Harbour Fest
Encyclopedia
The Hong Kong Harbour Fest , held from 17 October to 11 November 2003, was part of a HK$1 billion program to revive the economy of Hong Kong
SAR after the SARS. It was a government
underwritten event organised by InvestHK
, under the auspices of the Economic Relaunch Working Group, in collaboration with the American Chamber of Commerce. The event was billed as "a dazzling series of live shows catering to all tastes and ages, encompassing rock n' roll, family entertainment, blues and jazz, classical, theatrical performances and a Vegas Night," Its organisation, which resulted in massive cost overruns, was heavily criticised.
for and obtained approval for a HK$1 billion package to finance certain initiatives. However, the government was criticised for not revealing how the money would be spent.
The event was agreed upon by the Economic Relaunch Working Group ("ERWG"), which was led by the then financial secretary Antony Leung
. Jim Thompson of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) proposed a three-week waterfront music extravaganza, and concerts by popular local and international acts.
It was billed as "a dazzling series of live shows catering to all tastes and ages, encompassing rock n' roll, family entertainment, blues and jazz, classical, theatrical performances and a Vegas Night", to be staged outdoors at Admiralty
's Tamar site
over four weekends, from 17 October to 9 November 2003. A large concert stage would be erected, with reserved seating for up to 13,000 people per show. In excess of 200,000 tickets would be made available for the entire event.
The declared objective was to attract people from North America, Europe and other countries in the region back to Hong Kong, with the Walt Disney Company screening a one-hour highlights package of the concerts in the United States over Christmas 2003.
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Although Prince attracted 11,000 people, attendance at other shows was poor. On 7 November and 9 November 2003, the Rolling Stones played their first ever concerts in Hong Kong, as part of Harbour Fest.
surveyed 900 members of the public, and established that more than 50% of the polled believe the government was wasting public money on the Harbour Fest, and Ma Lik
said the government appeared to act as if it had received carte blanche.
On 21 October, AmCham announced that previously billed Cantopop
artists Andy Hui, Joey Yung and Nicholas Tse would no longer appear due to artists prior commitments. The artists' agent, Emperor Entertainment Group
, however, alleges that AmCham had dropped them from the billings.
The organisers then decided to give away tickets for the concert which was to have featured Atomic Kitten, which dropped out due to illness of singer Natasha Hamilton
. The distribution of free tickets to see the remaining acts Twins
and tATu was marred by scuffles at outlets which saw tickets snapped up within 30 minutes. Many hundreds who had queued up for many hours were furious.
The appearance of Rolling Stones was shrouded in confusion until 14 October, when their two nights at the festival were finally confirmed. They were reportedly paid US$ 5 million for the concerts.
Public Accounts Committee report criticised InvestHK for improper stewardship of taxpayers' money over the organisation of Harbour Fest music festival, a post-SARS event held in an attempt to restore business confidence in Hong Kong. Rowse was charged with five offences:
Rowse was held responsible only for the fifth charge of failing to ensure that InvestHK critically examine the HarbourFest budget, and fully and adequately advise the working group on the finances. Consequently, he was fined one month's salary when the government made a ruling in October 2005.
He appealed, but on 26 January 2007, Chief Secretary
Rafael Hui
confirmed the October 2005 ruling, and the consequential fine. A member of Legco criticised the fact that there have been more reports of the disciplinary hearings in the media than to Legco. Legislator Cheung Man Kwong criticised the government for making Rowse a scapegoat for ministerial failure: "...ministers, including the Finance chief, only apologised without any punishment". Another one questioned the political motivation : "How come the timing of the decision against the appeal is so coincidental [with the election for the Chief Executive
]?".
Henry Tang
is alleged to have said Michael Rowse
, Director General of InvestHK, had not acted improperly and that there had been no irregularity in the implementation of the event. Tang had also said that all parties had under-estimated the complexity of the event and may have been too ambitious in organising it in such a short timespan. He later withdrew the remark: just before a government inquiry opened on November 2004, Tang requested the ERWG minutes be deleted. Rowse's counsel argued for the appeal saying his client's case was prejudiced as he had been denied legal representation.
Long-standing business columnist Jake van der Kamp commented that Rowse had been let down by Donald Tsang, whose responsibility as Chief Secretary it ultimately was to oversee the Harbour Fest expenditure.
. He further ruled that Donald Tsang had acted outside his powers in deciding to delegate his decision under the administration order to the Chief Secretary.
Economy of Hong Kong
As one of the world's leading international financial centres, Hong Kong has a major capitalist service economy characterised by low taxation and free trade, and the currency, Hong Kong dollar, is the ninth most traded currency in the world. Hong Kong has remained as the world's freest economy,...
SAR after the SARS. It was a government
Government of Hong Kong
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, commonly the Hong Kong Government, is led by the Chief Executive as Head of the Government, who is also the head of the Hong Kong SAR...
underwritten event organised by InvestHK
InvestHK
Invest Hong Kong is the department of the Hong Kong SAR Government responsible for Foreign Direct Investment, supporting overseas, Mainland and Taiwanese businesses to set up and expand in Hong Kong. The department provides free advice and customised services to help businesses succeed in the...
, under the auspices of the Economic Relaunch Working Group, in collaboration with the American Chamber of Commerce. The event was billed as "a dazzling series of live shows catering to all tastes and ages, encompassing rock n' roll, family entertainment, blues and jazz, classical, theatrical performances and a Vegas Night," Its organisation, which resulted in massive cost overruns, was heavily criticised.
Background
In its efforts to rebuild Hong Kong's image after the SARS outbreak, the government asked LegcoLegislative Council of Hong Kong
The Legislative Council is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong.-History:The Legislative Council of Hong Kong was set up in 1843 as a colonial legislature under British rule...
for and obtained approval for a HK$1 billion package to finance certain initiatives. However, the government was criticised for not revealing how the money would be spent.
The event was agreed upon by the Economic Relaunch Working Group ("ERWG"), which was led by the then financial secretary Antony Leung
Antony Leung
Antony Leung Kam-chung GBS JP was the former Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region...
. Jim Thompson of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) proposed a three-week waterfront music extravaganza, and concerts by popular local and international acts.
Project and rationale
Harbour Fest would be organised by AmCham, who would retain future rights to the event name; the government underwrote the project. The organisers initially estimated the festival would cost HK$130 million to stage. They said it will raise HK$50 million assuming half of the 200,000 tickets were sold. Any shortfall would be met by taxpayers. The ERWG agreed to a HK$80 million "sponsorship fee and money to underwrite losses of the festival".It was billed as "a dazzling series of live shows catering to all tastes and ages, encompassing rock n' roll, family entertainment, blues and jazz, classical, theatrical performances and a Vegas Night", to be staged outdoors at Admiralty
Admiralty, Hong Kong
Admiralty is the eastern extension of central business district of the Central on the Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong. It is located on the eastern end of the Central and Western District, bordered by Wan Chai to the east and Victoria Harbour to the north. The name of Admiralty refers to the former...
's Tamar site
Tamar site
Tamar site , 4.2-hectare large, the former location of the naval basin attached to the headquarters of the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong, is currently the site of the Central Government Offices of the Hong Kong SAR Government at the harbourfront of Central, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong.To the...
over four weekends, from 17 October to 9 November 2003. A large concert stage would be erected, with reserved seating for up to 13,000 people per show. In excess of 200,000 tickets would be made available for the entire event.
The declared objective was to attract people from North America, Europe and other countries in the region back to Hong Kong, with the Walt Disney Company screening a one-hour highlights package of the concerts in the United States over Christmas 2003.
Performance roster
| Performers roster | |
| Date (in 2003) | Performers |
|
| 17 October | Prince Prince (musician) Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of... , Karen Mok Karen Mok Karen Joy Morris, known more commonly in the Sinosphere as Karen Mok or Mok Man-Wai, is a three-time Golden Melody Award-winning Hong Kong-based actress and singer-songwriter.- Biography :... |
| 18 October | |
| 18 October | Craig David Craig David Craig Ashley David is an English singer and songwriter. He has released five studio albums: Born to Do It, Slicker Than Your Average, The Story Goes..., Trust Me, Signed Sealed Delivered and a Greatest Hits album... |
| 19 October | |
| 20 October | José Carreras José Carreras Josep Maria Carreras i Coll , better known as José Carreras , is a Spanish Catalan tenor particularly known for his performances in the operas of Verdi and Puccini... , Charlotte Church Charlotte Church Charlotte Maria Church is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter. She rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching into pop music in 2005. By 2007, she had sold more than 10 million records worldwide including over 5 million in the United States... , Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra , is the largest symphony orchestra in Hong Kong. First established in 1895 as an amateur orchestra, under the name Sino-British Orchestra, it was renamed the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 1957, and became a professional orchestra in 1974 under the funding... |
| 24 October | t.A.T.u. T.A.T.u. t.A.T.u. was a duo formed in Moscow, Russia in 1999 by Ivan Shapovalov. The group consisted of Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova.Their debut single "Ya Soshla S Uma" was released in December 2000. The single had a huge success in Russia and Eastern Europe... , Twins Twins (group) Twins is a Hong Kong-based female Cantopop duo which was created in the summer of 2001 by Emperor Entertainment Group . Twins is made up of two girls, Charlene Choi Cheuk-Yin and Gillian Chung Yan-Tung. They were a popular group in Hong Kong and a top band in China. Their fanbase included Japan,... |
| 25 October | Westlife Westlife Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one... , Energy Energy (band) Energy is a Taiwanese pop rock boy band formed in 2002. The original band consisted of five members, namely Milk, Ady, Toro, Penny and Joe. Toro and Milk left the band in 2003 and 2005 respectively. Xiao Gang joined the band in mid 2007... , Evonne Hsu Evonne Hsu Evonne Hsu, also known as Hsu Hui-hsin was born 5 December 1979, in Longview, Texas, United States. She is a Taiwanese American Golden Melody Awards Mandopop singer... |
| 26 October | Air Supply Air Supply Air Supply is an Australian soft rock duo, consisting of Graham Russell as guitarist and singer-songwriter and Russell Hitchcock as lead vocalist. They had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight Top Ten hits in the United States, in the early 1980s... , Eason Chan Eason Chan Eason Chan Yik-shun is a prominent male singer in Hong Kong's music industry. Undoubtedly one of the most dominant male singers in the post-1997 era of Hong Kong music industry. Eason Chan has been praised by Time magazine as a front runner in the next generation of Cantopop... , Ronald Cheng Ronald Cheng -Biography:Originally intending to work behind the scenes as a composer and record producer, Cheng did odd jobs at his father ’s company EMI— which included doing back-up vocals for the likes of Alan Tam and Priscilla Chan — during summers as a youth... |
| 30 October | Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings The Gipsy Kings are a group of musicians from Arles and Montpellier, who perform in Spanish with an Andalucían accent. Although group members were born in France, their parents were mostly gitanos, Spanish Romani people who fled Catalonia during the 1930s Spanish Civil War. Chico Bouchikhi is of... , Danny Diaz, Lee Hyori Lee Hyori Lee Hyori is a South Korean singer. She debuted as a member of the successful pop girl group Fin.K.L, but has since become a solo artist. In 2003 she released her debut solo album Stylish which won many "Daesangs"... |
| 31 October | Gigi Leung Gigi Leung Gigi Leung Wing-kei is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress.-Biography:Given the name Leung Bik-Zi at birth, at the age of 7 her mother changed her name changed to 'Wing-Kei' for superstitious reasons; as a child, Leung suffered from frequent asthma attacks and it was believed a change of name... , Yumiko Cheng Yumiko Cheng Yumiko Cheng is a Hong Kong-based Cantopop singer. Cheng was given the Japanese nickname "Yumiko" by her friends in secondary school, and upon signing with EEG, adopted it as her official stagename.-Career:... , Boy'z, Candy Lo Candy Lo Candy Lo is a Canto-rock singer-songwriter and actress from Hong Kong. She has released 9 studio albums, over 40 singles, 2 compilations, 1 live album and 1 EP with Sony Music to date. On June 11 she released her first EP on her new label WOW Music.... , Shine, Seven Seven (South Korean singer) Choi Dong-wook , better known by his stage name Se7en, is a South Korean singer from YG Entertainment. He has released songs in South Korea, Japan, China and the United States.-2003: Debut:... |
| 1 November | Santana Santana (band) Santana is a rock band based around guitarist Carlos Santana and founded in the late 1960s. It first came to public attention after their performing the song "Soul Sacrifice" at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, when their Latin rock provided a contrast to other acts on the bill... , Andy Hui Andy Hui Andy Hui Chi-On is a Hong Kong singer and film actor. Hui was the First Runner-up in the 5th Annual New Talent Singing Awards in 1986. Hui has appeared in about 25 films.... |
| 2 November | Gary Valenciano Gary Valenciano Edgardo Jose Martin Santiago Valenciano , better known as Gary Valenciano or Gary V., is a Filipino musician. He is also dubbed as Mr. Pure Energy. He has released 26 albums, and won the Awit Awards for "Best Male Performer" 11 times. In 1998, he became UNICEF Philippines first national Ambassador... |
| 6 November | Neil Young Neil Young Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation... , Michelle Branch Michelle Branch Michelle Jacquet DeSevren Branch is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and actress. During the early 2000s, she released two top-selling albums, The Spirit Room and Hotel Paper, and was subsequently nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2003... |
| 7 November | Rolling Stones |
| 9 November | Rolling Stones |
Although Prince attracted 11,000 people, attendance at other shows was poor. On 7 November and 9 November 2003, the Rolling Stones played their first ever concerts in Hong Kong, as part of Harbour Fest.
Controversies
This cost was criticised by legislators and critics as too expensive. The underwriting cost soon went up to HK$100 million. The Democratic PartyDemocratic Party (Hong Kong)
The Democratic Party is a pro-democracy political party in Hong Kong. It was established on 2 October 1994. The party is currently the second largest party in the Legislative Council, headed by Chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan and, following the November 2008 merger with the Frontier, had around 745...
surveyed 900 members of the public, and established that more than 50% of the polled believe the government was wasting public money on the Harbour Fest, and Ma Lik
Ma Lik
Ma Lik, GBS, JP , was a Legislative Councillor, and was the Chairman of the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong , a pro-Beijing political party in Hong Kong.-Education:...
said the government appeared to act as if it had received carte blanche.
On 21 October, AmCham announced that previously billed Cantopop
Cantopop
Cantopop is a colloquialism for "Cantonese popular music". It is sometimes referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop...
artists Andy Hui, Joey Yung and Nicholas Tse would no longer appear due to artists prior commitments. The artists' agent, Emperor Entertainment Group
Emperor Entertainment Group
Emperor Entertainment Group is one of the largest entertainment groups in Hong Kong founded by Albert Yeung Sau-Shing in and established in Wan Chai in 1986, along with Music Icon Entertainment Limited and Emperor Motion Picture Group, EEG operates under the major conglomerate Emperor Multimedia...
, however, alleges that AmCham had dropped them from the billings.
The organisers then decided to give away tickets for the concert which was to have featured Atomic Kitten, which dropped out due to illness of singer Natasha Hamilton
Natasha Hamilton
Natasha Maria Hamilton is a British singer-songwriter, dancer and occasional stage actress. She was a member of Atomic Kitten from 1999 to 2008.-Early life and career:...
. The distribution of free tickets to see the remaining acts Twins
Twins (group)
Twins is a Hong Kong-based female Cantopop duo which was created in the summer of 2001 by Emperor Entertainment Group . Twins is made up of two girls, Charlene Choi Cheuk-Yin and Gillian Chung Yan-Tung. They were a popular group in Hong Kong and a top band in China. Their fanbase included Japan,...
and tATu was marred by scuffles at outlets which saw tickets snapped up within 30 minutes. Many hundreds who had queued up for many hours were furious.
The appearance of Rolling Stones was shrouded in confusion until 14 October, when their two nights at the festival were finally confirmed. They were reportedly paid US$ 5 million for the concerts.
Independent inquiry
An Independent Panel of Inquiry headed by Moses Cheng was commissioned to review and investigate the handling of the Harbour Fest, and a report of the Harbour Fest was issued in May 2004.Public Accounts Committee report
In June 2004, a Legislative CouncilLegislative Council of Hong Kong
The Legislative Council is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong.-History:The Legislative Council of Hong Kong was set up in 1843 as a colonial legislature under British rule...
Public Accounts Committee report criticised InvestHK for improper stewardship of taxpayers' money over the organisation of Harbour Fest music festival, a post-SARS event held in an attempt to restore business confidence in Hong Kong. Rowse was charged with five offences:
- failure to introduce provisions to give the Government power of approval over program and budget changes
- failure to provide refund in a sponsorship agreement with the American Chamber of Commerce for events not held, and for the Chamber to regularly report on progress, and to consult with Government on ticketing strategy
- failure to review ticket pricing strategy and free ticket distribution
- failure to establish a mechanism for InvestHK to scrutinise budget and expenditure of the event
Rowse was held responsible only for the fifth charge of failing to ensure that InvestHK critically examine the HarbourFest budget, and fully and adequately advise the working group on the finances. Consequently, he was fined one month's salary when the government made a ruling in October 2005.
He appealed, but on 26 January 2007, Chief Secretary
Chief Secretary for Administration
The Chief Secretary for Administration , commonly known as Chief Secretary and abbreviated as CS, is the second highest position of the Hong Kong Government...
Rafael Hui
Rafael Hui
Rafael Hui Si-yan, GBM GBS JP was the former Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong and a former career civil servant. Hui has been dubbed "Old Master Hui" and "Fat Dragon" . Hui was appointed as a Justice of the Peace on 1986 and received the honour of Gold Bauhinia Star in 1998.Hui...
confirmed the October 2005 ruling, and the consequential fine. A member of Legco criticised the fact that there have been more reports of the disciplinary hearings in the media than to Legco. Legislator Cheung Man Kwong criticised the government for making Rowse a scapegoat for ministerial failure: "...ministers, including the Finance chief, only apologised without any punishment". Another one questioned the political motivation : "How come the timing of the decision against the appeal is so coincidental [with the election for the Chief Executive
Chief Executive of Hong Kong
The Chief Executive of Hong Kong is the President of the Executive Council of Hong Kong and head of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The position was created to replace the Governor of Hong Kong, who was the head of the Hong Kong government during British rule...
]?".
Appeal
During an Economic Relaunch Working Group meeting on 31 October 2003 and during an independent inquiry in May 2004, then financial secretaryFinancial secretary
Financial secretary is an administrative and executive government position within the governance of a State, corporation, private or public organization, small group or other body with financial assets....
Henry Tang
Henry Tang
Henry Tang Ying-yen, GBM, GBS, JP was the Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong until his resignation in September 2011. He is a candidate in the Hong Kong Chief Executive election of 2012, and believed to be preferred by Beijing....
is alleged to have said Michael Rowse
Michael Rowse
Michael "Mike" John Treloar Rowse is a Hong Kong public figure. A naturalised citizen of the People's Republic of China, Rowse was the Director-General of InvestHK, a department of the Hong Kong Government....
, Director General of InvestHK, had not acted improperly and that there had been no irregularity in the implementation of the event. Tang had also said that all parties had under-estimated the complexity of the event and may have been too ambitious in organising it in such a short timespan. He later withdrew the remark: just before a government inquiry opened on November 2004, Tang requested the ERWG minutes be deleted. Rowse's counsel argued for the appeal saying his client's case was prejudiced as he had been denied legal representation.
Long-standing business columnist Jake van der Kamp commented that Rowse had been let down by Donald Tsang, whose responsibility as Chief Secretary it ultimately was to oversee the Harbour Fest expenditure.
Court ruling
In July 2008, Rowse has won his judicial review against the government's decision to fine him HK$156,000 for his role in organising Harbour Fest. The judge found there to have been a breach of the rule of fairness: as the threshold of the burden of proof was not sufficiently high, the committee's findings should not have been relied on by the Secretary for the civil serviceSecretary for the Civil Service
The Secretary for the Civil Service is the head of the Civil Service Bureau in Hong Kong. Unlike other secretaries for bureaux, the Secretary for the Civil Service is filled by an administrative officer from the civil service, who may choose to return to the civil service when his term expires...
. He further ruled that Donald Tsang had acted outside his powers in deciding to delegate his decision under the administration order to the Chief Secretary.