The Borneo Post (Sabah)

Young Hong Kongers go analogue in a digital world

- By Aaron Tam

HONG KONG: In a city crammed with neon-lit tech stores, smartphone vendors and high-end camera shops, a digital backlash is mounting as young Hong Kongers seek out an old-fashioned analogue experience.

Hong Kong is a buzzing market for cutting edge technologi­cal offerings, with queues around the block for the latest iPhone or tablet.

As consumers focus firmly on the new, there has been little demand for old-school gadgets — retro collectibl­es are much harder to find in Hong Kong than in other major world cities, where vintage stores have long been a shopping staple.

But interest in the pre-digital era is growing as the city’s younger generation­s seek out everything from film cameras to vinyl records in response to the hi-tech deluge.

“We are constantly bombarded by an endless stream of advertisem­ents for the newest and latest gadgets in our everyday lives, says Sonia Ho, 24, who works at an architectu­ral design firm.

“The functions of a radio, typewriter or even a light meter can be easily downloaded onto our smartphone­s... but we’re losing the idea of how a particular item actually works,” said Ho, who now prefers a second-hand Nikon FE2 film camera to the digital models she previously used.

“It’s like being assigned to continue the adventures of the camera from the previous owner and start to capture your own,” Ho said. Sense of curiosity

A growing number of younger photograph­ers in Hong Kong are experiment­ing with old film cameras — some painstakin­gly scanning their film photos onto a computer to share on social media feed Instagram. Ho shares hers under the handle úsoniahyh.

Tinny Kwan, who owns a film processing store popular with young photograph­ers in the residentia­l area of Prince Edward, says they are starting to discover the joys of delayed gratificat­ion.

“It’s like the feeling of gambling. There is a sense of excitement right up until you can see the photos... with digital, you can see it immediatel­y, that sense of curiosity is lacking,” says Kwan, whose shop is popular with young photograph­ers.

There is also new interest in vinyl from music fans who have only ever known CDs or digital, says Mr Chan, owner of record shop Collectabl­es in Central district.

Chan’s collection spans hundreds of classical, jazz, rock and Cantonese pop records.

“If you have always listened to digital, you may not have experience­d the audio characteri­stics (of a vinyl record) before,” says Chan.

“When you listen to the vocals, you realise there is something more in the recording.”

Browsing the vinyl section at the HMV music store, which also sells vintage records and reprints, 15-year-old high-school student Alvin Fan said analogue albums have given him an alternativ­e way to listen to music.

“It creates a different atmosphere, a different mood and a very different feeling,” said Fan, who was introduced to vinyl records by his grandparen­ts. ‘It feels more real’

Zachary Chan, 21, who works at a music store, says it is becoming increasing­ly fashionabl­e for young Hong Kongers to turn to records over digital.

“The value of a vinyl record is stronger in a subjective sense — holding a record in your hands, rather than seeing the digital album on iTunes. There is a difference,” Chan said.

The resurgence of film cameras and vinyl is part of a growing determinat­ion to experience simple pleasures in the face of a quick-fix digital lifestyle.

Some teens have reverted to sending postcards to their friends as a more satisfying alternativ­e to email. And the city’s bookstores are often crammed with readers, young and old, despite the multitude of downloadab­le ebooks.

Vinyl fan Alvin says he prefers physical books to e-readers.

“A lot of people, even my friends, still love the feeling of holding a physical book and reading it. It just feels more real,” he said.

Decades-old store signs, antique radios and old cinema chairs are just some of the items crammed into 34-year-old Lai Chun-fai’s small store in Prince Edward, a vintage aesthetic which is not yet mainstream in Hong Kong.

“I just feel that the design of older items is more interestin­g than modern objects,” says Lai.

While it may look like a vintage treasure trove, the only things for sale are the analogue cameras, Lai’s speciality — hence the name: Classic Camera Shop.

“I wanted to display older cameras that not many others have seen in Hong Kong,” said Lai, who first started selling old Leica models. Shooting on film is a happier, more memorable experience, he says, and one that is luring some youngsters. “They have told me they remember the moment when they take the photo on film. As a result, they don’t really look at the photos they took with their smartphone­s any more,” says Lai.

“The pictures I took ten years ago... I still remember what was happening in that photograph.” — AFP

They have told me they remember the moment when they take the photo on film. As a result, they don’t really look at the photos they took with their smartphone­s any more. The pictures I took ten years ago... I still remember what was happening in that photograph.

– Lai Chun-fai, camera shopowner

 ??  ?? (Clockwise from top left) Ho Hing Ming sorting vinyl at his record store on Lamma Island in Hong Kong. • Lai Chun-fai’s standing amongst an array of vintage items and cameras in his classic camera shop. • An employee at an Apple store. • David Chan...
(Clockwise from top left) Ho Hing Ming sorting vinyl at his record store on Lamma Island in Hong Kong. • Lai Chun-fai’s standing amongst an array of vintage items and cameras in his classic camera shop. • An employee at an Apple store. • David Chan...
 ??  ?? (L) Customers in an Apple store in the Central district of Hong Kong. • (R) David Chan posing for a photo in his classic camera shop in the Tsim Tsa Tsui district of Hong Kong. In a city crammed with neon-lit tech stores, smartphone vendors and...
(L) Customers in an Apple store in the Central district of Hong Kong. • (R) David Chan posing for a photo in his classic camera shop in the Tsim Tsa Tsui district of Hong Kong. In a city crammed with neon-lit tech stores, smartphone vendors and...
 ??  ?? A member of the public walk past a sign at an Apple store in the Central district of Hong Kong.
A member of the public walk past a sign at an Apple store in the Central district of Hong Kong.
 ??  ?? Ho Hing Ming posing for a photo in his record store on Lamma Island in Hong Kong.
Ho Hing Ming posing for a photo in his record store on Lamma Island in Hong Kong.
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