“Have you read today’s column of Zunzi yet?” From 1980’s to present, when Hong Kong people read their newspaper every morning, they can read Zunzi’s sarcastic political cartoons as well. While commenting the current affairs with just a few lines, Zunzi manages to decode the political situation for the public, thereby making us smile and comforting our soul to get through the hard and depressing time. During the ever-changing mid-1970’s, Zunzi enrolled in the Art Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Inspired by the heated political atmosphere on the university campus, he became interested in the relationship between art and society. After graduation, Zunzi started to drew politics cartoons for the magazine “Pai Shing Bi-weekly” (People), and started his career as a political cartoonist. It has been forty years, and the pungent remains. His works are witty, sophisticated and humorous while keeping up with the pulse of times. Where do all these smart ideas come from? This episode is hosted by political cartoonist Justin WONG. Together they will exchange their views on Zunzi’s artworks and the political changes in Hong Kong, and to explore how Zunzi uses his cartoons to depict the real stories that belong to Hong Kong people. Host: Justin WONG (Political Cartoonist / Assistant Professor of the Academy of Visual Arts at Hong Kong Baptist University)

Artist Zheng Bo was born in Beijing and is now based in Hong Kong. His work emphasises social, ecological and community engagement. Nature and plants are recurrent subjects in his recent projects. Bo’s most recent pieces, on show till the 25th April in Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, focus on orchids. Also from Beijing, Yin Xiuzhen finds her inspiration in the manmade world rather than the world of nature. Her work focuses on found objects and personal traces, which she bring together to reflect on our current status quo. On show at the Centre for Heritage Arts and Textile space, “Sky Patch” includes a series of video and installation works that references her mother’s past as a textile factory worker and her own practice of using textiles and garments in her work. Harmonica player Kelvin Leung has been on the show before. He is back this time with guitarist Aaron Lui. Last November, the two performed a concert of movie soundtrack music together. For the show this week, they have prepared a Paganini piece originally for the violin and piano or guitar. We also chatted with them via Zoom.

Episode 6 “Care for Carers” Guests: Kearen PANG, Dr Dana LO Person in dialogue: Dana LO (Family Medicine Specialist / Master of Arts in Guidance and Counselling) Dr LO has written articles for news columns and academic journals, and created a prose collection and a novel. Besides, she was the executive producer and scriptwriter of a drama (“Doctors Burnout”, collaborated with the drama society of medical students of the University of Hong Kong) and short videos on health topics. While providing professional advice to her patients during medical consultations, Dr LO also cares about patients’ emotional and mental health.

The 5mm Menace Microplastics have become a hot issue in the environmental sector in recent years. They are fragments from degradation of plastic and are called “micro”-plastics as their diameter is less than 5mm. Although we can hardly see microplastics with our bare eyes, they are actually within our reach, as they have already snuck into our life. To prevent ecological disasters brought about by microplastics, eradication of their sources should not be delayed.

A single family with four different political stances: pro-establishment, centrist, moderately pro-democratic and radical pro-democratic. This episode takes a look into the political spectrum in Hong Kong through the Yuen family’s story, at relationships and their changes in our time.

On Wednesday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan delivered his Budget for the coming year. In the midst of a pandemic and with the jobless rate at 7%, the highest in 17 years, many Hongkongers were hoping for decisive measures to help them through this difficult time. But it seems as though they were disappointed. In an instant survey conducted on the day by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Program, respondents gave the Budget just 36.4 marks out of 100. To talk about the Budget are Kevin Tsui, an economist from the University of Hong Kong, and John Marrett, a senior analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit. Despite the pandemic and profound socio-political tensions in Hong Kong, one thing hasn’t changed – Hong Kong’s property prices. The latest CBRE Global Living 2020 report names Hong Kong as the most expensive property market, with the average price of a residential property at US1.25 million. In terms of housing supply, this year’s Budget has little to offer. The average waiting time for public housing has risen to 5.7 years, a record high. It’s estimated that just 101,400 units will be completed in the coming five years. Meanwhile for years there have been calls for the government to re-introduce rent controls, particularly for low-income tenants. But officials have resolutely turned a deaf ear.

When talking about the most representative webcomic artist in Hong Kong in the past decade, “Strange Uncle” Cuson LO (LO Chi-kong) must not be forgotten. His page set up on social media has more than 170 000 fans. His previous work “My (Hong-)Kong-girl Wife” series, as well as “The Chaos of Yellow Glove”, an online competition among illustrators triggered by comic artist Chao Yat and him in 2019, had been hot topics among young Hong Kong netizens. At first, Cuson LO’s comics featured anecdotes in his life. His bits of life with his “(Hong-)Kong-girl” wife and his cute cat at home were all included in his works. As a comic artist, he is a rare success in Hong Kong who makes himself the protagonist in comics and becomes popular. Cuson LO’s humorous and interesting slice of life comics are loved by netizens. Later, as Hong Kong’s political issues have become more and more severe and shocked every Hong Kong people, Cuson LO said that he, as a “Hong Kong pig” and inspired by politics, had begun to draw comics featuring social disputes. His comics are bold and blunt, in which he includes sarcasm that hit the nail on the head, and also the emotional lessons he learnt from social events, bringing tears and laughter and reaching people’s heart. Many of his works are forwarded and shared by numerous netizens, and sometimes may even reverse public opinion. This episode is hosted by scholar cum political comic artist Justin WONG, who will first visit the home office of Cuson LO to understand how he gains inspiration for his creations from his daily life, then they will have an in-depth conversation about various phenomena of today’s webcomics culture. Host: JustinWONG (Political Comic Artist / Assistant Professor, Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University)

With lockdown and social-distancing measures in place, the pandemic has seen a surge in online businesses, such as online shopping, online streaming, video communication and deliveries. With many art and cultural activities on hold, artists too are finding ways to reach their audiences via a more personal and tailor-made approach. Yeung Tong-lung’s paintings depicting the daily lives of Hongkongers, especially the working class, show scenes that can sometimes look very familiar to us, but they can also create an unconventional or even surreal feeling. Yeung says his paintings aren’t specifically about the people or their surroundings. They are about “the act of painting and through that, the act of depicting life”. On show at Blindspot Gallery until 6th March, “Daily Practice” showcases works mainly painted in 2019 and 2020. The exhibition includes a 4.5-metre-wide triptych of a squatter village in Mount Davis, an intimate scene on a rooftop, a crowded eatery and some 33 sketches of everyday life as seen through the windows of his studio in Kennedy Town. As the name suggests, the trio “Chromatic Collective” hopes to bring colour into the music they play. Made up of clarinettist, Theresa Lam, flautist Ginny Tin and pianist Timothy Wong, the chamber ensemble describes itself as wanting to explore the fun in musical chromaticism. Theresa, Ginny and Timothy are with us virtually this week to explain what they mean by that and to talk about their upcoming launch concert.