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1. Fresh start call on culture hub

2. Cultural think-tank proposed to guide the development of hub

1. Fresh start call on culture hub
Cannix Yau, The Standard 21 February 2005

Only three bidders - consisting of major developers - have been shortlisted for the proposed $40 billion West Kowloon Cultural District project. ERIC WONG

It is time for a fresh start on the West Kowloon Cultural District, said an alliance of cultural and academic groups Sunday, calling on government to open up the increasingly divisive project to all interested players.

The 11-group alliance, called the People's Panel on West Kowloon, said it has completed a draft proposal for the HK$40 billion project and plans to present it to the officer-in-charge, Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang, for discussion this week.

Alliance spokesman Leung Man-tao said the government should suspend the current public consultation exercise and instead set up a think-tank to formulate a long-term blueprint based on the people's arts and cultural needs.

The think-tank should eventually become a statutory organisation responsible for developing the West Kowloon project in accordance with the blueprint while the project should be divided into different parts for phase-by-phase development open to interested players.

Leung was highly critical of the single-developer approach adopted for the development, contending the project should not be exclusive to property developers only.

At present, the three shortlisted bidders are Henderson Land Development; a joint bid by Cheung Kong (Holdings) and Sun Hung Kai Properties called Dynamic Star; and Sunny Development, a consortium led by Sino Land. The winner will be granted the sole development rights for 30 years.

``Why does this project have to be developed by property developers? Why have other organizations been excluded? I believe other conglom-erates such as Walt Disney are no less capable than the existing three shortlisted bidders.'' Leung said.

``As long as an organisation manages to secure funding, it should not be excluded. Different interested parties should have a part to play,'' he said at a West Kowloon forum Sunday.

Leung said the project has become an exclusive game for the super-rich property tycoons with smaller-sized developers shut out.

He argued that Hong Kong people's cultural needs should not be decided by a single bidder but by a think-tank representing the majority interests of society.

The proposed think-tank should therefore comprise representatives from the government, the business sector, non-government organizations, the arts and cultural sectors and the community, Leung said. ``Why should Hong Kong people have an opera house but not a theater for Cantonese opera? Why must the selected developer have the final say on what Hong Kong people need?'' he asked.

Leung worried that the winner would turn the museums into ``clubhouses'' for luxury residential projects. ``I am really worried about their cultural vision, and whether it will be intrinsically different from the vision of the general public,'' he said.

During the forum, Hong Kong Institute of Architects vice-president Vincent Ng also joined the crusade against the single-developer approach, saying the government should have a rethink because it is now ``putting the cart before the horse'' in developing the project.

He criticized the mandatory construction of the HK$4 billion canopy as devoid of cultural meaning because it is an extravagance without having any function. ``Why do we need such a massive canopy? What does it signify? We can't build something for the sake of constructing a landmark.

``We should think about the content and the cultural needs of Hong Kong people,'' he said.

Ng said because of this expensive mandatory condition, a number of interested parties were excluded from bidding for the project since they could not afford the large investment that would be required.

2. Cultural think-tank proposed to guide the development of hub
WINNIE YEUNG , SCMP 21 February 2005

A counter-proposal on developing the West Kowloon cultural hub suggests the government set up a think-tank to draft the project's framework and maintain sustainable cultural development.

The People's Panel on West Kowloon released the proposal, which is titled Refining West Kowloon, yesterday.

It proposed that a Metropolitan Cultural Think-Tank, which would act as a discussion forum and draft the framework for cultural issues including the West Kowloon project, be led by the Chief Secretary's Office. The panel is an alliance of nine non-governmental organisations related to the West Kowloon project.

The think-tank would have representatives from the business sector, NGOs and five government bureaus: home affairs; housing, planning and lands; commerce, industry and technology; education and manpower; and economic development and labour.

Chief Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, who oversees the West Kowloon project, has been criticised by the panel over the consultation process.

The panel's convenor, Danny Yung Ning-tsun, said their suggestion was aimed at raising the level of cultural discussion.

"This is to make sure cultural discussions have a better interaction with other government policies as topics will touch on issues like town planning," he said.

"Right now, the Home Affairs Bureau has failed to do this."

But at a forum at City University, where Mr Yung introduced the proposal yesterday, other NGOs said they had doubts about the proposal of having the chief secretary oversee the proposed think-tank.

"This think-tank is supposed to increase public participation in cultural discussion," said Rikkie Yeung Au Lai-kit, a board member of SynergyNet. "I think the panel has to consider carefully if having government leading the discussion could achieve this."

Mr Yung said it was merely one of the suggestions they brought up to attract better ideas. "We understand this is a `hole' in our proposal, but this is the point of public discussion and we welcome all criticisms."

The proposal also suggests setting up a West Kowloon Authority which would have a similar composition as the think-tank. Ada Wong Ying-kay, spokeswoman for the panel, said any developers, not only the three shortlisted for the West Kowloon project, could join the authority. She said the panel would suggest the composition of the authority.

The panel also proposed setting up an independent fund to run the project. Ms Wong said the fund could be generated initially from the land sale for the West Kowloon hub and become self-sufficient.