Newsletter No. 436

2 No. 436, 19.4.2014 Community) initiated by Vincent Lam , a music postgraduate in ethnomusicology. It aims to lead the visually impaired to get to know different cultures through different senses by sharing music, food, costume and dance. Four workshops on Xinjiang, North India, Cuba and Vietnam have been held. An Idea Brewed from Idleness MOTIVIC was born as a result of leisure. In 2010, Vincent accompanied his friends to serve as audio describers in a movie show organized by HKSB. This was the first time he came into contact with the visually impaired. HKSB asked him if he was interested in conceptualizing activities related to music for members. Thus the seed was sown in his heart. About two years ago, Vincent attended an academic conference in Rome. There was free time between sessions so he had room for reflection. ‘As the CUHK I • CARE Programme was calling for application for social service project funding, I thought, why didn’t I work out something to serve others with my expertise?’ Sitting in an outdoor café, Vincent pieced together his thoughts to write a proposal. The project MOTIVIC was finally supported by the I • CARE Programme. Afterwards, he invited HKSB to co-organize workshops on music culture. 3 月中旬的一個下午，四十多位視障人士集合在石硤 尾香港盲人輔導會，準備展開越南之旅。這批團友 不需要帶行李和證件，只需安坐禮堂。 「河內歌劇院是法國統治時期的建築物，設計宏偉，據 說磚板、圓柱等材料均由法國運來。從前方看，劇院正 門有數條足有兩層樓高的白色圓柱，底部是淡黃色的方 型基座，每條柱相隔數米，形成數個入口。在香港，看畢 表演後觀眾便魚貫離席，但這裏竟沒有人着我們離開， 於是我悄悄站到台中央獨唱。由於舞台乃專為表演而 設，回音效果很強烈，就如在廁格中唱歌。」 中大音樂系畢業生 陳詩明 ， 以甜美悅耳聲線導航，縷述 她在越南的遊歷，分享她在 無人歌劇院站到台上獨唱 的體驗，介紹道地傳統美 食，獻唱當地歌頌胡志明之 曲，每個畫面形容仔細，聽 眾恍如親歷其境。現場還預 備了越南粉卷，讓大家以聽 覺和味覺感受更立體的越 南風情。 這是樂動視遊計劃（MOTIVIC）的工作坊之一，這個 計劃由中大音樂系專修民族音樂學的研究生 林國森 （Vincent）發起，目的是藉着連串音樂分享活動和表 演，配以介紹當地食物、服裝、甚至舞蹈，讓視障人士以 各種感官體驗不同文化，認識世界。四場工作坊曾「踏 足」的地點有新疆、北印度、古巴和越南。 閒出來的構思 MOTIVIC可謂是「閒出來」的成果。四年前Vincent的朋 友替香港盲人輔導會舉行的視障人士電影導賞擔任口述 影像員，他前往觀摩，首次接觸視障人士的生活。輔導 會職員鼓勵他構思一些與音樂有關的活動，在他心中埋 下種子。 兩年前他往羅馬出席學術研討會，異地的餘暇給他思索 的空間。「當時心想，大學的博群計劃正有資金可供申請 以推行社會計劃，何不構思一些活動，用自己的專長服 務他人？」就在羅馬的露天茶座，Vincent將腦海的零碎 想法畫成腦圖，再撰寫成計劃書，成功得到博群計劃資 助，促成MOTIVIC的誕生。其後，他邀得盲人輔導會合 作，舉辦音樂文化之旅工作坊。 互動旅遊節目 愛音樂愛旅遊愛玩的陳詩明，因認識Vincent而獲邀介 紹古巴和越南兩趟背包之旅。陳詩明指出，與視障人士 分享，要有一點小竅門，例如製作屏幕的字和圖要夠大， 並只用黑白兩色，讓弱視者較易看到；講述旅途時，細 節要描繪得清楚，讓他們可以想像實況。 出席的 雷燕芳 參加了多次工作坊，她形容「好新鮮，好好 玩」，並稱自己視力不佳，很難有機會外遊，現在卻有人 代她出國，將沿途風景細緻描述，想了解多些時可提問， 儼如互動的旅遊特輯。另一位參加者 高秀顏 說：「以前 也曾到越南旅遊，但只是到一般名勝，這次講者令我們 到更多有趣的地點走一趟，認識當地風土人情，真是大 開眼界。」 趁青春努力實踐理想 MOTIVIC規模很小，整項計劃構思、商談合作、活動流 程、招募義工、行政等對外對內工作，均主要由Vincent 負責，花了他不少時間和心血。但他認為年輕沒有羈絆， 正是追夢年華，應將自己想做的付諸實行，而且付出愈 多，收穫也愈多：「例如如何說服他人、怎樣平衡各方訴 求、被拒絕時消化負面情緒等，這些都不是從書本中可 學到的。」 網頁 Website: http://motivic.weebly.com 臉書 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MOTIVIC2012 參加者以觸覺認識新疆樂器 The visually impaired familiarizing themselves with Xinjiang musical instrument through the sense of touch 陳詩明介紹越南之旅 Ada giving a presentation on her journey to Vietnam 參與者在工作坊中學習新疆舞蹈 Participants learning Xinjiang dance in the workshop 林國森 Vincent Lam 陳詩明 Ada Chan An Interactive Travelling Programme A passionate traveller and music lover, Ada was invited by Vincent to speak on her backpacking trips to Cuba and Vietnam. She gave some tips on talking to the visually impaired people. The words shown on the screen should be as large as possible, in contrasting colours such as black and white so that they can read. During narration, details should be included to make the audience imagine the pictures. Having enrolled in the workshop several times, Ms. Lui Yin-fong said, ‘It is wonderful and fun.’ She seldom travels due to poor vision. Now there is somebody to do it for her. In the workshop, she can ask the speakers questions if she wants to know more. It is like an interactive travel programme. Ms. Ko Sau-ngan , another participant, added, ‘I have been to Vietnam before. I only went to those famous sight-seeing spots but Ada led us to some interesting places that we didn’t know about before. The trip was really an eye-opener.’ Live Out Ideals When Young Although MOTIVIC can’t be regarded as a large-scale project, Vincent was swamped with planning, negotiation with partners, logistical coordination of activities, recruitment of helpers, as well as administrative works. But he believes that youth is the time to follow his dream and no gain ever comes without pain. ‘I have gained much more than I would have from books. These first- hand experiences taught me how to persuade others, how to balance the interests of different parties, and how to manage my negative emotion when being rejected.’ O ne afternoon in mid-March, about 40 visually impaired people gathered at the Hong Kong Society for the Blind (HKSB) at Shek Kip Mei to begin their journey to Vietnam. Neither luggage nor passport was needed; the only thing the participants had to do was sit in a hall. ‘Featuring a magnificent design, the opera house at Hanoi was built when Vietnam was under French colonial rule. The building materials such as bricks, stones and pillars were imported from France. On the façade, you can see several white columns on primrose yellow rectangular pedestals. Each column of about two storeys high stood at regular intervals of about several metres, forming a few entrances to the porch of the edifice. In Hong Kong, audience would file out of the theatre after the performance, but in Vietnam, no one urged us to leave immediately after the show so I went on stage stealthily to sing. The theatre was designed for professional performance so the sound resonated well in the hall, like singing in a cramped toilet.’ Ada Chan , a music graduate of CUHK, gave a detailed and vivid account of her trip to Vietnam in a sweet voice. She talked about her experience of singing solo on the stage of an empty opera house, talked about traditional Vietnamese food, and sang a Vietnamese song praising Ho Chi-minh, the revolutionary leader of the country. Vietnamese rice rolls were also provided so the attendees could taste the local flavours. This was one of the workshops of the social project MOTIVIC (Music Of Travel In Visually Impaired   旅遊於沒有景象的世界 Travelling the World Without Sight Katharine Harmon writes in the introduction to You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination , ‘I sense that humans have an urge to map— and that this mapping instinct, like our opposable thumbs, is part of what makes us human.’ It is this instinct which drove postgraduate student Vincent Lam to represent his sparkling flimsy ideas in a mind map, which later materialized into an unconventional map drawn with music, verbal narration, dance and even food, for guiding the visually impaired. Numbers seem cold and unapproachable to many, but they are immensely potential as a tool for expression. Mathematicians employ numbers to render their observation and understanding of the universe. Prof. Yau Shing-tung talks to the Newsletter again, telling us how mathematical statements are compatible with nature and that mathematicians are not just freaks or geeks. ‘Eighty-eight received the award for having worked at CUHK for 25 years and fourteen, for 35 years.’ The no-frills description may dilute the implication of the fact, which is about 102 staff members contributing a total of 2,690 prime years in their lives, or close to 900 years even after conversion to eight-hour workdays. For a university that has just turned 50, its achievements cannot have been attained without the hard work of these colleagues who are worthy of our salutation here again! ———————■■■——————— 目錄 Contents 旅遊於沒有景象的世界 2 Travelling the World Without Sight 一百零二名員工獲頒長期服務獎 3 102 Staff Members Receive Long Service Awards 校園消息 Campus News 4 宣布事項 Announcements 7 博文貫珍 The Galleria 8 舌尖上的中大 CUHK f+b 8 人事動態 Ins and Outs 9 丘成桐如是說 Thus Spake Yau Shing-tung 10 邊註邊讀 Marginalia 哈蒙在《你在這裏：個人地理學與幻想地圖》的序言說， 「我感到人類對地圖有一種強烈的渴想—而這種製圖的 本能，就如我們的對生拇指一樣，是我們之所以為人的部分 原因。」這種本能讓碩士生林國森把電光石火間出現的零碎 意念化為腦圖，且另闢蹊徑，用音樂、舞蹈、話語甚至食物 製成弱視人士的地圖，作他們的旅遊嚮導。 數字看似冰冷，實質是潛力無限的表達工具。數學家便以之 表達對宇宙的觀察與理解。丘成桐教授再次接受《中大通 訊》訪問，這次，他告訴我們數學命題與自然的關係，並還 原數學家的真面目。 「共有八十八名員工獲頒二十五年長期服務獎，十四名員工 獲頒三十五年長期服務獎。」平白的敍述，有時候會淡化了 事實的重量。試想想，那是一百零二位員工在不同崗位貢獻 了二千六百九十年的黃金歲月，縱使一天只工作八小時，也 已經接近九百年。這所剛滿五十周歲的大學，今時今日立足 於此，那九百年功不可沒。讓我們再次向這群同事致敬！