Harbour Fest

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The Hong Kong Harbour Fest, held from October 17 to November 11, 2003, was part of a HK$1 billion program to revive the economy after SARS. It was a Government underwritten event organised by InvestHK in collaboration with the American Chamber of Commerce.[1] The event and its organisation, which resulted in massive cost overruns, was heavily criticised.

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[edit] History

In its efforts to rebuild Hong Kong's image after the SARS outbreak, the government asked Legco 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.[2]

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 artists Andy Hui, Joey Yung and Nicholas Tse; international acts including Atomic Kitten, Craig David, Michelle Branch, Prince, Westlife and the Rolling Stones were organised.[3]

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.[4]

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.[4] The ERWG agreed to a HK$80 million "sponsorship fee and money to underwrite losses of the festival". This cost was criticised by legislators and critics as too expensive. The underwriting cost soon went up to HK$100 million.[3]

The Democratic Party 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,[5] and Ma Lik said the government appeared to act as if it had received carte blanche.[2]

Although Prince attracted 11,000 people, attendance at other shows was poor.[3]

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.[6]

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.[7]

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.[8]

[edit] Aftermath

[edit] Public Accounts Committee report

In June 2004, a Legislative Council 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[9].

He appealed, but on January 26, 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[10]. 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]?"[11].

[edit] Rowse appeals

During an Economic Relaunch Working Group meeting on October 31, 2003 and during an independent inquiry in May 2004, then financial secretary 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.[12] Tang had also said that all parties had under-estimated the complexity of the event and may have been too ambitious in organizing 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.[12] 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[13].

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Concerts meant to revive economy", The Standard, 26 February 2008. Retrieved on 2008-02-26. 
  2. ^ a b Ma Lik. "Think outside the box-office", The Standard, September 20, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-02-27. 
  3. ^ a b c Marcal Joanilho. "Three-week road to hell for unlucky Jim", The Standard, 1 November 2003. Retrieved on 2008-02-27. 
  4. ^ a b Paris Lord. "It's terrific Tamar", The Standard, 4 September 2003. Retrieved on 2008-02-27. 
  5. ^ Teddy Ng. "Harbour Fest waste of money: survey", The Standard, September 16, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-02-27. 
  6. ^ Paris Lord. "Harbour Fest hit by Cantopop row", The Standard, 22 October 2003. Retrieved on 2008-02-27. 
  7. ^ "Fury at free tickets farce", The Standard, 24 October 2003. Retrieved on 2008-02-27. 
  8. ^ Paris Lord. "Stones back on bill after contract claim", The Standard, October 15, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-02-27. 
  9. ^ Jimmy Cheung; Dennis Eng. "Rowse punished for Harbour Fest failures", South China Morning Post, February 9, 2007. 
  10. ^ Martin Wong; Klaudia Lee. "Rowse to fight on over Fest penalty", South China Morning Post, January 28, 2007, pp. 3. 
  11. ^ Jimmy Cheung. "Lawmakers challenge Rowse punishment", South China Morning Post, January 28, 2007, pp. 1. 
  12. ^ a b Nishika Patel, Rowse seeks to have music fest verdict quashed, The Standard, February 26, 2008
  13. ^ Jake van der Kamp. "Shabby treatment of Rowse kills any hope of civil service initiative", South China Morning Post, January 30, 2007.