LED white roses installation public display postponed amid chatters among HKers

The LED white roses installation set to be displayed at East Kowloon Cultural Centre has drawn mixed reactions from Hong Kong netizens, with some saying that the roses resembled a funeral. The public display of the installation has been postponed and the roses are covered with canvas at the moment.

According to a document submitted by the Kwun Tong District Council, the LED roses installation is part of the Home Affairs Department’s initiative which allocated HK$1m to each district council to set up photo landmarks with district characteristics.

The installation is set to be unveiled next Tuesday (26 March 2024) on the steps of the East Kowloon Cultural Centre and will remain on display for three months. According to HK01, the installation costs about HK$500k. The white LED roses will light up in the evening and change to blue colour.

Media intelligence firm CARMA saw over 1k mentions of the installation across various social media platforms in Hong Kong over the past three days. Of these mentions, 22.5% conveyed a negative sentiment, while 6% expressed a positive sentiment.

“Netizens have been actively discussing and comparing this with other art installations in the city, such as the ‘Chubby Hearts’ and the ‘Continuous’ (光漣) installation in Tamar Park. Many netizens have expressed their concerns about the cost of these projects, pointing out that they have utilised a significant amount of taxpayers' money,” said CARMA's HK general manager Charles Cheung.

Some netizens have gone as far as sharing alternative products from Taobao that resemble the LED rose decoration but at a much lower cost, Cheung added.

“Another triggering factor for netizens' discussions was the decision to cover the LED roses with a canvas shortly after the criticism emerged, particularly regarding the resemblance to a funeral service. Some netizens have argued that artistic designs like this are subjective, and the authority should not hastily cover them in response to public criticism,” Cheung said. 

Meanwhile, social monitoring firm Meltwater saw 16 mentions over the past four days. Among the sentiments, 87.5% were neutral, 6.3% were negative and 6.3% were positive. Keywords associated with the bill are "funeral vibe", "poor taste", "budget limitations" and “real flowers”.

According to HKFP, Jack Cheung, a district councillor of Kwun Tong, said on Commercial Radio yesterday that the Home Affairs Department and the contractors of the installation are currently in discussions to make certain modifications to address the feedback received.

In fact, the original plan of the installation was to plant real flowers on the stairs outside East Kowloon Cultural Centre, according to the documents of the Kwun Tong district council. After conducting on-site inspections and interdepartmental meetings regarding this project, they decided that the project could not be implemented due to technical considerations and budget constraints.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Kwun Tong District Office for a statement. 

Photo courtesy: LIHKG 

Join us this coming 26 June for Content360 Hong Kong, a one-day-two-streams extravaganza under the theme of "Content that captivates". Get together with our fellow marketers to learn about AI in content creation, integration of content with commerce and cross-border targeting, and find the recipe for success within the content marketing world!

Related articles:

Passing of Article 23 draws mixed reactions from HK netizens
Sara Lee's voluntary administration in Australia draws mixed reactions from HK fans
'Hong Kong Corporate Watch' page draws mixed reactions on social