We have a very special guest on today’s show, and she’s someone you may well know already if you are familiar with the music of John Cage and George Crumb. She’s Margaret Leng Tan, a classically trained pianist who has elevated the toy piano to the status of a recognised instrument with its own repertoire, introduced it to the concert hall stages, and become the world’s first toy piano virtuoso. Tan began taking piano lessons at the age of six. At 16, she received a scholarship to study at The Juilliard School in New York, and became the first woman to earn a Doctorate in Musical Arts at Juilliard in 1971. Ten years later, in 1981, she met the avant-garde composer and theorist John Cage, who became a mentor and close friend. They worked together for the last 11 years of Cage’s life. Thanks in part to the connection with John Cage, Tan became a recognised force in the American avant-garde. Whether working with the prepared piano or the toy piano, she explores new ways to communicate with the audience through music, theatrical elements, choreography and performance. Tan’s in Hong Kong this week to present, for two nights, a very personal work, “Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep”, at Westk’s debut Solo Fest, a coproduction of the Authority, the Chamber Made and CultureLink Singapore. She’s also with us right now to give us a sample of its capabilities.

One border crossing, two villages, and generations of residents navigating the tides of change. The Heung Yuen Wai Control Point, the seventh land port between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, fully opened in 2023. To make way for it, Chuk Yuen Tsuen was entirely relocated, while Heung Yuen Wai Tsuen remained in place. Those displaced gained modern amenities but lost their ancestral land; those who stayed preserved tradition but missed opportunities for better living conditions. What is the ideal path for these two communities, across two generations?

Hong Kong’s television industry was once thriving, the 1970s and 1980s are fondly remembered as the “TV boom” era, a shared memory among Hong Kong residents. In recent years, however, the rise of streaming platforms and intensified competition from neighboring regions have led to a decline in advertising revenue for commercially operated broadcasters, posing a significant challenge to the local TV sector. How can television professionals stay competitive and collectively promote “Hong Kong productions” into broader markets, restoring the industry’s former glory?