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A report more in line with the anthropological tradition of field interview and observation comes from the project on the bird sellers in Hong Lok Street. Dubbed "birdie street" by the locals, Hong Lok Street is a market where economic transaction of birds and bird rearing products take place, and is analyzed from an oral history approach, taking into consideration geographical, social and economic factors. Students also observed the contradiction that while the street is fast becoming a tourist spot as a result of cultural tourism, it is also a disappearing site due to government redevelopment plans.
Most of the projects were originally multi-media presentations, including photographs, slides and video recordings, models and artefacts as part of their report besides a written essay in Chinese. This shows an attempt to reconstruct cultural phenomena of the past from different angles. Unfortunately, the book as a printed medium only allows the written word and a very limited number of photographs to be presented to the reader. The breadth of the topics selected, however, compensates partly for the drawback, and reflects the need for a holistic understanding of the culture of Hong Kong in and of itself, instead of being a residue of Chinese culture. The Appendix of titles of projects entering the competition also serves this purpose.
This book is a good starter for anyone interested in local history and culture. But as a large portion of the reports are constructed from secondhand data, it will be quite disappointing if the reader expects a lot of new field material. On the other hand, the introduction by Elizabeth Sinn provides good advice for future students of local history as it discusses how to choose a suitable research topic, methods of collecting information and final presentation. All in all, the reports are far from in-depth discussions of the society and culture of Hong Kong, but they are records of the effort of a new generation of field workers in the making. The value of the book lies in the range of topics that indicates the immensely rich areas in Hong Kong culture for potential research, and in its pointing towards a timely development of local ethnography by the natives.