Unclear Message: "Opposition against the "SoHo" Label"

Charles Ho

The residential area located around Hollywood road is lined with a wide variety of restaurants and bars. Those restaurants and bars can attract lots of tourists and local people, which enlivens the area at night. With the further promotion of this area by the Tourist Assoication, this central residental area becomes one of famous touists area in Hong Kong and is thus honored with a new name, Soho. The relabeling really scares a majority of residents that the tranquil ambience of the residential area would be destroyed. Also, when "Soho" becomes more famous, it will attract more strangers. Hereby the new development would pose a threat to the resident's security.

Nevertheless, the promotion of the central residental area as "Soho" would benefit those restaurants and bars. As more people come to visit "Soho", more new bars and retail shops would be opened. As a result a quiet resident area would grow into a very bustling dining place. Under this prosperity, shopowners, barowners or restaurants owners would have a high-profit buisness.

Viewed from this angle, the labeling of the central residential area as Soho is very political in the sense that residents and retail owners have two conflicting visions on the area. Owing to the news description of the conflicting interest between the residents and retail owners, it seems that both parties cannot reach a concensus on the development magnitude in "Soho". More importanly, it is unknown whether both parties have any negotiation on this issue and whehter the government enables them to construct an agreed visions on the central residential area.

Possibly the news in SCMP fails to cover the views of residents and retail owners towards each other and the offical reason for the relabeling of the central residental area. Since this, readers fail to understand the meaning of the opposition against the Soho labeling on the map at central MTR station.