London
(ANI):
Late
kung
fu
star
Bruce
Lee's
fans
are
reportedly
battling
to
save
his
old
home
from
reconstruction.
The
two-floor
building
at
Hong
Kong's
Kowloon
Tong
district,
which
was
Lee's
home
during
the
last
few
months
of
his
life
in
1973,
is
presently
a
"love
hotel" where
rooms
can
be
rented
by
the
hour
to
amorous
couples.
The
5,000
sq
ft
Romance
Hotel
does
not
have
any
sign
outside
it
to
indicate
the
'Enter
the
Dragon'
star
ever
owned
it.
It
boasts
a
warren
of
thin
corridors
is
decorated
with
aged
posters
of
semi-naked
women,
and
small
rooms
decorated
with
small
sinks
and
brown
bedcovers.
These
days,
however,
the
building
has
become
a
battleground
between
its
86-year-old
owner
Yu
Panglin,
Lee'
fans,
and
the
Hong
Kong
government.
Panglin,
who
bought
the
house
30
years
ago
for
850,000
HK
dollars,
claims
that
the
present
worth
of
the
property
is
100
million
HK
dollars.
After
an
enormous
earthquake
hit
Sichuan
in
May,
Yu
decided
to
sell
the
building
along
with
three
surrounding
plots,
and
announced
that
he
would
donate
some
of
the
money
thus
raised
to
the
rebuilding
of
the
region.
The
Hong
Kong
Bruce
Lee
Club
quickly
intervened
to
stop
him,
and
set
up
a
page
on
the
social
networking
site
Facebook
to
marshal
opposition
to
the
plan
and
to
turn
the
house
into
a
museum.
Lee's
widow
Linda
Lee
Caldwell,
and
daughter
Shannon
are
said
to
be
ready
to
donate
personal
items
to
a
new
museum.
Fan
club's
chairman
Wong
Yiukeung
said
that
little
effort
had
been
made
to
commemorate
Lee
despite
the
fact
that
a
tourism
boost
could
be
beneficial
for
the
island.
"Lots
of
tourists
want
to
visit
the
house.
I
have
to
tell
them
to
get
a
partner
of
the
opposite
sex
in
order
to
get
in," the
Telegraph
quoted
him
as
saying.
The
film
star's
younger
brother
Robert
Lee
has
also
stepped
into
the
fray.
"My
family
finds
it
regretful
that
the
Hong
Kong
government
has
not
done
much
for
my
brother.
I
urge
them
to
buy
the
residence
and
convert
it
into
a
museum,"
he
wrote
in
a
letter
to
Donald
Tsang,
the
chief
administrator
of
Hong
Kong.
Meanwhile,
the
government
is
said
to
have
ruled
out
spending
public
money
on
the
building.
Yu
is
said
to
have
agreed
to
donate
the
building
after
his
failure
to
sell
it,
or
swap
it
for
government
property
elsewhere.
He,
however,
insists
that
he
will
allow
the
house
to
be
turned
into
a
museum
only
if
the
government
allows
him
to
hugely
expand
the
site
into
a
30,000
sq
ft
retail
outlet,
an
idea
which
has
not
met
with
enthusiasm.
"The
building
is
a
residence
of
a
simple
style
without
unique
architectural
claims.
Houses
like
this
are
very
common,"
said
the
Antiquities
and
Monuments
Office,
adding
that
expanding
the
site
would
destroy
the
cultural
value
of
the
house.
Lee's
fans
have
been
exasperated
by
the
deadlock.
Wong
said:
"We
just
have
to
wait
now
for
the
government
to
make
up
its
mind."