Sorry for my late up-date, but here are some recent news about the progress:
------------ RECENT NEWS 8TH JULY 2008 ------------
Recent news by Mrs. Vivienne Chow:
Billionaire and philanthropist Mr. Yu Panglin has reviled that he has BIG plans for the site of Bruce Lee’s last home in Hong Kong. The owner has said that only a complex of "great scale, great space and great content" could properly tell the story of Hong Kong’s Number One Son: Bruce Lee. "We have to make it the best" said Mr Yu.
Mr. Yu Panglin not only wants to build a Bruce Lee museum, but to also include a martial arts training center, a library and a cinema on the 41 Cumberland Road address property – and to do this he would need a much bigger building complex and bigger site to make this happen.
The original two-storey 5,699 sq ft house on the 9,000 sq ft property site is not enough for his plan. He said this would require an extension of the land use from residential to other purpose, and he has estimated that the bigger complex in his plan that would occupy 30,000 sq ft, which require a new building with 25,000 sq ft of floor space. The Hong Kong planning rules only allow a house of 5,350 sq ft on the 9,000 sq ft site, so this means that Mr. Yu need the government to allow him to construct a 25,000 sq ft building on the 41 Cumberland Road and extra property sites.
Mr Yu said he would form a taskforce with us Bruce Lee fans to raise funds and discuss the details of the future plans of 41 Cumberland Road !
---------------- RECENT NEWS ON 9TH JULY 2008 --------
Journalist Mrs. Vivienne Chow reports in South China Moring Post:
Family members of Bruce Lee may get involved in the museum complex proposed for the site of his former Kowloon Tong home. Bruce Lee's widow, Linda Lee Cadwell, and daughter Shannon Lee have asked a Hong Kong law firm to make contact with billionaire philanthropist Yu Panglin about his future plans for the 41 Cumberland Road. They have been following the news reports and they are very curious to find out what is being proposed. Bruce Lee's other family members - his younger brother Robert Lee and older sister Phoebe Lee - were prepared to make donations of Lee's belongings to the museum. "They will include clothes, family photo albums, furniture that Bruce Lee used during his childhood," said Wong Yiu-keung, the chairman of the Bruce Lee Club in Hong Kong, for which Robert Lee serves as an honorary chairman.
--------- MORE RECENT NEWS 9TH. JULY 2008 --------
Recent news by Mrs. Olga Wong:
Bruce Lee's Kowloon Tong home should be saved, members of the town planning and antiquities advisory boards agree, but they voiced doubts about the owner's proposal to expand it to house a museum. Ng Cho-nam, who sits on both boards, said the proposed development was well-intentioned but excessive. Kowloon Tong was a garden city and allowing the six fold expansion of floor area that owner Yu Panglin proposes could set a precedent. Adding structures above the house would undermine its character, he said.
Greg Wong Chak-yan, vice-chairman of the planning board, said: "The house is not a monument, but the fans might want to retain its original appearance." Further he said the planning board might have to seek the views of the Antiquities and Monuments Office before approving any development.
But a heritage conservation expert at the University of Hong Kong, Lee Ho-yin, said the house, built in 1965, was of little architectural or historical value and under the grading system for historic buildings it risked being torn down at any time. That was because the system was not fully applicable to intangible heritage such as kung fu star Lee's life and work, he said. The only reason to preserve it was for its social value and community attachment to the place, factors the system did not consider.
---------------- NEWS 19TH. JULY 2008 -----------------
By South China Post (SCMP) journalist Ms. Vivienne Chow:
There is now a ten days Bruce Lee exhibition going on in Hong Kong – between the 18th and 28th of July – to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Bruce Lee’s passing on the 20th July in 1973. This exhibition also is to rally a public support for the conversion of his former 41 Cumberland Road, Kowloon Tong residence into a museum. The organiser of the exhibition is Mr. Wong Yiu-keung who also is the president and chairman of the Bruce Lee Club. He said he hopes that the exhibition and future memorial museum would allow people to learn about Bruce Lee as a person and a human being. "It is important that people like him not just because he was a great martial artist and international movie star," Mr Wong said. "The museum will allow memories of Bruce Lee to become accessible." He said the government should try to restore Lee's former home to its original look, including the gym, park, main gate and interior design.
The owner of Lee's former residence, Mr. Yu Panglin, who recently met the government and proposed turning 41 Cumberland Road into a museum complex, said a HK$100 million trust fund should be set up by the government to pay for operation and maintenance. Mr Yu said Lee's widow, Linda Lee Cadwell, and daughter Shannon have now been in contact with him.
---------------- NEWS 20TH. JULY 2008 ----------------
By SCMP reporter Ms. Vivienne Chow:
Former close friend to Bruce Lee and Hong Kong movie actress, Ms. Betty Ting Pei, agrees with those who say the two-storey house at 41 Cumberland Road, Kowloon Tong, where Bruce Lee spent his last years should be preserved. “This house has its value and it should be kept because he was such an important and unusual character," said Ms Ting, who dated Lee for more than a year before his death in 1973. "In fact, all the buildings that he spent time in and all the paths that he walked on should be preserved.” She continued that the Chinese people first earned international recognition because of Bruce. He has an important place in history. Ms Ting also says she has been leading a quiet life since giving up her movie career in the 1980s. But the debates about Lee's legacy and proposals to turn the house into a museum complex have caught her attention. "Bruce had a great impact on my life," she said. "I'm a responsible person and I'm willing to take up the responsibility. I hope to try my best to make some contribution. Now we just have to wait and see how this will develop. I hope people can co-operate and work together to come up with a perfect solution. It's all about promoting the spirit of Bruce."
More recent news to follow...
Peer, Norway
Posted on Jul 21, 2008, 8:08 PM from IP address 84.208.252.67