Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Friday 1 September 2017
New rules, tech are dimming Hong Kong’s signature neon glow

KELVIN CHAN brighter and more energy
Associated Press efficient, but purists say
HONG KONG (AP) — For they also lack neon’s warm
Hong Kong’s famed neon tones. Neon’s appeal also
lights, the future looks dim. faded because of its as-
Neon-lit signs were once sociation with red-light
ubiquitous here, illuminat- districts, a turn-off for busi-
ing city streets with their nesses wanting a whole-
soft, warm glow and giving some image.
the dynamic Asian city a Government regulations
signature look to match its have also sped neon’s de-
postwar economic boom. mise. Decades ago, few
Tens of thousands of signs regulations governed sign
on countless tower blocks placement and size, said
Wu. Businesses tried to do
In this Aug. 21, 2017, outdo each other by put-
photo, neon signs, two ting up bigger and bigger
at left, mixing with other signs, held up by cables
LED signs are seen at and jutting out over busy
a down town street in thoroughfares like the Na-
Hong Kong.
Associated Press than Road tourist strip in
Kowloon’s Tsim Sha Tsui dis-
trict. At night, they appear
to float in the sky.
out,” said Wu. “I thought “When our clients wanted
that it would be a strong their neon signs to catch
enemy of neon signs. As the attention of passers-
neon signs had been used by, they would make the
for decades, people per- signs wider to avoid be-
ceived it as old-fashioned. ing blocked by the other
And people usually love ones,” he said.
to use something new for Hong Kong’s Buildings De-
partment has been crack-
In this Aug. 15, 2017, ing down and ordering
photo, Wu Chi-kai, one that some be removed.
of about half a dozen
active neon sign mas- It doesn’t tally how many
ters left in Hong Kong, neon signs Hong Kong
looks at his work during has, but it says the city
an interview in Hong has about 120,000 sign-
Kong. boards, many of which are
Associated Press believed to be unauthor-
ized. In each of the past
two years, the department
their store signs.” has removed or repaired
advertise restaurants, Kong Neon Heritage , sign maker. Their days were Light-emitting diode about 2,700 dangerous or
nightclubs, saunas, cam- whose members are cata- so busy, he said, that he signs have since prolifer- unauthorized signboards
era shops and jewelry loguing the signs still left sometimes slept in the stu- ated across Hong Kong’s and issued removal orders
boutiques in a rainbow of and working to come up dio. cityscape because they’re for about 700 more.q
garish hues. Many are can- with creative ways to pre- “Around 1997, LEDs came
tilevered far out over the serve them. “They should
street, competing for visi- be considered as art. And
tors’ attention. it is very unique to Hong
Few symbols have come Kong.” Wu Chi-kai is one of
to represent Hong Kong about half a dozen neon
as much its skyline of flash- sign masters left in Hong
ing and blinking neon bill- Kong. The 50-year-old said
boards. he now earns about a third
That visual heritage is now of what he made during
under threat. Over the the “golden era for the
past two decades, Hong neon sign industry” in the
Kong’s neon industry has 1980s and early 90s.
been gradually dying At the time, Hong Kong
out, a victim of changing was at its economic peak.
tastes, new technologies Wu had done a six-month
and tighter regulations. apprenticeship in his teens
Some groups have been before being hired by a
fighting to save the signs
as part of the city’s cultural In this Aug. 21, 2017,
heritage before they dis- photo, neon signs are
appear completely. seen at a down town
“Neon signs are not just street in Hong Kong.
something that illuminate,” Associated Press
said Cardin Chan of Hong