Wednesday, January 10, 2007
The downfall of collective memory (集體回憶)
Remember way back when collective memory (集體回憶) was a hip phenomenon? Wikipedia defines the term as "對超過一個人以上感情、場景、音樂、圖片及事件的共同擁有的回憶."
However, thanks to 民政事務局局長何志平 (who used to be an eye surgeon), the term has now become a cliche, an unpopular verbiage, a definition subject to much abuse.
集體回憶 once meant James Wong (黃霑)'s amazing lyrics, 山頂老襯亭, 荔園, 啟德機場, Simon & Garfunkel. Now it means Soft Hard, The Wynners, 天星碼頭, 出前一丁. Suddenly, Hong Kong people have substantially increased their awareness about our tradition, history, and buildings that used to (and still) give us sentimental values.
I still remembered vividly the route I took every day to Queen's College from F.1-F.3 I had to pass through a playground, a few grocery stores, a big market, a karaoke box, and a few dumpling kiosks. Back then Pak Lok Cinema's large painted movie ad (most memorable being Veronica Yip's Category III movies) was hanging right opposite our school. Now I take the same route down and the memories come back. It's not the same route anymore, but I will never forget walking down Tai Hang as a teenage boy.
I feel very sad that the government will be restructuring a street in Wanchai, a narrow street full of printing stores. What else do they want to take away from us? The tram, the peak tram? Sooner or later, even Lan Kwai Fong could be wiped out.
On New Year's Eve, I went to Cheung Chau for the first time in 13 years. I was pleasantly surprised to have found out that Cheung Chau hasn't really changed after all these years. I thoroughly enjoyed riding on the ferry to Cheung Chau, bringing back old memories from my childhood. At the same time, I was disheartened that Hong Kong can never be like Cheung Chau. Hong Kong's changes are often too rapid, sometimes unnecessary.
The person who knows the most about "collective memory" is 羅啟銳, also a HKU grad. His two landmark books are 歲月神偷 and 兩毛錢往事:
He wrote the following (which I have excerpted):
小時候最喜歡去玩的公園，其實是人家的別墅，叫虎豹別墅。
每隔一段日子，便嚷著要去，對我們全家人來說，這還真是一樁大事；爸爸要停開一天檔，媽媽要煲薏米水盛進暖水壼，哥哥買沙甸魚夾麵包，我和妹妹更整夜睡不著覺。
然後是遙遠又迂迴的行程，先乘九龍巴士往佐敦道碼頭，由媽媽負責跟巴士售票員討價還價，應該買幾大幾小車票才算公道，再乘油麻地小輪度海到灣仔。我們幾個黃毛小子最喜歡看水手絞繩索盤，只覺「勒勒」的聲音非常刺激，直至後來有一回繩纜扯斷，打死了一個乘客，爸爸才不再准我們站近看。最後轉乘中華巴士往山上去，未入別墅已興奮難奈，一進門更是猢猻四散，攀花果山、水簾洞；過八仙嶺、鷹巢峰，總是玩至日落西山才離去。
然後在下星期的週記裡，興玫勃勃地大書特書這一番虎豹暢遊，文末也像今天這篇稿一樣，煞有介事地寫著：「玩至日落西山，才帶著餘興未盡的心情離去，踏上歸途，已是萬家燈火的時候了。」
年年如是，興趣不減，從一年級寫到五年級，直至每年看這週記一次的國文老師，也覺熟口熟面，紅筆批著：「自我抄襲，不求進取！」
（國文老師當然想不到，廿多年後，我還是不求進取，在這裡再自我抄襲一次。）
For me, "collective memory" may mean walking on Hollywood Street with a 泰昌蛋撻 in my hand, searching for old records in a washed-up 3/F unit in an old Chinese building, or looking for a used 朱自清 literary combo in Shanghai Printing Press in Sheung Wan.
So 何志平局長, please stop ruining 集體回憶 for us!! We already loved Hong Kong before you were 局長!
(N.B. For more Alex Law entries, please click below.)
兩毛錢往事 | 歲月留聲 | 薄荷傷口
|
However, thanks to 民政事務局局長何志平 (who used to be an eye surgeon), the term has now become a cliche, an unpopular verbiage, a definition subject to much abuse.
集體回憶 once meant James Wong (黃霑)'s amazing lyrics, 山頂老襯亭, 荔園, 啟德機場, Simon & Garfunkel. Now it means Soft Hard, The Wynners, 天星碼頭, 出前一丁. Suddenly, Hong Kong people have substantially increased their awareness about our tradition, history, and buildings that used to (and still) give us sentimental values.
I still remembered vividly the route I took every day to Queen's College from F.1-F.3 I had to pass through a playground, a few grocery stores, a big market, a karaoke box, and a few dumpling kiosks. Back then Pak Lok Cinema's large painted movie ad (most memorable being Veronica Yip's Category III movies) was hanging right opposite our school. Now I take the same route down and the memories come back. It's not the same route anymore, but I will never forget walking down Tai Hang as a teenage boy.
I feel very sad that the government will be restructuring a street in Wanchai, a narrow street full of printing stores. What else do they want to take away from us? The tram, the peak tram? Sooner or later, even Lan Kwai Fong could be wiped out.
On New Year's Eve, I went to Cheung Chau for the first time in 13 years. I was pleasantly surprised to have found out that Cheung Chau hasn't really changed after all these years. I thoroughly enjoyed riding on the ferry to Cheung Chau, bringing back old memories from my childhood. At the same time, I was disheartened that Hong Kong can never be like Cheung Chau. Hong Kong's changes are often too rapid, sometimes unnecessary.
The person who knows the most about "collective memory" is 羅啟銳, also a HKU grad. His two landmark books are 歲月神偷 and 兩毛錢往事:
He wrote the following (which I have excerpted):
小時候最喜歡去玩的公園，其實是人家的別墅，叫虎豹別墅。
每隔一段日子，便嚷著要去，對我們全家人來說，這還真是一樁大事；爸爸要停開一天檔，媽媽要煲薏米水盛進暖水壼，哥哥買沙甸魚夾麵包，我和妹妹更整夜睡不著覺。
然後是遙遠又迂迴的行程，先乘九龍巴士往佐敦道碼頭，由媽媽負責跟巴士售票員討價還價，應該買幾大幾小車票才算公道，再乘油麻地小輪度海到灣仔。我們幾個黃毛小子最喜歡看水手絞繩索盤，只覺「勒勒」的聲音非常刺激，直至後來有一回繩纜扯斷，打死了一個乘客，爸爸才不再准我們站近看。最後轉乘中華巴士往山上去，未入別墅已興奮難奈，一進門更是猢猻四散，攀花果山、水簾洞；過八仙嶺、鷹巢峰，總是玩至日落西山才離去。
然後在下星期的週記裡，興玫勃勃地大書特書這一番虎豹暢遊，文末也像今天這篇稿一樣，煞有介事地寫著：「玩至日落西山，才帶著餘興未盡的心情離去，踏上歸途，已是萬家燈火的時候了。」
年年如是，興趣不減，從一年級寫到五年級，直至每年看這週記一次的國文老師，也覺熟口熟面，紅筆批著：「自我抄襲，不求進取！」
（國文老師當然想不到，廿多年後，我還是不求進取，在這裡再自我抄襲一次。）
For me, "collective memory" may mean walking on Hollywood Street with a 泰昌蛋撻 in my hand, searching for old records in a washed-up 3/F unit in an old Chinese building, or looking for a used 朱自清 literary combo in Shanghai Printing Press in Sheung Wan.
So 何志平局長, please stop ruining 集體回憶 for us!! We already loved Hong Kong before you were 局長!
(N.B. For more Alex Law entries, please click below.)
兩毛錢往事 | 歲月留聲 | 薄荷傷口
|
