Government slammed for "goose" marketing

The Tsuen Wan District Council recently erected a five-meter high goose in Sham Tseng: but it’s not its colossal road-blocking size that’s controversial (its height is equivalent to that of a double-decker bus); nor the fact that it cost nearly HK$1.3 million to build and light up (the statue is thoughtfully equipped with solar panels for night-time drivers).The biggest problem, Tsuen Wan councillor Chan Wai-ming told Ming Pao, is the lack of a crest and its short neck, despite that the original design was chosen by councillors and government officials through an online competition.A part of the HK$18 billion–dollar plan for district-led small projects from the last policy address, the goose have become the centre of online scrutiny, drawing in Facebook comments like “This goose cost HK$1.2 million, shouldn’t someone have checked the bill?”; and “It will still be an ugly goose however it’s modified”.The white, yellow-beaked bird with wings spread over a nest of colourful eggs and another soon-to-come butterfly statue in the area are just one of many “landmarks that will attract more visitors” planned for the city.Such is the five-meter-high copper ring embellished with a tiled Tai Chi mosaic set for Mong Kok. Budgeted for almost HK$16 million and a deadline of February 2014, the mammoth statue will take the place of a phone booth at one of the busiest intersections near Hollywood Plaza.And “ugly”, “do you think we have a lot of space”, or “why don’t we build a gold spinach” (the English translation for Sai Yeung Choi Street in Mong Kok) were only some of the criticisms alongside 200 voices to put the project down.Some councillors are also unhappy with the use of funds.“If a populated area like Mong Kok also needs a landmark to tell people that this is Mong Kok, then our city has failed. It’s unfathomable,” Civic Party legislative councillor Claudia Mo told Ming Pao.“I wonder if Tsuen Wan thinks one goose is not enough, maybe we should add onto the budget to make a whole row of them?”