD Authority’s board.

The board in November approved the area to house the future Hong Kong Palace Museum, which is a collaboration with Beijing’s Palace Museum.

Public participation on Hong Kong Palace Museum needed, but undisclosed details may overshadow process, advocate warns

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Ada Wong Ying-kay not confident in government’s six-week consultation process

Ada Wong Ying-kay not confident in government’s six-week consultation process