The Designation of Museums (Amendment) Order 2024 was gazetted today (May 17). The Amendment Order aims to convert the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence (HKMCD) under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) into the Hong Kong Museum of the War of Resistance and Coastal Defence. The museum will focus on the history of the War of Resistance and organise public and educational activities with a view to enhancing patriotism and awareness among the public, in particular young people, about the history of the War of Resistance, and paying tribute to the war martyrs.
The Amendment Order will be tabled before the Legislative Council (LegCo) on May 22 for negative vetting. The HKMCD will be converted into the Hong Kong Museum of the War of Resistance and Coastal Defence on September 3, the Victory Day of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.
The four existing exhibition galleries about the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in the HKMCD cover different parts of war history such as the Japanese invasion of China, the fall of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong and Kowloon Independent Brigade of the East River Column behind enemy lines and the fighters' contributions, and the surrender of Japan. While the gallery of "Military Presence under Successive Dynasties" highlights the history of defence in Hong Kong from the Tang dynasty to the Qing dynasty, the exhibition gallery of "Unequal Treaties and the Cession of Hong Kong" provides a detailed account of the background of the three unequal treaties and the history of British forcible occupation of Hong Kong.
After conversion, the Hong Kong Museum of the War of Resistance and Coastal Defence will launch an array of diversified public and educational programmes, including lectures, historical study tours, workshops, roving exhibitions and interactive dramas. The museum will use the special exhibition gallery to organise thematic exhibitions about the War of Resistance on a regular basis by collaborating with cultural institutions on the Mainland to allow audiences to gain a deeper understanding of the history of the War of Resistance. To further elaborate the relationship between Hong Kong and China's coastal defence history, the museum will also increase exhibition space to introduce China's coastal fortifications in Hong Kong and the Guangdong area, aiming to enhance the interest of citizens, students and visitors from the Mainland and overseas in the history of China's coastal defence.
The first thematic exhibition, jointly presented with the Shenzhen Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau, will be launched in September to introduce the deeds of the East River Column in their joint resistance efforts in Shenzhen and Hong Kong. This exhibition is being organised by the Hong Kong Museum of the War of Resistance and Coastal Defence, in collaboration with the Chinese Culture Promotion Office.
The LCSD has long been promoting Chinese history and culture through organising an array of programmes and activities to enable the public to learn more about the broad and profound Chinese culture, and to cultivate the public's sense of national identity. For more information, please visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/ccpo/index.html.
The museum is located at 175 Tung Hei Road in Shau Kei Wan. Opening hours of the museum will remain unchanged after the conversion. Admission is free. For more details, please visit hk.coastaldefence.museum/en/web/mcd/home.html, or call 2569 1500 for enquiries.
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