Hong Kong Stories

Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in Hong Kong. Traditional foods for celebrating the festival are in great demand, both for home consumption and as gifts. Leung Kim’s father used to run a traditional Chinese cake and pastry shop with over a hundred year’s history back in Sam Heung, Zhongshan. However, when he came to Hong Kong in the 70 he made a living in a different trade. But his most cherished dream was to bring his father’s brand to Hong Kong. Eight years ago he started a shop with his brother and sister selling cakes and pastries made in the traditional Zhongshan style. Sweet and savoury New Year cakes are in great demand in the weeks leading up to the holiday. Their products have a short shelf-life because the family insists on not using preservatives. This means the factory has to work non-stop day and night to keep up the supply of fresh products to fill the large volume of orders. After the Chinese New Year there is always a glut of commercially produced traditional holiday foods destined for the landfill. For the staff of Foodlink, a non-profit organization which advocates no food waste, the last few days before Chinese New Year are just as busy as they are for the Leung family. Their mission is to deliver in time the surplus traditional holiday foods donated by large chain food suppliers to the elderly, the disabled and those living below the poverty line so that everyone can enjoy a happy Chinese New Year.

The Macau Grand Prix in November 2013 is the last leg of that year’s World Touring Car Championship. The event has attracted many world renowned racing drivers. Among them are two drivers from Hong Kong, Darryl O’Young and Charles Ng. Car racing is a sport that is about speed, thrills and consummate professional driving. A lot of detailed planning by the driver and his crew is needed before each race. This episode follows two Hong Kong drivers as they gear themselves up physically and mentally for the challenge. It is important for them to be familiarised with every section of the circuit and to have total control of their cars. The data collected during the trials will help the team to analyze the situation and adjust their strategy. In the actual race itself, every second counts if the drivers want to rank among the top few. Whether they are racing on the circuit or making a pit stop for repairs, time is of the essence. The process is intense and it makes incredible demands on the driver both physically and mentally.

When fashion designers turn abstract ideas from their unconstrained imagination into wearable fashion, the process is often arduous. Following four young designers, Louis, Nelson, Matthew and Yannes, who are contestants in a fashion competition, we see how they face challenges and overcome obstacles as they race against time to finish their collections. There are three phases in the Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers’ Contest. First, the hopeful contestants must submit a design work before the deadline for entry. Once qualified, the second phase is to design and produce 4 sets of clothes for the semi-final. Judges will ask the contestants questions on their works. The third phase is the final. Models will be wearing their designs on the catwalk. Winners for the contemporary daywear and evening wear categories and the overall winner will be announced. For these young designers, the contest is a very good opportunity for them to learn the trade. The winner will have a chance to broaden his horizon as he will be given an internship in France or Denmark to learn under a world renowned designer.

In any major sports competition, the runners are not the only ones racing against time; everyone working behind the scene is also racing against time to make the necessary preparations to ensure a smooth-running and successful event. The annual Hong Kong Marathon owes its success to all the volunteers doing their part while working as a team under strict time constraints. The Hong Kong Marathon which attracts over 70,000 runners from Hong Kong and around the world is organised by the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association. Behind the scene workers are made up of members of its affiliated clubs and volunteers comprising students, scouts and the general public. Along it’s 40 kilometer route, helpers perform duties ranging from distribution of runners’ bibs, transport of supplies and setting up of signs, decoration, and water stations along the route, collection and transport of runners’ baggage and the distribution of refreshment packs at the finish. Well before the first start pistol goes off, everyone working behind the scene has already started their race towards the goal of ensuring the marathon runs smoothly and ends in resounding success.

Flowers bring joy. Feelings are expressed through a gift of flowers. But to present a fresh and beautiful bouquet to a recipient, a florist has a very small window to purchase the material, do the detailed arrangement and make the delivery as flowers do not stay fresh for long. Things become even more hectic on special occasions like Valentine’s Day when demand comes pouring in. Becky has always been interested in fresh flowers. Six months ago her dream came true when she became an online florist who sells custom-made bouquets. As a one-man-band, she only takes three orders a day. Making bridal bouquet is her specialty. Working through the night to get them done in time for delivery to the brides is hard work but she feels rewarded when her customers smile with joy and satisfaction as they receive her bouquets. Ivy and Cindy have a traditional flower shop in a shopping mall. Valentine’s Day is the busiest time of the year for them too. Receiving a large order for individually wrapped roses from a new important customer is good news. But it also means a lot of hard work for the two of them when there are other orders from their regular customers to fill. Unsteady supply and rise in prices do not help matters either. Meanwhile, things are pretty hectic for Becky as she has accepted four times the orders she normally takes. To help her arrange everything through the night in order to make the deliveries in time for Valentine’s Day the next morning, she has enlisted the help of her mother and her best friend.

The MTR is in service 19 hours a day carrying a total of 5.1 million passengers. It is one of the busiest railway systems in the world. For most of the people in Hong Kong it is a part of their lives and they take its speed and efficiency for granted. But behind the scene each train and each section of the track is maintained by a team dedicated to paying close and meticulous attention to every detail. The MTR network is 218 kilometre long. Its operation depends on thousands of components working together simultaneously. So there is a very heavy maintenance and repair workload. The department in charge works 24 hours a day to carry out daily as well as a regular repair work. Trains are checked and maintained during the day at the depot. But to avoid any disruption in its service, maintenance work on overhead cables and railway tracks have to be conducted after the train service stops and before it resumes. Every night hundreds of maintenance workers are in the tunnels doing preventive repair work such as rail renewal. They have a very small window to remove the old rail, install the new rail, and to carry out the necessary welding and grinding work before train service resumes. It is a race against time.

School lunch seems simple enough. However, the preparation of thousands of nutritionally balanced lunch boxes according to the menu ordered and their well-timed delivery to each school for the students to consume before the start of the afternoon lessons involves an elaborate process that has to be executed without a hitch. Both the parents and the schools aim at providing nutritious meals for the students. This episode looks at how one school with a central kitchen system prepares rice and vegetables on the premises to ensure their freshness while taking delivery of the main dishes from a school lunch supplier. It also follows a housewife as she prepares lunch boxes with freshly bought ingredients from the market, and delivers them to her children at school. Everyone has to make the best of the time available to prepare the lunch. But even when the food is ready, tables and chairs have to be laid out for over a hundred students who have to come down from their classrooms to have lunch and then return to their afternoon lessons in the space of 45 minutes. To co-ordinate a school lunch is no simple feat.

Hong Kong people’s awareness of the need to protect animals is on the rise. In our community there are many organisations and activists who race against time to save the lives of these small creatures and to fight for their right to life behind the scenes. Most animal rescue missions are carried out by the animal rescue team of the SPCA. They are on call 24 hours a day except when there is a black rainstorm warning or a number 8 typhoon signal. Once a call for help comes in the team will try to get to the scene as soon as possible to save the life of the animal at risk. Other than SPCA’s animal rescue team, activists in the community have organised themselves in protecting the rights of the animals. They are connected online to provide information on strays or animals that need help. There are also volunteers working with SPCA to help to collect stray cats and dogs for sterilisation. They take immediate action when reports come in about possible strays to prevent overpopulation. Some volunteers even provide a temporary home for the spayed cats until they are adopted. When asked why they work so hard for these animals, their answer is that all life is equally precious.

In recent years, Thai Boxing (Muay Thai) has become a popular sport in Hong Kong. It is very good for improving one’s fitness, but it is also a highly technical form of fighting. This episode will follow two local boxers as they race against time to undergo strenuous training in 7 weeks to prepare themselves for a Muay Thai tournament. Ah B is a Thai boxer who works in the food trade. His health had been poor since childhood. But in recent years he has become much fitter after doing Muay Thai. He is now an amateur Thai Boxer. He befriended a three-time boxing champion Kit and they started a small boxing school together to promote Thai boxing which they felt would benefit people’s health. Age is a sportsman’s enemy and Muay Thai demands a great deal of stamina. Ah B is over 30 years old. This tournament may be his last time fighting in a boxing ring. His opponent Eden was a champion boxer a few years ago. Kit and Ah B dare not underestimate such a strong contender. Eden excels in many aspects. His trainer Ivan pushes him to bring his best games to the match. As the tournament draws near both sides pull out all the stops to prepare themselves to face each other in their peak condition.

Life in Hong Kong is tense and hectic. Everyone rushes towards one deadline after another in their jobs. They are making a living at a frenzied pace like the busy bees. What is the point of this compulsive need to hustle? If bees were to vanish from the world, humans would only be able to survive for four years. Of the 1300 kinds of vegetations used by humans, over 1000 rely on pollination by the bees. They are the largest group of pollinating insects and the only pollinators that can be farmed by humans. With increasing urbanisation, agriculture continues to shrink. The source of nectars for bees is also decreasing. The bees in Hong Kong now rely on native trees and fruit trees grown by fruit farmers in the past. When this limited supply is exhausted it will hurry us along to our ultimate deadline. Cheung Chi who once rode the crest of the wave in his working life has now learned to take things slowly. Beekeeping has taught him that everything in nature moves at its own pace. Nothing can be rushed. As farming or beekeeping is a symbiotic relationship with nature, it is dependant on the elements and must follow the natural rhythm. This modern farmer advocates vegetarianism because he is focused on a possible deadline in the future if we do not mend the ways we interact with and exploit nature. If we do not overdraw on nature’s resources but allow them to renew themselves, the future will continue much further for everyone. Let’s take a step back and look at the ecology of bees to ponder the value of our frenzied human life.