HKU Bulletin February 2013 (Vol. 14 No. 2)

Kong’s Intangible Cultural Heritage through field visits to ‘bamboo shed’ operas and various activities to familiarise them with aspects of Cantonese Opera, ranging from performance, rituals, dance steps to scripts. In short, they sought to turn the bamboo shed into a learning space as well as a cultural space. ‘Bamboo shed’ is the local nickname for the temporary opera theatres – vast structures comprising a bamboo framework covered with metal sheeting – where travelling opera troupes stage performances as they tour towns in southern China and Hong Kong. “I’m proud to say our project was chosen as one of the 10 highlights of the LWHT to be celebrated at the 20 th anniversary of the founding of the trust,” says Dr Ng. “The project outcome, including an introductory video, was displayed at a roving exhibition of the LWHT being shown in Hong Kong in January, starting at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui, and hosted by the Home Affairs Bureau.” CACLER has also published Bamboo Shed Cantonese Opera and School Education: From Cultural Space to Learning Space , the research output of the project. It includes various studies of project-based learning of bamboo shed Cantonese Opera, and also serves as a reference for educators and teachers on how to integrate Cantonese Opera and ICH into formal curriculum. The latest exciting development in the project, explains team member Mr Lam Wai-ip, is that the programme is going to be used in a school in Tai O where some of the students are not local and do not speak Cantonese. “We hope to use Cantonese Opera as a means to help these students learn Cantonese in a more fun and interesting way,” he adds. Dr Ng also wants to see the promotion of more local ICH in education, and is currently having meetings with the Buddhist Fat Ho Memorial College about the possibility of integrating the Tai O Dragon Boat Water Parade into the formal curriculum, and promoting other traditional festive events like Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance. M For the past six years, a dedicated team from the Faculty of Education has been working hard to inspire Hong Kong’s younger generation to take an interest in Cantonese Opera, a traditional art form that has been declining in popularity, particularly among the young. Beginning in 2006, the Faculty’s Centre for Advancement of Chinese Language Education and Research (CACLER) is led by Assistant Professor Dr Dorothy Ng Fung-ping, along with Assistant Professor Mr Lam Wai-ip and Mr Alain M F Lo, Teaching Consultant with the Faculty. Á Â Ã Ä Å Æ Â Ç È É Ç É Â Ê Ë Ê Ì Ë Í Í Ç Î Å Ä Í Ï Å Ð Ê Î Í Ã Ç Å É Æ Ñ Í Á Î Å Ã Æ Ò Ñ Å Ã Æ Ò É Æ Á Î Å Ã Æ Ò Á Î Ã É Finding Cultural Heritage in a Bamboo Shed The Faculty of Education is helping keep Hong Kong’s cultural heritage alive, first by integrating Cantonese Opera into the school curriculum and now by turning ‘bamboo shed’ opera houses into a venue for learning. Ó Å Ê Ä É Æ Ò Ê Ô Â Í Ð Õ Ð Ó Ã Æ Ò Ö Í Í Æ × Â É Æ Ò Ã É Ä É Æ Ò Â Î Å Ç Â Ã Ä Å Æ Â Ç Ä Ã Ð É Æ Ò Ê Ô Ã Ø Â Ã Ð Ê Ø Å Ù Ï Ø Í Ð Ê Â É Í Æ Ç Å Ç Ç É Í Æ É Æ Ê Ë Ê Ì Ë Í Í Ç Î Å Ä Í Ï Å Ð Ê Î Í Ã Ç Å Í Æ Ú Î Å Ã Æ Ò Ú Î Ê Ã Û Ê Ì Ë Í Í Á Î Å Ä Ú Ê Æ Â Í Æ Å Ç Å Ü Ï Å Ð Ê Ê Æ Ä Á Ô Î Í Í Ø Ý Ä Ã Ô Ê Â É Í Æ Þ ß Ð Í Ì Ú Ã Ø Â Ã Ð Ê Ø Á Ï Ê Ô Å Â Í Ó Å Ê Ð Æ É Æ Ò Á Ï Ê Ô Å ß Ð Í Ì Ø Å à Â Þ á Ð á Í Ð Í Â Î â ã Ò ß Ã Æ Ò × Ï É Æ Ò ä Ú Î É Å à Á Å Ô Ð Å Â Ê Ð â à Í Ð å Ä Ì É Æ É Ç Â Ð Ê Â É Í Æ ä æ Î Å Ñ Í Æ Õ Ð Ç Ú Ê Ð Ð É Å Ó Ê Ì Ú Î Å Æ Ò ç Ã Å Â × Æ Ò Í Ð ä Õ Ð Ó Ê Ì è Ê É × É Ï Ê Æ Ä Õ Ð Ú Î Í É Ö Ê É × é ê Í Æ Ò ä ë Ð Í ì Å Ô Â Õ Ê Æ Ê Ò Å Ð ä Ê Â Â Î Å Í Ï Å Æ É Æ Ò Í à Â Î Å Ó Í Ð Ä è É Ø Ç Í Æ Ñ Å Ð É Â Ê Ò Å æ Ð Ã Ç Â Ý Ù Î É Ë É Â É Í Æ í î ï î ð ï ð ñ ò ó ô õ ö ÷ ø õ ù ú û ø õ Arts and Culture I’m proud to say our project was chosen as one of the 10 highlights of the Lord Wilson Heritage Trust to be celebrated at the 20 th anniversary of the founding of the trust. They worked together with partnering schools, under the HKU Cantonese Opera Education and Research Project, to integrate Cantonese Opera into the secondary school curriculum. “Back in 2006–2007 the Chinese Curriculum in secondary schools in Hong Kong was under reform, and an elective in drama was introduced,” says Mr Lo. “Students needed to act or participate in a drama activity to promote their Chinese language ability. So we thought Cantonese Opera was a good means to do this.” He adds that reading Cantonese Opera scripts also helped secondary students improve their comprehension techniques when reading classical Chinese passages, thereby helping them with a part of the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) that many struggle with. Intangible Cultural Heritage In 2009, CACLER’s work was given a major boost when UNESCO added Cantonese Opera to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) – it was Hong Kong’s first admission to the list. Then in 2011, UNESCO added four more Hong Kong items of ICH to its list, namely: the Fire Dragon Dance in Tai Hang; the Dragon Boat Tour in Tai O; Cheung Chau Bun Festival; and the Chiu Chow Bun Festival. “This created momentum, and the government took notice and started to think seriously about how to sustain our heritage and cultural education,” says Dr Ng. “As a result, we were given HK$160,000 in sponsorship by the Lord Wilson Heritage Trust (LWHT) to carry out a new enterprise entitled ‘The Bamboo Shed Cantonese Opera Education and Publication Project’.” Collaboration with schools CACLER collaborated with five secondary schools in teaching students about Hong Û Ê Ì Ë Í Í Á Î Å Ä Ú Ê Æ Â Í Æ Å Ç Å Ü Ï Å Ð Ê Ê Æ Ä Á Ô Î Í Í Ø Ý Ä Ã Ô Ê Â É Í Æ Þ 37 Feburary 2013 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin