Ben Sir, the scholar-turned-celebrity determined to save Cantonese from a slow death

Benjamin Au Yeung Wai-hoo is standing at the entrance to Hong Kong’s Victoria Park holding up a red banner that says “Cantonese won’t die”. Two Mandarin-speaking tourists from another region of China are apparently distracted by the scene, shifting their focus from a nearby fountain to the witty 50-year-old.

Such showmanship is now a common activity for Au Yeung, better known as Ben Sir, a former senior lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Department of Chinese Language and Literature. Earlier this year he left the university he had taught at for 13 years in favour of an unlikely career move into the world of entertainment.

He shot to fame last year when he appeared on a local television programme to teach Cantonese swear words. The show, according to him, has since been viewed more than two million times online. It sparked a realisation inside him that his mission to revitalise the indigenous culture of Hong Kong, Guangdong province and other parts of southern China could better be pursued with star power rather than in the classroom.

He wanted to reach a wider audience with his message that local culture needed to be nurtured in light of the growing presence of Mandarin, China’s national language, and its associated culture from the north. The success of the television show, he says, also made him realise how much he loved performing.

“I am already in my 50s,” he says. “But I think it’s still worth taking risks and having fun.”

Now, as he prepares for his second stand-up comedy show in January next year, which is also mainly about Cantonese swear words, some might say it is a risky business proposition trying to cash in on what many say is a declining dialect.