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Life lesson: After hearing stories from former public housing estate residents about decades past, then acting out their roles, the Girl Guides gained a new appreciation of their modern-day material comforts.

Time shifter: After Audrey Chau took on the role of an older sister who left school to become a garment factory worker to help pay her brother’s medical bills, she vowed to study hard in school.

Common denominator: Programme instructor Karen Wong says using drama rather than textbooks to teach Hong Kong history can help participants explore the values that held Hong Kong together, and to appreciate what they have today.

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Dramatic history lesson evokes appreciation

August 17, 2014

A group of Girl Guides has undergone a dramatic experiment that let them vicariously step into their grandmothers’ shoes to understand the challenges people faced growing up in Hong Kong in the 1960s and ‘70s – and appreciate what they have today.

More than 30 young women, all born after the year 2000, recently gathered at Mei Ho House, a former Shek Kip Mei public housing block that has been transformed into a museum and hostel. The Hong Kong Heritage Project, a non-governmental organisation, had invited them to a unique workshop to learn about the city’s development – and earn their Hong Kong history badge.

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Voiceover:
Young people seldom reflect on what it was like for their parents and grandparents who grew up in Hong Kong in decades past. When they do, they may have some misconceptions.

Girl Guide Audrey Chau:
People in that period of time were not as civilised as we are. Everything was dirty.

Girl Guide Windy Tang:
All I know about the ‘60s and ‘70s is that they used to worked in factories.
I know Hong Kong was not well developed then.
And I never thought about what their relationships were like.

Drama:
Father: Let the boys study. The girls must go to work. We don’t have enough money.
Daughter: So if I were a boy, I could study? I wouldn’t have to be a factory girl? Why do my father and mother let the boys go to school, but not me? WHY?

Voiceover:
This group of Girl Guides was performing a drama they created themselves after watching interviews of people describing their lives in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Drama Educator Karen Wong:
Having teachers give a history lesson is so different than having students perform a re-enactment. When teachers teach, students listen. But when they are acting, they need to think about what their character would do, what he or she may feel, and why they would think in that way.
That helps them to empathise with the people from the old days. For example, I asked why people from the past gave all the best stuff to boys instead of girls. They need to think, and answer, and put it into drama and act that out. They need to think like them to act out the role.

Voiceover:
This is a workshop held by The Hong Kong Heritage Project, a non-governmental organisation that aims to use drama rather than textbooks to help these young women, who were born after 2000, to learn about Hong Kong history. The Girl Guides said they took away more than a badge after joining the workshop.

Girl Guide Nicole Woo:
My mom always tells me how happy her childhood was, with simple toys and food. I could never imagine how it could have been fun. After joining this workshop, I could really think and play like her, by acting as a child in the past. They had a good relationship with their neighbours, which is very different from today. My neighbours never talk to me.

Girl Guide Audrey Chau:
I was a child factory worker in one of the scenes. It is forbidden in Hong Kong now. But back in the day, a girl at my age might have needed to work in the factory, with no chance to go to school. Now, I really treasure the chance to study.

Voiceover:
The Hong Kong Heritage Project hopes to introduce this new method to schools, teaching students not only Hong Kong history, but helping them to understand the challenges people faced in decades past, to appreciate what they have today.

Girl Guide Windy Tang:
People enjoyed having dinner together in the past because they could talk with their family about their day. These days, people are constantly on their smartphones, even when dining with friends or family. I hope I can make a change by encouraging people to put away their smartphones when they are having dinner with friends and family members.

Girl Guide Audrey Chau:
I want to have a good relationship with my family, like people did in the past. Our family seldom eats together. We are all too busy. I’ll eat on my own after I finish my schoolwork. My dad eats later after finishing work. I really want our whole family to enjoy dinner time together. I hope I can make a change by cooking a meal and inviting us all to eat together.

Former residents of the housing block led them on a guided tour, relating stories from past decades and showing them artefacts and photographs from days gone by.

Afterwards, the girls were split into three groups and asked to create stage plays based on the information they had gleaned, and to take on the roles of family members that lived in such housing estates.

Present-day appreciation

Girl Guide Audrey Chau, aged 12, took up the role of the oldest sister in a poor family, who was born in the 1950s. She willingly gave up her studies to become a garment factory worker, to earn money to pay for her sickly brother’s medical bills.

After her performance, Audrey vowed to study hard in school.

“If I had lived in the past, I would not have had the chance to study, as I am the oldest sister at home and I would have needed to work in a factory to earn a living. I am glad that I have chance to study now.”

Bamboo pillows, palm-leaf fans, and metal rice pots - all daily necessities in decades past - were used as props in the dramas. Windy Tang, aged 14, clutched a rice pot in her role as a young factory worker.

“I was surprised that the rice pot did not do a good job keeping the rice warm,” Windy said afterwards.

“They didn’t have air-conditioners at home in the past, and people needed to use palm-leaf fans to keep cool. I am now indeed thankful for the material comforts I have today.”

Fresh perspective

The girls learned that in those old housing estates, communal kitchens were located outside the flats, and residents shared toilets. This provided ample opportunities for neighbours to interact, creating a harmonious atmosphere.

The situation is quite different today, 13-year old Nicole Woo said, after taking part in the drama. She admitted she does not even know her neighbours’ names. Having experienced how things were in the past, though, she has been inspired to get to know those living next door to her.

“I will offer homemade snacks to my neighbours, and try to get to know them,” she said.

Following the workshop, Windy Tang is determined to improve her relationships with family members.

“I won’t use my smartphone during meals and will try to communicate more with them. I hope my family members can do that, too - keeping their eyes off their phones, and talking to me.”

Values exploration

Programme instructor Karen Wong directed the Girl Guides to act out life on a public housing estate. She stressed that it was more than simply an immersion exercise into the typical daily life of their grandmothers, but rather an exploration of the values that held Hong Kong together, and make Hong Kong the city it is today.

“Perhaps now they can understand why their grandmothers are so talkative, as their personality was shaped by the harmonious neighbourhood,” she said.

Hong Kong Heritage Project Manager Melanie Li noted that the programme aims to help participants understand the importance of history. She hopes this method of learning history through drama can be introduced in schools in future. The experience not only enriches history knowledge, but helps young people understand that history is not just about the past - it also informs the present and shapes the future, she said.

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