How Hong Kong People Use Hong Kong Disneyland
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Lingnan University Digital Commons @ Lingnan University Theses & Dissertations Department of Cultural Studies 2007 Remade in Hong Kong : how Hong Kong people use Hong Kong Disneyland Wing Yee, Kimburley CHOI Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.ln.edu.hk/cs_etd Part of the Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Recommended Citation Choi, W. Y. K. (2007). Remade in Hong Kong: How Hong Kong people use Hong Kong Disneyland (Doctor's thesis, Lingnan University, Hong Kong). Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.14793/cs_etd.6 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Cultural Studies at Digital Commons @ Lingnan University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Lingnan University. Terms of Use The copyright of this thesis is owned by its author. Any reproduction, adaptation, distribution or dissemination of this thesis without express authorization is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. REMADE IN HONG KONG HOW HONG KONG PEOPLE USE HONG KONG DISNEYLAND CHOI WING YEE KIMBURLEY PHD LINGNAN UNIVERSITY 2007 REMADE IN HONG KONG HOW HONG KONG PEOPLE USE HONG KONG DISNEYLAND by CHOI Wing Yee Kimburley A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Arts (Cultural Studies) Lingnan University 2007 ABSTRACT Remade in Hong Kong How Hong Kong People Use Hong Kong Disneyland by CHOI Wing Yee Kimburley Doctor of Philosophy Recent studies of globalization provide contrasting views of the cultural and sociopolitical effects of such major corporations as Disney as they invest transnationally and circulate their offerings around the world. While some scholars emphasize the ubiquity of Disney’s products and its promotion of consumerism on a global scale, accompanied by cultural homogenization, faltering democracy, and diminishing state sovereignty, others highlight signs of contestation and resistance, questioning the various state-capitalist alliances presumed to hold in the encounter between a global company, a local state, and the people. The settlement process and the cultural import of Hong Kong Disneyland in Hong Kong complicate these studies because of the evolving post-colonial situation that Disney encounters in Hong Kong. While Disney specializes in “imagineering” dreams, Hong Kong itself is messily imagining what “Hong Kong” is and should be, and how it should deal with others, including transnational companies and Mainlanders. In this thesis, I appropriate Doreen Massey’s ideas of space-time in order to examine Hong Kong Disneyland not as a self-enclosed park but as itself a multiplicity of spaces where dynamic social relations intersect in the wider context of post-colonial Hong Kong. I illuminate the shifting relationship between Disney, Mainlanders, and the locals as this relationship develops in its discursive, institutional, and everyday-life aspects. Through interviews and ethnographic research, I study how my respondents have established and interpreted the meanings of Hong Kong Disneyland, and how they have made use of the park to support their own constructions of place, of politics, and of identity. DECLARATION I declare that this is an original work based primarily on my own research, and I warrant that all citations of previous research, published or unpublished, have been duly acknowledged. _______________________ CHOI Wing Yee Kimburley 13 June 2007 CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL OF THESIS REMADE IN HONG KONG HOW HONG KONG PEOPLE USE HONG KONG DISNEYLAND by CHOI Wing Yee Kimburley Doctor of Philosophy Panel of Examiners: _________________________ (Chairman) (Prof. John Nguyet ERNI) _________________________ (External Member) (Prof. LUI Tai Lok) _________________________ (Internal Member) (Prof. Meaghan MORRIS) _________________________ (Internal Member) (Prof. CHAN Ching Kiu Stephen) Chief Supervisor: Prof. Meaghan MORRIS Co-supervisor: Dr. Markus REISENLEITNER Approved for the Senate: _____________________________________________ (Prof. Mee-kau NYAW) Chairman, Research and Postgraduate Studies Committee _____________________________________________ Date 2007 CHOI Wing Yee Kimburley All Rights Reserved CONTENTS Acknowledgements ………………………………………………..……………… ii Chapter One. HKDL: A Construction Site for Place, Identity, and Politics ………... 1 Two. Disney Power, Cultural Globalization, and Local Contexts …………. 60 Three. The HKSAR Government’s “World City” Imaginary ……………….. 111 Four. Do Dreams Come True? ……………………………………………... 158 Five. Pragmatist Cosmopolitanism: Parents’ Use of Disney Merchandise … 205 Six. Disney Management: Fairy Tales of Cultural Globalization ………… 259 Seven. Work and Consumption: Pixie Tricks of Cultural Globalization …….. 315 Eight. Remade in Hong Kong: Our Place, Our Park ………………………... 382 Appendix 1. Letter to HKDL Director, Media Relations …………………………………. 423 2. Letter to The Salvation Army (Education Services) …………………………. 425 References ………………………………………………...……………………….. 427 i Acknowledgments I like eating dessert a lot. I especially like it after I finish eating the appetizer and the main course. Certainly my fondness for dessert has much to do with this last course’s sweetness. And dessert is also the final part, a closure, of the meal (I always have my dessert and coffee together). In this same sense, I write the acknowledgments here as I would enjoy a dessert. These few comments represent the end of a long undertaking, and writing them helps me remember sweet experiences and bitter experiences that I have had throughout this project’s almost six years. My greatest gratitude must be expressed to Professor Meaghan Morris, my primary supervisor. I have learned a great deal from her, but one bit of knowledge affects me more than any other: to become a respectable scholar, a person needs not only a prolific mind, keen insight, critical judgment, and exquisite scholarship, but also exceptional fortitude, wit, and warmth. Throughout my career as a doctoral student, Meaghan has generously shared with me her time and patience, and she has drawn on various techniques to guide me as I researched my subject, as I wrote my thesis, and as I established and articulated my own voice. When my confidence dropped to zero or academic disappointments left me depressed, Meaghan always sent me her unfailing encouragement. At other times, when I incorrectly thought that my arguments were strong, Meaghan’s critical judgments helped me identify and confront my weaknesses. In short, her help has been comprehensive. To my secondary supervisor, Dr. Markus Reisenleitner, I extend my wholehearted thanks. I have benefited greatly from his sharp perceptive skills. His commentary and suggestions helped me develop impressive ways to handle ii numerous data. I must also take this opportunity to thank the faculty and the administrative staff in the Department of Cultural Studies at Lingnan University. The advice and the support that they have offered me underlie my pride in being a member of this department. I specifically thank the department Assistant Administrative Officer, Josephine Tsui, who has an amazing ability to answer all my questions and to meet all my administrative needs. I would also like to acknowledge Lingnan University’s sponsorship of several of my field trips. During the course of my study, I have had the chance to conduct my fieldwork at Tokyo Disney Resort and at Orlando’s Walt Disney World in 2004. I also participated in the Joint Research Workshop between the Institute for Cultural Research at the University of Western Sydney and the Department of Cultural Studies at Lingnan University (22-26 July 2002, Sydney). With Lingnan University’s conference-travel scholarships, I had a chance to present my paper “Disney, Hong Kong Families, and the Formation of Children’s Subjectivities” at the Crossroads in Cultural Studies conference (25-28 June 2004, University of Illinois) and my paper “The Maniac, the Hysteric, and the Psychotic: Disneyland in Hong Kong Society” at the “Urban Imaginaries” Roundtable (1-3 July 2005, Humanities Research Centre at Australian National University). I must also thank Northwest Airlines in supporting my air travel from Hong Kong to Chicago’s Crossroads Conference, to Orlando’s Walt Disney World field trip, to Tokyo Disney Resort’s field trip, and then back to Hong Kong. During the course of my study, I have been grateful to the Humanities Research Centre at Australian National University, which appointed me to the position of Visiting Fellow at the center (lasting from 30 June to 5 August 2005). During this fellowship, the university provided me accommodations and a living allowance. All the above field iii trips, the exchange program, the conference presentations, and the visiting-fellow appointment tremendously expedited my completion of this dissertation. It is heartening to experience institutions’ support of and dedication to the nurturing of academic excellence. Besides Lingnan people, I must thank my Master of Philosophy supervisor Dr. Ng Chun Hung at the Department of Sociology, University of Hong Kong, for providing me much-needed advice during the strenuous process of dissertating. Dr. Steve Fore, who had been my Master of Philosophy external examiner before becoming my colleague at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, read my early drafts of several chapters of this thesis and shared with me his helpful comments and encouraging words.