Press Release

(Hong Kong – 3 Jun 2019) Have you ever noticed that birds tweet differently between seasons? Since the beginning of March, it has been quite noticeable with the changes in daylight. Days are longer, thanks to the early sunrise. I have also noticed the morning sound is no longer the same compared to a month ago when we were still procrastinating to get up under the cosy warm blanket. As a human being, we are lucky to be able to use all our five senses. But do we really use them all? Or we are too busy handling the ten million things on our mind.

I have encountered a lot of parents who always complain about lacking communication with their child, especially when their children turn into adolescents. These youngsters are so frustrated in dealing with the effect of their raging hormones, coping with the stress of fitting in with their peers, surviving the cut- throat public examination, tolerating their nagging mothers, developing their own identity and anticipating life after college. No wonder they are all stressed out.

There are aspects of daily life that might be very interesting to other people but seems very ordinary to us. There are also parts of our everyday lives that we do not find time to notice. The Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Project Zero initiated “Out of Eden Walk”  which asks students to take a walk  in their neighborhood; to slow down and observe the environment, to engage all of their senses, to notice details, to share it on social media and to enjoy. This initiative adopts the ‘Slow Journalism’ approach, which encourage students to take their time to report issues with close attention and more depth.

Under the Jockey Club Charity Trust sponsored “Gifted in Bloom – Harmony in Heart & Mind” Programme, student members would be given a similar opportunity to experience this ‘Slow Journalism’ in the ‘Be All Ears and Beyond Listening’ programme which was offered in April 2019. Through “deep listening”, “sound collecting” and “sound mapping” in different ‘sites’, students would be able to explore the relationship between surrounding sound and “me” in both bodily-physical and mindfulness aspects. Through the identification of different sound composition in various environments, students would then analyse and interpret the messages in their own ways. They would present their stories and interact with fellow students to enhance their communication skills as well as gaining inner peace.

Shall we take a slow walk, open our senses, and feel each other beyond listening?

Slow down and listen to what’s happening around you.
Observe the differences between day and night.
Observe our city.
Observe in the suburbs.

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