Mike Rowse says reflexive opposition to projects such as the Palace Museum again shows that the local political arena will remain adversarial until the people get to vote for their leader I remember the early hours of November 1, 1999, when we reached a final agreement with the Walt Disney Company after nine months of gruelling negotiations. There had been no public consultation on whether Hong Kong should have such a theme park before the deal was done, nor was there an open competitive tender.