It Happened Here: Anti-piracy protest, March 17, 1999
Eleven years ago, all of Hong Kong’s 73 cinemas simultaneously shut their doors, while TV and radio stations refused to play records for set periods during the day. It was a first for the territory and it was all in the name of anti-piracy. The protest even got about 2,000 people onto the streets. Movie stars and singers joined the massive demonstration, including Jackie Chan, Stephen Chow, Leon Lai, Alan Tam, Anita Mui, Tony Leung, and Simon Yam. They gathered at Chater Garden in the afternoon, proceeded along Des Voeux Road Central, and marched to the Central Government Offices to hand in petition letters to Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa’s office to demand action against piracy. The protest also attracted hundreds of fans eager to catch a glimpse of their idols.
This celebrity stand delivered the message of the importance of intellectual property rights. “We hope the government and Chief Executive can show more determination and that the police together will join customs to combat piracy problems,” Ng See-yuen, a spokesman for the Anti-Piracy Alliance, said at the time.
In response to the protest, Tung Chee-hwa said that “the Hong Kong film industry will disappear in one or two years unless something is done”. Despite that dire prediction, the industry is still kicking ten years on – as the Hong Kong International Film Festival proves – but piracy is far from gone.
Jinxin Ma
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