From Building Awareness to Community Participation: “Old Shop Community Project in Yau Ma Tei” to Enhances the Sense of Community and Cohesion

From October 2022 to March 2023, MakerBay organised the “Craftsmanship Community Project”, leading participants to explore Yau Ma Tei and discover various crafts. Together, they built a wooden cart for the community called the “Craftsman Ship” (匠油號) to challenge the stereotype that visiting old shops is stressful. After completing the first phase, we conducted field observations and street interviews to collect public impressions of old shops and engaged with shop owners to learn more about their stories and the history of Yau Ma Tei, preparing for the next phase of the project.

Based on the information gathered from street interviews, most people associate old shops with a sense of warmth and human connection. However, many also avoid or hesitate to visit these shops due to stereotypes such as feeling a sense of distance, unfriendly shop owners, and unclean environments. Despite these perceptions, we cannot deny that the old shops hold the history and stories that have shaped our community today. In light of this, the second phase of our community project is themed “Exploring Old Shops,” aiming to connect people with the community and explore Yau Ma Tei through three different activities.

The first activity, “Mid-Autumn Treasure Hunt,” was timed to coincide with the Mid-Autumn Festival. Participants solved lantern riddles to learn about the unique stories of various shops. We also created a community map, inviting participants to visit different locations, engage with shop owners, and gain a deeper understanding of the Yau Ma Tei. The second activity, “Art of Packaging Workshop,” included visits to old shops in Yau Ma Tei and learning to make bamboo baskets. Through hands-on experience and learning, participants appreciated the value and importance of traditional packaging and bamboo craft. The third activity, “Co-creation Workshop” encouraged participants to pay attention to and solve community issues, such as improving park resting facilities. Using Sai Kung Street Playground as a model, participants designed and enhanced playground equipment.

Finally, the “Community Project in Yau Ma Tei Exhibition” served as a conclusion of both project phases, showcasing the activities and the participants’ creations, while encouraging the public to reflect on their relationship with the community, fostering community awareness and cohesion starting from individual actions.

Mid-Autumn Treasure Hunt - Exploring Community and Understanding Old Shops

Old shops may not be places we visit in our daily lives, often feeling distant or having nothing to offer. In reality, this is just a lack of understanding. Through solving lantern riddles, participants got to know more about Yau Ma Tei from a new perspective, established a connection with the community, and discovered the friendly side of Yau Ma Tei.

The activity encouraged the public to explore the community through games, and stepping into shops they wouldn’t usually visit to collect stamps. In the end, it successfully attracted about a hundred participants, most of whom participated in the form of families. Some parents brought their children to revisit the old places where they grew up, sharing their childhood memories of Yau Ma Tei while walking through familiar streets. This can be seen as a form of oral history and cultural heritage. Surprisingly, even the usually stern shop owner was enthusiastic about participating. He deliberately withheld the stamps, prompting participants to ask for them and thus continuing the conversation, adding challenges and fun to the activity.

Collaborating shops include:

Ming Sang Steel Bamboo Receptacle
Sze Cheung
Sum Sum Convenience Store
Kui Kee Fruit
Wing Lung Embroidery
Tai On Coffee and Tea Shop

Thanks to all the shops for participating, sharing their stories, and interacting with the participant.

Art of Packaging Workshop - Understanding Traditional Packaging, Experiencing Traditional Crafts

The materials and ways of packaging goods reflect people’s wisdom and craftsmanship in the past. Thin bamboo strips can be woven into different forms, made into bamboo rafts, steamers, dustpans and other utensils. However, with the prevalence of plastic and cardboard, traditional packaging methods have gradually been phased out.

In order to provide an immersive experience for participants in traditional packaging and bamboo craft, we visited Mr. Lui, a master of bamboo art, in advance to learn the skills of making bamboo baskets, and then taught the participants. The first half of the activity was a community tour, during which we visited Yue Cheong Plastic Bags, Paper Products & Fast Food Products Co., which has been standing in Yau Ma Tei for over fifty years. The store owner shared stories from the shop’s early days and explained traditional packaging methods and materials. The second half was a bamboo packaging workshop where participants tried making bamboo baskets at the Fook Tak Tsz in Tin Hau Temple, further experiencing traditional crafts and reflecting on the value and importance of old shops.

For participants new to bamboo craftsmanship, understanding the techniques of bamboo weaving, learning the structure of hexagonal weaving, and making a bamboo basket was not easy. After the first workshop, we adjusted the teaching process by preparing step-by-step bamboo weaving samples for participants to reference. This change highlighted the complexity and meticulousness of traditional crafts.

Community Doctor - Co-Creation Workshop

When community problems arise, such as insufficient lighting or lack of resting areas, everyone can contribute to the community and solve these problems, in addition to seeking government departments help. With this intention, we recruited 6 friends from different professions to become “Community Doctors”. Through observation and interviews with residents to understand their needs, we decided to focus on exercise facilities for the elderly and inclusive play areas for children of different ethnicities. Using a co-creation approach, we developed prototypes and conducted community experiments at the Sai Kung Street Playground, trying to diagnose and address the needs of Yau Ma Tei.

A More Comfortable Elderly Park

Many elderly often spend their day in parks, but the park benches are uncomfortable, there are limited exercise facilities, and some people occupy the exercise facilities for a long time, preventing others from using them. The “Comfort Chair” is a park bench designed for the elderly, featuring a cushion and pedal exercise function. After testing, users suggested the need for more sturdy handles, adjustable parts, and a design that isn’t too comfortable to prevent occupation. The colour should also be subdued to avoid attracting attention from others.

A Playground That Doesn’t Belong to Me

Although Sai Kung Street Playground offers plenty of space for children to play, most users are ethnic minority kids, which deters local parents from bringing their children there. The “Harmony Circle” is a fun facility designed to address the lack of leisure facilities for children and promote play among kids of different races. It includes circles of different sizes, and children can challenge themselves by dropping a ball into the circle. After testing, it was found that children of different ages and nationalities could participate immediately, but it was suggested to use softer balls for safety.

Through this activity, we hope that everyone understands that even small participation can bring about change to the community. Not only the big issues in the community deserve attention, the small issues here deserve to be seen.

Community Project in Yau Ma Tei Exhibition - Summarizing While Discovering Process

In the final “Community Project in Yau Ma Tei’s Exhibition”, we rented a shop in Yau Ma Tei for a short term, refurbishing the exhibition space by ourselves. We designed a bamboo art experience zone and a message board for reflecting on community connections, displaying old shop exhibits and the creations of our “community doctors”.

The “Community Project in Yau Ma Tei’s Exhibition” not only summarised our experiences over the past year but also allowed us to reconnect with the community in a new way. Thanks to this opportunity, we were able to share our experience of conducting community projects with different sectors of the community and engage in dialogue. Participants included individuals interested in exploring their relationship with the community, like-minded partners, and past event participants.

Although some elderly residents did not fully agree with the purpose of the event, we considered all feedback, whether positive or negative, as valuable insights, reminding us to think from different perspectives. We also observed that most participants in the bamboo craft experience initially thought they could complete a woven coaster in a short time, but it actually required much more time. Some chose to give up or “simplify” the weaving process, making the coaster in their own way. This experience area introduced more people to traditional crafts and prompted them to reflect on their value.

Although this exhibition seems to be the last step of the community project, the nine-day exhibition was actually part of our process of understanding the community. During the initial setup, we frequently visited nearby shops to purchase parts and borrow tools. Some masters may look serious, but were always eager to help and lend tools when we needed assistance.. The nearby hardware store, curious about our activities, began interacting with us, and we exchanged greetings daily. This warmth and friendliness is the unique charm of Yau Ma Tei shops.

After this 14-month experience, we will continue to think about the future development direction of community projects, how to achieve community participation while achieving the integration of old and new, improving the community, and creating new value.