Lesson 8 - Hong Kong Lifestyle: Let's talk it through

"Eight lessons for Government Self-study and Improvement:
How to be a good Secretary for Development"
The final worksheet in the series, to be published on 28th June 2008 by the neighbourhood group of Hing Wah St, Sham Shui Po on the 111th day after sitting down to dinner with Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, the Secretary for Development responsible for the 'Four Rs'

Redevelopment
Rehabilitation
Revitalisation &
pReservation of Hong Kong.
[URA]

This worksheet documents the dinner conversation and asks some of the questions which remain unaddressed. The worksheets are downloadable here in Chinese and English. (Click to enlarge). The kaifong has printed copies to send to Sydney for the Australian "Mao to Now" exhibition, so that people can take them home from the opening of the show.

In March 2008, the kaifong participated in a 'daydreaming workshop' in March at the garage, run by a visiting dutch artist, Elena Simons, a social inventor and founder of Wonder. One of the dreams they aligned on was to become a world-famous community, and they are very happy to be sending their work in an international exhibition.

Notes on policy and rights:

The URA states that residents and property owners have the right to object to development of their area:

People affected by URA development schemes and development projects have the right to object under the Town Planning Ordinance or URA Ordinance. Objectors are also allowed to appeal against Government decisions on development projects.

The Hong Kong Housing Society acquires the land for the Urban Renewal Authority. Both the organisations come under the Development Bureau. According to the Housing Society:

If the tenant refuses to accept our cash compensation or rehousing offer and/or fails to sign surrender agreement, the Housing Society will recover vacant possession of the affected premises in accordance with the prevailing law.

This statement is one of the tactics referred to in the conversation, brought up as a threat when the residents ask too many questions of the Housing Society.

Artist Statement for 'Mao to Now' exhibition

A local community, or kaifong, is a work of art created from a web of stories. We belong to our community and belong to our community's stories. We create community stories, community stories create us.

In 2004, a close-knit community of residents and shop keepers in Sham Shui Po learned that their block was targeted for demolition and high-end redevelopment by the Urban Renewal Authority.
Sham Shui Po is an old district of Kowloon in Hong Kong, a shopping area famous for fabrics, electronics and repair shops. Residents and shopkeepers were given the options of taking public housing in different districts of Hong Kong, of leaving with compensation, or for some, leaving with no compensation. The residents found it difficult to communicate to the government departments that what they wanted was to preserve their community: the neighbours they had lived and worked with all their lives. Many government officials assumed, and reported to the media, that the residents were being difficult in order to bargain for more money.

The neighbourhood kaifong began a series of creative actions to share with the rest of Hong Kong what they value about their lives. This work is a website that documents these actions. It brings together many people's work in translating, glossing, documenting and responding to an extraordinary, generous, authentic and humorous series of grass-roots art actions. There have been guided tours of the rooftops, an exhibition of stories in comic-book style and an anti-hunger-strike (twenty-four days of dinner party). The kai fong's sharply funny series of eight primary-school style 'Worksheets for Government Self-Study and Improvement' was published in the highly-regarded Chinese newspaper, Ming Pao.

This kaifong's actions contribute to the next district targeted by the Urban Renewal Authority in the same way that protest groups from previous redevelopment areas, like the Star Ferry and Wedding Card Street, have contributed to theirs. One day, Hong Kong government policy will reflect the values and the strengths of the people it represents.

As this exhibition goes up in Sydney, the Sham Shui Po block is coming down in Hong Kong.

How to be a good Secretary for Development Lesson 7: Hong Kong Lifestyle: An Inclusive and Harmonious Society

Eight lessons for Government Self-study and Improvement
How to be a good Secretary for Development