Spirit of Hong Kong Awards: educator who removes death’s stigma through culture
Joseph Lau takes students to cemeteries, funeral homes and heritage exhibitions, encouraging them to learn about culture outside the classroom
Joseph Lau Yui-yip has taken students to cemeteries, funeral parlours and heritage exhibitions because he believes some parts of Hong Kong culture are best understood outside the classroom.
Lau heads the student affairs department of Polytechnic University’s college of professional and continuing education and has spent years researching subjects ranging from funeral customs to a little-known Hakka animal dance.
His work has put him among the finalists in the culture category of this year’s Spirit of Hong Kong Awards, co-organised by Sino Group and the South China Morning Post.
