Letters | Twilight of the Warriors’ success shows why Hong Kong must invest in creative industries

Readers discuss the benefits of supporting the development of Hong Kong’s film and cultural industries, why we must not give up on waste charging, and the plan to ban the Great Artesian Basin from being used for carbon capture

Hong Kong culture

Letters

Published: 11:30am, 4 Jun 2024

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Amid calls to invest in Hong Kong’s film and cultural industries to spur creativity, it is encouraging to see the success of the martial arts film Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (“Blockbuster film hails Hong Kong’s past and future”, May 29). It showcases Hong Kong’s unique cultural identity and has brought renewed attention to a chapter in its rich history, the Kowloon Walled City.

The buzz the film has created shows why Hong Kong will benefit from more resources to supporting the local creative industry. Let’s be clear: Hong Kong does have a vibrant creative industry but several of the more noticeable recent successes have been in fine art trading, as evidenced by the well-received Art Basel and Affordable Art Fair held annually.

More resources should be focused on promoting local and international popular culture, which can be very lucrative. The Japanese economy has profited from doing so, and mainland China is clearly catching up as well.

Japan has long been a leading figure in global popular culture. Japanese anime and manga properties such as Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away and Koyoharu Gotouge’s Demon Slayer have created tremendous commercial value through distribution and merchandising. Yayoi Kusama’s world-famous polka dots and Yoshitomo Nara’s signature paintings of children have not only hit records in auction sales but have also generated considerable profits through merchandise products and collaborations with brand names.

Other than local popular culture, Japan has also capitalised on internationally recognised popular culture to boost its economy. Its Disneyland, Universal Studios, Warner Bros Studio tour and its production of the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child are all cases in point.

We can observe the same pattern of development in the mainland’s creative industries. The game Honour of Kings is so popular that it has boosted the development of esports. The Chinese animation series Douluo Continent and Heaven Official’s Blessing have become popular across Asia.

The mainland has also grasped the opportunity to make use of Disneyland, Universal Studios and even Legoland to attract tourists and stimulate spending. It is surely only a matter of time before the mainland becomes as competitive as Japan in creative industries.

Hong Kong was very strong back in the 1980s and 1990s in promoting its popular culture through films and music. The recent years have seen a decline in its influence. It must step up efforts to promote local and international popular culture, and, more importantly, extract commercial value from it.

Anson Chan, Guangzhou

Now’s not the time to give up on waste charging

Hong Kong’s controversial waste-charging scheme has been shelved indefinitely.

A trial run was held from April 1 at 14 sites, including public and private residential buildings, shopping malls, residential care homes and the so-called three-nil buildings, those without maintenance companies, owners’ corporations or residents’ organisations managing them.

The results showed compliance was high at government premises, restaurants and care homes, but only about 20 per cent of those in three-nil buildings used the plastic bags provided. Some cleaners complained of a heavier workload and said they would quit once the scheme was implemented.

Despite these challenges, however, officials must find a workable approach. We have been discussing waste charging for 20 years, and a law was finally passed in 2021. Yes, there are still many barriers we have to overcome but we do not want to backtrack or fall behind international trends.

It is difficult to rally support for the scheme because our recycling network is weak and the scheme was poorly explained. Hong Kong officials had many chances over the years to set clear guidelines for waste management but left the job undone.

No date has been set for when officials might try to roll out waste charging again, but I hope the day will come. Some politicians have urged a suspension until there’s more public support or the economy is doing better, but there’s no perfect timing. We should just do the best we can.

Jack Chung, Sham Shui Po

In Australia, carbon capture ban should be a first step

The Queensland government has announced that it will ban the Great Artesian Basin from being used for carbon capture and storage. Politicians have stumbled into a sensible energy policy, but their proposed ban should be extended to all areas of Queensland, not just this one basin.

Announcing the state government’s enlightened ban, Queensland Premier Steven Miles said the Great Artesian Basin’s “unique environmental, agricultural, economic and cultural significance is worth protecting”.

But surely the flora and fauna of the Great Dividing Range are also worth protecting from the bulldozers clearing roads and sites for wind power stations. Who is protecting our farms, grasslands and woodlands from those promoting suffocating solar blankets? And who is going to save the whales, fishermen and seabirds from dangerous and noisy offshore wind machines? Why are we driving all this damage and cost to produce electricity that is intermittent and unreliable?

Viv Forbes, Queensland, Australia

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