Sex, Drugs and Karaoke

Tseung Kwan O district has the second youngest population in Hong Kong. It is a fairly new district with 400,000 residents, 120,000 of which are aged 15 to 34, according to the 2006 census. So it might be a little astonishing to many to learn that Tseung Kwan O does not have one single karaoke lounge. Over the past few decades, karaoke has become perhaps the most popular form of entertainment for local young people and lounges can be found in most districts in the city. Recently, a karaoke chain expressed interest in opening a venue in a shopping center in Tseung Kwan O, but what followed was a flood of objections from the community, saying opening a karaoke lounge would “damage the simple lifestyle” there.

The karaoke bar in question here is California Red, one of the two big chains in town with 18 outlets across Hong Kong. They saw an opportunity to tap into the un-tapped market of Tseung Kwan O and were soon preparing to rent the soon-to-be vacated second floor of Hau Tak Shopping Centre in Hau Tak Estate. The landlord is Link REIT, the real estate trust which now manages all public housing estates and their facilities such as car parks, markets and shopping centers, and back in June it expressed the wish to lease the space to California Red, provided the karaoke chain could obtain all necessary licenses to operate. California Red’s proposed operation model for this outlet is similar to the ones you see in Mong Kok and Causeway Bay—it would serve alcohol and it would stay open until 4am. If it opened, it would also be the very first karaoke lounge in a public housing estate.

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