Bruce Lee aficionados gathered at a Hong Kong mini-museum devoted to the legendary martial artist to bid farewell to the location on Tuesday, as working bills pressured the itinerant archive to shut as soon as once more.
The Bruce Lee Club, which was based by the Lee household, had put a group of about 2,000 artefacts, together with decades-old magazines and a big sculpture displaying the celebrity’s iconic strikes, on show within the bustling Yau Ma Tei neighbourhood in 2001. But a hire enhance shut the undertaking in 2016.
Three years and a transfer to industrial Kwun Tong later, the membership started welcoming guests to see the gathering once more simply earlier than democracy protests roiled the town, dampening tourism.
In an announcement, the membership wrote that the social motion adopted by the Covid-19 pandemic had “severely disrupted” plans for the archive.
“We anticipated a recovery, yet reality fell short,” it stated. “The accumulated expenses over these six years have compelled us to rethink how to most effectively utilise our resources to sustain the flame of Bruce Lee’s spirit.”
It added that it’ll “explore new ways” to have interaction with the general public, however for now, forward of what would have been Lee’s eighty fifth birthday, it’s shutting store.
At least briefly, all the various ephemera associated to the Hong Kong icon might be boxed up and saved.
Born in San Francisco in 1940, Bruce Lee was raised in British-run Hong Kong and had an early brush with fame as a toddler actor. He later turned one of many first Asian males to realize Hollywood stardom earlier than his loss of life on the age of 32.
At the unassuming Kwun Tong archive on Tuesday, customer and martial arts coach Andy Tong known as it a “great pity” to lose the place.
“(Lee) helped build the image of the Chinese and overseas Chinese in the Western world,” Tong, 46, stated.
While the celebrity is extensively beloved and celebrated within the metropolis, with frequent retrospectives and exhibitions staged, followers have struggled to make sure organised and systematic preservation.
In 2004, petitioners efficiently managed to get a bronze statue of Lee put in on Hong Kong’s famed harbourfront, however a marketing campaign to revitalise his former residence didn’t spare it from demolition in 2019.
Bruce Lee Club’s chairman W Wong stated the Hong Kong authorities lacks long-term and steady planning for preserving Lee’s legacy.
But he added the Club “will never give up” their dedication to championing Lee’s spirit.
“Although Bruce has passed away, his spirit continues to inspire people of all kinds,” Lee’s 76-year-old brother Robert Lee advised AFP.
“I believe, rather than hope, the spirit of Bruce Lee will forever remain here (in Hong Kong).”
© 2025 AFP