Exploring a Different Side of Hong Kong
Exploring a Different Side of Hong Kong
Buife Moria Onuselogu’s Story
Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine
BBiomedSc
Moria is a third year biomedical sciences student who enjoys spending her time understanding a variety of health science topics and holding consultations for HKU students as a CAES peer consultant. In the past year, she dabbled into video editing and had created three interesting videos about Hong Kong, including videos about street food, Hong Kong desserts and pastries, as well as hot pot and yum cha. The videos are circulated around HKU for the Virtual Weeks of Welcome to introduce various local foods to newcomers.
Moria began venturing into video editing over the summer of 2020 when she saw the opportunity to reach out and help CEDARS out over the summer. This was something she found the time for because when COVID-19 settled in, many programmes she initially signed up for were cancelled. It was a fruitful gain Moria picked up after two of her jobs were cancelled. When one door closed, another opened for her – she found more time to dedicate to video production. This was quite the new experience for her, since it required research and no one was there to teach her. Moreover, video production and editing consumed a great amount of time, where Moria would be required to use two to three days for filming and spend at least five hours editing the videos. She had help for scripting from her partner, Rachel, who is currently out of Hong Kong. Rachel worked mainly on preparations and drafting, since she can only provide support to Moria online.
“I learnt more about my beautiful city where I grew up in, and it was nice seeing it from a different perspective.”
While Moria grew up in Hong Kong, this video editing experience gave her a chance to explore a different side of Hong Kong, which is an unique perspective. This allowed her to be exposed to the greater depth of Hong Kong culture, and witness how creative it actually is. “I learnt more about my beautiful city where I grew up in, and it was nice seeing it from a different perspective,” she said. She believed it was fun to step out of the culture circle. This led her to view Hong Kong at a different angle in order to spread such a special experience through the wonders of video production.
The global pandemic was the reason she discovered this opportunity, but Moria certainly faced adversities in production during the times of COVID-19. It was no doubt stressful to film, especially about food and on the streets of Hong Kong when the virus broke out. Moria had to be extra cautious about personal and environmental hygiene during this time and went out of the way to get the video filming done alone, but even as this took her more time than usual, she completed the task willingly. She is also beyond grateful for the help of her partner Rachel, who offered help in the overall production. The work was divided between the two girls, and Moria relied on Rachel to help create the scripts and do most of the voiceovers. She learnt that teamwork was important even if the project is completed virtually, and having another person with the workload you carry is crucial as she quotes, “you get to work like a check and balance”. Moria and Rachel complemented each other no matter the distance under the pandemic.
Throughout these video productions, Moria is grateful for the technical skills and experiences she has picked up. Meanwhile, she got exposed to a different side of the city she grew up in as well as a new side interest of herself. “I am a biomedical student, and we usually do presentations and essay writings. It was definitely interesting to be able to touch on a more creative side by producing videos.”
Written by:
Samantha Ho
Year 4, Faculty of Business and Economics (HKU Business School)
May 2021