Home Affairs dragged for overzealous removal of decade-old restaurant graffiti on NSL grounds

Glorious Fast Food, a restaurant located on Caine Road in Mid-Levels, was recently made to remove two pieces of graffiti that portray construction workers eating noodles after the Home Affairs Department told the owner they may violate the national security law. It is understood that the graffiti has existed since before the social unrest.  

Speaking on a radio program, the restaurant owner Ho said the graffiti painted on the restaurant's exterior walls has existed for at least 7 and 15 years, respectively, with the oldest one created by a foreign artist after he saw the place being visited frequently by construction workers.  

Both graffiti works originally painted on the front of the fast-food shop can see three construction workers (one in the form of a bunny) wearing yellow helmets, each holding a bowl of noodles.  

Ho said he was frustrated to see the graffiti being removed as they represent his shop and that they are not related to politics.  

Recalling the incident, Ho said he was first approached by representatives of the building’s owners’ committee saying that the graffiti may violate the national security law, with the representatives requesting him to deal with the graffiti.  

He noted that he did not find the graffiti problematic by then, especially since the graffiti had been there for more than seven years, and therefore ignored the request.  

A week later, officials of the Home Affairs Department visited the shop with the same claim but failed to point out how the graffiti violated the national security law.  

Ho said following internal discussions with his staff members, they have, grudgingly, decided to let the Home Affairs Department handle the graffiti in order not to affect their customers.  

Ho said the incident has reflected that Hongkongers are bracing for a broader clampdown on art expressions, with artwork supposed to be a part of telling good Hong Kong stories.  

“I believe a piece of artwork should not be labeled as ‘endangering national security’ easily…artwork could carry a lot of expressions, and different people could get different meanings out of them,” said Ho, adding that he believed government officials should be smart enough to tell that.  

Commenting on the incident, lawmaker Gary Zhang Xinyu said he was disappointed in how the incident played out.  

He said the government departments involved have made a serious accusation against the owner and that it is impossible for the graffiti to carry any meaning related to the “black-clad violence in 2019” as they have existed for more than ten years.