Unwavering Belief in Teaching and Learning: From Language Instructor to Culture Promoter Mr Choi Kai Kwong is a graduate of Lingnan College with a Bachelor of Arts in Translation. He served as an Official Languages Officer II in the government after graduation, responsible for translating documents in different departments. But a few years later, he changed his profession to a language instructor. In 2008, he participated in a Cantonese opera education project which piqued his interest in Chinese opera and bamboo theatre, and inspired him to research on these topics. Besides project publications, Mr Choi has authored two books, The Culture of Bamboo Theatre in Hong Kong and Collection of Learning Cantonese Opera, devoted to the cultural promotion and education of Cantonese opera, Bamboo theatre, and intangible cultural heritage. Grateful for Lingnan's Comprehensive Curriculum and Teachers’ Nurturing Mr Choi enrolled in Lingnan College in 1991, joining the first batch of graduates being awarded honorary bachelor's degree after the college had been acknowledged under the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee (UPGC). Foreseeing that mastery of both Chinese and English will be advantageous in the future, he chose Translation as his major. Given that it was the first year with bachelor's degree being conferred, the institution made their best endeavours in curriculum planning and teaching resources invested. He recalled, “In addition to the professors in Lingnan, such as the then-Department Head and Dean of Arts, Prof. Harry Felix Simon, Prof. Laurence WONG Kwok-pun from the Department of Translation and Prof. WONG Yiu-chung from the Faculty of Social Sciences, they also invited many top-notch scholars to teach us, such as Prof. Mimi Chan from School of English at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), and the retired professor from the Department of Political Science at HKU, Prof. Peter B Harris.” Prof. WONG Kwok-pun even voluntarily offered a range of extracurricular English enhancement course to help students improve their English proficiency. Mr Choi is grateful for the patient guidance from all the teachers who provided him with a fruitful learning experience. Translation demands not only language proficiency but also a wide-ranging knowledge base to handle diverse types of content. Consequently, the second-year curriculum at Lingnan College includes subjects from literature, politics, and social sciences. Mr Choi explains, “Language is the carrier of culture and knowledge. If one lacks the basic knowledge of certain field - say, medical theories or articles of law, no matter how proficient one's language skills is, the translation will not be accurate.” Beyond their major, students were required to take general education courses, learning critical thinking, logical reasoning, social ethics, and art appreciation. This comprehensive education greatly broadened Mr Choi’s horizons, laying the groundwork for his future exploration and in-depth study of traditional culture. From Student to Teacher: Three Kinds of Connection with Lingnan During his time at Lingnan, Mr Choi was actively involved in student services and served as a student representative of the Faculty of Arts on the Academic Board. This board, akin to a parliamentary body, comprised the President of the Student Union and one representative from each faculty—Arts, Business, and Social Sciences. “Through meetings with the college management, I was able to convey the students’ opinions to the authorities, fight for their rights and help improve the college policy. I learnt a lot from that,” he recalls. Graduation did not sever Mr Choi’s connection with Lingnan. In February 1997, the first batch of student hostels (Block A to D, known as the Southern Hostel) were established. As there were no postgraduate programmes at that time, the recruitment of hostel tutors was open to undergraduate alumni. “Invited by then-warden, Prof. Stephen SZE Man Hung, I began my service as a hostel tutor in Block D for three years, providing pastoral care and guidance for the hostel residents. Today I still keep in touch with some of the tutors and residents!” In 2004, Mr Choi’s career brought him to Lingnan again as he started teaching the Project Springboard (currently known as “Diploma Yi Jin”) at Lingnan Institute of Further Education (LIFE) as a Chinese Language instructor. Encounter with Cantonese Opera - The Journey of Researching Theatrical Arts and Culture In 2008, Mr Choi was invited to join the “HKU Cantonese Opera Education Research and Promotion Project”, studying how to incorporate Cantonese opera into the new senior high school curriculum and holding short-term courses at the Faculty of Education of the University of Hong Kong. “We took the students to watch performances at theatres, conducted site-visits at bamboo theatres and studied folk activities such as Birthday of Tin Hau, Jiao Festival, and Yu Lan Festival. This experience sparked his interest in Cantonese opera and bamboo theatre culture, driving him to explore the field of intangible cultural heritage. Mr Choi highlights a general lack of understanding in Cantonese opera among the public. To make Cantonese opera more appealing to the younger generation, he suggests recommending different genres of plays according to corresponding age groups and adopting a systematic teaching approach at schools. “There is a variety of genres in Cantonese opera, including literary such as The Flower Princess and The Legend of Purple Hairpin, action like Woman Warrior: Mu Gui Ying, and comedy such as Romance of the Phoenix Tower... For children, I recommend The Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven, while high school students may start with the opera excerpts. Since a full-length Cantonese opera is about three and a half hours long and beginners might find it quite overwhelming, the half an hour-long opera excerpts with narration can serve as an introduction for young audiences.” Mr Choi further illustrates their designed curriculum - Prior to the performance, the leading actor or actress would give an introductory lecture at schools, discussing basic knowledge of Cantonese opera and background of the play; before the show starts, students would be brought to the backstage where all the makeup, costumes, and operations take place; after the show, teachers would review the learning outcomes with students. He explains that this teaching model also shows high effectiveness when being applied to adult audience. Having devoted 16 years to the research of Cantonese opera and bamboo theatre, Mr Choi currently serves as the coordinator and chief editor of “Hong Kong Xiqu Overview 2021-2023”, a project funded by Hong Kong Arts Development Council. This project aims to recount and analyse important events and changes of Chinese theatrical arts happening over the past three years, such as the application of art technology in Cantonese opera, to provide insights for the entire cultural industry. As the coordinator, Mr Choi is responsible for liaising with authors, scheduling interviews, sourcing English translators, and coordinating with designers and website developers, and so on. Despite the arduous tasks, he still plans to compete for the position of chief coordinator of the next term. “This experience has laid a solid foundation for my future research work... After all, the most important thing is to find a career that you're interested in and work on something that you're passionate about.” Promoting Traditional Culture under the Concept of Popular Education Mr Choi plans to write a book about Hong Kong's intangible cultural heritage. “Thanks to the funding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office, some of the intangible cultural heritage items have been supported to make their specific publications. However, there seems to be a shortage of a comprehensive reference book in Hong Kong explaining the general principles and concepts of intangible cultural heritage.” He emphasizes, “What I have been doing is applied research. My focus is not only on knowledge popularization, but also the sustainability and conservation of traditional culture in the modern society - this is the core value of all my research. Therefore, compared to abstruse academic essays, I prefer writing introductory-level articles and books so that everyone can access, understand and develop interest in them.” Recently, Mr Choi made a few attempts to collaborate with different organizations and hold various activities. For example, in this year, he has co-organized a field trip with Hong Kong Architecture Centre and Walk in Hong Kong respectively to Po Toi, where participants visited the bamboo theatre during the Tin Hau Festival. In October, he will be leading a tour to Guangzhou, visiting traditional landmarks such as the Bahe Guild Hall in Guangdong and the Wanfu Terrace in Foshan Ancestral Temple, as well as the newly established Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Theatre and Foshan Cantonese Opera Theatre, to explore how architectural design facilitates Cantonese opera performances. As he explains, “Collaborating with these organizations can create synergies and bring new audience into the realm of Chinese theatrical arts and culture.” Advising Youth to Enrich Life Experience for Personal Growth Mr Choi jokingly says that if he had not resigned from his civil service job, his income would have been much more stable than it is now. Even though the path of cultural promotion and education is full of twists and turns, he has no regrets about his decision because the work has brought him a tremendous sense of accomplishment. “I’ve been fortunate to meet many practitioners of the traditional craftsmanship, from Cantonese opera actors, musicians, and troupe leaders to the stage crew, costume and prop teams, as well as inheritors of intangible cultural heritage, I feel that my life is more fulfilling than many of my peers.” Mr Choi treasures the relationships with the intangible cultural heritage practitioners. For instance, he met a 70-year-old master of hand puppet Cantonese opera, who was not familiar with the concept of intangible cultural heritage and missed the registration of it. When the government published the first draft of the Hong Kong intangible cultural heritage list and opened for a three-month consultation, Mr Choi then reminded him to apply for the hand puppet Cantonese opera. Eventually the item has successfully been added onto the list and received official recognition. Mr Choi advises young Lingnanians to learn various skills to equip themselves and seek more opportunities to explore new things. “We are living in a rapidly changing world. In the upcoming 30 to 40 years after graduation, you may have to experience several career transformations. Take me as an example, my present job is far removed from translation. That’s why learning universal skills is necessary.” Apart from working hard on the major, he encourages students to join student societies, do internships and go for oversea exchanges. He advocates, “Only by reaching out to explore other cultures and enriching life experiences can one be more adaptable to new changes and challenges.”
