Former chief of Hong Kong arts hub questions HK$3.5b museum deal

Michael Lynch expresses surprise that the project was pushed through without the scrutiny of lawmakers

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Chief Secretary Carrie Lam at the opening ceremony of the Cultural Relics Hospital and unveiling of the Jianfu Screen at the Palace Museum in Beijing. Photo: Simon Song

Published: 5:50pm, 29 Dec 2016Updated: 4:07pm, 31 Dec 2016

A former chief of West Kowloon Cultural District has questioned the politics of the surprise HK$3.5 billion deal to recreate Beijing’s Palace Museum in the arts hub.

The criticism came as the dealmaker herself, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, visited the capital on Thursday for another cultural event.

Speaking to the Post, Michael Lynch, chief executive of the district’s governing authority from 2011 to 2015, said: “It fascinates me that a discussion on a project of this scale would not have gone through the scrutiny of [the Legislative Council].”

Carrie Lam with Michael Lynch last year. Photo: May Tse

He took issue with the announcement by Lam in Beijing last week of what seemed to be a hastily arranged plan for Hong Kong to have its own version of the Palace Museum. Lam is widely seen as a potential candidate for the coming chief executive race.

“It looks like a very powerful delegation going to Beijing to announce something the people of Hong Kong haven’t discussed. It seems to me it is related to politics rather than the overall development plan for West Kowloon,” he said from his home in Sydney, Australia.

“Clearly something has happened and I guess that reflects some of the intensity of politics in Hong Kong since I left last year.”