Heritage centre steps in as shrine craft loses its shine
An indigenous master of floral shrines faces an uphill battle preserving the unique artwork, but a cultural conservation group is striving to make the job easier.
The art of fa pau - a gaudy offering of flowery cannons with papier mache statues and other good luck symbols attached - is on the verge of being lost in Hong Kong. The fa pau are used in many celebrations, such as the Tin Hau Festival.
Lau Fung-cheung, 49, who has spent his life making these colourful offerings, is pessimistic about the survival of this cultural legacy and its associated rituals.
'A few years ago, I rejected a youngster who wanted to be my apprentice,' Mr Lau said. 'I am delighted to teach the younger generation the traditional handicraft to pass the time, but to be dedicated to it as a career, there is no future.'
Mr Lau, who has witnessed the decline of the fa pau industry in the past few decades, is a third-generation craftsman whose family business is based on Cheung Chau.
Inheriting the skills from his father, Mr Lau made his first fa pau as a 20-year-old.
Until the late 1990s, he had about 20 orders every year from fa pau associations - usually organised by fishermen or businessmen's unions during festivals.
But in recent years he has been making less than three fa pau a year. There were fewer than 10 craftsmen who know how to make them in Hong Kong and some would soon retire, Mr Lau said.
During the Tin Hau Festival it is a tradition for the area's associations to parade their fa pau on the 23rd day of the third month of the lunar year.
Mr Lau said there were once hundreds of fa pau associations in Yuen Long, Tai O and Cheung Chau, spending thousands of dollars on the traditional artworks.
Following the decline in the fishing industry, many associations closed, and fa pau and its rituals disappeared with them.
To help preserve the tradition, the Conservancy Association Centre for Heritage is organising an exhibition on Hong Kong customs and rituals for February and March, and it plans to invite the local craftsmen to pass on their handicrafts.
Roger Ho Yao-sheng, the centre's director, said rapid development threatened many traditional customs and beliefs, which put Hongkongers' cultural identity at risk.
'If these customs and rituals disappear in Hong Kong, it is likely they will disappear in the world forever,' Mr Ho said. 'It's our responsibility to preserve our distinctive culture.'
