Opinion | In true Hong Kong style, there's a price to be paid for space
Every available inch at the stadium has been utilised to generate revenue, even if it leaves common folks out in the cold
We have become numb to certain realities in Hong Kong and primary among them is the lack of space. If you live here, you intimately know about it and you deal with it. We get squeezed, it's just the way it is. However, there are no rules that say we have to like it. The property cartel in charge of this town would rather gargle with razor blades than leave any kind of space open for public use.
Well, guess what? We now have a sporting event truly worthy of the town it is being held in. Upon arrival through the main gates at Hong Kong Stadium this year the first thing you will see, and I mean the very first thing you will see, is a sign that is not exactly the warmest of greetings: "No Waiting Here."
What you won't see, however, is the pitch. Thanks to a sprawling block of newly erected corporate suites, the area above the North Stand, traditionally the most popular hangout of the Sevens, is no more. It has been whacked so the likes of Goldman Sachs, Gulf Oil Marine Ltd and Hong Kong Rugby Football Union will have unfettered access to the goings on this weekend. Needless to say, there are some upset folks.
I bumped into a friend who was trying to crane his neck around the crowd huddled by the only sliver of space remaining where you could see the pitch from above the North Stand and he was borderline apoplectic at the new setup.
"It's a travesty, an absolute and utter travesty," he said. "It's sad that it's come to this where crass commercialism has destroyed the prime meeting area of the Sevens. How can this have happened?"
"Can I quote you," I asked.
"Of course you can," he said. "You just can't use my name."