Protest – Violence might disrupt golf events

Angry citizens might disrupt the coming week the Crown Plaza Golf Tournament at the Tomsom Golf Course, as management of the Tomsom Golf Villas continues to ignore complaints. Earlier protest on 19th September in the Club House and the 1st tee box erupted in violence as 250 international residents surrounded the residence of the Chairman of the Tomsom Group, chanted slogans and threw eggs for 30 minutes. “No injury was reported,” says an account of the insurgents, suggesting that more could be expected.
The Tomsom Group has angered the inhabitants, including many presidents and CEO’s of foreign invested enterprises, by arbitrarily closing down common facilities like the driving range, the tennis court and even the children’s playground.
Social unrest is emerging everywhere in China, and even residents in high-end compounds turn to violent protest as other ways seem not to work. For next year even the BMW Open Asia might be disturbed when the Tomsom management does not deal with the complaints of its inhabitants.
The Tomsom Golf course was one of the high-end investments during the China-wave of the 1990s that did not pay back. Many of the villas remained empty and while investments in many retail, logistical and manufacturing facilities have been written off much earlier, this relict of too much optimism remains as a lonely monument.
The Tomsom Group has invested over 1.5 billion US dollar in Shanghai