West Kowloon Arts Hub is Deep in the Red

Fung says the WKCDA is HK$1 billion in the hole -- again

Hong Kong's West Kowloon arts hub that includes M+ and the Palace Museum can't make money. In fact it's in the red by HK$1 billion, similar to last year.

CEO of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority Betty Fung also said the number of visitors to the district was lower than expected, and so revenue from ticket sales and museum merchandise fell 20 percent year-on-year.

The Sanxingdui show garnered lots of attention

How is this possible when M+ recently presented a well-received exhibition on late Chinese-American architect IM Pei and well-known Hong Kong-based designer Henry Steiner?

Likewise the Palace Museum had the Sanxingdui show and paintings from the National Gallery London.

While the MTR does go to West Kowloon (called Kowloon station), getting to M+ and the Palace Museum isn't really convenient.

But there's also restaurants in M+, in particular Mosu, the Michelin-starred restaurant helmed by Korean superstar chef Sung Anh who became famous as a judge in Culinary Class Wars. Because he had closed his restaurant in Seoul, he was pretty much focused on his Hong Kong branch, which drew a lot of fans to his restaurant.

However, Fung says the catering businesses at the West Kowloon district didn't bring in a lot of revenue either.

Chef Sung's profile drove fans to eat at Mosu

Is this a case of bureaucrats not having a clue how to run businesses? Or too many people involved and not making bold or innovative decisions?

The fact that the district is HK$1 billion in the hole like last year is very troubling. For years there were complaints that Hong Kong was a cultural desert, and now that this area has been developed and opened there's no interest in it!

Disappointing and frightening to see taxpayer dollars frittered away...