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HONG KONG: Adjusting his camera, Yeung Wing Chun focused on the clock tower of the Star Ferry terminal and snapped an iconic image of Hong Kong's history just days before it is demolished to make way for a four-lane highway.
"It's a pity that the Star Ferry pier has to go," said 18-year-old Yeung, one of dozens of photographers crowding the 48-year-old pier on a recent evening. "It has witnessed the development of Hong Kong."
At midnight Saturday, four Star ferries will set sail on their final trips on the world-famous cross-harbor route between this pier on the northern waterfront of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula.
The ferry service on the Hong Kong side will be moved to a new pier farther out into the harbor on reclaimed land. The move, which paves the way for the construction of a four- lane highway aimed at relieving traffic congestion on Hong Kong Island, has angered preservationists, who argue that the government has done too little to preserve the territory's heritage.
"If we demolish historical buildings simply because they cause inconvenience to urban development, will we have any heritage left in the future?" said Martin Wan, campaign officer of the Conservancy Association, which has been staging protests against the demolition of the Star Ferry terminal, and the adjacent Queen's Pier, a modest-looking facility where a host of governors and members of the British royal family were welcomed and seen off during the colonial period.
The old Star Ferry pier, Queen's Pier, City Hall and the square in front of it, Edinburgh Place, were all built or rebuilt on land reclaimed after World War II, and have since been frequented by locals and tourists alike. But the government decided that the two piers had to make way for the P2 highway linking north Central and Wan Chai, as part of a waterfront reclamation plan.
Architects and preservationists argue that even if the ferry services have to be relocated, the buildings of the old piers should be kept for their historical and cultural value to Hong Kong.
"It's technically possible to keep the two piers if P2 is moved north for just about 20 feet," or six meters, said the vice president of the Institute of Architects, Vincent Ng Wing-shun.
But the government says the piers are not declared monuments or graded as historical buildings because they are both less than 50 years old - an assessment criteria that Wan said was inflexible. "These two piers play important roles in the collective memories of Hong Kongers," he said.
The Edwardian design of the new pier, modeled on the 1912-era pier building, has been criticized as being neither modern nor authentic - more like a something taken from a film set or theme park. The pastel green also has also been criticized as out of sync with the white and green color signature of the ferries and the old pier.
Ng Kwok-kuen, an engineer who joined the Star Ferry company in 1963, said what he would miss most about the old terminal were the resonant chimes of the old clock tower.
The tower - which houses the last mechanical outdoor clock in Hong Kong, whose parts were made by the same company that built Big Ben - is also close to the hearts of many people in Hong Kong, who petitioned unsuccessfully for it to be preserved.
"The chimes of the old clock tower echo across the harbor and Central. It's impressive," said Ng.
But the old clock cannot be relocated because of technical difficulties in moving and maintaining obsolete parts, and a new one with bells operated electronically will be installed at the new pier. The old clock will be dismantled and exhibited in museums.
Picked by National Geographic Traveler magazine as one of the top 50 travel experiences of a lifetime, the Star ferries have provided cross-harbor service between the Central business district of Hong Kong Island and the tip of Kowloon Peninsula as early as 1888. For many around the world, the ferries have long symbolized Hong Kong, appearing as props in movies such as "The World of Suzy Wong."
The double-decker open-air ferries carry 53,000 locals and tourists back and forth every day, offering an unparalleled view of the Hong Kong skyline, for a mere 2.20 Hong Kong dollars, or less. For the last four rides on Saturday night, however, some 1,800 people have paid 88 dollars each, or $11, for charity.
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