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• For G.O.D's sake

  Thursday, Feb 7, 2008 9:30AM / Standard Entry / Members only
  2 comments

  Yo, I know it's a bit late since that bombastic 24 Herbs launch concert at Delay No Mall, but I wanted to talk a little about the mall itself.
  
  Or about Douglas Young - the G.O.D founder who seems to enjoy getting into trouble with the law. A few months ago dude got banged up because of some T-shirts that may have broken some laws about representing triads. I'd had the opportunity to interview him not long before that, so managed to contact him soon after his arrest. He was, as usual, pretty cool about the whole thing - and why not? Not saying that he was right, but the little incident got his label onto newspaper front pages everywhere. Good PR is cheap.
  
  A few weeks later, he dropped us this letter, which was published in Media magazine. I think it makes some worthwhile points. Would be interested to hear what you lot think...
  
  
  
  

  Hong Kong still has a long way to go to be a creative city
  
  It is the duty of creative people to challenge taboos. The development of art and science has always been about pushing the limits of  convention. Scientists challenge the limits of technology in order to bring about the next breakthrough. Artists question the status quo in relation to today’s worldview and break conventions that are out dated. What is acceptable to future generations may be taboo in the past and conversely, that which is acceptable by previous generations may become intolerable for the future.
  
  Moralists fear that we are moving towards a society with increasingly lax morals and standards. This is not true. We cannot artificially restrict the process of social change. Future standards of morality will be different from that of the present, but it does not necessarily mean that it will be broader than that of today’s. It will just be over a different spectrum of social practices.
  
  For example racial and sexual discrimination was tolerated in the past, and that is now rightly restricted. Whereas the use of the F word has now become so commonplace that social acceptability can be arguably justifiable. After all, the use of swear words is frequently devoid of its literal meaning. This is a process where the spectrum of acceptability shifts to accommodate new values and at the same time discarding archaic ones. The overall level of tolerability may not have increased or decreased, therefore moralist have nothing to fear.
  
  A modern society should revise its standards in order to take into account changing social phenomena. This is why important debates should be taking place across the community to establish up to date codes of social practices.
  
  We should be pushing the limits of social conventions and the law should not be obstructing meaningful debates. It would hinder the development of social change.
  
  Creativity has always been fraught with restrictions and limitations. For me, such limitations involve ethical issues concerning religion, sex and race, but from a business point of view, it also includes commercial viability. Creativity and freedom of expression, in reality, can never
  be unrestricted. To call for this would be naïve and unrealistic.
  
  The government has an obligation to revise its statutory limitations according to changing social conventions in line with the rest of the world.
  
  The arrest of my company members over a T shirt print has shown a lack of communication and coordination between various government departments. If this city purports to be a creative hub for Asia (a fulfillable potential given its advantages), it must first be prepared
  for it.
  
  Before such an ambition can be realized, all government departments should work in line towards a shared vision that is set out by the highest authourity. It needs to be clear, precise and comprehensive. All departments should fall in line with it. It also requires constant
  updating of established rules of conduct so that conflicts and contradictions between individual departments can be eliminated. The result should be a consistent set of policies enabling HK to realize its ambition.
  
  Douglas Young, founder and CEO, G.O.D