Hong Kong Stories

Hong Kong and elegance do not seemingly connect with each other. Architect Martin FUNG, however, thinks otherwise. Last year, he established a page named “HK Class” on social media, through which he incorporates the wonderful and lesser-known people, happenings and things of the city into memorable stories from historical materials and an intriguing perspective. He relates the walls and platforms of the first generation of metro stations to Roman churches and Venetian villas, and extends the memory of having noodles with luncheon meat and eggs on a Hong Kong and Yaumatei Ferry to the Hong Kong-style landscape paintings of the famous Chinese modern ink painter LUI Shou-kwan … Martin regards his articles as writing exercise, through which he hopes to explore more perspectives to appreciate the city he loves. These perspectives are all on his list of “HK Class”. Beyond words, Martin also tries to spare little moments of elegance in life for himself. For example, he goes to a Hong Kong-style café during the less busy hours for a cup of Hong Kong-style milk tea, and takes a relaxing walk home after the rush hours on a dimly lit street. To him, this is the state that he feels most comfortable in and that allows him to feel the beautiful details in the surroundings most fully. And everyone can have some time alone. Given the right time and place, anyone can have their own “HK Class” lifestyle. Martin also believes that Hong Kong-style elegance is as much about reminiscing about the past as innovating for the future. This is why he conducted the first “fusion” experiment with friends. They organized an event themed as “Hong Kong Tea Culture” in a traditional Hong Kong-style café, offering a colourful, aromatic, tasteful experience that engages all senses.

Everybody needs to go to the toilet. We may not always talk about the experience of using public toilets, but in fact we have a quest for quality deep in our hearts. Different people have different concerns about the quality of toilets. Two “post-90s” youngsters were born with poor stomach health, so they pay particular attention to the cleanliness of public toilets. They have even founded a webpage to compare the hygiene conditions of different toilets, and remind users that to show their own quality and civic virtues when using toilets is the key to maintaining the hygiene of public toilets. Sociological scholar CHONG Yuk-sik searched for the origin of public toilets in Hong Kong and found that public toilets were mostly set up by merchants more than a century ago, while the enhancement of the hygiene quality of streets was due to economic incentives. Nowadays, architectural designers of public toilets have to rack their brains, hoping to improve the quality of public toilets. A small toilet can also be an important factor to upgrade a city’s taste. To have a happy and carefree toilet experience, quality, virtues and taste are all indispensable.

Do you have any preference when it comes to drinking water, something you need every single day? In everyday life, we can have access to water simply by turning on the tap, but it turns out that many Hong Kongers have very specific requirements for water! A group of hikers go up the hill for stream water every day rain or shine, not only because it is sweet and refreshing, but also because it is a chance to meet up with good friends. Having paid attention to the taste of water since childhood, water sommelier Ivan even quit his previous job and travelled all the way to Germany to learn about tasting water professionally with attitude. Conan studies water filters, hoping to drink healthier water and provide the purest water for his family. Sister Ngor is persistent in transporting ingredients and goes up the hill weekly by herself for preparation since she has to rely on stream water in cooking without tap water supply. Even though it is rather inconvenient, customers do appreciate the flavourful dishes cooked by Sister Ngor a great deal!

In recent years, practising mindful meditation has become a global trend. Quite a few of studies found that it is helpful for adjusting emotions and relieving stress. To allow the students to get to know about mindful meditation from childhood, the principal of a primary school in Sheung Shui asked a designer to turn the school into the “School of Heart”, and even transform the store room in the school into the “Heart Room”, a place for cleansing the soul. Through the varieties of activities held in the “Heart Room”, the kids will be able to have more communication with their own hearts and know more about their own thoughts. Peter, a graduate of Psychology, set up a webpage on a social networking site, in order to make more people’s lives happier. He shares with other people about mindful meditation, and knowledge about psychology, popular science, etc. Also, he organizes different workshops to let the participants understand that, whether one is making meals, hiking, or even taking the MTR, they are all golden opportunities to talk to one’s heart. Peter believes that, if we pay attention to the present moment, we will be able to find out the treasure in life. How long have you not listened to the voice of your own heart? How is the quality of your heart? Just embark on a journey to have a talk with your own heart!

About 40 per cent of land in Hong Kong has been designated as country parks. The parks are extensively planted with verdant trees, and filled with hiking trails. While we are enjoying the nature, many people are quietly working behind the scene. Former Assistant Director of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Dr WONG Fook-yee will tell us in detail the work of the planning of the country parks in the past years, and how the unused land are transformed into dense forests. Country parks protect the best land and preserve biodiversity for Hong Kong. A group of nature lovers use their own way to guard the countryside and let us rethink about how we should behave when we are enjoying the nature. Teddy started hiking in 2002, and he set up a website to share travel information. In recent years, he wrote an article called “Hiking Manners”, with a view to promoting high-quality hiking culture. Seeing that there was an increase in refuse in our countryside, Terry organized a volunteer group to clean up hiking trails on a regular basis. On the other hand, Sister Lin, who runs a kiosk, helps to reduce the plastic waste in the countryside by means of an “environmental-friendly refill” method. As a guest of nature, if you can practise “leave no trace” and do not leave any trace every time you visit, it will be your most basic respect for the nature.

Dressing comes first when talking about the four basic necessities of life – Dressing, Eating, Living and Commuting. It goes without saying that clothes are crucial for our daily lives. How can we develop a good dress sense? Tailor Siu Lan, who is in her seventies, holds steadfast in her quest for the quality of fabrics, as well as the handwork and design of clothes. She also upholds her belief in pursuing a dressing style which is simple, suitable and comfortable for herself. Meanwhile, boutique owner Sam, fashion designers Toby and Kay pursue the principle of sustainable fashion. By upcycling old clothes, a new value is bestowed upon the garments while beautiful memories are retained. One gives others the most superficial impressions of himself / herself through clothes. Clothes are the most intimate connection that links up a person with his / her past emotions. In order to let the elderly have warm and decent clothes to wear, a group of volunteers from social enterprises often goes to Community Support Centres for the Elderly to help the elderly make and amend clothes, hoping that the elderly will regain confidence. In the meantime, several fashion design students make efforts to design for elderly with impaired mobility a collection of functional clothes, addressing their different needs through responsive care from the inside out. Dress sense can be cultivated over time, but one has to learn how to cherish and love to understand the true beauty of dressing.

When it comes to food, it is the quality as well as the virtue of the food that matter. There is a beautiful vegan restaurant dedicated to promoting low-carbon food culture. The head chef lets Mother Nature decide the choice of ingredients, using every part of the local seasonal fruits and vegetables fully in preparing delectable dishes. The restaurant not only offers healthy food, but also cares about the well-being of the land and environment. There is also a young man who dropped out of university to pursue his dream of becoming a chef and provide fresh, exquisite lunchboxes for schoolteachers. His meticulousness in every detail from buying ingredients to delivering lunchboxes demonstrates his determination to maintain food quality. Recently, he has even started a tuck shop in a secondary school offering lunchboxes to students, with the hope of changing the “lousy school food” culture with his cooking. To eat virtuously, not only do you have to know your food, but it is also important to cherish them. Several university students launched a social enterprise supermarket especially to sell snacks and grocery items that have passed or are about to pass their “best before dates”. If you compare their goods to more than a hundred million similar food items that ended up in the landfill sites, what this small social enterprise can save is merely a drop in the ocean. However, regardless of how little they can do, they spare no effort in raising our awareness and reminding us not to waste resources from the Earth.

For a thin 30-odd-page weekly comic magazine printed in colour, every single page represents the strenuous effort of the people behind. With their hands and pens, they race against the clock in sleepless nights to provide us with easily affordable entertainment. Having joined the comic profession in 1978, comic artist KHOO Fuk-lung has experienced the highs and lows of the industry over the past four decades. It was his passion for comics that brought him into the industry, and it is also this passion that motivates him to improve and enhance himself continuously so as not to disappoint his readers. Through observing how KHOO creates comics, we will try to find out how good quality comics should be appreciated. In this episode, we will also interview several individuals who are closely connected with Hong Kong comics. Dr. FAN Wing-chung has been studying Hong Kong comics for years. He is convinced that Hong Kong comics, with their unimaginably high artistic quality, can be considered as representative of the city. KHOO happens to be the local comic artist he admires the most. Comic book cover artist HO Chi-hung has prepared book covers for various comic artists over the years. He even organizes drawing classes in leisure time to introduce the unparalleled technique displayed in Hong Kong comics on the use of colours and composition. Comic souvenir shop owner Dicky believes that the biggest benefit of comic-related products to the industry concerns not the revenue it brings, but the promotional opportunity it offers, since more people will come to know about comics and fall in love with them. As regards to the shift to sheet-fed printing technique in the comic world nowadays, printer Human CHEUNG thinks that it facilitates comic production companies in cost control and in fully meeting artists’ requirements regarding colours.

Many people have developed an interest in music. However, every music lover has his / her own quest for music. James is a record enthusiast who is zealous to the extent that he has set up a small record museum to promote the music that he likes, but it turns out that he is even more obsessed when it comes to the quest for tone quality! After years of study, James found that the tone quality of recordings played on cassette tapes are even closer to the original sounds than on gramophone records, and he shared the results of his study with universities. Meanwhile, renowned singer Alan TAM is passionate about promoting the creation of Cantonese music. Recently, he has carefully selected a group of young musicians, hoping that through cooperating with them, more new talents will join the Cantonese music market. Devotions to studying tone quality and promoting the creation of Cantonese songs are two different types of quests for music and each has its own merits. Do you have your unique way to appreciate music?

Toys are available in such a wide variety nowadays, and they can be played in a multitude of ways. Have you ever thought of going beyond the rules stated in the instruction manual for a toy? In fact, we can set our own rules and play a toy in our own ways. We can even make our own toys and be their real owner.Full-time mother Natalie makes toys according to the needs and interest of her child, enjoying herself throughout the process. Benny, who is also a mother, encourages her child to be imaginative and put their thoughts and feelings in their creations. As such, children will grow up playing while being creative. Self-made toys are indeed more interesting than those bought from a shop. Children inevitably need toys, which are like their playmates and friends. Nowadays, children get toys, often too many of them, easily. “Anew Toys” founder Paul advocates for recycling of old toys and turns them into new ones through restructuring. This is not only a way to give toys new lives, but also a lesson for children on learning to cherish their toys. Toys that are most fun to play with do not have an instruction manual. As a toy designer for toddlers, Ryan has a rich collection of old toys produced in the 1970’s and 1980’s. He will share with us the stories behind these toys and how they can be appreciated. Everyone needs toys. Yet, we do not need to own a most exquisite, newest toy to be happy. Saying that a toy is “fun to play with” is merely an empty description. It is the unforgettable memories and joyful playing it brings that determine the quality of a toy.