Why does Hong Kong allow killjoys to close much-loved beach barbecue pits?
Family-run businesses in Shek O, some dating back to the 1920s, no match for city’s legions of party poopers
When my now-wife and I celebrated our engagement in 2015, it felt only natural that we hold the party in Shek O, at the beach barbecue pits, the centre of our community.
Late in the afternoon, as we downed a few drinks and played some music, our group was visited by two police officers acting on a noise complaint. They had been called by a man who had arrived after our little party was already well under way, and decided to place his towel on the sand directly next to where we were celebrating.
There’s usually enough room for everyone on Shek O beach, and a high tolerance of people enjoying themselves, but rather than move away from the music, this miserable man had decided to call the police. I politely told the officers and the complainant that no laws were being broken and we would not be turning off the music. The man muttered a racist insult and, scowling, walked away, as he should have done in the beginning.
Now, complaints from similarly joyless souls seem to have closed the beach barbecue pits for good. These pits have been around for a while (some since the 1920s) without bothering anyone much, but the Lands Department has suddenly started threatening the hard-working Shek O families who lease the pits out with fines and jail terms for occupying government land (or, in this case, government sand).
