Mong Kok musicians silenced as council votes to take them off one of Hong Kong’s busiest and noisiest streets

It will be curtains for street performers after 18 years of raucous entertainment at one of Hong Kong’s busiest and most popular areas, after district councillors voted on Thursday to shut down a popular pedestrian zone in Mong Kok because of noise complaints.

While Sai Yeung Choi Street South has been hugely popular among buskers and other entertainers as well as tourists and local shoppers after it was pedestrianised to boost commerce, residents and business operators in the neighbourhood were up in arms over decibel levels and safety concerns, making more than 1,200 complaints last year.

The street was only car-free on weekends and public holidays until 10pm, after the hours were shortened three times between 2010 and 2013.

A motion to terminate the pedestrian zone was passed 15-1 by the Yau Tsim Mong District Council on Thursday.

Seven councillors from the pro-establishment Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, who did not state their stance on the matter earlier, backed the motion. It was spearheaded by Business and Professionals Alliance member Chan Siu-tong, from the pro-government camp which dominates the council.

A second motion raised by Chan, which called for the government to seek alternative locations for a pedestrian zone for the promotion of arts and culture, was amended and passed by 16 votes.

Transport Department representative James Wong Wing-hing refused to say how long it would take for authorities to act on the council’s decision on Sai Yeung Choi Street, despite being pressed repeatedly by councillors.