Backreading Hong Kong Symposium 2026 @ UBC: Everyday Life Reimagined

Jason Yat Long WONG

PhD Student, Department of Asian Studies
jasonwyl@student.ubc.ca

WONG Yat Long, Jason is a PhD student in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia. Before pursuing his doctoral studies in Canada, he taught as a part-time lecturer at Lingnan University and a part-time demonstrator (tutor) at the University of Hong Kong for three years. His current research interest touches on Sinophone literatures (including Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Malaysian literature) and animal writing. A passionate advocate for Hong Kong literature and culture, Jason serves as a student associate of the Hong Kong Studies Initiative (HKSI), where he is committed to promoting Hong Kong Studies both within and beyond the city’s cultural boundaries.

PUBLICATIONS

Peer-reviewed article:

〈跨越「浮城」邊界的跨時代回應：論西西〈浮城誌異〉（1986）和韓麗珠《離心帶》（2013）〉，《文學論衡》第45期（2025年9月），頁90–102。“Trans-temporal Responses Across the Boundaries of the ‘Floating City’: On Xi Xi’s Marvels of a Floating City (1986) and Hon Lai-chu’s The Border of Centrifugation (2013),” Journal of Chinese Literary Studies 45 (Sep 2025): 90–102.

[Media] HKSI Convenor Dr. Helena Wu shares ways of reading Ann Hui’s cinema

Click here to view the complete interview.

Hok Yau Pit

PhD Student, Department of Asian Studies
timpit@student.ubc.ca

Pit Hok Yau, Tim is a PhD student in Asian Studies at The University of British Columbia and the Research Lead for the Hong Kong Animal Law and Protection Organisation. His primary research interests lie in non-human animal history and welfare, alongside topics in the Environmental Humanities, such as the climate crisis. His PhD thesis focuses on the intersection between history and storytelling of non-human animals in post-World War II Hong Kong. Tim received his M.Phil. in Cultural Studies from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and his bachelor’s degree from The University of Hong Kong, where he double majored in Hong Kong Studies and Journalism.
Besides his thesis project, Tim is currently researching the literary representation of the Chinese white dolphin in China and the country’s panda gifting to Hong Kong and Taiwan. His writings have been published by academic journals, including Hong Kong Studies (history of Chinese white dolphin in Hong Kong) and Inter-Asia Cultural Studies (yellow economic circle/ political consumerism in Hong Kong), and news outlets such as Hong Kong Free Press, Ming Pao, and South China Morning Post.

PUBLICATIONS

Peer-reviewed articles

2024	Handover mascot and flagship species: The instrumentalization of Chinese white dolphin in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Studies, 4(2), pp.1–20.

Other publications – Commentaries & book reviews

2025	回歸吉祥物：香港中華白海豚的前世今生, Ming Pao, 1 July.
2025	Dolphin’s death another wake-up call to phase out animal captivity. South China Morning Post, 2 June.
2025	《香江遺礁》：重述香港蠔的故事Re-story-ation of the Hong Kong oyster: City of Shells. Ming Pao, 29 April.
2025	Re-story-ation of the Hong Kong oyster: City of Shells. Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, 26 April.
2025	Trial allowing pets on trains should not be set up for failure. South China Morning Post, 16 April.
2025	Give Hong Kong’s animal welfare law teeth by adding duty of care. South China Morning Post, 23 February.
2025	不只「工」更是「人」：讀《香港移民家務工創作者作品選集》Not workers but human: reading Ingat . P-articles, 19 February.
2025	Sometimes painful, sometimes uplifting— Ingat: An anthology of works by migrant domestic worker creatives in Hong Kong. Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, 10 January.
2024	In dark times, Arendt’s political theory reminds us freedom is practiced, not given. The Ubyssey, 14 November.
2024	The root cause of Hong Kong’s monkey deaths is the existence of zoos – animal ghettos must end worldwide. Hong Kong Free Press, 27 October.
2024	全力聚焦發展經濟漠視生態可以嗎？Is it okay to channel all our efforts into economic development and ignore the environment? Ming Pao, 19 September.

AWARDS

2025	Congress Graduate Merit Award, The Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences of Canada

Keenan Manning

Doctoral Student, Department of Educational Studies
kdm852@mail.ubc.ca

Keenan Daniel MANNING, is a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia. He is interested in the ways in which minoritised citizens (particularly ‘ethnic minorities’) are positioned, or not, in the ways ‘Hong Kong’ is constructed as a concept. His research particularly focuses on the conceptualisations of Hong Kong produced through higher education and academic scholarship and how these work to include, marginalise, or exclude minoritised subjects. His research centres around concepts of citizenship (particularly cultural citizenship), identity, representation, and belonging. He has previously published on a range of topics including: citizenship and belonging in education; inclusivity; internationalisation of higher education; international student mobility; and, higher education administration and policy.

PUBLICATIONS
Mohamad, D., & Manning, K. D. (2023). What Does it Mean to ‘Belong’?: A Narrative Literature Review of ‘Belongingness’ Among International Higher Education Students. Journal of International Students, 15(1). doi: 10.32674/jis.v15i1.5783
Manning, K. D. (2023). Citizenship and Education in Hong Kong: A Review of Contemporary Academic Literature. Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 52(3), 542-559. doi: 10.1177/18681026221145406

Manning, K. D., & Yuen, C. Y.-M. (2023). Inclusivity of the Hong Kong Higher Education System: A Critical Policy Analysis, Asia Pacific Journal of Education. doi: 10.1080/02188791.2023.2251709

Oleksiyenko, A. V., Chan, S.-J., Kim, S. K., Lo, W. Y. W., & Manning, K. D. (2021). World class universities and international student mobility: Repositioning strategies in the Asian Tigers. Research in Comparative and International Education, 16(3), 295-317. doi: 10.1177/17454999211039298

Manning, K. D. (2021). Textual Analysis of University Mission Statements in East Asian World-Class Universities, Higher Education Evaluation and Development, 15(1), 19-34. doi: 10.1108/HEED-09-2020-0033

Manning, K. (2019), Motivational factors among international postgraduate students in Hong Kong and Taiwan, International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, 22(1), pp. 82-100. doi: 10.1108/IJCED-03-2019-0022

Manning, K., Kushnazarov, M., & Oleksiyenko, A. (2019). Contested Meanings of International Student Mobility in Hong Kong and Taiwan, Educational Practice and Theory, 41(1), 51-69. doi: 10.7459/ept/41.1.04

PRESENTATIONS
Manning, K. D., & Padmanabhan, D. (2025). Problematising the ‘ethnic minority’ label: belonging, identity, and nomenclature in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Studies Association 2025 Conference.

Manning, K. D. (2025). Framing the minoritised citizen within and through Hong Kong academic knowledge production, Higher Education Research Association Conference 2025.

Manning, K. D. (2025). Reading Citizenship in Hong Kong Through the History of Higher Education, International Graduate Student Research Symposium, University of British Columbia.

Manning, K. D. (2025). Identity, belonging, and citizenship among ethnic minority higher education students in Hong Kong, EDST Doctoral Colloquium, University of British Columbia

Sriram-Uzundal, N., Manning, K. D., Klaus-Springer, I., Karim, S., Shahriari, F., Lucena, L., & Ali, K. W. Theorised Identities – Race, Class, and Gender in the Field of Education, Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance, Concordia University [Panel Series]

(2024). Race in the Field of Education
(2024). Class in the Field of Education
(2025). Gender in the Field of Education

Manning, K. D. (2024). What is Hong Kong? Chan Koon-chung’s ‘Hong Kong as Method’ approach, Hong Kong Studies Association 2024 Conference.

Manning, K. D. (2024). State-constructed nation(alism) and its implications for the inclusion of minority students in higher education: the case from Hong Kong, Higher Education Research Association Conference 2024.

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ASIA 325 (24W): Photo Collage

ASIA 325: Hong Kong Cinema

Photo Collage – A Creative Response to Wong Kar-wai’s Chungking Express

By Anthea Mak, Chase Vincent, Harrison Sun, and Robbie Laughlen

Project Rationale:

“After watching the film, the team determined that it had extremely strong themes that we all connected with. Chungking Express is a film marked by Wong Kar-wai’s personal style, where the use of filmic language exhibits strong thematic elements. However, we had differing interpretations of what these themes meant to us and what they represented. The fact that we could all identify with the themes brought up in a movie from Hong Kong in 1994, while living in Vancouver, shows the timelessness and universality that film can embody. By offering our own personal interpretations of the film’s messaging and adapting it into our own lives, we are encouraging viewers of the collage to reflect on their own interpretations of the themes presented.

[…]

The choice of a photo collage also invites comparison, as the individual photos are part of a bigger picture. It encourages audiences to draw parallels across different people’s styles and interactions with the themes. We hope this comparison will entice people to think about how these themes exist in their own lives, and to capture a certain time within our, and Vancouver’s, lives that can be looked back on, just like Wong Kar-wai did with 1994 Hong Kong. We decided to have the collage mimic the film poster, overlaying it onto our photos, as the themes and interpretations captured in our photos are all part of the movie. In addition, the seemingly disorganized nature of the photos put together is a deliberate technique as it reflects the sense of chaos, the desperation to seek love, and even the reconstruction of memory…”

ASIA 325 (24W): A Warm Reception

ASIA 325: Hong Kong Cinema

ASIA 325 (24W): A Warm Reception – Capturing the Spectacle of A Better Tomorrow

By Andrew Chan, Bosco Chan, Mina Chong, and Ryan Kwan

Project Rationale:
“Our short film, titled A Warm Reception, explores key themes central to A Better Tomorrow, including spectacle as storytelling, brotherhood and loyalty, masculinity, and the role of space in action cinema. By creating a scene using John Woo’s filming techniques, we examine how stylized action serves as an extension of character psychology, reinforcing emotional depth rather than purely visual appeal. Woo’s signature slow motion, exaggerated gunplay, and dynamic framing transform violence into a form of expression, heightening themes of personal struggle, loss, and redemption.
[…]
By engaging with the stylistic evolution of Hong Kong cinema, our project considers how A Better Tomorrow helped define the heroic bloodshed genre and influenced global action filmmaking. Additionally, we reflect on how Woo’s visual storytelling conveys ideas of masculinity, honor, and sacrifice, reinforcing these themes through cinematic techniques rather than just dialogue. The rationale behind our approach is to bridge analysis and practice, ensuring that our short film is not merely an academic discussion but also an experiential engagement with Woo’s cinematic style. By emphasizing the emotional weight behind action, we use body language, facial expressions, and framing to reflect the film’s core themes of loyalty, sacrifice, and moral conflict. Ultimately, A Warm Reception not only analyzes Woo’s techniques but actively participates in them, offering both a critical and creative engagement with the film’s enduring legacy.”

ASIA 325 (24W): Choose-your-own-adventure Storybook

ASIA 325: Hong Kong Cinema

ASIA 325 (24W): One-Armed Swordsman – Choose-your-own-adventure Storybook

By Adrienne Lee, Amber Lee, Dastan Ryskulov, Wenxin Song, and Colin Yee

Project Rationale:

“Through this interactive format, we explore three central themes: the tension between brotherhood and autonomy, the expansion of female character development, and the production contexts surrounding the original film. Additionally, our project interrogates the moral ambiguity woven into the narrative, challenging the conventional binary between good and evil.

One of the core objectives of our project was to transform a traditionally linear narrative into one that allows for reader agency. By adapting the choose-your-own-adventure format, we invite the audience to take an active role in shaping the story’s direction. This format creates room for multiple perspectives and outcomes rather than limiting the characters to a single, heroic, and predetermined arc.

In the original film, viewers engage with the story purely from a distant observer’s standpoint. Our adaptation narrows that distance, offering a more immersive experience by allowing readers to step into the shoes of the characters. They are now able to make decisions that not only shape each character’s journey, but also reflect the reader’s own values and interpretations.

Each branching storyline leads to a distinctly different path and ending, many of which diverge from the original “universe”. These alternative narratives imagine what the characters’ lives might have looked like if they had more personal freedom and choice. For example, the protagonist, Fang Gang, is portrayed in the original film as bound by duty and tradition, with little room for his own desires. In our project, we ask: What if he had a choice? What if he pursued peace instead of vengeance? What if his priorities conflicted with the expectations placed upon him?”

ASIA 325 (24W): Letters of Doomed Fate

ASIA 325: Hong Kong Cinema

ASIA 325 (24W): Letters of Doomed Fate – A Reflective Reimagining of Made in Hong Kong

By Reiana Co, Margaux Leguay, Qiao Li, Haowei Lian, and Marvin Wong

Project Rationale:

“Our project is a mixed-media creation entitled Letters of Doomed Fate, based on the 1997 independent film Made in Hong Kong, directed by Fruit Chan. It is a series of personal letters written in the voice of the four leads and one secondary character – Autumn Moon, Ping, Susan, Sylvester and a revival gang-leader (Brother Chan) – as first-person commentaries of their deaths. Each letter is accompanied by a graphic poster situating each of these pivotal moments in their narratives, rendered in a visual aesthetic that echoes the raw, gritty look of the film. These will be physically bound together by a red thread, a visual metaphor of the inescapable bond of their fates. The underlying theme of our work is fated paths: Fate in Made in Hong Kong is not some intangible abstraction but a material effect of coming of age in a society that has betrayed its youth – economically, affectively, and structurally. The characters do not merely die; they are aggravated systematically by the world around them. The suicide notes in the film are narrative and emotional benchmarks; they mark not only death but expression, confession, and memorial. By expanding this theme, we seek to magnify the voices that are most frequently silenced or ignored. Our project gives the characters a voice as self-narrating authors of their own demise, we give them back agency.”