editorial
Written by: Hong Kong 01
2020-05-18 06:00
Date of last update: 2020-05-18 06:00The Hong Kong Ocean Park ’s cash was insufficient to support it until September. The government hurriedly applied to the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council last Friday (May 15) to allocate HK $ 5.4 billion for the park ’s operating expenses and loan repayment in the next 12 months. The Ocean Park has been in structural financial difficulties and has been losing money for many years. The anti-amendment campaign and the new coronary pneumonia epidemic have fueled the crisis, resulting in a crisis of completion. There are different opinions on how to go about it in the society. Some people think that instead of spending huge sums of money to help them "hang their lives", it is better to let them close their doors and vacate the land to build public housing to meet the needs of the people. To serve the people of Hong Kong, every effort should be made to retain this Hong Kong logo, and it used to be profitable. Today ’s dilemma involves factors such as poor management and the need to change management.
Ocean Parks are either obsolete or not. They should not be judged solely by emotions, and they should not be arbitrarily "chopped" to affect the tourism industry and Hong Kong's overall reputation. It must also take into account the rights and interests of employees. Only by rationally thinking about the role of Ocean Parks can it be judged. The meaning of saving.
Many citizens, regardless of their political views, urged Ocean Park to close down and use its land to build public housing. Even Liu Mingwei, deputy chairman of the park's board of directors, said building was possible. This call reflects the current indisputable social reality in Hong Kong-the housing problem is the conquest of Hong Kong ’s deep-seated structural contradictions, which directly affects the reform of every field of the entire society. Solving this problem is the consensus of most citizens. In fact, high property prices and inadequate supply of public housing make it difficult for citizens of different classes to find a place to live, so it is understandable to look forward to "abandoned gardens".
The words are divided into two ends. Even though Ocean Park has suffered losses for consecutive years and the number of people has declined, as of the previous year, there were still nearly 5.7 million visitors. It has been criticized that Ocean Park has received a large number of Mainland visitors and made it difficult for Hong Kong tourists to enter the park. This is clearly untrue. According to the Ocean Park ’s annual report, the growth of local tourists has been strong. Even the hotel next to the Ocean Park said that 30% of its guests are locals. Moreover, as a key tourism project, Ocean Park has also brought in more than 2,000 jobs.
Liu Mingwei, deputy chairman of the park's board of directors, once said that building a building is a possibility. (Photo by Liang Pengwei)
Abandoned gardens and non-preferred parks have social value
For some people who arrogantly suggest that Ocean Park should give up land to build houses, this opinion is only regarded as a lack of awareness of the Hong Kong Government's inaction on housing issues. However, when proposing "abandoned gardens to build houses", we should not forget that there are many more ideal options in Hong Kong. The scrapping of the Fanling Golf Course, which has caused debate among all classes in Hong Kong, is in sharp contrast to the current situation facing the Ocean Park.
Although Ocean Park is easily accessible along the railway, Fanling Highland Stadium covers an area of about 170 hectares, which is much larger than the 91.5 hectares of Ocean Park, and the terrain is easier to develop into residential than Ocean Park. More importantly, Ocean Park is a tourist attraction that serves at least millions of people every year. The entrance fee is affordable, the general public can afford it, and it has contributed a lot to the tourism industry. It is also an important place for many local families to relax and enjoy; Fanling High Stadium Only serve a handful of the rich and a few athletes. Things must be done in accordance with the principle of fairness. Both are government land. To find a place to build a house, you should first look for land that has a low contribution to society and a small number of people, such as a high pitch, a large number of brownfields distributed in the New Territories, and then the ocean. Parks are facilities that already have some social contribution. If we now assert that "abandoned gardens and build houses" because of the moment, but let the Fanling High Field and various abandoned agricultural land in the New Territories run away, it is just another proof that Hong Kong has insufficient awareness of social justice and can openly ignore it. What's more, Ocean Park carries a lot of infrastructure investment. From the purely financial and economic benefits, it is obviously the most worthy of these types of facilities.
Keeping the Ocean Park cannot be for nostalgia or collective memory. This is an emotional issue and should never be taken. Ocean Park does face a series of structural management issues. On the one hand, the number of park visitors has been under long-term pressure due to competition from other theme parks in Guangdong, and the number of visitors has declined in recent years. In addition to being affected by the short-term economic environment, the number of people entering the park has gradually decreased from 7.7 million in 2012/13 to 5.7 million in the previous year. The park ’s management team seems to be helpless. In this case, it is necessary to replace and reorganize to solve the management dilemma instead of giving up lightly.
Due to the unclear positioning, the financial structure of Ocean Park could not be adapted. In the past, the expansion of facilities through loans to support expansion, and the operating efficiency was not satisfactory, which caused heavy pressure on recurrent expenditure and a structural fiscal deficit. The park's interest expense increased from 104 million yuan in 2011/12 to 245 million yuan last year, more than doubling in less than ten years, and even exceeding the maintenance and maintenance costs of daily machinery. These problems existed before the anti-amendment campaign last year and this year's new coronary pneumonia epidemic caused a significant decrease in passengers.
Keeping the Ocean Park cannot be for nostalgia or collective memory. This is an emotional issue and should never be taken. (Profile picture)
Relieve structural deficits with commercialization
In January this year, the government proposed to provide 10.6 billion yuan to Ocean Park. The sum of money includes short-term operating expenses and long-term development. If there is a right way to operate in the future, the park is also expected to reverse the loss-making momentum and reach a balance of payments. Due to the rapid deterioration of the situation, the 5.4 billion yuan allocated for this application is only enough for 12 months of operation, and the structural deficit problem cannot be solved at all. Based on the current epidemic situation and social disturbances, mainland tourists may not recover for a long time. After 12 months, Ocean Park will inevitably request funding to support operations. This method of funding is at best enough for parks to "hang their lives", making people worry that funding may become a bottomless pit. This situation must not be reversed by Liu Mingwei's emphasis on the park's "collective memory of 43 years of Hong Kong people".
The key question is, how should Hong Kong people understand Ocean Park? This is something everyone should seriously face and look for answers to. When Ocean Park was established in 1977, the government and the Jockey Club were mainly responsible for its expenditures. It was only in 1987 that it passed the Ocean Park Corporation Regulations that it became an independent non-profit making organization. In theory, it was self-financing. Article 17 of the "Regulations" regarding the function of Ocean Park refers to parks as "public recreational and educational facilities", mainly for "general recreational or educational purposes". However, since the park took its own profit and loss in 1987, the operation has gradually become commercialized. When Sheng Zhiwen served as chairman from 2003 to 2014, it even reached the peak of commercialization, just like a theme park. Many of the facilities at Ocean Park today have nothing to do with recreation or education. Even the park's commercial operations with captive animals have caused some criticism from the conservation community.
The "original heart" of Ocean Park is to serve Hong Kong people as a recreational and educational facility, but in recent years this function has gradually been diminished by the positioning of the theme park. In fact, most of Hong Kong's recreational and educational facilities have failed to be self-financing and need public funds to support them. However, they have shouldered social responsibilities. It is impossible to just let the government shut down just because they need the financial burden of the government. Considering the "public well-being" and "education" at the time of drafting the "Ordinance", in fact, they all have social functions and are needed by Hong Kong. Even long-term public subsidies cannot be overstated. As a wholly-owned facility owned by the government, Ocean Park should reorganize its business, re-emphasize its conservation and educational value, and balance the relationship between social value and business operation, so that it will not lose its establishment of the "initial intention" and will not cost the government to continue To support its operations with public money.
Cooperate with education and conservation to make the golden paint sign shine
Ocean Park has long emphasized that it has been operating as a theme park, and it has also succeeded in self-financing. This reflects its merit as a theme park. If this kind of management can be used as an ocean for conservation and education The integration of parks should be the best option. Ocean Park is wholly owned by the government and the chairman is appointed and removed by the government, but will it become bureaucratic because of the government's backing? Is it purely a commercial operation like the government-controlled MTR? These are things that the management of Ocean Park must explain, and they must also be questioned by the government in the review.
The government must insist on professional and commercial operation of marine parks, reverse the benefits of theme parks, earn profits, and achieve self-financing, so as to support the goal of conservation and education functions with commercial operations. In this development process, the government must reorganize its financial structure, strengthen capital, formulate long-term development strategies, optimize elite teams, and must let them enter a virtuous circle. Under this principle, government injection is natural and well-known. , In line with social interests. This work must include the formulation of a medium- and long-term Hong Kong tourism economic development strategy, making Ocean Park one of the supporting points, and at the same time formulating education and conservation plans for Ocean Park, strengthening its coordinated development with these two areas, and becoming an education. One of the leading institutions of conservation policy.
Ocean Park is an out-and-out Hong Kong brand, just like the golden paint of Hong Kong itself, because the government ’s inaction and the society ’s challenges in the transformation of the times without knowing it, has not been able to reverse the development difficulties of the past decade, The social unrest in recent years and the serious gap between the rich and the poor are the result of this lack of progress. Ocean Park is only one of the collateral damages. If we let all of us close down with the abandonment attitude of "going all together", this can avoid some troubles and expenses, but it is just another kind of escape, which will not help alleviate social conflicts and solve practical problems.
Ocean Park is an out-and-out Hong Kong brand, just like Hong Kong ’s own golden signboard, because the government ’s inaction and the society ’s challenges in the transformation of the times without knowing it have been unable to reverse the development difficulties of the past decade. (Profile picture)
Should the entire community handle Hong Kong, the once shining pearl of the East, with the same attitude? The political threat of the "scramble theory" recently is to test whether we still cherish Hong Kong and are willing to do our best for it. We believe that the Hong Kong community should show determination and courage to find out the root cause of the Ocean Park and apply medicines to the disease in order to rebuild an ocean park that Hong Kong people are proud of. This should also be an attitude to face various problems in Hong Kong society. We must not give up lightly. We must hold a reformed mind, make painstaking determination, break the rigid dogma, break through the outdated structure of vested interests that hinders the advancement of society, and make Hong Kong the gold The lacquer signboard revived.
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