Dinosaurs put people power into perspective

It is not uncommon to hear someone described as a dinosaur - for example, someone who resists new technology or holds views that are no longer fashionable.

Some people are not bothered. For example, fictional spy James Bond, in the latest 007 movie, was described by a spymaster as a 'sexist, misogynist dinosaur'. That does not stop Bond and his creators laughing all the way to the bank

In Hong Kong, the drawing power of dinosaurs is proving just as enduring. As we report today - 12 years after 1.5 million Hong Kong people attended the three-month run of the movie Jurassic Park - 4 million people will have visited the dinosaur exhibition at the CityPlaza shopping mall in Taikoo Shing before the day is out. And that is in just five weeks.

That is something of a landmark in our society since the discontent sparked by the Sars outbreak and an economic downturn. In 2003 and last year, the July 1 mass demonstrations drew half a million people. This year only 21,000 attended the protest march on July 1, while 30,000-odd showed up for a patriotism parade on the eighth anniversary of Hong Kong's handover. On the same day, 200,000 went to see the dinosaurs.

It is as if politics has become fossilised. The popularity of the dinosaur exhibition is not an isolated example of people having turned to nourishing their cultural and intellectual interests. Remember the enthusiastic reception to last year's display of the Pablo Picasso curtain at IFC Mall? Or the response to the four-day, round-the-clock viewing at the Space Museum in 2003 of the re-entry module that brought Colonel Yang Liwei back to Earth after he became China's first man in space? Or the record attendance at this year's Hong Kong Book Fair, marked by a trend in reading tastes towards culture and history? (particularly Hong Kong and Chinese history).

There are some reminders here for our leaders. One is that Hong Kong people are not only a hard-working, resourceful breed that has built a great city, but they are still capable of moving on from adversity and exploring the bigger picture. That does not mean they have put aside their democratic aspirations, but rather that they are maturing into them.

Another is that the government should lose no time in making some decisions and getting on with the West Kowloon cultural hub project. There seems little doubt about public demand for it.

There is a message here for developers, too - a cultural focus in shopping and entertainment projects can have a win-win outcome for developers and the public alike.

So it is not surprising the dinosaur exhibition at Taikoo Shing's Cityplaza is cited by sceptics as the kind of event that might be needed to attract people to the $2 billion SkyPlaza shopping centre due to open at the airport next year - and save it from becoming a white elephant.