Bruce Lee Statue in Hong Kong – Photo by Andreas Riska
Sorry all you Bruce Lee fans out there, but as government officials said yesterday, plans for a Bruce Lee memorial museum in the deceased actors Hong Kong home have been abandoned.
It was three years ago that billionaire Yu Pang-lin offered to donate the house that Lee lived in during his last years until his death at age 32 in 1973. Yu wanted it to be renovated to include a museum, a library, a cinema, and a martial arts area.
At the moment, the house is being used as a “love hotel” that offers rooms for rent by the hour for amorous couples.
Sadly, no consensus could be reached between government and owner. The government wasn’t happy with Yu’s plans for the memorial, believing that it should be more modest, as it is housed in a quiet residential area (but seriously guys, how modest is a hotel that can be rented by the hour?):
Despite our efforts, we are unable to reach a consensus with the property owner over the scope of the restoration,” a Hong Kong government spokesman said in a statement.
Now, before the 40th anniversary of Lee’s death, a temporary exhibition is being set up for late 2012. The memorial would have been the first museum to Bruce Lee.
By Nele Diels
