[asia-apec 1050] Conference: Whose Development?, 27-28 March @ HK

[Kevin Li]

Conference: Whose Development? - Hong Kong Critiques on Developmentalism
27-28 March, 1999.

Co-organizers:
Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives (ARENA), Greenpeace China,
Hong Kong Women Workers' Association, Hong Kong Philosophy Society,
Invisible Booklink, Birdnest Project

For contacts, please e-mail to hunghom at gurlmail.com


Film Show
27 March 1999 (Saturday)
Room 105, Chong Yuet Ming Amenities Center, The University of Hong Kong, 
Pokfulam Road.

1. Dams and anti-dam movements	3:00-5:00 p.m.
A. Narmada Diary
Director: Anand Patwardhan	60 mins., India, 1995

For nearly a decade the people of the Narmada valley, a majority of them
Adivasis (indigenous people of India), have resisted the dam.  In the
face of their unity the World Bank had to withdraw its funding for the
project.  But Indian government officials, either induced by kickbacks
that often accompany large projects or seduced by the now discredited
rhetoric of the fifties when large dams were considered to be "the
temples of modern India", have steadfastly refused to halt
construction.  A Narmada Diary documents five years in the life of the
Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save 
Narmada Movement) which has spearheaded the agitation against the dam. 
With their insistence on non-violence and their determination to drown
rather than shift out of their homes and land, the people of the Narmada
valley have become symbols of a global struggle against unjust and
unsustainable development.

B. Slide show with talk
Host
Kevin Li	Internet Researcher, International Rivers Network. A member of
Birdnest Project

Anti-Meinung Dam Movement - The struggle to conserve the water resources
of south Taiwan
Chong Siu-mei	A member of Meinung People's Association
(in Mandarin)


2. Green Movement and "Anti-movement"	5:30-7:00 p.m.
Overturn the sky and ground
Director: Chow Wing-yee		40 mins., Canada/Hong Kong, 1999
       
The complexities, capitalism, patriarchy, and professionalism within
local environmental issues are each other the causes, and results in the
current approach of local green movement.  How can we give a
prescription so that local green movement can be transformed into
revoluntionary force? How do the other social movements response to the
conservative cultural hegemony?  What can the green movement gain from
these responses?  This film investigates this problem by looking at the
nearby examples, including environmental and regional political problems
in Tsing Yi, Women and 
development in New Territories, and Urban air pollution problems.

Discussion
Man Si Wai	Lecturer, Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of
Hong Kong.  A member of Birdnest Project
Lo Sze Ping	Campaigner, Greenpeace China. A member of Birdnest Project


3. Urban Community Movement	8:00-10:00 p.m.
Our home in Kang Le Lane
Director: Huang Sun-quan	80 mins., Taiwan, 1999

The struggle over destruction on the land prepared for Taipei Park No.
14 and 15 is a movement of huge contrast and ambiguity. The city
government gained strong mainstream public support, while the
marginalized dwellers do not insist on defending home, and the
opposition voices of college teachers and students are not fully
reflected.  In the process of struggle, they give up the debate on urban
issues, and concentrate on the ideological conflict, while the land
developers are hungry for a piece of green land nearby.  The bulldozers
eventually scrapped the collective memory and "illegal" houses of 50
years, whereas the video record every piece of matters, which tell us
the 
movement as an un-recovered wound and the breaking history of Taipei
city.

Response and Sharing
Huang Li-ling	A member of The Organization of Urban Re-s
Huang Sun-quan	Director of "Our home in Kang Le Lane". Chief editor of
"Pots" Journal
(in Mandarin)


Seminar
March 28 1999 (Sunday)
Hong Kong Federation of Students
9/F., Wai Tak Commercial Building, 7-9 Mongkok Road, Mongkok, Kowloon. 
(Just the opposite to Dynasty Cinema) (A map will be provided upon
request)

1. The Myth of Housing Commodification		9:30 - 10:45 a.m.
Host
Lo Sze Ping	Campaigner of Greenpeace China. A member of Birdnest Project

A. Housing Reform in Hong Kong: Critique from the perspective of social
justice
Lai On Kwok	Lecturer, Department of Social Policy, Kwansei Gakuin
University, Japan.

B. The Privatization of Public Housing: Problems and Response
Ip Chiu Ping	Representative from Hong Kong People's Council for Public
Housing Policy


2. Community development and spatial politics: the case of Hunghom
11:00 - 1:00 a.m.
Host
Ip Iam Chong	A member of Grassroots Co-operative. A member of Birdnest
Project

A. Why Community Planning is lacking in Hong Kong? -- Using the South
East Kowloon Development Plan as an illustration
Dr. Ng Mee Kam	Associate Professor, Centre of Urban Planning and
Environmental Management, The University of Hong Kong

B. Hunghom Old District: its People, History and the question of
Redevelopment
Sze Pang Cheung		Research student, Department of Sociology, The
University of Hong Kong. A member of Birdnest Project

C. Being a Community organizer in Hunghom Old District: Some reflections 
So Ngai Long	A representative of Public Housing Council


3. "Community" identity: constructions and contests	2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Host
Sze Pang Cheung	Research student, Department of Sociology, The
University of Hong Kong. A member of Birdnest Project

A. The concept of "Community" for Community Organizers in Hong Kong
Leung Chi Yuen	Former community organizer

B. Professional's participation in Urban Movement: The Case of Taiwan
Huang Li-ling	A member of The Organization of Urban Re-s

C. Ientity Construction and Spatial Politics of Foreign Domestic Workers
in Hong Kong
Aida Jean N. Manipon	Coordinator, ARENA (Asian Regional Exchange for New
Alternatives)
(in English)


4. The ecofeminist search for autonomous voices	4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Host
Man Si Wai	Lecturer, Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of
Hong Kong.  A member of Birdnest Project

A. "Public/Private" Dichotomy as an Oppressive Social Structure for
Women
Mary Ann King	Hong Kong Women Christian Council

B. Women's Status in Hong Kong: Social Development vs Economic Miracle
Linda To	Executive member, Hong Kong Women Workers' Association

C. "Living in Blood and Flesh": A Drama performance by Ziteng
Ziteng is a concern organization for Sex workers

D. Comic Exhibition
Lily Lau	Feminist Artist

(Translation will be provided in the conference.)