The Kadoorie Conundrum
MISFEASANCE OR MALFEASANCE,
MR GUS CHUI?
The phrase, 'lest we forget', has been used to the point that it has lost its original thrust: To remind us of some event which, in the context of good and evil, genuinely deserves to be remembered.
Cultures have evolved and collapsed over the centuries, and they are only remembered by objects and the words. recorded by those who lived at the time.
In Hongkong, there is precious little left of the heritage which caused this almost barren rock to become (a) the largest manufacturer of garments in the world, (b) the busiest port in the world, (c) the most sophisticated, inter- racial, cosmopolitan city in the world where East meets West and the twain does meet, and (d) one of the last bastions of free enterprise.
The Hongkong Club has gone amid screams from the Heritage Society -- now defunct -- and one more building, commemorating Hongkong roots, has vanished.
It could be said that though the beginnings of this metropolis had ignominious overtones, the colonialistic government has established a culture which, in the words of the American economist Milton Friedman, is an inspiration to the world that free trade really works.
The last link in the chain of evolution in a culture lies in
its architecture, whereby those with the power build for themselves those edifices which, it is hoped, will represent their contribution to the culture in which they have pros-
pered.
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Building, a building which cost about 33 percent of The Bank's Shareholders' Funds at the time, has been labeled by TARGET on numerous occasions as Sandberg's Folly since it was the Chairman of The Bank, Mr Michael Sandberg, who decided to spend more than $HK8 billion on this edifice.
But in years to come, Hongkong will treasure this build- ing since it represents more than just aluminium and money: It represents the spirit of the time.
So it is with most buildings: They are the present's link with the past.
The Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) is a statutory body established in 1976 and derives its authority under Chapter 53 of the Laws of Hongkong, the Antiquities and
Monuments Ordinance.
This body has been established to determine what build- ings should be preserved in the public interest due to their historical merit.
The members of the AAB are experts in various fields, ranging from architecture to engineering to archaeology to history and geology.
The 13 members of the AAB are all unpaid and unofficial,
that is not civil servants.
The Ordnance states: "The Board may advise the Author- ity (the Secretary for Municipal Services) on any matters re- lating to antiquities, proposed monuments or monuments or refer to it for consultation...'.
One of the matters which may be seen as having been a success of the AAB is the preservation of the Tai Fu Tai Ancestral Hall just outside Yuenlong.
The AAB became enmeshed in the Synagogue contro- versy in late 1986 when it lodged an objection with the Town Planning Board over the proposed demolition of the 1902 place of worship.
Eventually, this led to acrimonious exchanges of letters,. in the first instance, and this led to the now famous aborted legal battle:
Miscellaneous Proceedings Case Number 638 of 1988 Court Documents will show that the Applicant, William Meacham, applied for a Judicial Review concerning a deci- sion by the Secretary for Municipal Services, the Respon-
dent.
When the Synagogue Trustees and Swire Properties sought to join the proceedings as interested parties, Mr Meacham withdrew out of fear of the costs involved should
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