When my two eldest children were very young, some 40 years ago, we bought annual passes to Ocean Park for the whole family and visited often. It was far and away the best option for a family day out at that time. As the first commissioner for tourism (1999-2000), I visited again to show support and acquaint myself with plans for future development.

The negotiations with the Walt Disney Company, which l was involved in and which led to the agreement to build Hong Kong Disneyland, were ongoing at the time. There was concern in some quarters that a new internationally branded theme park would call into question the existing park’s future viability.

In return, the park would completely revamp the facility and aim to drive attendance up to 7.5 million by 2027-28. Perhaps unsurprisingly, reception to the request (“give us another HK$10 billion and we’ll try to get back to where we were a decade ago”) was less than enthusiastic.

Bosses at Ocean Park must pay for mess

I think as a community we now need to face the sad fact that Ocean Park’s glory days are probably behind it, and it is unlikely ever again to attract the vast numbers of mainland visitors that it did in the past, given the competition.

Which leads us to two important questions: is there anything else we could do with the land; and is there anything else we could do with HK$10 billion?

The answer to the first question is a resounding yes. Ocean Park occupies a site of 91.5 hectares compared to Tai Koo Shing’s 21.5 hectares. That means we could have three housing developments of a comparable size, providing 40,000 decent apartments and still have 30 hectares left over for green space.

That could include a slimmed-down facility focused on marine life and the pandas, perhaps run by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Increased frequency of trains on the South Island Line plus a spur to the new ocean-side housing mean we have a ready-made contribution to addressing Hong Kong’s criminal shortage of housing.

Which leads us to the second question, where I think the answer is also affirmative. We have one facility here that no other city or province in South China can boast, and that is a world-"" data-pf_style_display="block" data-pf_style_visibility="visible" data-pf_rect_width="702.2584838867188" data-pf_rect_height="170" orig-style="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; box-shadow: none !important;">

That would be a resounding vote of confidence in Hong Kong’s future as a tourist destination, both by the government here and by the world’s leading entertainment company.

Some might say I am biased in favour of Disney, bearing in mind my role in the original negotiations and my lifelong nickname of Mickey Mouse. But what could be more appropriate as we come into the new year of the Chinese zodiac, in our house known as the Year of the Mouse.

All we need to do now is find a government with courage and strategic vision. That really would be a magical day.

Mike Rowse is the CEO of Treloar Enterprises

Mike Rowse

Mike Rowse has lived in Hong Kong since 1972, and is a naturalised Chinese citizen. He spent six years in the ICAC from 1974 to 1980, then 28 years in the government as an administrative officer until retirement in December 2008. He is now the search director for Stanton Chase International, and also hosts a radio talk show and writes regularly for both English and Chinese media.