Hong Kong Preservation - A Tale of Woe?

After a long argument with Chinese Estate Holding, the Secretary of Development Mrs Carrie Lam had finally settled the fate of old Wan Chai Market. The classical Streamline Moderne front part would be preserved, while the rear would be demolished to make way for the construction of a luxurious residential building (The Zenith) on top. The government viewed it as a victory against the developers, but could it be in fact a tale of woe for Hong Kong preservation?

The government focuses mainly on the shape and form when it comes to preservation policy. Therefore, it demolished the Old Star Ferry clock tower and proposed to rebuild a counterfeit at the original site, wrecked the whole Wedding Street and planned to reconstruct some identical “Tong Laus” as memorials instead of preserving the original ones. But some Hong Kong citizens have other ideas of preservation values. They believe that not only the structure, but all the materials are of historical significance and collective sentiment. For example, the wooden stairs of the Blue House tells the tales of the “dao-ye-xiang” workers so they should not be removed. Some people, such as the chairman of Central and West Concern Group Law Nah Ling, even take the idea from State of South Carolina’s Chaleston Town and think that cultural heritage should be preserved as a historical district and not be relocated, or it will only tell half the story, just like the Mei Lei Lau in Stanley. Therefore they have protested strongly against the relocation of Queen pier to 9^th and 10^th pier in Central.

To me, a historical building is not necessarily preserved in the original landscape – as in the case of the Three Gorges Dam in China, preservation sometimes has to give way to development and cannot be done at the original site. Nor it is absolutely necessary to leave all the old structures unattended (of course, the more preserved, the better) – for some battered structures may be dangerous. We can put new counterfeits in place which can tell the same story. But I do believe the history of the preserved building should never be left out.

The government is now planning to revitalize the Central Market into a mid-town oasis with bookstores, cheap cafes, gyms and rooftop gardens, which is going to be great. But none of its past tales are going to be retold. Some may say its past was very formidable and nauseating – meat stores were littered with cow and sheep heads and the butchers used to crack open the skulls and tear the brains off for sales. But does this mean we should wipe this history clean off the page? This showed how the life of the old people used to be. It would be a sad fact if the new generation only know Central Market as a recreational center and never know their ancestors' lives there. The government could leave room for a tiny museum or a time-corridor such that the old things in the market could be shown. And by using digital technology, the history and the treasurable stories of the past could be retold.

We do not know what the Old Wan Chai Market will become with the Zenith on top, or if there would be things of any kind that would show the old life and history of it. But judging by the present documents, the old Wan Chai Market would likely become the back garden, the shopping arcade and a grand front gate for the Zenith. If that’s the case, I guess many people will agree with me that it would be a victim of the woes of Hong Kong preservation policy.

Questions:

1. What do you think the criterion and values of preservation should be? Should we preserve buildings because it is our collective memory, because its structure is rare or because its history tells the lives of people in the past?

2. Should cultural heritage be preserved at its original site? If a cultural heritage (e.g. the old star ferry pier) has a safe and sound structure, should the government demolish it and reconstruct a counterfeit instead of preserving the original one for the sake of cheaper preservation cost? Is it an act of history destruction, or it makes no differences?

3. Do you think building luxurious flats on top of a counterfeit Old Wan Chai Market (except the front part) a suitable method of preserving this historical building? If you were the government, would you want to buy back the land and preserve the Old Wan Chai Market as it should be, even at a high price?