The
Legislative Council Building is the oldest and most prominent building in
Statue Square in the heart of Hong Kong. This building housed the old
Supreme Court until 1983 and now houses the
Court of Final Appeal. Visitors can tell immediately of the British influence in Hong Kong since this building was designed by
Sir Aston Webb and
Ingress Bell, British architects responsible for the eastern façade of
Buckingham Palace back in London England. Construction of the building started in 1900 and it was opened in January 1912.
Located on top of the
Legislative Council Building stands a blind-folded statue of
Justice, represented by
Themis, the Greek
Goddess of Justice and Law above the
British Coat of Arms. A point of interest: this building was used as the headquarters of the
Japanese Military Police during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong 1941 to 1945.
Statue Square in central Hong Kong is a reference to mainly British royalty statues that used to stand in the square until the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II. Most of the statues do not exist as they did some 70 years ago except the
Cenotaph (war memorial), that was constructed in 1923 commemorating the fallen who served in the
Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force in Hong Kong during the two World Wars.
I found a picture of ex-servicemen and government representatives laying wreaths in front of the
Cenotaph one
Remembrance Sunday.
Since the 1980s, it has been a tradition for thousands of Filipino domestic workers to congregate in and around
Statue Square every Sunday, their usual rest day of the week. I just happened to walk through the
Square on a Sunday afternoon and wondered why all the people were camped out on the sidewalk, obviously settled in for the duration as they played cards, ate and were the captive audience of many a vendor.
