HONG KONG, Nov. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Aiming to encourage the public to understand and appreciate the rich history, cultural traditions and conservation of Hong Kong historical buildings; as well as to educate the public about the importance of timely maintenance of these buildings, the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors (HKIS) has been granted the Built Heritage Conservation Fund from the Development Bureau to organise the “Maintenance and Appreciation of Historical Buildings”. Since March 2019, a series of events has been organised including the Creativity Competition. Through recruitment, preliminary judging to final judging, the winners were revealed at the Presentation Ceremony held on 15 November 2020 (Sunday) at The Mills.

The Competition received an overwhelming response with over 750 entries which includes over 50 public entries and were from over 60 primary schools and organisations. The jury panel eventually selected the Champion, 1^st runner-up, 2^nd runner-up and merits of the four categories, i.e. Tiny Model, Microfilm, Drawing and Photography.

LO Wing-yan, a student at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University snapped up the winner’s title of Tiny Model (Public Category). The model is of 1 to 200 scale of Lui Seng Chun, with the major portion of the model in beige and grey colours. The two colours demarcate the original portion of the building structure with that of the revitalized new structure. From the cross-section cut design on the top and back of the model, one can see clearly the revitalized new structure, and the ability of Lui Seng Chun to uphold the original architectural value and satisfy the modern-day building code successfully.

Champion of Microfilm (Public Category) goes to Carol YU. The character in the story is Ah Ching who decided to travel around Hong Kong after being fired from her job during the pandemic. She visited and appreciated different historical buildings and reminisced about the good old days. The microfilm manifests the importance of conservation and timely maintenance of historical buildings. 

WONG Wai-lam at SKH Lam Kau Mow Secondary School is the winner of the Drawing (Student Category). She used water colour to draw four blocks of historical buildings: Tai Kwun, Cattle Depot Artist Village, Comix Home Base and Blue House which are all Instagrammable spots among the young generation. Timely maintenance of these buildings not only protects the safety of the public, but also provides an opportunity for the public to enjoy viewing these buildings whole-heartedly. WONG used four different colours to showcase the multi-facets of revitalized buildings in Hong Kong; to encourage the public to visit these historical buildings, and to call upon the public to value and cherish Hong Kong historical buildings.

On Photography (Student Category), WONG Ku-yan Melissa at Heep Yunn School took the winner’s title. Her work covers the Monster Building which is a recent popular tourist attraction. With the passage of time, the colour of the exterior wall has faded and flaked. Many of the windows are also rusted. WONG pointed out that with timely maintenance, it will extend the lifespan of buildings, and will return buildings to their former glory of the 70s in Hong Kong. Otherwise, historical buildings will soon change to ones that are beyond recognition.

The Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors was honoured to be joined by Prof LAU Chi-pang, JP, the Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Built Heritage Conservation; Mr José YAM Ho-san, the Commissioner for Heritage of Development Bureau; and other jury panel members and guests, including: Mrs Sylvia LAM, JP, the Director of Architectural Services Department; Mr YU Tak-cheung, JP, Director of Buildings Department; Ms Winnie HO Wing-yin, JP, Deputy Director of Architectural Services Department; Ms Clarice YU Po-mei, JP, Deputy Director of Buildings Department; Sr Vincent HO Kui-yip, JP, Past President of HKIS and Convenor of HKIS Heritage Working Group; and Sr Winnie SHIU, President of the HKIS. President Sr SHIU commented: “We are delighted to see so many contestants unleashing their creativity, and using different forms to express their unique views on historical buildings. I hope the competition will enhance the public’s awareness on cultural preservation and maintenance, with the society continues to strike a balance between development and preservation, so that Hong Kong can build to become a sustainable city.

Sr CHEUNG Man-to, Arthur who is the Organising Committee Chairman of HKIS’s “Maintenance and Appreciation of Historical Buildings”, expressed his gratitude to the event’s partners, sponsors, supporting organisations and members of HKIS: “I would like to thank the Built Heritage Conservation Fund, as well as the full support from different parties for making the event a great success. The Creativity Competition is the key event of the ‘Maintenance and Appreciation of Historical Buildings’ Project, and the response to the Competition has been overwhelming. Here I would like to give my thanks to all participating schools, students and the public. The Competition would not be as successful without their enthusiastic participation”. 

The winning works are displayed on the 1^st floor of The Mills from 15 November (Sunday) to 22 November 2020 (Sunday). Through the exhibition, the public shall be able to unearth the aesthetics and the cultural value of historical buildings; and to recognize the significance of cultural preservation and timely maintenance.

Public Exhibition

Website: https://www.hkis-heritage.com/