Introduction
The ageing trend is one of the serious concerns in Hong Kong, it is estimated that 40% of the population in Hong Kong will be 65 or above by 2050. According to a report, Wong Tai Sin is one of the oldest districts. To learn deeply about life as a Hong Kong elderly, we recorded the sound in Wong Tai Sin to create an immersive
elderly life experience. During the field recording, we adopted casual listening and semantic listening and tried to conduct a sound walk.
Aims
We hope to raise the audience’s awareness regarding the problem of the ageing population and also gain a deeper understanding of the elderly’s leisure time. We have visited a few destinations that are most common for the elderly to go to in HK, for instance, The Wet Market, Chinese tea house and Wong Tai Sin Temple. We tried to record the surrounding sounds while we were walking and studied the sound composition of that specific location.
Wong Tai Sin Capital Restaurant
A traditional Chinese restaurant which is always full of elderly people. Since the environment is big and filled with many customers, the chatting sound and the hitting ceramic dishes clinging sound are very loud. Yum-cha culture includes washing dishes with a bowl of hot water, so the ceramics rolling in water and chopsticks sound
can be heard clearly. The voices of customers and a manager talking is the part of checking the dim sum order form, it shows the interaction between people.
Wong Tai Sin Temple
The recording was composed of human speaking, the Chinese traditional music of the temple in the background, the collision sound of wood sticks during fortune-telling, and the coin insertion sound. The frequency of human sound is high which can show the popularity of the Wong Tai Sin Temple for worshiping. We can perceive a sense of devoutness.
Tai Shing Street Market
One of the most popular wet markets in Hong Kong is located at Wong Tai Sin. The recording we can hear is rife with the sound of vendors calling out to attract customers, the sound of plastic bags , making change and the rolling wheels of a small cart. These sounds are filled with human interaction warmth which can be rarely
heard in the supermarkets. Also, radio programmes or music are played in the small stores. At the same time, the big fan spinning sound appears in the recording too.
Wong Tai Sin Culture Park
The recording contains the sound of birds chirping, leaves rustling with the wind, humans chatting and children playing. Compared to the previous locations we have mentioned, the soundscape composition is mainly the sound of nature. The sound of some elderly people playing cards has a pleasant atmosphere. It genuinely puts us in a serene mood.
Outcome
This project records the daily life of the elderly in Wong Tai Sin, the whole experience is slow. It is another side behind this international city, the human warmth and the sereneness of the fast-paced city.