Media

A 360-degree mini documentary entitled "Diversity in Sham Shui Po", created by an interdisciplinary team of students from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) which sheds light on the issues of community development and cultural diversity, became one of the nine and the only video in Hong Kong selected for the MY World 360º playlist. It will be screened during the UN General Assembly at the United Nations on September 24 to 25 (Tuesday to Wednesday, NYT).

MY World 360° is an initiative under the United Nations SDG Action Campaign which invites young people everywhere to become 360° media creators and to share their perspectives on how the Sustainable Development Goals are relevant in their communities with the decision makers to inspire everyone to take action for the Goals.

"Diversity in Sham Shui Po video" is the fruit of a joint collaboration between HKU and social enterprise Rinato Eco Floral Shop. It serves as a candid account and historical record of the lives of those who reside in Sham Shui Po, with interviews including a stall owner affected by the eviction at the Yen Chow Fabric Market and a Pakistani immigrant who overcame language barriers to feel welcomed in the community.

The documentary video can be viewed at:
https://uvision.hku.hk/playvideo.php?mid=22584

HKU and Rinato joined hands to create STEM themed educational programmes to benefit locals. Under this initiative, the students in the Common Core course teamed up to explore, investigate, and create their 360º journalistic video about the multifaceted lives in Sham Shui Po, a humble neighbourhood in Hong Kong.

The team was supervised by Dr Nicol Pan from the Common Core office at HKU, and comprised six undergraduate and postgraduate students from the Faculty of Arts, Education, Social Sciences and Science: Ms Wai Yin Tang, Mr Gabriel Fung, Ms Winnie Wei Zheng, Ms Tiffany Tse, Ms Lauren Leran Liu and Ms Guolei Ma.

The team is delighted to be given the opportunity to fly to the United Nations to share their mini documentary and proud of the video they have made as a team. "It was a greatly rewarding journey of cross-sector collaboration and knowledge exchange between academia and the wider community", said team member Mr Gabriel Fung.

“I am proud of our students’ achievements and glad to see their hard work paid off. In the video, they captured the district, the inhabitants and its spirit, and through the experience, they learnt that despite the struggles of the residents, the district is still full of hope.” said Dr Nicol Pan.

The project’s impact was extended further as the team members who learnt how to use the 360º video technology were later recruited by Rinato Eco Floral Shop to teach and facilitate local secondary school students in making their own 360º videos, and telling their own stories that matter.

For media enquiries, please contact Ms Rashida Suffiad, Senior Manager (Media), Tel: 2857 8555 / Email: rsuffiad@hku.hk.