Floral Display Flaunts Funeral Vibes

Originally the flowers were all white, with "funeral vibes"

Today is the last day of the Hong Kong Flower Show at Victoria Park, where visitors can check out beautiful floral displays big and small, but another one is being set up in East Kowloon that's gotten a lot of flak recently.

Originally thousands of live flowers were going to be displayed as a backdrop for photo-taking at East Kowloon Cultural Centre in Kowloon Bay, but then Kwun Tong district committee members switched to LED-lit flowers because the former "took too much effort in watering".

Criticism resulted in adding colours on flowers

But when the flowers were installed -- all white no less -- there was an uproar about spending HK$500,000 (US$64,000) on a display that had "funeral vibes", as white signifies death in Chinese culture. Others said it had a "toilet vibe", referencing toilet paper with embossed floral designs.

After the snarky comments about feeling like being in a "mourning hall", the flowers have now been injected with some colour -- pink and orangey-pink -- to brighten things up a bit during the day, and they will glow at night.

Kwun Tong district councillor Cheung Ki-tang said originally the colour and design of the flowers and the display were not discussed in meetings because these were "minor details".

Really? If the point is to create a floral background for people to take pictures, surely the colours of the flowers and how they are displayed are important?

"The new look is more colourful now. It's good that the government is receptive to public opinion," he acknowledged. "But the original design also looked good to me too."

Someone has to have the last word...