Hong Kong, 16 April 2025: It is gratifying to know this monthly blog has a sizeable following – and thanks for the positive feedback, everyone – but your correspondent is left in the shade by the wildly popular Darren Jason Watkins Jnr. Who? Otherwise known as IShowSpeed, or simply Speed, he is social media royalty, a YouTuber and influencer with 38 million followers who draws mega viewing figures for his live-streamed activities.
His recent visit to Hong Kong caused chaos as crowds followed his every move, from riding a tram to viewing Ocean Park’s pandas – “They don’t look real!” – and visiting the Temple Street night market. He even had fans on motorcycles following his car and knocking on the window. With some 150,000 viewers watching his stream, the 20-year-old American appeared visibly stressed at times, repeatedly asking the horde to “chill out”.
Alas, some lawmakers and netizens are also flustered. They see Speed’s short visit – which has since racked up 10 million views on YouTube – as a missed opportunity to showcase modern, digitally-connected Hong Kong. Across the border in Shenzhen, the star test drove a revolutionary car that doubles as a boat, watched drones deliver food and danced with robots. “In Hong Kong, he only ate beef offal and participated in a ‘villain-hitting’ ritual. How is this acceptable?” fumes lawmaker Dominic Lee. Others have dismissed the YouTuber’s itinerary here as dull and uninspiring. But city leader John Lee rejects such negative talk, pointing out Speed’s team failed to take up a Tourism Board offer of assistance. Hong Kong will “seize every opportunity” to assist influencers, he promises.
It does seem a pity that Watkins Jnr missed some of our more cutting-edge attractions, even if tech tourism is only in its infancy. Hong Kong has grand designs to be a global innovation and technology hub, with the authorities pouring billions of dollars into promoting digital economy development and nurturing a smart city. The Hong Kong Science Park and three so-called InnoParks provide state-of-the-art laboratories for start-ups and major corporations alike; Cyberport is another major technology centre; close to our northern border with the Mainland, the mammoth San Tin Technopole is being built to provide 240 hectares for innovative businesses. As well, this city is set on becoming the world’s largest biotechnology stock trading and fundraising centre.
Our proximity to Shenzhen helps. There, tech corporations are spearheading the Mainland’s race to develop humanoid robots that can be deployed in factories, restaurants, hospitals and even households. Hong Kong-listed UBTech Robotics reveals it has completed a test to deploy dozens of robots in an electric vehicle factory in the port city of Ningbo. The humanoids, used in different workshops for assembly, instrument testing, quality control and the like, are able to “break down, schedule and coordinate tasks autonomously”. Impressive.
We may yet have robot police dogs patrolling our streets. New police commissioner Joe Chow says the force is talking with authorities in the Mainland – where such four-legged “friends” are already deployed – about how they might be utilised here. Further, a project named “Smartview” is increasing the number of surveillance cameras around the city, easing pressure on manpower. The police chief adds that a trial scheme using drones to patrol rural areas will soon be launched. Someone to watch over you, literally.
Replacing humans with robots in the workplace might mean fewer accidents. What would Mohan Bharwaney SC make of it? A retired justice of the High Court who has authored a significant number of landmark judgments in the field of personal injury, Mohan is my latest guest on Law & More, reflecting on his distinguished career. It’s a fascinating chat, please listen.
Podcast regulars may recall one of my earlier guests, former Hong Kong footballer Tim Bredbury, putting forward the case for a city-based team to play in the Chinese Super League. Sure, obstacles would need overcoming, but it would help fill our new 50,000-seat Kai Tak Sports Park every other week. The stadium, jaw-dropping in design and scale, has just made its debut, hosting the famous Rugby Sevens and four sold-out concerts by British band Coldplay. Tim’s beloved Liverpool, plus Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan, will all feature in exhibition matches this summer. After that? We have to wait and see, but such a venue clearly demands large-scale sporting events.
I must close with the heartwarming tale of Miu Miu, a runaway emu snared after racing motorists and strolling through a public housing estate in Tin Shui Wai. Now, safely secured, the bird has been handed to the House of Joy and Mercy animal shelter in Kam Tin, where he has settled in nicely. Emus are famously flightless and native to Australia, leaving authorities to assume he was illegally imported – just like Passion, a rare crocodile captured two years ago and now residing in Ocean Park along with assorted pandas, penguins and Pacific walruses.
We may be slow off the mark hosting influencers but – as Darren Jason Watkins Jnr would attest – at least our animal attractions are, ahem, up to speed.
Until next time, everybody!
Colin Cohen
Senior Partner
Boase Cohen & Collins
