Glow From Within

NEON LIGHTS. THEY’RE COLORFUL, GLOWING BRILLIANTLY AT NIGHT, AND WERE ONCE A DEFINING FEATURE OF HONG KONG’S NIGHTLIFE. For decades, neon lights have crowded the streets of Hong Kong, becoming an iconic part of cafés, saunas and restaurants. These intricate dragons and shimmering Chinese characters that used to decorate the streets have begun to make their way towards extinction. Government crackdown on these lights forced many business owners to take down their signs completely in favor of more durable and efficient LED lights. What was once a symbol of sophistication and prosperity that came about from the economic growth during the 1950s was dying out, with about 90 percent of the signs already taken down.

The beginning of the neon craze came about because of store owners’ desire to bring some sort of excitement to people on the street. With the lack of availability of space in Hong Kong, these stores were often very small and cramped. Their only way to stand out was to have something bold and flashy to catch people’s attention. Neon signs were the perfect solution. LED signs, on the other hand, are a more sustainable and practical option, being safer to use, easier to make, as well as more energy-efficient. However, the bottom line is that they do not give the same vibe as the original neon signs. The decline in demand for the signs has also affected the profits of the sign-makers. Wu Chi-Kai, one of the last neon lights craftsmen in Hong Kong, has revealed that his workshop’s revenue has gone down 80 percent in the last 25 years that he has been in the industry. Customers are a rarity and the workers are forced to be employed elsewhere. The people of Hong Kong started to realize that these neon signs are a large part of Hong Kong’s culture and that taking them down is equivalent to stripping them of their roots and traditions.

Efforts to revive and preserve neon signs are being made with the introduction of graphic designers and various artists celebrating the artistry of the signs. Museum exhibitions have been implemented to display the works of art that these neon signs could potentially be. Advancements in technology have also allowed for exponential progression in the industry. Rather than having calligraphers hand draw each design, they are now being computerized and quickly produced to efficiently create these signs. Examples of these signs can also be viewed on interactive online exhibitions, namely through Mobile M+. This online exhibition showcases different documentations of neon signs all over Hong Kong. The submissions are from the public, memorializing their beauty and nostalgia for what once was what made Hong Kong so unique.

Another challenge for the creators of these signs is that, because the industry is dying out there will be no one capable of replacing and renewing them. This means that the number of workers able to make repairs on the alreadyexisting lights will decline and the number of blinking or dimming lights in the signs will increase. However, graphic designers and various artists are working to bring these signs inside the shops to give a similar neon-feel to the streets. All that can be hoped for is good fortune and good luck when it comes to Hong Kong’s neon signs.

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/jul/25/ hong-kong-neon-lighting-threat-chinese-regulations http://www.neonsigns.hk/?lang=en https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/14/world/asia/ hong-kong-neon-sign-maker.html