[Music]
hello we are HK FX which stands for Hong
Kong urban exploration now you’re
probably wondering what an urban
exploration group from Hong Kong is
doing your Singapore well to talk about
I’ve been exploration but what is that
exactly what is urban exploration in the
broadest context it is the exploration
of abandoned man-made buildings and
structures what we do is largely an
anonymous endeavor because it’s not
exactly legal and as such we like to
protect our identities so my code name
is Jenkins and I am ghost I’d like to
thank you all for taking your Saturday
off to be here and listen to us we’ve
made it a little bit easier for you
we’re wearing masks so you don’t have to
see our ugly faces but there’s another
reason why we’re away in these months
it’s to take the focus away from us this
talk is not about him
under the mask it’s not about me it’s
not about our identities it’s about the
places these V visit and the places that
we go to
what are these places well they are
sites of dereliction on the edge and the
periphery of a society in cities around
Asia we’ve been to China Singapore Tokyo
Japan Hong Kong mainly of course we
called Hong Kong herbux and we’re
fascinated by old heritage sites and
because a city you know the way it
should be built is like an ecosystem it
needs to have a balance of the old and
the new old heritage sites and new
buildings and innovation as well we
found that you know public spaces you
know as you all know we all pay tax
right and our tax payers money
usually it’s bankrolled right to build
sites and infrastructure that we don’t
actually have a say in and we find this
almost criminal you know because this
money is also used to pull down old
heritage sites with like hundreds of
years of history and that’s wrong you
know and this is why open exploration is
important because we go to these sites
and we document them now as ghost has
just said over the past several years
members of our group have travelled
extensively across the asia-pacific
region and looked at a variety of
locations like military bases tunnels
and abandoned schools
it serves sorry urban exploration serves
different functions in different
contexts so of course there are
different reasons why people do it chief
among them being exploration and
curiosity
now I’d quickly like to mention that for
us it is not we are not thrill seekers
it is not an exercise in vanity it is an
exercise in documentation having said
that for me personally it is like a
real-life video game for me it is
escapism in an in a way it’s very
surreal that I find myself in situations
not too far removed in some of the video
games I played as a kid and throughout
our journeys and travels we’ve gained a
deeper understanding of the nature of
urban decay yes as he said we’re
documentarians he’s a gamer and we have
all kinds of labels to describe us
historiography ethnographers geographers
whatever you want to call us we are
urban explorers and we do this to
reclaim and re-appropriate the spaces in
the city around us now what brings all
these places together what ties all
these abandoned places why is there so
many well it’s all about growth and
development like a butterfly coming out
from a cocoon cities do need to progress
they do need to transform and they do
need to advance but they need to do that
in a respectful manner that’s what we
find they need to do it with a discourse
with the community and the discussion
with the community
some examples of places that have not
been so respectful in their development
include Vietnam and Indonesia and China
the Vietnam Vietnamese were colonized by
the French as you guys hopefully know
Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch and
they their colonization was very
violence so they associated that with
negativity and they pulled down some
gorgeous architectural heritage sites
and they just pulled them down out of
spite and built new low-rise buildings
China of course as you along destroyed
decades they wiped out history and
heritage in the Cultural Revolution and
so luckily Hong Kong and Singapore we
have civil services and we have the rule
of law so they haven’t been so violent
in pulling down these sites nevertheless
we have start to see an upsetting trend
that because Hong Kong and Singapore are
so starved for land they have started to
attack these sites on the edge of
society and pull them down which is a
real shame and
afternoon to see now Hong Kong for
example is a city of extremes it has a
population of around 7 million or just
over 7 million packed into around 30
percent of the territory space it is one
of the most densely populated cities in
the world with one of the largest gaps
between the rich and the poor and
because of this we are seeing a housing
crisis and apparent land shortage yeah
but is this because of an actual that
land actually not really I mean in hong
kong that this is the example i’m giving
most hong kong as he just said only 30
percent of land is developed in a city
home to 7 million people now let that
sink in for a second you know that’s
like wow that’s just huge because it’s
like we really we the public housing we
have an issue of public housing crisis
people need houses but they can’t find
enough public housing and affordable
housing at there because they are
selling out to property developers i
mean if you are a government and how
would you find ways to house your public
and the community who needed a for
housing well you could look for sites in
your possession empty lands and empty
schools for example hong kong has over a
hundred abandoned schools we’ve been in
200 we’re not talking small sites we’re
talking big schools now why can’t they
just create purpose these revitalize
them and rejuvenate them to make way for
maybe turn a school into an elderly home
or maybe turn a school into knock it
down and build a public housing
affordable but instead what they’re
doing is they’re acting like a business
and colluding with property developers
and i don’t blame them really because
they’re earning billions of dollars but
at their their their their their public
are at risk because of this they are
having to suffer sorry that’s what I’m
trying to say they’re victims to this
they’re having to suffer next slide
please
so usable land is so scarce in Hong Kong
Hong Kong is on land hungry so is
Singapore in a way and because the land
is so high they sell these sites off to
property developers and these
monopolizing big real estate agents then
build minuscule luxury housing
developments and they maximize the space
in them they’re like not bigger than
this this stage for example and that’s
almost criminal and then the people will
buy these houses and then sell them off
again for investment purposes so is the
public
a house in return are they other you
solving the health public housing crisis
no not really they’re just making a
quick buck now in Hong Kong we have the
antiquities and monuments office in the
urban renewal Authority both of these
bodies don’t have the largest amount of
power but are still funded by the
government anyway in the past few years
we’ve lost quite a few different type of
locations such as Barret barracks
historical mansions and in particular
the white house which was a prison used
by the British in the Second World War
all of these locations have been removed
to make way for schools and luxury
houses which again turn a profit for
real-estate developers so in essence it
means that on some level Hong Kong is
slowly losing its identity Hong Kong is
becoming less Hong Kong in a sense that
the things that make it unique
relinquished the conglomerates who raise
rent and remove heritage yes and now
here is a small video to introduce some
of our exploits in Singapore
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
I hope you enjoyed that we put it
together instance in like under an hour
to prepare for this talk but as you saw
we climbed this was about a year ago
when when I went there and we climbed
like a hundred meters underground and
that’s pretty crazy I mean if you think
about it and why what pushes me to do
this what’s my motivation for this well
it’s slightly the adrenaline rush but
for me it’s like I’m using all my senses
when I go into these places it’s very
dangerous of course I wouldn’t recommend
you guys to do it
disclaimer but basically it’s really not
safe and I enjoy that being out of
control because you’re using your sight
your sense of smell your hearing to see
bats and stuff like that all around you
its pitch black we have to take our own
lights and stuff like that and it’s it’s
it’s scary because like you know you can
feel the force of history around you
these places are like living history and
Singapore has plenty of other sights
like this and some have been destroyed
these are some of the fatalities we’ve
seen we’ve had the Ellison building
which had a highway put through it so
half of it was demolished and you’re
talking like hundreds of decades of
history and heritage lost for a few
minutes of convenience it’s pretty sad
then we had the closure of the song Hey
1930s flea market and the roadshow
Center both which were like living hubs
of community and heritage and
nevertheless sync warnings are starting
to grow increasingly aware of heritage
preservation for example in the Bukit
Brown Cemetery some campaigners and
protesters fought to get the number of
graves demolished from down from five
thousand to three thousand seven hundred
and that’s kind of a happy ending they
also catalogued all the graves all five
thousand graves before demolishing them
this sadly didn’t happen in Orchard Road
which is built on the site will form a
graveyard and I think Singapore needs to
learn from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia they
turn their graveyards into heritage
sites and parks that people can explore
now funnily enough something similar is
happening in Hong Kong where it is
statistically more expensive to house
the dead than it is to house the living
so you essentially you’ve got the
situation where it’s become like a
lottery so in some circumstances the
Hong Kong government has ordered that
the remains of the Dead be
exhumed and cremated after a succeed
theory to make way for newcomers failure
to do so will result in the government
undertaking exactly these actions then
placing said remains in a mass nameless
communal grave pretty sad so he
mentioned the urban renewal authority
that’s one authority in Hong Kong with
Singapore also has the same body every
new authority here but they are slightly
more powerful and slightly more strong
and they take extra steps to protect
heritage they’ve been working with the
National Heritage Board and the Land
Transport Authority to effectively save
some sites they’ve been quite successful
in doing this now some of these heavy
stories include the term drunk pagar
railway station with his preservation of
the canopies the National Gallery which
sits upon the old spot of the old
Supreme Court law and by Dempsey at
Dempsey Hill which was a former army
barracks now turned into a hip weekend
destination and as you saw on the video
before with syrup on Fort here on
sentosa island which has now been turned
into a resort so some good stories some
happy endings there are some
similarities that tie these two economic
rivals Hong Kong and Singapore together
they were both former jewels of the
British Empire
they are both rife with densification
Hong Kong is probably more prouder than
Singapore but still they are also both
shaped by the grand forces of history
now during the Second World War
both of these CDs fell very quickly to
the Japanese due to poor strategic
planning and resources after the war
however the powers of the two cities
daveigh diverged greatly with Singapore
campaigning for greater autonomy in
receiving self-governance in 1957 before
its establishment as a republic in 1965
as you know Hong Kong remained under de
facto British rule until 1997 and with
the handover back to China we’re
starting to see more changes as hong
kong is being further assimilated into
the mainland basically gentrification is
not necessarily a negative thing this is
what we’re trying to say this is the
takeaway today if it’s done right and
respectfully with a discussion with the
community and all parties and groups are
involved it can be good
basically developers in the government
need to take the lifestyle of diverse
groups and cultures and different people
in different classes into account when
they truly
to truly build a vibrant neighborhood
and Singapore is starting to do this
slowly and they’re doing better and Hong
Kong needs to learn from them when
they’re having these discourses
basically it all needs to be done
respectfully if there’s one major thing
you take away from the things that we’ve
talked about today is that in some
circumstances there is value in trespass
as it can lead to public discourse
especially with the exploration of these
time capsules yes and I urge you to all
explore your surroundings a little bit
more I’m not telling you exactly to
trespass I don’t want you I don’t want
to get done for aiding and abetting I’ve
got a camera here as you can see so
don’t do anything naughty but do explore
your surroundings a little bit more
because I would like to end with a
question could you all please imagine
and picture for me if you will something
in your possession or something of high
value to you whether this be a piece of
jewelry necklace a photograph and an old
trinket from your grandfather or even
your finger what if someone came along
and cut off your finger not cool right
what if someone came along without prior
consent and took something that belonged
to you not cool right basically this is
what is happening in these societies in
places like Hong Kong and China and
Singapore and they see when when they do
that they are disrupting the collective
consciousness that the city is eroding
in front of us because we need to do
more to save these buildings of heritage
granted not every old building should be
kept and preserved I agree with that and
there needs to be some form of
innovation and infrastructure
development in cities as the populations
grow but a balance needs to be striped
so when you’re exploring or walking
around your neighborhood next time I
urge you to think about that old
building over there think about that old
car and just think about how it came to
be and ask questions to yourself about
it because if you do that you’ll learn
more about your surroundings and your
environments and you’ll learn more about
yourselves in the process we’ve been a
cherubic thank you
[Applause]
hello we are HK FX which stands for Hong
Kong urban exploration now you’re
probably wondering what an urban
exploration group from Hong Kong is
doing your Singapore well to talk about
I’ve been exploration but what is that
exactly what is urban exploration in the
broadest context it is the exploration
of abandoned man-made buildings and
structures what we do is largely an
anonymous endeavor because it’s not
exactly legal and as such we like to
protect our identities so my code name
is Jenkins and I am ghost I’d like to
thank you all for taking your Saturday
off to be here and listen to us we’ve
made it a little bit easier for you
we’re wearing masks so you don’t have to
see our ugly faces but there’s another
reason why we’re away in these months
it’s to take the focus away from us this
talk is not about him
under the mask it’s not about me it’s
not about our identities it’s about the
places these V visit and the places that
we go to
what are these places well they are
sites of dereliction on the edge and the
periphery of a society in cities around
Asia we’ve been to China Singapore Tokyo
Japan Hong Kong mainly of course we
called Hong Kong herbux and we’re
fascinated by old heritage sites and
because a city you know the way it
should be built is like an ecosystem it
needs to have a balance of the old and
the new old heritage sites and new
buildings and innovation as well we
found that you know public spaces you
know as you all know we all pay tax
right and our tax payers money
usually it’s bankrolled right to build
sites and infrastructure that we don’t
actually have a say in and we find this
almost criminal you know because this
money is also used to pull down old
heritage sites with like hundreds of
years of history and that’s wrong you
know and this is why open exploration is
important because we go to these sites
and we document them now as ghost has
just said over the past several years
members of our group have travelled
extensively across the asia-pacific
region and looked at a variety of
locations like military bases tunnels
and abandoned schools
it serves sorry urban exploration serves
different functions in different
contexts so of course there are
different reasons why people do it chief
among them being exploration and
curiosity
now I’d quickly like to mention that for
us it is not we are not thrill seekers
it is not an exercise in vanity it is an
exercise in documentation having said
that for me personally it is like a
real-life video game for me it is
escapism in an in a way it’s very
surreal that I find myself in situations
not too far removed in some of the video
games I played as a kid and throughout
our journeys and travels we’ve gained a
deeper understanding of the nature of
urban decay yes as he said we’re
documentarians he’s a gamer and we have
all kinds of labels to describe us
historiography ethnographers geographers
whatever you want to call us we are
urban explorers and we do this to
reclaim and re-appropriate the spaces in
the city around us now what brings all
these places together what ties all
these abandoned places why is there so
many well it’s all about growth and
development like a butterfly coming out
from a cocoon cities do need to progress
they do need to transform and they do
need to advance but they need to do that
in a respectful manner that’s what we
find they need to do it with a discourse
with the community and the discussion
with the community
some examples of places that have not
been so respectful in their development
include Vietnam and Indonesia and China
the Vietnam Vietnamese were colonized by
the French as you guys hopefully know
Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch and
they their colonization was very
violence so they associated that with
negativity and they pulled down some
gorgeous architectural heritage sites
and they just pulled them down out of
spite and built new low-rise buildings
China of course as you along destroyed
decades they wiped out history and
heritage in the Cultural Revolution and
so luckily Hong Kong and Singapore we
have civil services and we have the rule
of law so they haven’t been so violent
in pulling down these sites nevertheless
we have start to see an upsetting trend
that because Hong Kong and Singapore are
so starved for land they have started to
attack these sites on the edge of
society and pull them down which is a
real shame and
afternoon to see now Hong Kong for
example is a city of extremes it has a
population of around 7 million or just
over 7 million packed into around 30
percent of the territory space it is one
of the most densely populated cities in
the world with one of the largest gaps
between the rich and the poor and
because of this we are seeing a housing
crisis and apparent land shortage yeah
but is this because of an actual that
land actually not really I mean in hong
kong that this is the example i’m giving
most hong kong as he just said only 30
percent of land is developed in a city
home to 7 million people now let that
sink in for a second you know that’s
like wow that’s just huge because it’s
like we really we the public housing we
have an issue of public housing crisis
people need houses but they can’t find
enough public housing and affordable
housing at there because they are
selling out to property developers i
mean if you are a government and how
would you find ways to house your public
and the community who needed a for
housing well you could look for sites in
your possession empty lands and empty
schools for example hong kong has over a
hundred abandoned schools we’ve been in
200 we’re not talking small sites we’re
talking big schools now why can’t they
just create purpose these revitalize
them and rejuvenate them to make way for
maybe turn a school into an elderly home
or maybe turn a school into knock it
down and build a public housing
affordable but instead what they’re
doing is they’re acting like a business
and colluding with property developers
and i don’t blame them really because
they’re earning billions of dollars but
at their their their their their public
are at risk because of this they are
having to suffer sorry that’s what I’m
trying to say they’re victims to this
they’re having to suffer next slide
please
so usable land is so scarce in Hong Kong
Hong Kong is on land hungry so is
Singapore in a way and because the land
is so high they sell these sites off to
property developers and these
monopolizing big real estate agents then
build minuscule luxury housing
developments and they maximize the space
in them they’re like not bigger than
this this stage for example and that’s
almost criminal and then the people will
buy these houses and then sell them off
again for investment purposes so is the
public
a house in return are they other you
solving the health public housing crisis
no not really they’re just making a
quick buck now in Hong Kong we have the
antiquities and monuments office in the
urban renewal Authority both of these
bodies don’t have the largest amount of
power but are still funded by the
government anyway in the past few years
we’ve lost quite a few different type of
locations such as Barret barracks
historical mansions and in particular
the white house which was a prison used
by the British in the Second World War
all of these locations have been removed
to make way for schools and luxury
houses which again turn a profit for
real-estate developers so in essence it
means that on some level Hong Kong is
slowly losing its identity Hong Kong is
becoming less Hong Kong in a sense that
the things that make it unique
relinquished the conglomerates who raise
rent and remove heritage yes and now
here is a small video to introduce some
of our exploits in Singapore
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
I hope you enjoyed that we put it
together instance in like under an hour
to prepare for this talk but as you saw
we climbed this was about a year ago
when when I went there and we climbed
like a hundred meters underground and
that’s pretty crazy I mean if you think
about it and why what pushes me to do
this what’s my motivation for this well
it’s slightly the adrenaline rush but
for me it’s like I’m using all my senses
when I go into these places it’s very
dangerous of course I wouldn’t recommend
you guys to do it
disclaimer but basically it’s really not
safe and I enjoy that being out of
control because you’re using your sight
your sense of smell your hearing to see
bats and stuff like that all around you
its pitch black we have to take our own
lights and stuff like that and it’s it’s
it’s scary because like you know you can
feel the force of history around you
these places are like living history and
Singapore has plenty of other sights
like this and some have been destroyed
these are some of the fatalities we’ve
seen we’ve had the Ellison building
which had a highway put through it so
half of it was demolished and you’re
talking like hundreds of decades of
history and heritage lost for a few
minutes of convenience it’s pretty sad
then we had the closure of the song Hey
1930s flea market and the roadshow
Center both which were like living hubs
of community and heritage and
nevertheless sync warnings are starting
to grow increasingly aware of heritage
preservation for example in the Bukit
Brown Cemetery some campaigners and
protesters fought to get the number of
graves demolished from down from five
thousand to three thousand seven hundred
and that’s kind of a happy ending they
also catalogued all the graves all five
thousand graves before demolishing them
this sadly didn’t happen in Orchard Road
which is built on the site will form a
graveyard and I think Singapore needs to
learn from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia they
turn their graveyards into heritage
sites and parks that people can explore
now funnily enough something similar is
happening in Hong Kong where it is
statistically more expensive to house
the dead than it is to house the living
so you essentially you’ve got the
situation where it’s become like a
lottery so in some circumstances the
Hong Kong government has ordered that
the remains of the Dead be
exhumed and cremated after a succeed
theory to make way for newcomers failure
to do so will result in the government
undertaking exactly these actions then
placing said remains in a mass nameless
communal grave pretty sad so he
mentioned the urban renewal authority
that’s one authority in Hong Kong with
Singapore also has the same body every
new authority here but they are slightly
more powerful and slightly more strong
and they take extra steps to protect
heritage they’ve been working with the
National Heritage Board and the Land
Transport Authority to effectively save
some sites they’ve been quite successful
in doing this now some of these heavy
stories include the term drunk pagar
railway station with his preservation of
the canopies the National Gallery which
sits upon the old spot of the old
Supreme Court law and by Dempsey at
Dempsey Hill which was a former army
barracks now turned into a hip weekend
destination and as you saw on the video
before with syrup on Fort here on
sentosa island which has now been turned
into a resort so some good stories some
happy endings there are some
similarities that tie these two economic
rivals Hong Kong and Singapore together
they were both former jewels of the
British Empire
they are both rife with densification
Hong Kong is probably more prouder than
Singapore but still they are also both
shaped by the grand forces of history
now during the Second World War
both of these CDs fell very quickly to
the Japanese due to poor strategic
planning and resources after the war
however the powers of the two cities
daveigh diverged greatly with Singapore
campaigning for greater autonomy in
receiving self-governance in 1957 before
its establishment as a republic in 1965
as you know Hong Kong remained under de
facto British rule until 1997 and with
the handover back to China we’re
starting to see more changes as hong
kong is being further assimilated into
the mainland basically gentrification is
not necessarily a negative thing this is
what we’re trying to say this is the
takeaway today if it’s done right and
respectfully with a discussion with the
community and all parties and groups are
involved it can be good
basically developers in the government
need to take the lifestyle of diverse
groups and cultures and different people
in different classes into account when
they truly
to truly build a vibrant neighborhood
and Singapore is starting to do this
slowly and they’re doing better and Hong
Kong needs to learn from them when
they’re having these discourses
basically it all needs to be done
respectfully if there’s one major thing
you take away from the things that we’ve
talked about today is that in some
circumstances there is value in trespass
as it can lead to public discourse
especially with the exploration of these
time capsules yes and I urge you to all
explore your surroundings a little bit
more I’m not telling you exactly to
trespass I don’t want you I don’t want
to get done for aiding and abetting I’ve
got a camera here as you can see so
don’t do anything naughty but do explore
your surroundings a little bit more
because I would like to end with a
question could you all please imagine
and picture for me if you will something
in your possession or something of high
value to you whether this be a piece of
jewelry necklace a photograph and an old
trinket from your grandfather or even
your finger what if someone came along
and cut off your finger not cool right
what if someone came along without prior
consent and took something that belonged
to you not cool right basically this is
what is happening in these societies in
places like Hong Kong and China and
Singapore and they see when when they do
that they are disrupting the collective
consciousness that the city is eroding
in front of us because we need to do
more to save these buildings of heritage
granted not every old building should be
kept and preserved I agree with that and
there needs to be some form of
innovation and infrastructure
development in cities as the populations
grow but a balance needs to be striped
so when you’re exploring or walking
around your neighborhood next time I
urge you to think about that old
building over there think about that old
car and just think about how it came to
be and ask questions to yourself about
it because if you do that you’ll learn
more about your surroundings and your
environments and you’ll learn more about
yourselves in the process we’ve been a
cherubic thank you
[Applause]
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