Wilson Lau New Media

By reading classmates’ contributions to the NMW Hong Kong Stories, I have found out more about the various facets of life in Hong Kong. As our classmates come from different backgrounds, some have provided an interesting in-depth look at individuals and organizations. Margaret’s articles on think tanks in Hong Kong are good examples that some MJ students have specialised knowledge. As the editor responsible for the overall presentation of four Hong Kong Stories’ items, I have the following suggestions and comments for the authors.

1. Social issues: Kwung Tong Redevleopment

The main report on the HK$30 billion redevelopment is interesting and informative. The quotes are good. But perhaps the author can shorten it by moving the parts on Mr Chu and Mr Ip to the report “Life in A Tiny Room” as they are all about how people live and make a living in the district. The photo gallery effectively conveys the warmth of an old community as well as illustrate the changes that it has undergone.

This is an interesting story but I do not see much discussion about changes in the district over the past ten years.

2. Politics: Hong Kong Think tanks

The articles are well-written and layout is web friendly as readers do not need to scroll down too much to finish the articles.

I am not sure if the questions-and-answers format works for the article ” How do think tanks operate? Civic Exchange as an illustration (I). It may look and read better if it is in essay form. I think the first article in this group of reports should be the one with the title “The development of the Hong Kong’s think tanks” . The one says “introduction” should be in the sidebar of the first article. The font should be Tahoma for consistency.

3. Arts and cultures: Hong Kong Film Festival

The article “Past and present of Hong Kong cinema” reads like a transcript of an interview. I think the opening sentence does not catch readers attention. Perhaps the author can start the article by saying “Hong Kong film industry held its market very well until the 1990s …” and then elaborate why the local cinema was on a decline and give the interviewee the voice by inserting the quotes in between. As the article “Film literacy” has nothing to do with Hong Kong or its cinema, can the author work on it to provide some connection between film literacy and Hong Kong’s cinema?

4. Tourism: Zero fee tours

These articles are good analysis of the zero fee tour phenomenon in Hong Kong. There are interesting details. The author employs effective use of quotes, i.e. Chen Cancan and the trustee who does not want to be identified, giving voice to the interviewees, who are the victims in these zero fee tours. It is also effective to break the main report into four pages. However, I think it is better to have at least one pictures for the first page of the report.