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PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
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great influence on local operatic films. “Huangmei” operatic films may be another type of films suitable for a memorial gallery too.
Therefore, I think it is not suitable for us to have a memorial gallery for an individual. Frankly, if we look at the nineties and the new millennium soon to start, many Hong Kong film workers have or are about to make breakthroughs outside Asia into the international film market. Recently, there is Mr. Samo HUNG who won a newcomer award in USA for his performance in a serial telecast there. Several Hong Kong film directors are getting high acclaim too, not to forget Mr. Jackie CHAN who has steered into new horizons because of the wide recognition of his films in Hollywood.
If we commemorate just one person, we may in future face the same problem again and again. Should we have a gallery dedicated to Jackie CHAN? Or should we have one for YAM Kim-fai and PAK Suet-sin? If we want to have a gallery of film celebrities like the Hall of Fame to commemorate those with special contributions to the film industry, we may need to find another channel. This should not be placed in the Film Archive. Of course, we can liaise with the film industry for a Hall of Fame to pay tribute to those with special achievement or contribution. If we consider the Film Archive itself from a practical angle and take constraints into account, I think the direction to take is clearly the development and history of the film industry, not individuals and galleries to commemorate them.
As Mr. Ir mentioned, we have a very successful Bruce LEE fan club in Hong Kong and the club keeps a lot of information on the life and belongings of Bruce LEE. The club holds regular meetings and joins the Art Centre to hold exhibitions annually. We think the efforts of a Bruce LEE fan club are good enough. We think that in the Film Archive, it would be more appropriate to reflect the influence of Bruce LEE and other kungfu actors and actresses on film development in Hong Kong. Let me emphasize that the focus should be on development and history. We can perhaps have a gallery of kungfu type film stars, but definitely not one specially dedicated to an individual.
I hope Members will support our proposed amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
MR. KAM NAI-wat (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.
Ms. Carlye Tsui Wai-ling (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, in more than a decade after the death of Bruce LEE, he was firmly listed among the most popular foreign film stars in Japan. He ranks with James DEAN and Marilyn MONROE and his glamour has not died with his death.
Recently, I browsed on the Internet and searched under Bruce LEE. I found that 534807 documents mentioned him and most of them made Bruce LEE the subject. Many of these are on themes that sing praises for him, such as "Tribute to Bruce LEE”, “Praise of Bruce LEE". There is one web page entitled
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