【明報專訊】Culture is the aggregation of a community's ways of life concerning political, economic, social, religious, moral, artistic and other aspects. When passed down from generation to generation, culture undergoes constant modification by members of the community in response to their historical and environmental circumstances. A sense of identity is thus created and extended. Cultural heritage requires respect from and protection, preservation and reinvention by individuals and communities alike. The goal is to ensure that our culture heritage is treasured by the next generation and cultural diversity is promoted around the world.

Translated by Terence Yip

■Hong Kong-style milk tea brewed by robots

Hong Kong-style milk tea making technique is one of the items on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hong Kong. In August 2018 Simon Wong, chairman of the Association of Coffee and Tea of Hong Kong, joined hands with the Hong Kong Productivity Council to develop the first artificial intelligence HK-style milk tea making robot called “KamChAI” as a bid to tackle the problem of labour shortage with technology.

■Saving a dying language with WeChat

According to research by Sun Hongkai, an expert in Sino-Tibetan languages at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, most of the over 130 languages used nationally were on the verge of extinction as of 2017. According to Sun, the fact that many people from ethnic minorities had chosen to move to cities for career advancement was one of the reasons why these languages were in danger. Some people from ethnic minorities have attempted to save their languages. The Hani people(哈尼族人), for example, have created a “Hani language learning group” on WeChat to bring together young people passionate about their own language, using it to record traditional poetry and folklore.

■Neapolitan pizza

In 2017 the technique of making Neapolitan pizza, which has a history of over 200 years, was added to the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. While pizza is a common food item in the world, many Italians are confused and befuddled by the innovative ways in which pizza is cooked by non-Italians. An Italian senator once proposed a “pizza-making bill” to create a professional registration system for Italian pizza makers.

■Xiqu Centre

The Xiqu Centre in the West Kowloon Cultural District was opened in January 2019, ten years after Cantonese opera was added to the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Henry Tang, chairman of the West Kowloon Culture District Authority Board, expressed hope that the centre, as the melting pot of different types of opera, would further the continuation and promotion of traditional culture.

[通通識 第591期]