As a platform that strives to address Hong Kong’s dominant social divide, Hong Kong Shifts shines the spotlight on often-neglected individuals in our local community through sharing their personal stories.
“Our project is about raising awareness on social inclusion,” co-founder Maxime Vanhollebeke contends. “We’re so ingrained in the corporate environment — an environment very commonplace in Hong Kong — that we’ve realised it’s also very hierarchical,” co-founder Cynthia Cheng explains. She speaks of the division between office workers and support staff, “we hope that this project can help break down these barriers in both our community and in the workplace.” With a background in law, co-founders Cynthia Cheng and Maxime Vanhollebeke both cite their experiences in corporate culture as a driving factor for their initiative.
Hong Kong Shifts founders Maxime and Cynthia
Photo: Bradley Aaron
The collaborators place emphasis on the spontaneity of their process, championing the authenticity in their work. “One of the questions we get asked most is where we find [our interviewees],” Maxime laughs, “but they’re all around us!” Sourcing the subjects of their profiles through chance encounters, Hong Kong Shifts publishes each and every interview that they conduct — with the consent of their interviewees. It’s vital that none of their content is curated, because to Cynthia and Maxime, “it’s important to show that everyone has a story.”
Despite both working in law, the pair each come from drastically different backgrounds: Cynthia grew up in Hong Kong honing an interest in writing while Maxime was born in Belgium with a passion for photography. The interview process is often a harmonious, symbiotic collaboration. Cynthia conducts the interviews and Maxime photographs its subjects. “I don’t speak Cantonese, so during interviews I mostly try to break the ice with my gweilo humour,” Maxime jokes as he describes the process of their interviews, “I also spend a lot of time observing my surroundings, pointing out aspects of our interviewee that may be worth asking about.”
“The biggest challenge is always the limited time we have,” Cynthia sighs, “because the vast majority of these interviews aren’t arranged, we try to speak to these people quickly to get a meaningful story.” Maxime nods in agreement as he adds “this also reflects the people we’re interviewing. They’re busy for a reason. If they’re willing to speak with us for 20 minutes, it’s already a fantastic gift.”
In addition to raising awareness for members of the local community, Hong Kong Shifts works towards presenting a more personable side of charity organisations. By featuring a different social worker each month, Hong Kong Shifts showcases alternative ways in which affiliated charities have made concrete change.
In the wake of COVID-19, Cynthia and Maxime have found it increasingly difficult to establish meaningful connections with their interviewees. “It’s precisely because of how we are all so disconnected, that this project needs to continue,” Cynthia states. “But raising awareness is only the first step,” Maxime asserts. When asked about ways to give back, both Maxime and Cynthia agree that it’s the little things that count. “Just smile and wave,” they say, “you’d be surprised by how much that can positively impact those around you.”
Follow Hong Kong Shifts via their website, hongkongshifts.com or Instagram, @hongkongshifts
Editor
Tiffany NgCredit
Lead image: Bradley Aaron
