On November 26, a massive five-alarm fire broke out at the Grand Fortune Estate in Tai Po, Hong Kong. As of the afternoon of November 29, the fire had tragically claimed the lives of 128 individuals, with 83 people injured and another 150 still missing. Hong Kong officials have identified the bamboo scaffolding surrounding the building as a primary factor in the rapid spread of the fire. This assessment has sparked a debate, with celebrities like Kelly Chan and Anthony Wong speaking out against the notion that bamboo fueled the blaze and instead pointing fingers at the exterior safety net as the real culprit.
The online community initially circulated theories about the flammability of bamboo scaffolding, with some mainland Chinese media attributing the fire’s escalation to Hong Kong’s traditional use of bamboo scaffolds. During a press conference, Hong Kong officials seemed to align with this narrative, deliberately avoiding mention of the flame-retardant external safety net provided by Chinese mainland sources.
On November 27, pop diva Kelly Chan took to Facebook to express her views on the incident, asserting that it was a cigarette butt that ignited the safety net, followed by polystyrene foam, before reaching the bamboo structure. She emphatically proclaimed that “bamboo was wrongly accused (sandwiched in the middle),” stressing that bamboo does not ignite on its own.
Criticism was leveled at the government by Kelly Chan for its failure: she questioned what the public really wants, which is simply to live in peace and prosperity without the worry of day-to-day struggles, taxes, and inadequate living conditions. She accused government officials of neglecting their duty as public servants and exacerbating wealth inequality, leaving the citizens without a sense of security. The once heralded “Pearl of the Orient” seems to have lost its luster.
On the same day, actor Anthony Wong posted in Cantonese on Facebook, challenging the idea of bamboo as flammable by suggesting a simple experiment to see whether the safety net or the bamboo caught fire more easily. He argued that common sense dictates that the claim of bamboo being a combustion aid is unfounded.
Hong Kong Secretary for Security John Tang defended the safety measures in place, stating during a press conference on November 28 that initial tests showed the safety nets used on the building complied with fire-resistant standards. However, following the incident, residents of Bel-air Bay in the Southern District uploaded a video showing a sample of the removed net being ignited for a burn test by the constructor, Hong Yip, during the fourth phase of exterior wall repairs.
In the video, the resident cut a piece of the orange safety net, lit it on fire, and witnessed rapid flames spreading with melting and dropping materials. Concerns were raised by the residents about the safety of the construction work, as the constructor had assured them that the materials were fire-resistant. The burning situation was described as “like a candle” by the resident.
Singer Wilfred Lau also weighed in, emphasizing that the issue wasn’t with the bamboo scaffolding itself but rather due to human factors and the failure to use fire-resistant nets, criticizing Hong Kong officials for scapegoating the materials used in the scaffold construction for the unfortunate incident, diverting attention from the responsible parties.
Prior to the incident, online reports had circulated regarding a notice posted by the contractors of Grand Fortune Estate indicating that the protective rope net around the building was manufactured by a company called Shandong Cherish Fiber Rope Net Co., Ltd., and the product quality report was issued by Shandong Binzhou Testing Center.
Kelly Chan disclosed that she has donated money to assist Hong Kong in overcoming this difficult situation. She lambasted officials for their empty rhetoric following the tragedy, emphasizing that this was not the first time nor would it be the last time such evasive tactics were employed. She lamented the lack of security and the sense of living in a “city of sorrow” in Hong Kong.