Hong Kong director Andrew Junker reports out on the annual wellness campaign hosted by New Asia College at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Andy, Kelly, Sharyn, and Victor all placed, with Kelly finishing in the top overall. Congrats on healthy living!

The purpose of the New Asia College Happy Run, this year commemorating the College’s 72nd anniversary, is to provide a (i) Provide a challenge and healthy running or walking activity to New Asia College students, staff, alumni and their family members. (ii) To build up a healthy campus. (iii) To raise fund for New Asia College Foundation.

By Waillis Lee

COVID has brought new journeys to many of us. Over the past two years, we have all had to make adjustments to our habits, to our ways of life because of social distancing, and this has required greater resilience to cope with the uncertainty and to stay hopeful about life in general. 

I am constantly thinking about how arts and culture can serve as a connecting tissue to bring hope, facilitate a sense of space, and promote a healthy and sustainable environment, especially during such challenging and often isolating times.

What “culture engine” can drive us forward? 

As a cultural planner and producer, I have been searching for the wheels that might support such an engine, and I initiated the Cycling Piano project in West Kowloon to kick this journey off. The initiative combines elements of the performing arts and outdoor leisure with the aim of bringing joy to the community in which I live. Collaborating with Kevin Cheung, a renowned upcycling artist in Hong Kong, the Cycling Piano launched in August 2021 and will run through to the end of the year.

This example of street performance features a vintage piano on a tricycle on which young artists perform as they travel across the waterfront promenade and through the Art Park in West Kowloon. Visitors can interact and connect with the performers and participate in the musical joy being spread across this creative district.  

The Cycling Piano itself is a piece of upcycled art made from artefacts of Hong Kong history and from the memories of its citizens.

The work was created from an antique upright piano crafted by a Hong Kong musical instrument store in the 1960s, and the piano bench is made from a transformed wooden staircase recovered during the preservation of a heritage building.  

The Cycling Piano physically transports these local treasures from the past into today. Accommodating one cyclist and one seated pianist, it represents the concept of sustainability in two ways. First, the notion of an eco-friendly lifestyle is embedded in the joy of cycling, and, second, local craftsmanship is reinterpreted in a beautiful outdoor setting with the iconic view of the Hong Kong Victoria Harbour as its backdrop. 

The feedback so far has been encouraging. Visitors to the area often cheer for the Cycling Piano as it passes by and tip and encourage the young performers. Children are particularly enthusiastic to jam along to the music with their bike bells, foot stomps, and applause, not to mention the pictures and videos everyone wants to take with the Cycling Piano. 

The Cycling Piano is still evolving in West Kowloon. I am gathering the experiences gained and looking for ways to further its development. I want to see if it can be used as a model that can be applied elsewhere and serve different communities.

I am very much looking forward to my upcoming fellowship at New Haven where I can continue to explore and expand possible wheels of culture to gear up this momentum.

To learn more about the initiative, you can check out Cycling Piano’s webpage. You can also check out #cyclingpiano on Instagram and Facebook to see how joyfully audiences interact with the project. To contact me, please use waillis.lee@wkcda.hk or leewaillis@gmail.com.

By Robbie Short and Sharyn Phu

天光不息 农圃长春
“Heaven’s light shines ceaselessly, and our farmland remains evergreen.”

This line taken from the school song of New Asia Middle School (NAMS) graces the street-facing mural that spans across one side of the school’s campus. It is a reference to the streets that NAMS sits between – Farm Road and Tin Kwong Road in Kowloon City, Hong Kong – as well as a nod toward the spirit of truth-seeking and community that defines NAMS to this day. 

The origins of NAMS extend back to 1949, when the Asia College of Arts and Commerce was founded by Ch’ien Mu, Tang Chun-i, Tchang Pi-kai, and other scholars. The small college aimed to provide its students with an education that echoed the spirit of China’s Song and Ming dynasty academies whilst incorporating the tutorial system of Western universities. The Asia College of Arts and Commerce expanded quickly and, by March 1950, it had established three new departments and renamed itself as New Asia College. Notable historian and philosopher Ch’ien Mu remained as the College President. 

Despite the optimism that accompanied this expansion, however, financial challenges would continue to beleaguer the school. Ch’ien Mu found a temporary solution in the form of monthly stipends donated from the operating budget of Taiwan’s presidential office. Later on, as the college built up its reputation as a top-notch educational institution and cultural ambassador, it garnered further support and sponsorship from Hong Kong society and international groups such as the Asia Foundation, the Yale-China Association (or the Yale-in-China Association as it was known at the time), the Ford Foundation, and the Mencius Foundation, among others.  

With substantial sponsorship from the Ford Foundation and the Yale-in-China Association, and later from the Hong Kong Government, New Asia College built up a new school campus that to this day features a six-story building with classroom and science laboratory facilities, a theater-style lecture hall known as the Pavilion, an auditorium, as well as a large library containing an extensive catalogue, stack rooms, and reading rooms. Donations and sponsorship from the Yale-in-China Association also enabled New Asia College to fill in the balance of annual expenses. 

After New Asia College moved to become a constituent college at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in 1973, its former campus was given a new life as it at last became New Asia Middle School. Today, NAMS is a government-aided school that serves around 500 students. It uses Chinese as the main medium of instruction. 

As NAMS nears its 50th anniversary, it prides itself on having retained close ties to New Asia College and CUHK. Every year in March, for instance, the middle school hosts “New Asia, New World,” a forum that gathers students from other secondary schools in the neighborhood and across Hong Kong, in addition to Cultural Ambassadors – that is, non-Chinese students from New Asia College as well as from Yale University. Given their own classrooms, the Cultural Ambassadors prepare discussion topics, games, and various media to share with the 100 or so secondary school students who participate. Past topics have included festivals, sports, international cuisines, and more. 

NAMS was also one of the sites for the New Asia College / Yale University Summer Community Service Exchange (SCSE). SCSE participants organized English-focused activities – such as museum visits, board game contests, and film discussions – for the middle-schoolers. They have also led the middle-schoolers in setting up carnival-themed game booths to engage with new cohorts of Secondary 1 students. “[These programs have been] great for our students, who often don’t have the resources and opportunities that students from more affluent backgrounds tend to have,” says Lawrence Chan, a teacher serving as a vice-chair of the English Language Panel.

Furthermore, NAMS serves as a nexus of exchange between Hong Kong and the Mainland. Every year since 2000, NAMS and New Asia College have collaborated to host the annual Seminar on Traditional Chinese Culture. During the week-long conference, secondary school teachers from the Mainland attend lectures by celebrated scholars and also visit NAMS and other locations of cultural and educational interest. 

At its core, NAMS follows in the footsteps of Ch’ien Mu’s ambition for a Chinese education that cultivates both knowledge and moral development. This includes preserving traditional Chinese values – particularly those surrounding honesty to others and to oneself – while also adapting them to modern times. Class discussions, for example, promote analytical thinking to develop mindful and critical engagement with online information and digital media. Outside the classroom, in addition to the extracurriculars detailed above, students are also encouraged to take part in activities such as Sports Day and Music Day. These opportunities for students to step out of their comfort zones, to develop respect for themselves and for their peers, and to dedicate themselves fully to an activity are invaluable. “One of the reasons we embrace positive education is to help students learn to embrace life. It’s so important for them to love what they do and to find the value in it. And for them to look at themselves in a more positive light,” says Chan.

Though these extra-curricular activities were largely halted during the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, such activities have been resuming during the current school year. “Our two major initiatives now are developing students’ self-directed learning capabilities and nurturing good citizenship through positive education,” says school principal Leung Suk-Ching. 

By Hollis Ngai

While we are still being challenged countlessly in the pandemic period, Hong Kong people have been adopting a 'new normal' routine and mentality and I am of no exception. Having conducted more than 14 drama acting workshops so far on the Meisner technique, I have been meeting a lot of new passionate students and have created a new collaboration with a local independent art space, Tin Project, hopefully by December, our first experimental performative showcase will happen.

I am also happy to announce that I have been awarded an Arts Fellowship by West Kowloon Cultural District.

My project for the fellowship is called: The Minority Linkage: Research on an Educational Drama Programme for Newly-Arrived Children.

Working with three local social centers and connecting with arts/academic professionals, I hope to establish a new arts-based induction program would emerge to enhance children's learning, especially those coming from the mainland and other countries. This in many ways echoes and prepares what I want to do in New Haven! By building my understanding of the youth and their relationship with drama, I want to create an educational platform where they can receive a positive impact and prepare themselves for the future.

I feel like there will be a lot of possibilities in New Haven and I am prepared to learn!

Contact Hollis at hollisngai@gmail.com.

By Kelly Tran

be/longing is an arts-based participatory action ethnography project that utilizes storytelling across visual genres (photography and creative writing) to counter narratives that define ethnic minority communities as oppressed, and to instead center individuals’ voices and agency in the narration of their own experiences. In particular, be/longing will revolve around culinary traditions and practices amongst ethnic minority communities in Hong Kong, starting with the communities in Yao Tsim Mong district (including Chungking Mansions), in order to promote dialogue about and address racial injustices faced by these communities.

be/longing contrasts with other ethnographic projects in that it employs the use of ethnomimesis, which combines ethnographic participatory work with visual/artistic/poetic representations of research.

As such, this project will allow me to directly engage with members of the ethnic minority communities in a way that empowers them and amplifies their voices, rather than in a manner that centers the narrative on what can be perceived through my own perspective.

In this way, I hope to be able to learn about, encourage, and honor the rich cultural contributions EMs bring to Hong Kong through a method that most authentically represents their own reflections on being, longing, and belonging in Hong Kong. Furthermore, by closely collaborating with participants to showcase their creative works in a public exhibition, I hope to encourage other Hong Kongers to become more open-minded about social inclusivity, community building, and race/ethnic relations.

Learn more by visiting the exhibition’s WordPress website or Instagram.

By LUO Jing & XIAO Chengfeng

Application of artificial intelligence to assist diabetic retinopathy screening and health education in Western Hunan

Diabetic retinopathy is the most familiar cause of blindness in adults. Early DR can be asymptomatic. Therefore, regular fundus screening for diabetic patients is very important. Timely diagnosis and treatment can effectively protect and restore the vision of DR patients.

However, due to the lack and unbalanced distribution of medical resources, the current screening of fundus lesions is not perfect; more than 60% of diabetes patients have never undergone fundus examination, and many have lost their vision due to the absence of timely treatment.

Background
Diabetes and hypertension are common chronic diseases that affect human health and quality of life. Diabetic retinopathy (DR), hypertensive ophthalmopathy and retinal vein occlusion are usual complications of diabetes and hypertension. Diabetic retinopathy is the most familiar cause of blindness in adults. Early DR can be asymptomatic. Therefore, regular fundus screening for diabetic patients is very important. Timely diagnosis and treatment can effectively protect and restore the vision of DR patients. However, due to the lack and unbalanced distribution of medical resources, the current screening of fundus lesions is not perfect; more than 60% of diabetes patients have never undergone fundus examination, and many have lost their vision due to the absence of timely treatment. Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture is located in a remote and underdeveloped area of Hunan Province, thus lacking sufficient levels of care. Due to the influence of lifestyle, dietary habits and disease cognition, the incidence of diabetes and hypertension related complications such as diabetic retinopathy is high. In addition, there is a shortage of health institutions and medical personnel in the western Hunan area, and the health personnel allocation is lower than the provincial average. The screening work for chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension is progressing slowly and correlates with a rising mortality rate caused by chronic diseases. Thanks to the special anatomical structure of ophthalmology, the advancement of medical imaging diagnostic technology and the rapid development of image processing technology, artificial intelligence (AI) diagnosis in the field of clinical medicine has made breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of ophthalmic diseases.

Aims
The aims of the project are to use the artificial intelligence assisted diabetic retinopathy

screening in western Hunan, to carry out relevant health education in Western Hunan, and to promote the development of ophthalmology telemedicine in western Hunan and solve the problem of insufficient ophthalmology medical resources.

Main activities (2020)
This project intends to use the diabetic retinopathy artificial intelligence assisted screening and diagnosis system to assist the screening of diabetic eye diseases in western Hunan, complete the clinical verification and demonstration application of the system, and build an APP on this basis for the health education of fundus diseases such as diabetes and hypertension related complications.

Outcomes
We will help West Xiangxi hospitals set up diabetic retinopathy screening systems, improve the local residents’ recognition of chronic disease complications such as DR, and train local doctors or nurses to conduct the screening.

Implications
This project can increase the screening rate of diabetic retinopathy in the western Hunan region and reduce the burden on patients, families and society caused by permanent vision loss.

Chia Fellows
LUO Jing, 2008 Xiangya Chia fellow; Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, the Second Xiangya Hospital, CSU
XIAO Chengfeng, 2013 Western Hunan Chia fellow; Endocrinologist, Huayuan County People's Hospital

By HUANG Ruixue & YANG Lifen

Magic Lotus Lantern
A randomized controlled trial for early childhood cognitive development

This 2020-2021 Chia Community Health Service project led by 2016 Chia Fellows HUANG Ruixue (associate professor, Xiangya School of Public Health) and YANG Lifen (supervisor nurse, Huayuan County People’s Hospital) suggests a strategy for addressing cognitive delay in children aged 0-3.

The first three years of a child’s life are critical. More than 80% of a child’s brain is formed during their first three years.

Due to a lack of early exposure to languages and other stimuli, a study conducted in rural Shaanxi found nearly half of toddlers tested are cognitively delayed.

Background
Early childhood, from birth to five years, is marked by one of the most critical and intensive period of brain development throughout the human lifespan. Healthy brain development during this period facilitates cognitive development and lays the foundation for future cognitive and academic accomplishments. Currently, nearly one-third of all children under 5-year-old in China are left behind in the rural area. As of 2010, there were approximately 61 million left-behind children in China. Half of rural toddlers aged 0-3 years in some China's rural region are cognitively delayed. Thus, an effective strategy for childhood cognitive development is to increase the early exposure to multi-stimuli, in particular, languages stimuli.

Aims
The aim of our project is to adapt and evaluate an evidence-based and culturally-tailored “The Magic Lotus Lantern” program to improve and facilitate early childhood development in rural Central South China. The ultimate goal is to disseminate the “The Magic Lotus Lantern” program to all rural primary care settings and improve rural left-behind child cognitive delayed in mainland China.

Main activities (2020)
The main activities are as follows, Phase I for a pilot study and Phase II for the randomized controlled trial (RCT). In the pilot study, we will first train village physicians with theories of best practice including resources and evidence about the benefits of early reading. After the pilot study, a RCT will be conducted to examine the efficacy of “The Magic Lotus Lantern” compared with usual health care at 6- and 12- month follow up in Hunan Province. In brief, in the “The Magic Lotus Lantern” program, during visiting the families are given free books selected based on the developmental age of child provided by trained village clinicians in primary local care settings and 6 monthly telephone-based follow-up consultations in rural China.

Outcomes
The analysis plan focuses on comparisons between the “The Magic Lotus Lantern” program and the control group with respect to primary outcomes and key intermediate variables. The comparisons take the form of 1) differences of average values of change from baseline to follow-up measures using the cognitive scales, and 2) an existing decision-tree model in Excel (GeDi ForCE, Gestational Diabetes Formulas for Cost-Effectiveness) to conduct the cost-effectiveness analysis.

Implications
Policy implications will be made to improve cognitive delayed in rural area child in China.  

Chia Fellows
HUANG Ruixue, 2016 Xiangya Chia fellow; Associate Professor, Xiangya School of Public Health, CSU
YANG Lifen, 2016 Western Hunan Chia fellow; Supervisor nurse, Huayuan County People's Hospital

This is the start of Snapshots, a place where Yale-China Fellows share their work with you.