Popular European-style hot spot Lan Kwai Fang, located on Hong Kong island, serves brew and food to tourists and locals until early morning.
On Sunday evening in the EMU Fir Room, the Hong Kong Student Association’s miniature version of the bar stood as a symbol of the integration of Western and traditional cultures in Hong Kong.
Presented by HKSA and sponsored by several campus organizations and local businesses, Hong Kong Night 2004 painted a picture of a city that has flourished in adverse circumstances through the hard work and perseverance of its people.
“In the past of Hong Kong people, there were hard times,” HKSA Vice President Preston Lam said. “There has been hard work for people to overcome those times.”
Lam said the association chose the show’s “Enduring City” theme to highlight the work of Hong Kong’s people. HKSA President Arthur Law said the skits, focusing on issues such as the economic impact of the recent SARS crisis and the 1963 drought, helped explain the history of Hong Kong.
“It was about how Hong Kong overcame problems in the ’60s and ’70s,” he said. “How a place overcame its own problems and became a more successful city.”
Law, a junior business administration major, said Hong Kong is a cultural melting pot, which HKSA hoped to represent with the pre-show dinner. About 200 people sampled the roasted pork, stuffed eggplant and mushroom tofu served with rice. A traditional deep-fried dough sesame ball, translated in English to “smiling cookie,” was the featured desert.
“Hong Kong food is different from authentic Chinese food,” Law said.
Several of the skits showed the perceived and actual changes that Hong Kong underwent when it gained autonomy from Britain in 1997 and became a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.
One scene showed performer Carol Chan being stripped of her possessions by four military officers yelling, “We are communist. Everything belongs to the government.” This scene was followed by another skit where Chan celebrated with her friends in a more realistic depiction of what happened seven years ago.
“We decided to not only bring fun and excitement, but include signs of what is going on with many people internationally in Hong Kong after the turnover to the Chinese,” Law said. “What is imagined and what is true.”
In one performance, two tourists from Shanghai entered the mock bar, proudly showing purchases from a day of shopping in Hong Kong. As one man pulled out a shirt, the other displayed his new digital camera. The waitress, played by junior journalism major Jenny Chong, explained to the audience how more tourists are coming from mainland China to shop in Hong Kong because visitor’s visa restrictions have been eased to help strengthen the country’s economy.
“We want to show Hong Kong is unique,” Chong said. “Hong Kong can attract many tourists.”
Chong, who has no previous stage experience, said she was nervous when she first decided to take on the main role.
“I was so afraid before the show started that I cried,” she said.
Chong also works as the public relations officer for HKSA, a position she said included promoting the night by chalking sidewalks at 6 a.m., posting flyers and writing some of the script.
“I’m so tired this week,” she said, adding that about 50 volunteers have been preparing for the show during the past two months. “What I’m the most satisfied with is that the Hong Kong people worked together.”
Office of International Programs Associate Director Magid Shirzadegan has attended Hong Kong Night for more than 10 years.
“I think it went really well,” he said. “Hong Kong Night is always different than other international nights.”
Shirzadegan said the show effectively utilized audio and visual material to bring out aspects of Hong Kong history and culture in a “nice, light way.” He added that there are about 50 students from Hong Kong attending the University.
“More and more students from Hong Kong refer to themselves as from China,” he said. “This already shows the integration.”
Law said the show’s volunteers worked hard to make the night run smoothly.
“I’m proud of the Hong Kong Student Association,” he said. “This will be one of the best memories of my life.”