The Hong Kong neon artist teaching his craft to a new generation – can he help it survive the onslaught of LEDs?

Neon signs once dominated the Hong Kong nightscape, but have dwindled in recent years with the rise of LED lights, with now only a few traditional artists left

We take a class from Jive Lau Ho-fai, a 20-year veteran who teaches neon bending at his Kwun Tong studio in an effort to preserve the art form

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Jive Lau Ho-fai teaches neon-bending workshops at Kowloneon, a neon workspace in Kwun Tong, Hong Kong. Photo: Connor Mycroft

Published: 2:15pm, 30 Oct 2022

Neon signs have been drawing the eye in Hong Kong for more than a century, a familiar sight in the city’s nightscape advertising everything from pharmacies and seafood restaurants to topless bars and saunas.

In the past 20 years, though, most of Hong Kong’s neon signage has been removed, either for safety reasons or because of the increased popularity of cheap, more energy-efficient LEDs.

One of the most well-known signs to have come down recently was that promoting the Koon Nam Wah Bridal store in Yau Ma Tei, in August.

“It’s really sad, it was so iconic,” says Jive Lau Ho-fai, 39, who runs the Kowloneon workshop, in Kwun Tong, East Kowloon, where customers can make their own neon sign or piece of art in one- or four-day workshops.

Hong Kong in the 1960s was awash with the neon signs of bars and nightclubs. Photo: Getty Images

His studio is in the Kwun Tong Industrial Centre Phase 1, a gritty block near the Kwun Tong MTR station.

Exit the lift on the third floor and you’re guided into Lau’s workshop by the warm glow of scarlet neon.