Hong Kong home affairs chief says removal of artwork showing construction workers in yellow helmets was restaurant owner’s decision
- Glorious Fast Food owner claims he only agreed to remove the artwork, which was put up in 2011, after officials warned him of possible breaches of national security law
- Home affairs minister Alice Mak says authorities offered ‘friendly reminders’ to eatery after residents raised concerns about mural being linked to 2019 protests
Hong Kong’s home affairs chief on Friday dismissed concerns over the removal of artwork outside a restaurant showing construction workers in yellow helmets, saying it was the owner’s decision to paint over it after residents complained it was linked to the 2019 anti-government protests.
But the owner of Glorious Fast Food, surnamed Ho, said he had only agreed to remove the mural, which was put up in 2011, after officials warned him of possible breaches against the Beijing-imposed national security law.
Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen stopped short of clarifying how the artwork might have violated the security law, but said the Home Affairs Department had offered “friendly reminders” to landlords and occupants to reflect the concerns of residents.
“We are not a law enforcement agency. When we saw the artwork, my colleagues issued reminders that it might be easily associated with [black violence or Hong Kong independence],” she said.
“It has nothing to do with stifling creative freedom at all. It is up to the landlord and the occupant to decide how to deal with the artwork, and then let our colleagues handle it. They could have chosen to do nothing.”