The restructuring of the Hong Kong government and the establishment of a new Cultural, Sports and Tourism Bureau have been finalized, but there is a core issue to be addressed: the main function of the Cultural, Sports and Tourism Bureau is to build Hong Kong's soft power, and Hong Kong's soft power must get rid of the mode of only hosting events.
At present, Creative Hong Kong and various cultural and creative industry-related projects under the Commerce and Economic Affairs Bureau are all just organizing activities and funding, and lacking awareness of ability-building.
Therefore, it is a very important step to incorporate RTHK into the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau.
Because Hong Kong and Taiwan are a platform, Hong Kong needs to build a platform to deliver content to the society and to the world.
In other words, telling the Hong Kong story well and the Chinese story well requires a platform.
There are ten advantages for Hong Kong and Taiwan to be included in the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau:
First, to become an endorsement platform for Hong Kong cultural and sports tourism
Hong Kong and Taiwan can concentrate on becoming an endorsement platform for Hong Kong's cultural and sports tourism.
For example, RTHK can produce travel-related food documentaries and programs, and it can also create a platform to promote the documentary market.
Documentary is a very large market, with low cost and high efficiency, and it is a very good media training and a channel to tell Hong Kong stories and Chinese stories well.
Hong Kong has a lot of rich material, and Hong Kong and Taiwan can become a base for documentaries.
People often have a misconception that documentaries are necessarily political, but they are not.
Documentaries can be closely related to science, culture and history, and can be a good platform for civic education and national education.
Second, take responsibility for promoting the development of culture, sports and tourism in Hong Kong
Hong Kong and Taiwan are included in the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, and it is logical to take up the work of promoting the development of Hong Kong's culture, sports and tourism, rather than playing a very embarrassing role as it is now.
At present, Hong Kong and Taiwan are like the AO system. TV program producers and filming art programs do not all go to art experts, but to find some consultants. The programs produced are in the range of depth and no depth, and it is not necessarily professional in terms of majors, which is very embarrassing. .
Third, become a content incubator
Hong Kong and Taiwan can become content incubators.
Taiwan's public television is a concrete example of success.
Public Television has become one of the content incubators in Taiwan, and some projects are able to cooperate with different international media organizations, such as Netflix.
Hong Kong should follow suit.
For example, projects funded by the Hong Kong Film Development Fund and animation content supported by Creative Hong Kong can be seen by Hong Kong audiences through the platform of Hong Kong and Taiwan, and then exported through Hong Kong and Taiwan, and they can also cooperate with the mainland.
Hong Kong and Taiwan are a platform, and Hong Kong needs to build a platform to deliver content to the society and to the world.
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Fourth, become an art technology platform
Another function of the inclusion of Hong Kong and Taiwan in the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau is that it can become an Art Tech platform to experiment with new types of media art creation models, such as XR (extended reality), VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality) border), etc.
It is possible to set up a media technology laboratory, and use the platform of Hong Kong and Taiwan to carry out some types of art and technology creations and apply them to physical programs.
TV platforms are changing rapidly and cannot be limited to traditional media.
YouTube has replaced traditional TV and become mainstream.
Therefore, if there is a new Hong Kong and Taiwan, we must fully promote the content of new media.
Its function is to innovate, to create a deep and diverse culture, not just to pursue a simple business concept to stimulate.
Fifth, promote national cultural education
Hong Kong and Taiwan should also shoulder the responsibility of national cultural education.
And it can cooperate with different types of international cultural public television stations in the world.
Sixth, strengthen the connection between the international and the mainland
Hong Kong and Taiwan can strengthen the connection with the international and the mainland.
Under the Bureau of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the positioning and role of RTHK are clearer, because many public TV stations focus on cultural content.
RTHK needs to cooperate with Mainland China Central Television and different international public radio stations. For example, ARTE, which is very famous in the world, is a public television platform focusing on art and culture supported by the French and German governments. There are a lot of different types. programme.
Seventh, promote sports
The promotion of sports needs a platform. Hong Kong and Taiwan are included in the Bureau of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and sports programs can be more diversified, not only focusing on football and popular sports, but also introducing other sports.
For example, there may be some regional sports programs or sports programs for the elderly to serve the citizens of Hong Kong.
Through these non-gaming-led sports programs, community engagement can be enhanced, and a healthier sports ecology and habits can be created.
Eighth, promote tourism
The Hong Kong Tourism Board spends a lot of money every year to shoot travel programs about Hong Kong in the form of outsourcing.
If these resources are concentrated, some directors and producers can be commissioned more systematically and strategically to create more diversified travel programs and travel promotional films.
It is useless to use hard sales to promote tourism, use soft sales.
For example, Netflix recently released a series of "Roman Baths" TV series, adapted from the manga "Roman Baths", each episode will introduce the tourist attractions of Japan's famous hot springs.
Today's advertisements are not "selling plaster", but need to penetrate and introduce different places softly in travel programs.
The Japanese are the best at filming these programs, and Hong Kong should also catch up in this regard, so as to promote tourism: on the one hand, it is the internal tourism of Hong Kong, and on the other hand, it attracts more people to come to Hong Kong to participate in tourism projects.
Ninth, art education platform
Hong Kong and Taiwan have the responsibility to promote cultural, sports and tourism education in Hong Kong.
The LCSD organizes a large number of cultural and artistic activities every year, which can introduce Hong Kong artists through Hong Kong and Taiwan, and attract more people to watch the programs at the venues of the LCSD, thereby enhancing the artistic level of Hong Kong people.
Tenth, the database of Hong Kong and Taiwan can become a lot of IP
Hong Kong and Taiwan have a very rich cultural database, which can be turned into a lot of intellectual property (IP).
For example, Hong Kong and Taiwan have the most abundant recordings of Nanyin and Cantonese opera, which can be activated and developed through the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau to create social influence and economic income.
All in all, Hong Kong's soft power, like the military, needs regular troops, aircraft carriers, and different types of work to cooperate.
Hong Kong and Taiwan can become an aircraft carrier for Hong Kong's cultural, sports and tourism industry.
What Hong Kong lacks most at present is such a platform.
We have a lot of fireworks events, but no flagships with real combat capability.
In the past, Hong Kong had commercial platforms such as Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest, but the future world soft power war will be the competition of national systems.
The UK has the BBC, Japan also has the NHK, and Hong Kong needs its own flagship cultural, sports and travel media to be able to tell the stories of Hong Kong and China well.
Hu Enwei
is a member of the National Hong Kong and Macao Research Association, a member of the Jiangsu Provincial Political Consultative Conference, and Zuni.
Icosahedron United Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer
(The article is purely the author's opinion and does not represent the position of Hong Kong 01.)
