Catering cancel culture: Why do mystery hotel breakdowns plague Hong Kong fundraising events?
Hong Kong Free Press
Are Hong Kong hotels becoming less reliable, I wonder. Or have we developed a new variation on “cancel culture”?
Firstly, forgive a detour… Readers who have been following these diatribes will probably have noticed occasional references to the Scottish bagpipe, an awkward and troublesome instrument which I took up as a post-retirement hobby.
In due course, I joined a band, as one does, and we were often booked to provide loud music (opinions differ about the melodiousness of the bagpipe, but nobody disputes that the volume is tremendous) for festivities of various kinds, many of which were held in Hong Kong hotels.
Until the whole sequence was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, we must have averaged one gig a month for years. We shook the chandeliers in most of Hong Kong’s bigger hotels, usually for weddings but sometimes for formal dinners. None of these events were cancelled at the last minute due to a technical hitch.
I think the only mechanical problem we ever encountered was a faulty escalator. I expect we could have climbed when it stopped, but the bride was not dressed for that sort of thing – so we stood and warbled for a few minutes while the hotel staff coaxed the thing back into action.
Another pastime I drifted into was the secretaryship of a club which runs social events for people interested in Scottish culture. I thought this would just involve note-taking and minutes, but it turned out the secretary was also expected to organise two or three events a year. These were generally held in hotels or clubs and involved eating and dancing. Again I can recall no example of an event which had to be cancelled due to a last-minute problem in the host building.
Last year, a kind friend invited me to the Hong Kong Journalists Association’s annual dinner. Upon my arrival, I said, in jest, that I had checked my emails before setting out in case there had been a gas meter problem. This was soon after the Democratic Party’s annual food fest and fundraiser had been cancelled at the last minute for this very reason.
This year, I was again invited. But two days before the event, it was postponed because, we were told, the hotel concerned – the Regal Hongkong Hotel in Causeway Bay – had a problem with water on its busbars. This sounds painful, and apparently led to fluctuations in the power supply.
There are two interesting things about this ailment. One is that it apparently precluded such remedies as changing the date or the venue.
The other is that when an HKFP reporter visited the hotel (were we not expecting this? It’s a journalists’ association for goodness sake) the power supply appeared to be in rude health, the staff assured him that normal service was being provided, and indeed the room where the journalists were supposed to be doing their eating and drinking the next day was full of happy visitors.
This gives rise to a certain scepticism about whether the problem with the Regal’s busbars was entirely and purely a technical matter.
The disease also turns out to be highly infectious. The HKJA, spurned by the Regal, transferred its affections to Eaton HK, where a new booking was offered, accepted and paid for. Days later, the Jordan hotel, in its turn, cancelled the arrangement. No explanation was offered.
Looking at the history of last-minute cancellations, there seems to be a common theme. The mention of “fundraising” turns sane and happy pieces of catering infrastructure into nervous wrecks.
But I fear this just conceals the underlying reality which is political. After all, organisations which zealously support the government do not need to fundraise. They get money thrown at them.
Those adopting a more – shall we say – impartial approach have a problem. Money from overseas is an obvious no-no. Crowdfunding can be prosecuted as money laundering unless you get the names and addresses of everyone in the crowd, and who wants to do that? So you think perhaps a dinner, lucky draw, auction…
And at this point the mysterious gremlin strikes, usually at the last minute. One suspects that somewhere behind the scenes people are being treated to small tea gatherings in North Point, which conclude with a warning that even revealing that this event has taken place would be a national security offence. They not only have to do what they are told but to make up a cock and bull story to explain it.
This is an undignified way of dealing with the problem. If the government or the police force wish to make it impossible for certain organisations to book a venue they should circulate a list. Then we shall all know where we stand. I do not know why they would wish for this – but no doubt the motives involved are impeccably respectable so there is no reason why the whole procedure should not be public.
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