Migration Stories: Exploring the Other Facades of Cultural Heritage in Hong Kong for Civic Education and Tourism

Principal Investigator:
LEUNG, Wai Han

Summary:
This research explores alternative ways to organize and present migration stories and cultural diversity that are significant to Hong Kong's development in a holistic and vibrant manner. It seeks to produce a nuanced and more embracing and dynamic notion of "culture" and "heritage" which moves beyond classical markers such as "Chinese", "rural", "pure", "colonial" or "elitist", and revindicates the forgotten, less famous or even rejected past. Rather than representing culture and heritage as frozen-in-time and purely nostalgic museum items, the proposed concept foregrounds their dynamic nature. Drawing upon successful international precedents, the research will propose an analytical and management framework that contributes in configuring a "new" notion of heritage, which remembers and respects past and current migration stories that have had a deep impact on the lives of many, if not all, people in our city. In addition, the project examines the potential in developing migration histories into resources for civic education and tourism.

As one of the first projects of this type to be attempted in Hong Kong, the study will contribute to the conceptualization of migration and multiculturalism as heritage. The project will adopt a multi-disciplinary (integrating cultural geography, heritage and cultural studies, history, and tourism management), participatory (multi-stakeholder) and policy-oriented approach. Specifically, the project will: (i) contribute theoretically to the concept of heritage and cultural identity in post-colonial Hong Kong, (ii) empirically to survey the potential of migration-related and multicultural (heritage) items as tourism products from the tourists' perspectives, (iii) generate an inventory of exemplary migration narratives and multicultural heritage as tourism resources in pilot study districts, (iv) propose specific plans for an exemplary migration heritage project (v) recommend a management and governance framework for heritage and cultural items valuable for civic education and tourism. Findings from this study will provide a sound basis for further studies in other places that are also embedded in and created by rich migration trajectories, e.g. emigrant communities (Qiaoxiang) in Chinese costal provinces or other multicultural places in the region.