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Opinion | Why aren’t we pushing Hong Kong harder as a hub for kung fu fans?

The cultural heritage of Hong Kong related to Chinese martial arts has not been fully tapped to attract tourists and action film buffs

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People take selfies with a statue of Bruce Lee at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum in Sha Tin on July 20, the 51st anniversary of his death. Photo: Eugene Lee
Every new policy address gets debated, supported or pondered by various stakeholders across the broad spectrum of Hong Kong. This could range from the “what’s in it for me” perspective to deep considerations of the impact and influence of the unveiled plans on large companies, institutions and policy bodies and how they operate.
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Externally, it could get picked over by friend and foe alike for clues as to future policy directions and implications for trade, commerce, financial operations, logistics and tourism.

Here, I would like to focus on the cultural heritage of Hong Kong related to Chinese martial arts, as a tourism magnet and special branding opportunity.

The chief executive’s latest policy address deals broadly with this area in a section titled “Promote integrated development of culture, sports and tourism and foster economic diversification”, where the first half of the proposition runs to 13 numbered paragraphs, and the second half gets four numbered paragraphs.

This allotment of acreage is quite something, considering that my professional interest gets a single, short paragraph, under “Advance R&D of aerospace science and technology”. I take comfort from the fact that it has been mentioned, and hope it is a sign of things to come.

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So why is an astrophysicist like me commenting on martial arts? I have a personal interest in the matter, having pursued Shotokan karate at university before taking up wing chun kung fu – think Ip Man and Bruce Lee – in Hong Kong.

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