Modern vs Old Controversies:

A Conservationist Point of View


Down to the seafront, Star Ferry Pier and Queen’s Pier no longer exist. The Hong Kong Government has won the right to continue the Central Reclamation Phase III. In an attempt to solve the everlasting traffic congestion problem, much of our historical heritages had to give way to the city’s development.



The Star Ferry Pier and Queen’s Pier are the special cases which draw our attention most. In fact, not only the SAR government, but the colonial government herself has destroyed numerous astonishing colonial buildings. Say, the old General Post Office and the old Hong Kong Club Building, they were elegant, Victorian style architecture. The Statue Square was much bigger than it is now. But part of it has become a multi-storey car park during the 1970s. Demolish the old one and replacing with the new, that’s process of the past 100 years’ development.
Now, the Central Market is closed. Peel Street and Graham Street are under an urban renewal project. 5,318 square meters of buildings will be torn down and replaced with residential, retail and office buildings like any other part of Hong Kong. The local community, the featured street market, Wing Wo grain shop will turn into history. (Urban Renewal Authority, 2008)

In George Orwell's fiction 1984, English words are being altered and deleted, replacing with Newspeak. Year after year, there is less words, hence, less meanings. If the old buildings just like a language, if it represent something meaningful and valuable to us. The demolishment of the old buildings has no difference from deleting Englsih words.


Old versus Modern – The Unavoidable Clashes

Not long ago, the demolition of the Queen’s Pier has made Central be the headlines of many newspapers. Conservationists have made aggressive protests against the demolition. They launched hunger strikes, camped at the pier, tied themselves to the pillars and used their bodies as human shields to impede the machines dismantling the pier. They used every means they could think of to preserve the pier. But yet, they failed.

Through this incident, shall we say heritage preservation cannot hinder Hong Kong’s renewal? The answer is different from different people, but there are several points that needed our attention.

What is more important, development or preservation?


The answer is not easy to answer, because different interest groups will have a completely different answer. The career drivers that drive across Central everyday would support the reclamation, as it would ease the traffic jam. However, the local housewife we interviewed told us that the reclamation is of no need. She lived in Central for 10 years, she cared about the integrity of the Victoria Harbor.

From the conservationist’s point of view, the harbor should be preserved because of its value and it represents the collective memories of Hongkongers. This believe is shared among many people. That is why many people expressed their sympathy when protesters acted drastically against the authority. But the question is, how much are these people willing to pay to keep this heritage intact?

It is good that the society voices out the need for heritage conservation. But how many people will put their wishes into action? Conservation needs funding, this continuous output of money is debited to our government’s reserve. The more we debit, the higher possibility for the government to raise taxes and fees, which directly relates to tax payers’ wallet. We know they want the pier to be preserved, but to what extend are they willing to pay, in exchange for the pier to stay?


It is your choice to let it stay
It is obvious that we cannot keep every historical building,
we have to choose. From the past experience, seems that
development wins more. However, most of those opposing
voices were not great enough to deter the government’s
decisions. If you have a strong feeling of keeping a historical site,
it is suggested that you act quickly and loudly.






The Magic of Central
You may not notice, Central is already lucky in the struggle between heritage conservation and city development. It is only in Central that you could find Neoclassical architecture (Wikipedia, 2008) along side with the state-of-the-art the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Headquarters!

Both new and old fusing together, not perfectly, but already a place highly praised by tourists and maids.


Reference
Urban Renewal Authority (2008). Retrieved October 23, 2008, from http://www.ura.org.hk/html/c800000e34e.html
Wikipedia. The free encyclopedia. Retrieved October 24, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative_Council_Building