Cultural secretary Kevin Yeung said plans to move the Science Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui to Sha Tin, and close the Heritage Museum there are still at an initial stage, and that officials are still collecting views at the moment.

In documents submitted to the legislature, the government revealed plans to build a museum on national development and achievements at a Tsim Sha Tsui site which is currently home to the Science Museum.

Yeung said the idea is to put the national development museum in the urban area, but officials have yet to decide what to put inside it.

"Some lawmakers wanted us to give an introduction at Legco earlier, so we're going there as soon as possible with the content we already have. We're also presenting our initial views about the museum locations," the culture chief told reporters.

"This Legco paper is definitely about listening to views, not demanding lawmakers to make a decision on the contents and locations within a short period."

Yeung said the current plan is to upgrade the Science Museum by moving it to Sha Tin where the Heritage Museum currently stands. He said the Heritage Museum building can be taken down and redeveloped into a bigger facility to benefit members of the public.

He added that the existing exhibits at the Heritage Museum could be spread across other museums according to their genre.

For example, display related to the late movie star Bruce Lee and novelist Jin Yong can be moved to a museum on pop culture, while those that have to do with Cantonese opera can go to a museum on intangible cultural heritage.

But at the end of the day, Yeung said it cannot be ruled out that a new heritage museum may be built again "to better reflect Hong Kong's culture and heritage".