I keep swearing this is going to be my last post of the day so I can do some work, but the stories just keep on coming. This one is simply irresistible.
A Hong Kong official said one of the territory’s tiny islands could make a killing with a novel theme park based on its unsavoury reputation as a suicide spot, a media report said on Tuesday.
The morbid suggestion to create a ghost-town attraction where guests were dared to spend the night in “haunted flats” came at a meeting of local leaders on little Cheung Chau island.
Councillor Lam Kit-sing said the island should capitalise on the grisly reputation of one of its holiday homes, where 20 people have taken their lives in the past eight years. Another five people attempted suicide there.
Lam believes the macabre park could be an added attraction for the millions of people expected in the city when Hong Kong Disneyland opens in September.
“A dirty spot yesterday will be an attraction tomorrow,” he was quoted as saying in the South China Morning Post.
“This is innovative and has a selling point.”
Hemlock, anyone? Talk about exploiting the dead…
Does anyone know why this spot is so popular for self-annihilation? Is there a special view, or do they play morbidly depressing music?
1
By PSoTD
You have to wonder what kind of concessions would be available…
August 11, 2005 @ 8:46 pm | Comment
2
By richard
I don’t even want to think about it!
August 11, 2005 @ 8:47 pm | Comment
3
By Simon World
Daily linklets 12th August
The meanings lost and gained in translation. Spike gets the inside on how DVD piracy works in China (about half way down the entry). The slow dismantling of Chinese oil price controls. China’s economy in 2005 is not what it was in 2000. I’ve updated s…
August 11, 2005 @ 9:27 pm | Comment
4
By Keir
It isn’t where that singer Xhang Guorong killed himself? That might explain some of the attraction….
I’d stay in the place Marilyn Monroe killed herself for a night (I’m sure it’d be cheaper than most of the B&Bs I stayed in in Ireland…)
August 11, 2005 @ 10:29 pm | Comment
5
By Ivan
They play Kenny G over and over and over again.
August 11, 2005 @ 10:40 pm | Comment
6
By Conrad
Actually, Cheung Chau is one of my favorite day trips in Hong Kong.
http://tinyurl.com/czzt5
August 11, 2005 @ 10:54 pm | Comment
7
By shulan
It is a very nice island indeed. A friend from HK told me somehow it became popular for suiciders during HK’s economic crisis. I think they don’t want to do it at home because of the bad fengshui.
August 12, 2005 @ 5:05 am | Comment