Tamar, Hong Kong
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Tamar ( ; zh, 添馬) is the administrative centre of
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
located in Admiralty. The headquarters of Hong Kong's
Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...
and
Central Government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or deleg ...
are located in Tamar. Adjacent to the island's financial heart at the Central harbourfront, the word Tamar is often used as a metonymy for the
Government of Hong Kong The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the handover of Hong Kong. ...
. To the east, it connects with cultural and convention facilities including the
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) is one of the two major convention and exhibition venues in Hong Kong, along with AsiaWorld–Expo. It is located in Wan Chai North, Hong Kong Island. Built along the Victoria Har ...
; to the south, it connects with financial, commercial and tourism hubs; to the southwest, it connects to Garden Road, which is rich in historical and heritage values. Once the most expensive piece of empty land in Hong Kong, valued at $24.3 billion on the market ($9,000 per square foot), the site attracted projects from different parties, including the government's new headquarters, highly profitable office or retailing space, and a waterfront open green space. Due to its modern usage, the term is used synonymously to the territory's legislative council and administration.


History

was a British naval vessel which arrived in Hong Kong in 1897 and remained in the British territory until the
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of British Hong Kong, Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. His surrender occurred after Batt ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
in 1941. In keeping with British naval regulations, in which only naval personnel allocated to a vessel came under naval discipline, HMS ''Tamar'' became the nominal depot ship of the British naval garrison and gave its name to the
stone frigate A stone frigate is a naval establishment on land. 'Stone frigate' is an informal term which has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy (RN), after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the First French ...
, " HMS ''Tamar''". The British garrison pre-
handover In cellular telecommunications, handover, or handoff, is the process of transferring an ongoing call or data session from one channel connected to the core network to another channel. In satellite communications it is the process of transf ...
was stationed at the Prince of Wales Building within the base, which is part of the site.


Past uses

A number of large-scale functions including expos and musical or theatrical performances had been staged at the Tamar site before. A few examples are ''
Saltimbanco ''Saltimbanco'' was a touring show by Cirque du Soleil. ''Saltimbanco'' ran from 1992 to 2006 in its original form, performed under a large circus tent called the Grand Chapiteau; its last performance in that form was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, ...
'' by ''
Cirque Du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...
'', the annual Hong Kong Product Expo, the
Hong Kong International Film Festival The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) is one of Asia's oldest international film festivals. Founded in 1976, the festival features different movies and filmmakers from different countries, and takes place in Hong Kong. HKIFF screens ...
and the ill-fated "''Harbour Fest''". The entire site has played host to a funfair in 2005 and 2006.


Concert venue

The Tamar site has been a target of strong criticism by the public for its poor record of music events. In 2003, the
Hong Kong government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...
made plans to create a major concert event to help Hong Kong out of the economic crisis brought about by the
SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the virus SARS-CoV-1, the first identified strain of the SARS-related coronavirus. The first known cases occurred in November 2002, and the ...
epidemic, naming it "'' Harbour Fest''". The event took heavy criticism as it was considered "extremely poor organization". On 25 October 2003, Irish vocal pop band
Westlife Westlife are an Irish pop group formed in Dublin in 1998. The group consists of members Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily. Brian McFadden was a member before leaving in March 2004. The group disbanded in 2012 and later reun ...
held a concert for their Unbreakable Tour supporting their album Unbreakable - The Greatest Hits Vol. 1.


Vehicle processing centre

The Tamar site was one of the protest sites suggested by members of the Hong Kong People's Alliance on WTO, a
non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
(NGO) that represents dozens of organisations heading to Hong Kong to protest the WTO Ministerial Conference of 2005. The Tamar site was suggested since the
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) is one of the two major convention and exhibition venues in Hong Kong, along with AsiaWorld–Expo. It is located in Wan Chai North, Hong Kong Island. Built along the Victoria Har ...
, where the conference was to be held, is visible from it. However, the government turned down this suggestion and instead the site was used exclusively as a vehicle processing centre during the conference. Over 1,000 vehicles travelled to and from the conference venue on a daily basis. All vehicles and their drivers and passengers had to go through screening at the Tamar Site for security verification before being allowed to enter the conference venue.


Current use


Government offices

The
Hong Kong government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...
relocated the Central Government Offices (formerly located at Government Hill), the
Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...
and the Chief Executive's Office to the
Central Government Complex The Central Government Complex has been the headquarters of the Government of Hong Kong since 2011. Located at the Tamar, Hong Kong, Tamar site, the complex comprises the Central Government Offices, the Legislative Council Complex and the ...
. The government halted the Tamar project development in November 2003 because of the tough economic climate during the
SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the virus SARS-CoV-1, the first identified strain of the SARS-related coronavirus. The first known cases occurred in November 2002, and the ...
outbreak. Two hectares of the 4.2-hectare site was reserved for use as recreational open space in the $5.2-billion development plan; this space is now a public park, known as Tamar Park. The rest of the site accommodates the new government buildings. Most offices of the government bureaux (collaboratively called the Government Secretariat) were moved from various locations into the new complex, as well as the
Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, colloquially known as LegCo, is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under People's Republic of China, China's "one country, two systems" c ...
. The council chambers abandoned the traditional British layout, with benches facing each other, favouring instead a seating arrangement similar to the Congress Hall of the Great Hall of the People in
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, a tiered semi circle with the speaker at its centre. In order to ensure the buildings behind the site such as the Far East Finance Centre, the Admiralty Centre, Lippo Centre, the United Centre, Pacific Place Offices Towers,
Island Shangri-La Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong () is a five-star luxury hotel of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts. It is located in Admiralty, Hong Kong, Admiralty, Hong Kong and is the sister hotel to the Kowloon Shangri-La in Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon. It is ho ...
and the Conrad Hotel continue to have views of the harbour, the height of the government buildings was restricted to 130-180mPD. The government also decided to cut an exhibition gallery from the project. In 2004, the government had promised the Trade Development Council that they would be able to rent the grounds as a temporary venue for mega fairs twice a year, for a total of three years. Originally the Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair and the Hong Kong Electronics Fair were to have exhibits at the Tamar site once a year, with the plan to become Asia's largest sourcing fair. The government decided to cut out the use for exhibitions in order to lower the development intensity of the site and to alleviate effects on transport infrastructure arising from the project. The contract for the project was signed on 28 January and work started in mid-February 2008, and finished in 2011. The project engaged 3,000 workers. A flag-raising ceremony was held on the morning of Monday 1 August 2011, to mark the event with staff from the Commerce, Industry and Tourism Branch of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau having the honour of being first to move into new offices at Tamar.Flag-raising marks the move to Tamar
The Standard Samson Lee Tuesday, 2 August 2011


Criticism

Groups like the Hong Kong Institute of Planners did not think the Tamar site should be made into a government complex. Because of the Tamar site's unique location, connecting cultural, financial and tourist facilities, they believed it should be used for political, economic, cultural and entertainment purposes instead of as a government complex.


See also

* Southorn Playground * Central–Wan Chai Bypass, which goes directly under the Tamar site


Footnotes


External links


Official website of the Tamar development project
Admiralty, Hong Kong {{coord, 22, 16, 50.85, N, 114, 9, 56.08, E, type:landmark_region:HK, display=title