hkrough

1. Pieces of Hong Kong that make it a
unique blend of Chinese, British, and
South Asian culture are being sacrified
for convenience, speed, innovation,
and capitalism.
Hong Kong has a special place in my
heart, as this is my mom's hometown.
Throughout the years, we have seen
the degradation essential hallmarks
of Hong Kong that construct the
city's identity, ranging from culinary
to political property.Here are 10
elements of Hong Kong culture
disappearing before us, ordered from
least to most serious...
The city was bound to fall to Chinese
totalitarianism after the Handover
of 1997. The once-British colony
has been cherishing remnants of
economic prosperity and political
freedom that was expected to last
until 2047, but the encroachment of
the Chinese Communist Party and
the National People's Congress has
arrive prematurely. The identity of the
city is being masked by the dominant
Chinese government, who is seizing
control over the Hong Kong people
for their political and social agenda.
Traditional Chinese culture values
craftsmanship through intensive
practice. Masters craftsmen, however,
are approaching their final years with
no one to replace them. The future
of Chinese heritage is extinction, and
their threat is the efficiency of mass
production.

2. 2 1michelle leunghong kong on the descent
霓虹燈路牌
01neon
Neon signs give the city its
vibrant night glow. Neon signs
were introduced to Hong Kong in
the 1920s, but their heyday was
between the 1950s-1980s. Buildings
along Jordan and Nathan Road were
decorated with flashy lights. They
set a distinguishing background in
classic action movies featuring Jackie
Chan and other film stars.
LED signs have been replacing neon
signs due to their cheaper production,
adherence to safety codes, and energy
efficiency. Prior to these codes, no size
restrictions limited their installment.
However, the signs pose a hazard,
as they protrude far into the street
and were attached haphazardly to
buildings. During typhoon season,
the signs can fall and harm passengers
and vehicles. Additionally, residents
of the signs’ buildings, who are
generally of lower income, cannot
catch a break from the city bustle, as
the signs glow all night long.
Without these iconic street
landmarks, the city appears more like
any other Chinese metropolitian.
Soon, it will looks more similar to
Shanghai than Hong Kong itself.
STREET SIGNS
night spectaculars
Paris was the first city to install street
lamps on its main boulevards. Dada
poets, jazz musicians, and avant-
garde writers looked to the late night
advertisements for inspiration in the
1920s. Places like Vegas are known
for their flashy casino billboards,
proving that city lights are memorable
landmarks of a place.

3. 2 3michelle leunghong kong on the descent
醬油啤酒廠02
soy sauce
Chinese cuisine is incomplete
without this iconic condiment.
Soy sauce used to be produced by
small breweries dotted across the
islands. My mom’s apartment estate
was located adjacent to one, and she
could smell the soybeans fermenting
from home. The high cost of rent and
influx of new development has forced
decades-old business owners to cease
production or find another piece of
suitable land, rare among the islands.
Large manufacturers dominate the
industry, but taste is compromised.
Their soy sauce is merely salty, but
lacks the deep umami flavor.
Pictured is Kwong Tak Loong, one of
the last four traditional Hong Kong
brewing houses, in Kwu Tung village.
The proud 90-year old owner Pang
Chuk-lui cannot run his business
much longer, and his children and
grandchildren have no interest in
maintaining the business.
Soy sauce production is a 6 month
process. Soybeans are first boiled
with flour to jumpstart fermentation.
The beans are then mixed with brine
and fermented under the sun in
clay vats until mushy. The sauce is
subsequently filtered and bottled.
BREWERIES
less is more
Bauhaus student Max Bill called for
the strict use of a grid. His reductive
style advocated for legibility and
assymetrical layouts. Followers of this
style state they express “Good form”
and “Moral purpose through design.”
Visit Yuet Wo's store and
manufacturing plant at:
Yuet Wo Retail
g/f, 33 Market Street
Tsuen Wan
Tel: +852 2492 3354
Yuet Wo Factory
Shek Tsai Ling
Sheung Shui
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2670 0714

4. 4 5michelle leunghong kong on the descent
手工麻將牌
03handcarved
Mahjong is a popular 4-person
gambling game that unites
friends in friendly competition but
also ignites intense emotions amongst
high stakes rollers. The game began
between the 18th and 19th centuries
in China, but variations are played
in different regions of the Asian
continent.
Cheung Shun Jing is featured as
one of the last remaining mahjong
craftsmen. He proudly shows off
the sets of 144 tiles that required
decades of training to master. His
store only spans 9 sq. meters, but
Biu Kee Mahjong is preserving
cultural history amidst the chaos in
Kowloon. The storeowner explained
that once, there were 10 mahjong tile
traders along his street, but attributes
the dying trade to the fact that the
new generation no longer plays the
traditional gambling game.
To understand the breadth of
craftsmanship required to carve one
of these tiles, it should be noted
that each tile is 3.2cm tall x 2.4cm
wide x 1.6cm deep. Cheung has over
three decades of experience, and has
trained since learning from his father.
MAHJONG TILES
the grid system
Swiss designer Josef Müller-
Brockmann advocated for the use
of grids as an aid, rather than a
guarantee, to design. If the grid is
used merely for organization, it may
lead to conventionality. However, if
utilized actively and creatively, the
grid can brings pleasant order to
an otherwise chaotic group of visual
stimuli. Grids should be approached
with flexibility, as there will be
moments where the grid must be
abandoned.
Visit Cheung Shun Jing, one
of three remaining mahjong
handcarvers in HK, at
Biu Kee MahJong
235 Temple Street
Jordan
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2730 4028

5. 6 7michelle leunghong kong on the descent
廣東話04
the local language
Cantonese and Mandarin
are mutually unintelligible
languages, yet are categorized both
as Chinese. The Hong Kongnese are
proud to have a distinct language
from the mainland. The writing
systems of traditional and simplified
Chinese differ as well.
Cantonese is not merely a dialect
of Chinese. However, the NCP
claims otherwise, that Cantonese is
a dialect and cannot be considered a
official language, though Cantonese
and English have been the official
languages for almost two centuries.
The NCP now mandates that school-
children learn Mandarin, and parents
worry their kids will lose their
local identity. Nationally regulated
television and radio also air in
Mandarin.
It is frowned upon in Hong Kong
to speak Mandarin. Employees in
customer service deliberately ignore
Mandarin-speaking clientele, as they
are associated with the ill-mannered
individuals fleeing China to take over
local property, drive rental prices up,
and take advantage of Hong Kong
welfare with anchor babies.
CANTONESE
text as images
Pictography was the foundation to
modern Chinese script, and artistry
in the letterform is carried through
master calligraphers who train for
years to perfect every stroke. Although
typography in the Roman alphabet
has become a field of its own, the
cultural significance of handwritten
language is deeply rooted for the
Chinese.
Translation

6. 8 9michelle leunghong kong on the descent
手繪廣彩
05handpainted
Guang cai is the traditional style
of porcelain from Guangzhaou.
Prior to 1990, there were more than
50 porcelain factories in Hong Kong.
However, land shortages and labor
costs drove the factories to the nearby
cities of Guangzhou and Shenzen.
Today, Yuet Tung China Works is the
only ceramics producer left in Hong
Kong. The three craftsmen that
remain have worked here have over
40 years and are living well into their
70s. Yuet Wu began as the first guang
cai producer in Hong Kong. Manager
Joseph Tso is the 3rd generation
factory owner following its founding
by his grandfather in 1928. When
business was flourishing, there were
over 300 employees working for
the shop. With no new apprentices
to take over the trade, the craft will
disappear within the next five years.
Currently, they hang on to their last
strings by selling to luxury hotels,
tourists, and celebrities.
My mom has visited Yuet Tung and
purchased several priceless pieces that
will become family heirlooms. She
was amazed at level of detail painted
by the remaining painters.
PORCELAIN
extreme closeups
Highly magnified and cropped
photos allow for the focal point of the
image to gain the viewer's complete
attention. Uncomfortable tension yet
plesant satisfaction are experienced.
Blue floral and
mythical dragon
designs are traditional
for guang cai. Designs
are painted freehand.
Visit the first built and last
remaining ceramics producer at
Yuet Tung China Works
Unit 1- 3, 3/F., Kowloon Bay
Industrial Centre
15, Wang Hoi Road,
Kowloon Bay
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2796 1125

7. 10 11michelle leunghong kong on the descent
經濟適用房06
affordable
High costs of living leave residents in desparate
situations. The average home costs 20 times
the median income. The city has ranked as the least
affordable housing market for 8 consecutive years.
The infamous coffin homes bring into question Hong
Kong’s housing crisis. If a resident is lucky, they have
a solid plaque for a wall. However, the situation for
many is the cage home, where "walls" are just metal
wires that offer no audible or visual privacy. A single
room can be split into 15-30 compartments. Sizes
vary, but one set of coffin homes was measured to be
60 cm by 170 cm. For reference, the average male
height in the US is 175 cm. Landlords take extreme
advantage of tenants, since the price per square meter
is not cheap, even for these shackles.
HOUSING
provocative gestures
Although this is not the typical
provicative gesture, the position of
the subject and the camera relative to
him suggests intense claustraphobia
and feelings of discomfort. The photo
is meant to situate the viewer in the
harsh reality of Hong Kong's coffin
homes. This cramped position of the
man induces drama and sympathy.

8. 12 13michelle leunghong kong on the descent
言論自由
07freedom of
Guang cai is the traditional style
of porcelain from Guangzhaou.
Prior to 1990, there were more than
50 porcelain factories in Hong Kong.
However, land shortages and labor
costs drove the factories to the nearby
cities of Guangzhou and Shenzen.
Today, Yuet Tung China Works is the
only ceramics producer left in Hong
Kong. The three craftsmen that
remain have worked here have over
40 years and are living well into their
70s. Yuet Wu began as the first guang
cai producer in Hong Kong. Manager
Joseph Tso is the 3rd generation
factory owner following its founding
by his grandfather in 1928. When
business was flourishing, there were
over 300 employees working for
the shop. With no new apprentices
to take over the trade, the craft will
disappear within the next five years.
Currently, they hang on to their last
strings by selling to luxury hotels,
tourists, and celebrities.
My mom has visited Yuet Tung and
purchased several priceless pieces that
will become family heirlooms. She
was amazed at level of detail painted
by the remaining painters.
SPEECH
propaganda
Propanganda is associated with war,
communism, the Holocaust, Russia,
and China. Chinese propaganda
glorifying Chairman Mao was
highly effective method in the mass
control of a population. It has been
used to generate hostility against
groups and induce fear, but also
to spark hope in hopeless times.
Modern advertisements are forms of
propaganda, since they attempt to
sell an image, product, or brand to
consumers.

9. 14 15michelle leunghong kong on the descent
經濟適用房08
intellectual
State-controllled media has caused backlash by the
Hong Kong people. Prior to the filtration of the
press, media outlets outwardly bashed the Chinese
government for its wrongdoing. Now, it serves as
a means by which the Chinese Communist Party
promotes its own ideologies and shuns external ones.
Hong Kong news outlets now shine favorable light
towards the CCP and condemns protest. If any
person publishes content that contradicts their
political agenda, they are forced to post a public
apology and retract their statement. They are subject
to arrest or possibly death, considering they go
absent without any preface. There are suspicions of
concentration camps being built near the island to
send counterrevolutionaries for intellectual cleansing.
LIBERTY
red with black
Red is the most salient color to the eyes
of the color spectrum, so it is used to
capture the viewer's attention. The
effect is especially strong against black
and white. Red and black are classic
and ubiquitous. The combination
represents power, urgency, modernism,
and propaganda. There is a guarantee
of visual impact in pairing the two.

10. 16 17michelle leunghong kong on the descent
經濟適用房
09
the right to
Protests have broken out among the
streets against the extradition that
would subject Hong Kong citizens to
the mainland criminal justice system.
The greater implication is that China
is infringing upon their liberties and
exerting excessive control. Protests
continued for months regarding
numerous changes, which gave
citizens a chance to voice their
concerns about the rapidly changing
governing body.
In May 2020, the National People's
Committee of China declared the act
of protest illegal. This is an extension
of the loss of freedom of speech, but
in the current tumultuous times,
it has been especially important for
citizens to react en masse.
Youths are suspected to be the driving
force behind countergovernment
movements, so law enforcement is
targetting this demographic for arrest.
However, youths and other citizens
go missing under the watch of the
police, and there is little transparency
about where they are taken. It is
dangeorus to be within the millenial
and Z-generations in Hong Kong, as
they are under close watch.
PROTEST
dynamic diagonal
Diagonal lines signal motion, instability,
and energy. The stream of smoke leads the
eye upwards and out of the frame, creating
a composition that accurately reflects the
instability of the scene.
抗議權

11. 18 19michelle leunghong kong on the descent
廣東話10
privacy &
Protesters mask their identities
for fear of being discovered.
Umbrellas block the view of
surveillance cameras and shield
from tear gas. Lasers and tape are
used prevent the cameras from
tracking the identity and location
of individuals. To avoid leaving an
internet footprint, protesters use
Bluetooth and non-internet methods
to communicate.
The government is in the process of
installing 400 "Smart Lampposts"
fitted with security cameras across
the city. The same facial recognition
software in these cameras is used to
monitor the Uighyrs of the XianJiang
region in Western China. Anonymity
is threatened by constant surveillance.
Suspicions of a Social Credit System
coming underway are not undue.
The system is already in place in the
mainland, whereby citizens are rated
for their behavior. Disobedience
to the government is permanently
recorded onto each citizen's identity
number. Anti-Chinese journalism
causes citizens to become blacklisted.
Punishments include the inability to
purchase plane tickets and property.
ANONYMITY
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12. 20 hong kong on the descent