A Chronicle of the Corporatization of Museums (1998- 2010)

The corporatization of museums was first put on the table by the Hong Kong SAR government in 1999 with the aim of researching the possibility of having the 14 museums governed by the Home Affairs Bureau to run independently. It is hoped that corporatization can alleviate problems like low utilization rate and inflexible bureaucracy of museums. Over the ten-year discussion period, the government had set up the “Culture and Heritage Commission” (2000-2003) and the “Committee on Museums” (2004-2007) to follow up and research on the matter. Both reports supported the corporatization of museums and believed that it could catalyze their development. In February 2010, the Home Affairs Bureau announced in a press conference that they have rejected the proposal of corporatizing the museums.