Mic up, walls down — local podcast embraces multicultural voices

No visual appeals, just merely voices, podcasts have become a trend in recent years, attracting over 500 million listeners worldwide. “A person’s tone and speaking pace says a lot about them, and conversations flow endlessly.” noted Stephanie, host of local channel “Podcasters!”. If you merely listen to people of different ethnicities engage in a Cantonese dialogue, you will be surprised by how similar they actually are to Hong Kong Chinese individuals, challenging stereotypes associated with skin colour.

Recruiting Hongkongers of different races to join the podcast 

Podcasters! is one of the Incubatees of MakerBay Foundation’s Impact Innovation Lab, supported by The Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund. To foster cross-cultural conversations and understanding, the podcast brings together 20 Hongkongers from different ethnic groups, including Indians, Bangladeshis, Nepalese, etc. for 10 episodes, in which the hosts and guests share their experiences, thoughts and views on specific topics. Besides recording podcasts, they also edit video content and upload it on their YouTube channel, to attract diverse viewers and create more exposure.

Keep your eyes and options open

Prior to this, project curator Verena and host Stephanie had been working on promoting multiculturalism through school events. “I noticed that Hong Kong students rarely get to meet people from other cultural backgrounds, so they remain unaware of what the world offers.” Verena said. She believes that youngsters would be interested in other cultures when they get in touch and grow curious to learn more. “Therefore, we started publishing articles and short clips to let them know there is more to this world, things that are beyond their imagination.” She compared this exploration to travelling and job hunting. “You’d never be able to choose them unless you knew they existed, sparking interest and revealing life’s many possibilities.”

School anecdote goes viral on Instagram 

The content of the podcast often revolves around personal anecdotes, from school to work, and the identity of third culture kids. Yet, the multicultural backgrounds of the guests offer a fresh perspective on these common topics. For example, Sabiha (Pakistani) recalled how judges were dumbfounded by the sight of her at a Chinese speech contest. She also joined Esha (Pakistani) and Barbie (Bangladeshi) in a discussion on learning Classical Chinese, in which the video received over 16,000 likes, 7,000 shares and 200 comments on Instagram. While some praised their Chinese language proficiency, others were not surprised by ethnic minorities’ fluency in Cantonese, and many expressed their own views as they could resonate with what they shared on the podcast, which proves that dialogue can facilitate communication and build connections.

All they need is understanding 

Ethnic minorities are categorised as underprivileged in society. Stephanie, who is of Nepalese and Filipino descent, thinks that what their community needs most is not a helping hand. “Bad things do happen, but we can handle them, and all we need is your understanding. Hong Kong is not just your home, it’s ours too.” For promotion of the podcast, they did not emphasise “ethnic minorities”, but rather welcomed anyone who could speak Cantonese to join, to avoid labelling and limitations, for more fun and surprises. After the Incubation period, they are planning to launch an English channel, so that more people can speak out!