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Hong Kong News-Expo, Asia’s first exhibition-cum-education facility with news as the main theme, will be established at Bridges Street Market, a Grade 3 heritage building in Central.

 

The Journalism Education Foundation Hong Kong Limited has secured the right to use the Bridges Street Market under Batch III of the Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme.

 

Hong Kong News-Expo will be imbued with the collective memories of Hong Kong people. Using interactive, multi-media and virtual reality technologies, it will tell the story of Hong Kong’s evolution from a fishing village to an international metropolis and financial centre through news reports by the city’s print and electronic media.  Its displays will showcase how a culture of diversity, the rule of law, a just and corruption-free environment, freedom of the press, diligence, pragmatism and innovation are Hong Kong’s pillars of success.  Its experiential and interactive games studios will transport visitors to virtual news scenes to experience how news is reported and how it affects social development.

 

The area around Bridges Street Market in Central and Western was where some of Hong Kong’s oldest newspapers used to operate.  It was also where Dr Sun Yat-sen was active in the 1880s.  Housing Hong Kong News-Expo at the heritage building will facilitate the collection of valuable artefacts of the Hong Kong press and the preservation of its cultural heritage. Displays illustrating the history of this heritage building and the footprint of Dr. Sun will also be featured.

 

At present, The Newseum in Washington, D.C., is the only exhibition facility with news as the main theme in the world.  Hong Kong News-Expo will be the first such facility in Asia.

 

Mr John Chan Cho-chak, Chairman of the Hong Kong News-Expo Preparatory Committee and a former Director of Information Services, points out that freedom of speech, freedom of the press and free flow of information are key pillars of Hong Kong’s success.  Linking the history of the Hong Kong press to the city’s overall development through the establishment of Hong Kong News-Expo is a pioneering and highly valuable undertaking that is good to Hong Kong, the motherland and Asia, he says.  He hopes that the facility will contribute to the further development of Hong Kong, especially in nurturing our next generation.

 

 

Mr Eric Chan Cho-biu, Chairman of the Journalism Education Foundation, says the idea of setting up Hong Kong News-Expo was conceived several years ago.  Members of the press feel that while Hong Kong plays a unique role in the development of the Asian press, there have been no systematic efforts to collate and display materials about the development of the city’s news media, he says.  The Foundation is very pleased that after much concerted effort, it has secured Bridges Street Market, a heritage building of historical significance, to set up Hong Kong News-Expo, he adds.

 

Ms May Chan Suk-mei, Convener of the Hong Kong News-Expo Working Group, expresses her gratitude to the media, academic and education sectors for rallying behind the project. As unity is strength, she calls for their continual support in setting up Hong Kong News-Expo as a facility that embodies the spirit of Hong Kong people.

 

Hong Kong News-Expo will provide valuable other learning experiences to students through media education and liberal studies programmes. Ms Chan notes that through visits to the facility and participation in its programmes, students and young people will be able to enhance their skills for independent thinking, deepen their understanding of Hong Kong’s development, and raise their awareness of public affairs and social change, she says.  

 

Hong Kong News-Expo will also work with community organisations to organize free tours of the facility for senior citizens and underprivileged groups. Ms Chan also expects Hong Kong News-Expo to become a major landmark, appealing to visitors from around the world who wish to understand the city’s character and appreciate its unique culture.

 

In renovating Bridges Street Market, its former use will be marked by preserving the building façade, the main staircase and some of its unique stalls. A new elevator will be installed at the back of the building to provide a barrier-free access to nearby Wing Lee Street.

 

Professor Bernard V. Lim, Founding Principal of AD+RG Architecture Design and Research Group Ltd. and a key supporter of the project, says the original “Bauhaus” architectural style of Bridges Street Market, which has a floor area of about 10,000 square feet, will be preserved.  By turning it into Hong Kong News-Expo, members of the press will breathe new life into the heritage building and give it new layers of meaning, he says.

 

Hong Kong News-Expo will open six days a week and admission will be free.  The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has committed to sponsoring it to the extent of $2.5 million a year for three years for running media education and liberal studies programmes and subsidising students and young people participating in related activities.

 

          Hong Kong News-Expo, Asia’s first exhibition-cum-education facility with news as the main theme, will be established at Bridges Street Market, a Grade 3 heritage building in Central. The Journalism Education Foundation Hong Kong Limited has secured the right to use the building under Batch III of the Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme.

 

Hong Kong News-Expo will be imbued with the collective memories of Hong Kong people. Using interactive, multi-media and virtual reality technologies, it will tell the story of Hong Kong’s evolution from a fishing village to an international metropolis and financial centre through news reports by the city’s print and electronic media.  Its displays will showcase how a culture of diversity, the rule of law, a just and corruption-free environment, freedom of the press, diligence, pragmatism and innovation are Hong Kong’s pillars of success.  Its experiential and interactive games studios will transport visitors to virtual news scenes to experience how news is reported and how it affects social development.

 

The area around Bridges Street Market in Central and Western was where some of Hong Kong’s oldest newspapers used to operate.  It was also where Dr Sun Yat-sen was active in the 1880s.  Housing Hong Kong News-Expo at the heritage building will facilitate the collection of valuable artefacts of the Hong Kong press and the preservation of its cultural heritage. Displays illustrating the history of this heritage building and its relationship with Dr. Sun will also be featured.

 

At present, The Newseum in Washington, D.C., is the only exhibition facility with news as the main theme in the world.  As the first such facility in Asia, Hong Kong News-Expo is expected to become a major landmark, appealing to visitors from around the world who wish to understand the city’s character and appreciate its unique culture.

 

Hong Kong News-Expo will provide media education and liberal studies programmes.  Through visits to the facility and participation in its programmes, students and young people will be able to enhance their skills for independent thinking, deepen their understanding of Hong Kong, and raise their awareness of public affairs and social developments. Hong Kong News-Expo will also work with community organisations to organize free tours of the facility for senior citizens and underprivileged groups.

 

In renovating Bridges Street Market, which has a floor area of about 10,000 square feet, its original Bauhaus architectural style will be preserved and its former use will be marked by preserving the main staircase and some of its unique stalls. A new elevator will be installed at the back of the building to provide a barrier-free access to nearby Wing Lee Street.

Hong Kong News-Expo will open six days a week and admission will be free.  The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has committed to sponsoring it to the extent of $2.5 million a year for three years for running media education and liberal studies programmes and subsidising students and young people participating in related activities.

 

1.     Built in 1953, Bridges Street Market is a Grade 3 historic building. It sits partly on the old site of the American Congregational Mission Preaching Hall, where Dr Sun Yat-sen was baptised in 1883 and used to live in 1884-1886. The area was where many of Hong Kong’s oldest newspapers used to operate. There were so many printing houses in nearby Shing Wong Street and Gough Street that they were known as “Printers’ Streets”.  Revitalising the market by turning it into Hong Kong News-Expo will help mark and revive the area’s cultural legacy and give it a new life.

 

2.     Hong Kong News-Expo will highlight the high level of press freedom in the city, where news media with diverse backgrounds can express their views without inhibitions. It will demonstrate to the world that a culture of diversity, the rule of law, a just and corruption-free environment, freedom of the press, diligence, pragmatism and innovation are pillars of Hong Kong’s success.

 

3.     Historians, curators and conservation architects will be involved in planning and building Hong Kong News-Expo so that the histories of the press and the market will be preserved and passed on to the next generation.

 

4.     To achieve the goal of conservation, the original design of the market, including the building façade, the main staircase and some of its unique stalls will be preserved. A new elevator will be installed at the back of the market to provide a barrier-free access to the nearby Wing Lee Street,

 

5.     Hong Kong News-Expo enjoys extensive support from the media, academic and education sectors.

 

6.     Because of its location, Hong Kong News-Expo will create synergy with nearby cultural attractions, including Man Mo Temple, Former Police Married Quarters at Hollywood Road, Park Tsz Lane Park, Central Market, Central Police Station Compound and Wing Lee Street.

 

7.     Hong Kong News-Expo plans to install and organize the following facilities and activities:

•    themed displays that will use multimedia technology to present the evolution and development of the Hong Kong media through audio and video news footage, news photographs, newspapers and artefacts of different periods;

•        experiential studios that use virtual reality technology to let participants experience what it is like reporting from a news scene;

•        interactive news games that use virtual reality technology to put visitors alongside historic figures at historic moments;

•        7 sessions of guided tours open to the public every weekend;

•        an International Press Centre that will be suitably equipped to serve as a convenient meeting point for foreign journalists visiting Hong Kong;

•        talks and workshops on the news media and their development; and

•        a bookshop that sells news-related publications and souvenirs.

 

8.     A non-profit-making company will be set up to operate Hong Kong News-Expo, which will be supervised by a board of governance to ensure the effective use of its resources.

 

 

Contact: Mr. Hui Yau Ming, Project Director, Hong Kong Journalism Education Foundation (Telephone: 90285656)

 

 

 

Hong Kong Journalism Education Foundation