Minutes of the Twenty-Sixth Meeting of the Consultation ...

Consultation Panel

of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority

Minutes of the Twenty-Sixth Meeting of the Consultation Panel


Date : 4 May 2018 (Friday)

Time : 2:30 p.m.

Venue : Board Room, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority,

Units 608-613, Level 6, Core C, Cyberport 3, 100 Cyberport Road,

Hong Kong

Members Present:

Chairman

Professor John LEONG Chi-yan, SBS, JP

Members

The Honourable Ronald ARCULLI, GBM, GBS, JP

Mr Chris IP Ngo-tung, JP

Mr Henry CHAN Chi-chiu, MH, JP

Mr Christopher Wicky CHEUNG

Mr CHING Cheung-ying, MH

Ms Anita GIDUMAL

Mr Andy HO Wing-cheong

Ms Yolanda NG Yuen-ting, MH

Mr Kyrus SIU King-wai

Mr Jason WONG Chun-tat

Secretary:

Ms Maria LAU Head, Secretariat Services,

Legal and Secretarial

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In Attendance:

Home Affairs Bureau (HAB)

Mrs Angelina CHEUNG FUNG Wing-ping, JP Deputy Secretary for

Home Affairs (2)

Mr Hubert CRUZ Assistant Secretary for

Home Affairs (WKCD)

West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA)

Mr Duncan PESCOD, GBS, JP Chief Executive Officer

(CEO)

Dr William CHAN Chief Operating Officer

(COO)

Mr Richard TSE Executive Director,

Finance

Mr Derek SUN Head, Planning and

Development

Ms Yanny CHAN Manager, Marketing

Absent with Apologies:

Ms Mimi CHEUNG Yee-may

Mr CHOW Yick-hay, BBS, JP

Professor Lena LEE

Mr Wyborn LEUNG Wai-hong

Mr TANG Shu-wing

Professor Eric YIM Chi-ming, JP

Opening Remarks

The Chairman welcomed Members, the representatives of the West

Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA/the Authority) and Home Affairs

Bureau to the Twenty-Sixth meeting of the Consultation Panel (CP).

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2. The Chairman also welcomed the newly appointed member, Mr Kyrus

SIU who attended the meeting for the first time and invited Mr SIU to introduce

himself. Mr Kyrus SIU said that he was the Head of Development of Social et al.

Limited and the Head of Development of Social Investment Consultancy (UK) in

Greater China. He was committed to driving social innovation and very

experienced in youth and volunteer development work. He was a member of the

Council of Hong Kong Red Cross and Youth Development Commission.

Agenda Item (1) Confirmation of the Minutes of the Twenty-Fifth Consultation

Panel Meeting

3. The Chairman said that the Secretariat had circulated the draft minutes of

the Twenty-Fifth Meeting on 2 May 2018 and had not received any proposed

amendment to the minutes from Members. As Members had no other comments,

the minutes of the Twenty-Fifth Meeting were confirmed.

Agenda Item (2) Matters Arising

Marketing and Promotion of WKCDA’s Programmes

4. Mr Duncan PESCOD reported the following:

(a) WKCDA had actively promoted the “Picturing Central and Western

District @ West Kowloon” under the Community Engagement Project in

2017-18 through the various media such as the WKCDA official website,

Facebook pages, e-newsletter as well as advertisements in the newspapers.

The result of the programme was spectacular as it had attracted an

attendance of over 13 500. WKCDA would continue to support the

Community Engagement Project and collaborate with District Councils

(DCs) which could target at residents from different districts more directly.

(b) Regarding the creation of an event calendar on mobile devices, it would be

difficult to cover all the events as there were far too many. People would

prefer a targeted approach. As such, it was planned to create a calendar

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button on the WKCDA website by the end of 2018 when ticket purchase

and free event registration will start. Through this button, people could

save the events they had an interest to attend onto their own calendars.

(c) There was no exact cross-linkage between the Facebook pages of WKCDA

and M+. However, they could be accessed through each other’s website.

Individual Facebook event pages had been created for exhibitions such as

Samson Young: Songs for Disaster Relief and M+ at Art Basel. Lastly,

WKCDA was dealing with six unofficial Facebook pages of WKCDA to

make sure that the information was accurate.

Agenda Item (4) Progress Report of the Working Group on Youth and

Community Engagement (a presentation)

5. The Chairman proposed to proceed to agenda item 4 as Ms Yolanda NG

would leave the meeting early due to prior engagement.

6. By way of a PowerPoint presentation, Ms Yolanda NG briefed Members

on the progress of the Community Engagement Project and the youth engagement

initiatives. She reported that the “Crossover Lab Initiative” collaborative project

had been implemented in collaboration with DCs since 2017. Over 90

organisations had supported and participated in the project and over 20 pre-event

workshops had been organised. The project had so far attracted a total attendance

of over 24 500 to WKCD.

7. Ms Yolanda NG reported that the event “Picturing Central and Western

District @ West Kowloon” under the Community Engagement Project in 2017-18,

which WKCDA co-organised with the Central & Western District Council, with Little

Green Feet as the programme partner, had attracted a record high of over 13 500

participants. She also said that WKCDA would collaborate with three DCs

including Kowloon City DC, Eastern DC and Tuen Mun DC under the Community

Engagement Project for 2018-19. It was planned that these events would be held in

February and March 2019.

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8. Ms Yolanda NG stated that three youth engagement initiatives had been

undertaken in 2017-18. The programme details were summarised as below:

A. Youth Art Ambassador

(a) The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG) was the

programme partner;

(b) it was held during the event “Picturing Central and Western District @

West Kowloon” on 25 March 2018;

(c) there was young people’s performance echoing the event “Picturing

Central and W estern District @ West Kowloon”;

(d) it created a user-centric joyous experience for WKCD goers at five points

of interest between Kowloon Station and WKCD; and

(e) fifteen youth art ambassadors had provided clear directional guidance to

the visitors along the path from Kowloon Station to the Nursery Park.

B. WKCD at Your Hand’s Reach

(a) HKFYG was the programme partner;

(b) it had attracted on-site impressions of over 17 600;

(c) there were 18 sessions over six days (18-23 March 2018) of touring of a

mobile stage at various locations in Hong Kong (e.g. Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong

Kok, Causeway Bay, Shatin and Kwun Tong etc.);

(d) it had involved international and local a cappella teams for performance;

and

(e) it had engaged youth art ambassadors to introduce the WKCD project to

the community.

C. Life Planning Programme: Arts Industry Exploration

(a) Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong was the programme

partner;

(b) it was held from March to July 2018;

(c) it was expecte d that 2 8 80 students from twelve schools would participate

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in the programme; and

(d) Programmes included

(i) artists such as Adam Wong and Jessica Chiu etc. sharing at local

schools;

(ii) visits to arts education/community arts organisations including

Jockey Club Inclusive Arts Studio and Chung Ying Theatre

Company etc.;

(iii) participation in WKCDA programmes including Samson Young:

Songs for Disaster Relief World Tour and staff sharing ; an d

(iv) sharing of the participating students etc.

9. Ms Yolanda NG said that the Working Group on Youth and Community

Engagement (Working Group) and WKCDA would review the event proposals

submitted by the programme partners, confirm and finalise the event details.

WKCDA would kick start the liaison with DCs later this year with the confirmation

of the Working Group. Similar to what had been done in 2017-18, if any of the

three DCs would not be able to launch their events in 2018-19, the Working Group

would plan and implement other project(s) to ensure effective use of the resources.

The Working Group would also explore options for implementation plan for events

after 2018-19 and had found out that it could do more in the area of youth engagement.

It was a different area and the need for youth engagement programme was increasing.

She asked if WKCDA could allocate more resources for the Working Group to

undertake more youth engagement programmes f rom 2019-20 onwards.

10. The Chairman thanked Ms Yolanda NG and the Working Group members

for their hard work and asked Mr Duncan PESCOD if WKCDA would provide

additional resources to support the youth and community engagement programmes.

11. Mr Duncan PESCOD responded that WKCDA had been working very

closely with the Working Group in support for the programmes and thanked Ms.

Yolanda NG and the Working Group members for their effort. He confirmed that

WKCDA continued to reach out to the community and organised different education

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13. Ms Yolanda NG supplemented that DCs planned their events/programmes

based on the Government’s financial year. Additional resources would be needed

for DCs to participate in the Community Engagement Project as the Community

Engagement Project held at the WKCD might not be perceived as directly improving

community facilities for residents in their respective districts. She also thanked the

Secretariat which had made a lot of effort in liaising with the DCs, which was not an

easy task.

programmes for young people. It had recentl y briefed a group of around 40 school

principals and head teachers from the Yau Tsim Mong District School Liaison

Committee on the WKCD project and the group had visited the Art Park and M+

Pavilion on 2 May 2018. Active education programmes of the Performing Arts

Department and M+ including Performing Arts 101 and 201 Series, M+ Rover and

M+ Summer Camp had been designed for the young people. He assured Members

that WKCDA would continue to reach out to the community and organise different

education programmes for the young people.

12. The Chairman stated that the Performing Arts Department and M+

organised education programmes in parallel with those of the CP. Mr Duncan

PESCOD confirmed that there would not be any duplication of the programmes as

they were targeting at different specific groups. The Chairman stated that the

Working Group had done a lot of work to line up with the three DCs.

15. The Chairman asked if the programmes to be offered by the three DCs of

the Community Engagement Project would be the same.

16. Ms Yolanda NG stated that based on her previous experience in

collaborating with the four DCs, the DCs would partner with different cultural

organisations to showcase the unique characteristics of the district. As such, the

programme contents would not be the same.

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17. Mr Andy HO stated that community and youth engagement was the focus

of the Working Group. The Community Engagement Project was very successful

as families from different districts came to the DC events in WKCD. He noted that

funds from the unused budget for the Community Engagement Project had been

allocated to the youth engagement initiatives in 2017-18. The lack of recurrent

funding would constrain the further development of youth engagement. He hoped

that in future there would be a recurrent budget for the youth engagement

programmes. In addition, he recommended that WKCDA should engage the

Western Harbour Tunnel Company Limited (WHT) on a collaborative basis to create

a pleasant w alking experience for WKCD goers from the Kowloon Station.

18. Mr Duncan PESCOD responded that WKCDA had been working very

closely with the Mass Transit Railway Corporation Limited. WKCDA did have

discussions with WHT which was not very supportive. As such, the long-term

solution for improving the walking experience between Kowloon Station and WKCD

was to have a new bridge connecting Elements to WKCD. A paper to seek funding

approval for the bridge would be submitted to the Legislative Council very soon.

On behalf of the WKCDA, he would like to express his heartfelt appreciation of the

fantastic work that the Working Group had done.

19. Hon Ronald ARCULLI asked if any additional resources would be

available for the programmes of the CP.

20. Mr Duncan PESCOD replied that an annual budget of $1.5 million had

been allocated for the Community Engagement Project for 2018-19. He understood

that if need arose, the DCs could raise additional funds for the DC events in WKCD.

The budget for the Community Engagement Project would be kept under review.

The Chairman said that the WKCDA Board was very sympathetic towards the

community engagement work of the CP.

21. Mr Chris IP suggested tapping into the Government funding of around $2

million per annum allocated to each DC for arts and culture purposes.

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22. Hon Ronald ARCULLI suggested soliciting funding from the Hong Kong

Jockey Club as arts and cultural events were one of its areas of community support.

23. Ms Yolanda NG stated that in 2017-18, there were some spare funding

resources which were then used to undertake three youth engagement initiatives.

However, if the three DC events would be launched in 2018-19 as scheduled, the

$1.5 million budget would be fully utilised. She hoped that some additional

funding resources would be made available for the youth engagement initiatives.

She also suggested strengthening the youth element in the existing activities.

24. Mr Duncan PESCOD responded that there was flexibility in the use of

funds and a proposal on the youth engagement initiatives had to be submitted for the

consideration of WKCDA.

25. The Chairman recollected that the former WKCDA Board Chairman was

committed to helping with obtaining resources for the youth and community

engagement programmes of the CP.

Agenda Item (3) Update on the Art, Commerce and Exhibitions (ACE)

Development Package (formerly known as the Exhibition Hub Development

Area) and Artist Hostel/Residence of the West Kowloon Cultural District

(a presentation)

26. By way of a PowerPoint presentation, Mr Duncan PESCOD briefed

Members on the update on ACE development package and Artist Hostel/Residence.

ACE represented Art, Commerce and Exhibitions, comprising an exhibition centre

(about 47 000m2 gross floor area (GFA)) with hotel and rental offices (about 81

000m2 GFA) and embedded retail/dining/entertainment facilities (about 6 800m2

GFA). The exhibition centre would be located at the western end of WKCD

adjacent to the HKPM, while hotel and rental offices with retail/dining/entertainment

(RDE) facilities would be in the adjacent U-shaped site surrounded by the Western

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Harbour Crossing. The ACE would be developed under a Build-Operate-Transfer

(BOT) arrangement to capture creative opportunities in design, construction and

management. With a growing demand for space for art fairs, exhibitions and

conventions, the exhibition centre would have a flexible configuration to serve

different purposes. The exhibition centre would have two halls with an area of

around 9,000m2 each. One of these halls would be column-free with a seating

capacity of around 10,000 persons in concert mode. This venue would be suitable

for staging various types of indoor performances. Roving exhibitions and briefing

sessions for stakeholders of the ACE development package and Artist

Hostel/Residence were held. According to the tentative development programme,

private sector investors/partners would be invited to bid for the BOT development

tender by the end of 2018/early 2019 for the right to construct and operate the

facilities in the ACE during the BOT period. It was expected that the tender would

be awarded in early 2019 with the commencement of construction by the end of

2019/early 2020. The target completion of the ACE development would be in

2023/2024.

27. Mr Duncan PESCOD stated that the Artist Hostel/Residence (about 12

695m2 GFA) would be Hong Kong’s first experimental artist hostel with RDE

facilities (about 3 488m2 GFA), locating next to the Lyric Theatre Complex (LTC) in

the Artist Square to create synergy between performance space and residential

creation space. The Hostel would be developed through a public-private

partnership (PPP). It would accommodate both artists and regular patrons,

providing a unique opportunity for artists and art lovers to meet, interact and learn

from each other. It would also serve as a showcase and incubator for artists, with

workshops and public spaces for events and performances. Public and private

sector investors would be invited to bid for the PPP development tender by the second

half of 2018 and the tender would be awarded by the end of 2018/early 2019. The

construction works of the Artistic Hostel/Residence would commence by the end of

2019 and be completed by the end of 2023 to tie in with the delivery of LTC so that

they would complement each other.

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33. Hon Ronald ARCULLI stated that the benefit of BOT/PPP arrangements

to the public was that the income so generated would subsidise the operating cost of

the arts and culture facilities. He believed that the Government would be able to

share part of the revenue of the projects to ensure WKCDA was not provided

excessive resources.

28. The Chairman enquired why it was called an exhibition centre which was

in fact used for staging performances.

29. Mr Duncan PESCOD replied that it would be easier for the market to

understand what an exhibition centre was than a performance centre. In addition,

it would provide more flexibility as an exhibition centre could accommodate

different types of events such as exhibitions, conventions and performances etc.

30. Mr Henry CHAN enquired which types of infrastructure would be

included under BOT and how long the BOT period would last.

31. Mr Duncan PESCOD responded that according to the Enhanced Financial

Arrangement, all the facilities with commercial elements within WKCD including

hotels, rental offices, exhibition centre and artist hostel would be developed under

the BOT/PPP arrangements. As WKCDA did not have sufficient funding to

develop all the venues, it would need to tap into the resources of the markets. The

ACE development package and Artist Ho stel/Residence were the pioneer projects

32. Mr Henry CHAN was concerned that there might be a continuous increase

in price to sustain the BOT operation. As such, he suggested that the pricing

mechanism and income sharing with the Government should take into account the

interest of the public.

34. Mr Duncan PESCOD supplemented that there were provisions under the

Enhanced Financial Agreement that the development right of the exhibition centre

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site would be granted by the Government to WKCDA at nominal premium without

the need for WKCDA to pay an upfront payment to the Government. Upon expiry

of the BOT period, the Government would have a right to share income generated

from the ACE package. He emphasised that the Enhanced Financial Arrange ment

was needed to help WKCDA tide over its capital and operating deficits arising from

non-profit making facilities and programmes.

35. The Chairman asked if it would be possible for only part of the ACE to be

developed under BOT.

36. Mr Duncan PESCOD replied that the whole project of ACE would be

developed under BOT. It was anticipated that the exhibition centre would not be

hugely profitable as exhibition centres such as Asia World Expo and Hong Kong

Convention and Exhibition Centre were built on a concessionary basis. So, the

exhibition centre needed to be packaged with the hotel and office development .

37. Mr Christopher CHEUNG enquired if there was any current reference

model for the operation of the Artist Hostel/Residence.

38. Mr Duncan PESCOD responded that the concept of the Artist

Hostel/Residence came from a couple of models in Europe and Shanghai and also

the idea of the WKCDA Board Chairman who strongly wanted to have creative

spaces within the facilities. As the Hostel would be developed through PPP, it was

necessary for WKCDA to get a partner to make the project successful. WKCDA

would also need to control certain elements of the operation of the Artist

Hostel/Residence, particularly the involvement of artists and pricing. He thought

that the prices should not be too excessive.

39. Mr Christopher CHEUNG commented that it would be quite limiting if

WKCDA was just looking for one partner. As it would be the first experimental

artist hostel, he suggested engaging multiple partners on a collaborative basis to

achieve a good check and balance.

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40. Mr Duncan PESCOD replied that that the developer might consider

partnering with an operator to manage the facilities. Mr Ronald ARCULLI said

that there might be a lead partner to put a good team together.

41. Hon Ronald ARCULLI stated that when WKCD was fully developed,

there would be a total GFA of approximately 850 000m2, , out of which approximately

350 000m2 would be designated for arts and cultural facilities while approximately

500 000m2 would be used for commercial facilities. As the arts and cultural

facilities were sizeable, the related operating cost would be very expensive.

42. Mr CHING Cheung-ying asked if the Artist Hostel/Residence would be

self-financing or subsidized. He also asked how many rooms would be provided

and what the eligibility of artists would be. He was aware that a building would be

built at the entrance of Hong Kong Science Park to provide accommodation for

innovators for short-term residence.

43. Mr Duncan PESCOD responded that the Artist Hostel/Residence had to

be self-financing and profitable. It would provide about 250 accommodation rooms

with additional creative spaces. The proportion of artists and regular patrons would

be flexible. Artists eligible to be admitted to the hostel would include prof essional

artists, artists going to have professional training and artists from abroad.

Depending on the nature of residenc e, WKCDA would decide on how to support the

artists. Similar to Cyberport and Hong Kong Science Park which had incubation

spaces, WKCDA should provide spaces for creative purposes.

44. Ms Yolanda NG suggested that the WKCDA should explore collaborative

opportunities for the Artist Hostel/Residence with the existing programmes such as

the Young Artist in Residence@V54 of Po Leung Kuk and the Blue House of St

James Settlement.

45. Mr Duncan PESCOD replied that WKCDA had been collaborating with

other art and cultural organisations and would continue to do so.

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46. Mr Andy HO stated that the public would expect that they would have the

opportunity to use the facilities in the ACE. Although the ACE would be operated

on a commercial basis, it would be advisable to mention in the tender document a

proportion of the priority usage of exhibition centre by the community and art and

cultural organisations as well as the proportion of arts and cultural programmes to be

held at the exhibition centre.

47. Mr Duncan PESCOD stated that according to the established policy, for

the art and cultural facilities in WKCD, the first priority was for artistic events, the

second use was for the events of the local organisations and the third use was for

commercial purposes. However, the exhibition centre within the ACE would be

operated on commercial basis, the first priority was for commercial art purposes (e.g.

international programmes) and its remit was to raise the standard and strive for

excellence. School type of events would not be its target.

48. The Chairman said that the public would expect to have opportunities of

using the facilities within WKCD. They expected that it would be easier to book

the facilities within WKCD than the venues under Leisure and Cultural Services

Department (LCSD) such as the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

(Mr Jason WONG left at 3:53 p.m.)

49. Mr Duncan PESCOD responded that WKCD would continue to have free

events such as Freespace Happening and Co mmunity Engagement Project partnered

with DCs. Besides, many open spaces within WKCD would be available for

community use such as the Art Park. However, he emphasised that WKCDA was

not going to do the same thing in the exhibition centre which should be commercially

viable.

50. Mr Chris IP commented that it would be difficult to sustain the long-term

operation of the arts and cultural facilities within WKCD only by revenue generated

from ticketing, souvenirs and RDE facilities. As such, he opined that it would be

necessary for WKCDA to run some commercial facilities to subsidise the operating

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costs of the arts and cultural facilities.

(Mr Henry CHAN left at 3:56 p.m.)

51. Mr Andy HO restated that a requirement for some public usage of the

exhibition centre could be included in the tender document of the ACE to make the

public feel that it was not a pure commercial facility.

52. The Chairman advised that this issue should be brought to the attention of

the WKCDA Board.

53. Mr Duncan PESCOD replied that conditions of public usage would not be

included in the commercial deal as it would undermine the commercial viability of

the ACE project. He would instead develop other projects to give opportunity for

the public to be more engaged.

54. Ms Anita GIDUMAL asked what the encompassing definition of arts and

culture was and the types of events that would be held at the exhibition centre.

55. Mr Duncan PESCOD replied that WKCDA would encourage all

programmes or events that were related to arts and culture to be held at the exhibition

centre. Examples were food expo, wine expo and book fair which were related to

culture. But product trade fairs would not be the type of events to be held at the

exhibition centre. He reiterated that arts and culture programmes should be of top

priority a nd WKCDA would not define what types of programmes would fit for the

ACE as the definition would change over time.

(Ms Yolanda NG left at 4:02 p.m.)

58. Mr Christopher CHEUNG stated that it was understandable that

commercial viability was important for the ACE Project. However, WKCDA

should let the public know that commercial viability was not its only concern. It

had also undertaken education programmes, such as M+ summer camp, as an

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May 2018

initiative of social responsibility.

59. Mr Duncan PESCOD agreed that education and social responsibility

would always be the focus of WKCDA. Each building within WKCD was required

to have certain facilities catered for education and social responsibility programmes.

(The Chairman reminded that the meeting was losing its quorum and invited

Members to ask the last question.)

60. Mr Chris IP emphasised that the vision of WKCDA was to build a vibrant

arts and cultural hub for Hong Kong. Members could rest assured that arts and

culture would be the first priority.

Agenda Item (5) Any Other Business

61. There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:05 p.m.

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