Melodies of Change: The role of popular music in shaping public memory of heritage sites – A Case Study of Lee Tung Street, Hong Kong
Written by Jiayu Augustine Chen
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Conservation), Department of Landscape, The University of Hong Kong
August, 2024
Declaration
I guarantee that I wrote this thesis on my own. I discussed the topic and its feasibility with the supervisors throughout the process. All the work is done by myself.
Abstract
A Cantonese popular song about the disappeared cultural relics of Hong Kong old lives - “Wedding Invitation Street”, has been receiving with resonance among local Hong Kong people and audiences, but also generated much cultural reflection on Hong Kong’s conservation actions among public. This article examines the role of the song in the public sphere, and investigates how the song impacts the public memories about the street, the city, and the culture. This thesis will use public sphere as theoretical foundation, and use questionnaire to obtain views on the song and the site. It finds out that popular music such as “Wedding Invitation Street“ could shape public memory and raise the awareness to value culturally significant sites. It contributes to the public sphere with a perspective of heritage making process, linking communications and heritage studies, and providing a vivid example of relationship between one popular song and perceptions about physical space.
Keywords: Popular music; Public memory; Public sphere; Urban renewal; Lee Tung Street; Wedding Invitation Street; Heritage
Acknowledgement
I choose to study in Hong Kong for personal reasons, because that I am deeply influenced by Hong Kong’s vibrant popular culture. Although I cannot speak Cantonese, I am able to sing a lot Cantonpop. The feelings and impressions I had of Hong Kong before arriving largely matched my experiences here. The inspiration for this thesis stems from my own experience of being someone who wanted to visit Lee Tung Street after hearing the song “Wedding Invitation Street”. First and foremost, I must express my gratitude to my mom. Her financial support made it possible for me to come to Hong Kong, a place I had longed to experience.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Roger Wu. From our discussions, he discovered my initial motivation, or rather, my research preference, and helped me define the general direction of my research, that is, focusing on the heritage site and popular music. Throughout the process of writing this thesis, Professor Changxue Shu provided me with professional guidance and a deeper understanding of the normative procedures of academic research. Due to my personal interests, regardless of whether I pursue a PhD in the future, I am confident that I will continue this line of research. I am genuinely eager to make substantial contributions, beyond just this two-month Conservation thesis. Additionally, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to those who participated in my questionnaire survey. Although the sample size of this study was not large and may not rigorously support my hypothesis, the insights provided by these participants who are familiar with Lee Tung Street and “Wedding Invitation Street” have been invaluable.
Content
1. Introduction
1.1 Research Objective
1.2 Research Questions
1.3 Overview of the Thesis
2. Literature Review
2.1 Public Sphere and Popular Music
2.2 Place Attachment, Public Memory, and Popular Music
2.3 Heritage Discourse and Popular Music
3. Hypothesis: Popular Music, Public Memory, and Heritage
4. Methodology
4.1. Research Design
4.2. Data Collection
4.3 Limitations
5. Lee Tung Street: the “Wedding Invitation Street” in previous studies
5.1 Background and Significance of Lee Tung Street
5.2 Urban Renewal Project and Its Impact
5.3 Public Sphere About Lee Tung Street
5.4 Wedding Invitation Street”
6. Findings and Discussion
6.1. “Lee Tung Street is the memory of a generation”
6.2. Popular music enables awareness of places and stories behind
6.3. Popular music envisions the image of a place
6.4. Popular music delivers, emphasizes and evokes public memories about places
6.5. Popular music creates a public sphere for heritage discourses
7. Concluding Remarks
7.1. Lee Tung Street: Successful or Not?
7.2. Popular Music: Opportunities and Limitations
7.3. Implication and Future Direction
9. Appendices
9.1. Questionnaire
9.2. Original Answers (Selected)
9.3. Lyrics (Chinese and English)
9.4. Discussion
1. Introduction
Looking back, Hong Kong launched an urban renewal project in Wan Chai district, where Lee Tung Street was demolished and rebuilt. Lee Tung Street, also known as Wedding Invitation Street, is famous for its printing business. Regardless of the social-cultural significance and value of the street and the opposition from the local community, the urban renewal project had a profound impact on the cultural ecology of Hong Kong (Zhou, et. al., 2007). As the redevelopment progressed, the original residents relocated, leading to the disappearance of the original street, culture and the way of life of the street. This event prompted reflection on culture and heritage, causing an uproar in the public sphere of Hong Kong. Within a period of time, newspapers, media outlets, conferences, publications were all available, making the discussion continue to ferment. A popular Cantonese Song “Wedding Invitation Street”, sung by Kay Tse, written by Wyman Wong, responding to the loss of Lee Tung Street, narrated this urban story, was released in 2008.
1. 1 Research Objective
Based on the case study of the popular song “Wedding Invitation Street” and the urban renewal project of Lee Tung Street, this thesis, grounded in the theory of the public sphere, aims to explore the multifaceted role of the popular song “Wedding Invitation Street” by Kay Tse, in reinforcing and shaping public memories and perceptions of Lee Tung Street. The term “public memory” refers to the collective memory shared by a group of people, encompassing the ways in which the “public” remember and commemorate past events, figures, and cultural practices through public discourses (Nicolosi, 2023). With this, this research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how this particular song can shape and sustain the memory of this urban heritage site of the “public”s. It also seeks to contribute to broader discussions on the intersection of music, memory, and heritage within the public sphere.
1.2 Research Questions
There are several questions this article aim to explore: How does the song “Wedding Invitation Street”, influence public memory and nostalgia for Lee Tung Street as well as the alleged Wedding Invitation Street? What role does the song “Wedding Invitation Street” play in shaping the cultural narrative and collective memory of Lee Tung Street? In what ways could popular music contribute to the discussion of heritage in the public sphere? How could popular music contribute to heritage discourses?
In answering these questions, the study will investigate how “Wedding Invitation Street” influences the public memory of Lee Tung Street, particularly in terms of emotional resonance and nostalgia, while the hypothesis here is a positive answer to them. According to Warner (2002), there is a distinction between “the public” and “a public”. The former refers to a social totality, such as a nation, while the latter refers to a discourse-based self-organized group (Warner, 2002). The “public” here refers to different groups of individuals; one type of “public” is the general audience of the song who know or do not know the street, and other types of “public” are the Hong Kong residents who listen or do not listen to the song. This paper will also explore how the song facilitates public discourse about Lee Tung Street, examining social media discussions, public forums, and other platforms where the song or the street is referenced.
1.3 Overview of the Thesis
In the following literature review, it will firstly summarize the literature on the public sphere, a theory grounded in Habermas, to provide a better understanding of the theoretical foundation. Previous studies that have examined popular music within the public sphere will be explored. However, most of these studies have focused on social and political perspectives, with little attention given to the intersection with culture and heritage. Therefore, this thesis aims to bridge this gap by integrating the concepts of the public sphere, popular music, and heritage, which is the primary contribution of this research.
In the second part of the literature review, it will discuss the relationship between place attachment, popular music, and memory. This section will highlight the significance of emotional connections and memories to places, revealing the capability of popular music to convey these sentimental attachments, emphasizing the importance of finding a way to maintain public memories.
The third part will focus on heritage discourse. Traditionally, heritage interpretation has been dominated by experts, and public engagement in heritage field has been limited to decision-making and conservation actions. From previous literature on these three sub-sections, it is concluded that popular music could serve as a discourse tool within the public sphere in the era of mass media, enabling the public to discuss heritage. In this way, popular music could potentially influence a broader audience and elevate public awareness and understanding of heritage which is the hypothesis of this thesis.
To investigate the research questions and test the hypothesis that popular music could create and sustain public memory within the public sphere and be the educational tool for heritage awareness-raising, this study uses Lee Tung Street and the song “Wedding Invitation Street” as a case study. In the methodology, research process and data collection method will be clarified. Then, the background information on Lee Tung Street, related discussions within the public sphere, and the background and interpretation of the song “Wedding Invitation Street” will be provided. A questionnaire is designed to gather public opinions about the street and the song.
Subsequently, a series of discussions based on the theoretical foundations, previous literature, as well as the questionnaire survey will be conducted. The main argument is that the “Wedding Invitation Street” song, embodied a nostalgic for the past and a sigh to the change expressed through its lyrics and melodies, evoking public memories of the street and prompting reflections on heritage in Hong Kong.
2. Literature Review
This section will review and discuss previous research and literature on three sets of literature are reviewed, that is, “Public Sphere and Popular Music”, “Place Attachment, Popular Music, and Public Memory”, and “Heritage Discourses”. Each of these topics will be examined sequentially in order to create a coherent progression towards the central objective of this thesis. Based on the literature review, the author synthesizes these insights to elucidate the inter-relationship between “Popular Music, Public Memory, and Heritage”, that popular music could provide a public sphere for heritage discourses, and could shape and emphasize public memory on heritage, proposing a hypothesis, thereby establishing a coherent foundation for the subsequent analysis in this thesis.
2.1 Public Sphere and Popular Music
In the early bourgeois public sphere, rational-critical debates occurred in coffee houses, salons, and print media, where citizens engaged directly with public issues (Elizalde and Fitz Herbert, 2023). The public sphere is an ideal of unrestricted communication, aiming to generate consensus about the common good through reasoned debate (Fraser, 2017). Habermas acknowledges the contrast between the ideal and the reality of manipulated pseudopublicity in contemporary society, where mass media often distort public discourse (Fraser, 2017), and the communication space among private individuals transformed into a space dominated by mass media and public opinion, influenced by political opinion polls over time (Elizalde and Fitz Herbert, 2023). According to Habermas (Elizalde and Fitz Herbert, 2023), to achieve the best common understanding and solutions, all participants should be treated equally in their shared use of reason, and only better arguments will be convincing. Only in this way can they jointly effectively restrict state authority and require state authority to prove its legitimacy.
Modernity has transformed how people connect with strangers, building up new publics mediated by various cultural forms. The introduction of newspapers, radio, television, and eventually the internet transformed the ways in which public discourse was conducted (Luciano and Arturo, 2023; Warner, 2002). However, the transformation of the public sphere leads to challenges from various perspectives and draws tensions between rational discourse and market-driven publicity. For example, the rise of mass media has transformed the public sphere into one where public opinion can be shaped and controlled by those who own or influence media outlets. Citizens become passive consumers of information rather than active participants in public discourse, and economic interests can dominate public discourse, undermining the principle of rational-critical debate (Elizalde and Fitz Herbert, 2023). Kersey et al. (2011) observe a trend in the public sphere from a mass-mediated one to a networked one, where individuals could communicate with each other among their own networks, blurring the line between information production and consumption.
While criticisms exist regarding whether this shift benefits democracy, the capacity of the general public to produce cultural goods has been elevated (Kersey et al., 2011; Staab and Thiel, 2022). Mass media have expanded the reach of information but also centralized control, influencing public opinion and agenda-setting (Fraser, 2017). Staab and Thiel (2022) argue for the necessity of returning to political-economic fundamentals to analyze the public sphere and establish a connection between digital-behavioral control and singularized audiences within proprietary markets. Social media platforms operate as proprietary markets where access to consumers is commodified. These platforms trade in user data and attention, selling advertising space and facilitating targeted marketing. They discuss three key dimensions - mediality (media forms and their control), subjectivity (individual experiences and identities), and accumulation (economic structures and market dynamics) - to analyze the contemporary public sphere. In the article of Wagner (2000), according to the social origin theory by Salamon and Anheirer that explains patterns of nonprofit development cross-nationally by categorizing nonprofit regimes based on government social welfare spending and the scale of the nonprofit sector, he proposes a new framework that views the public sphere as a complex network of organizations rather than separate institutional sectors.
Building on Habermas’s theory of the public sphere, many researchers have explored the role of popular music within this context. Wu et al. (2011) examined a talent show in China, “Super Girl”, investigating the public sphere around this musical performance in modern media and the underlying political signals within the aesthetic public sphere, such as online forums and newspapers. In this case, the public sphere is where individuals organize to discuss the entertainment program’s common concerns regarding the singers’ capabilities and the fairness of the rankings in a rational and critical manner. In Pakistan, popular music is utilized as a viable discourse in sociopolitical reform, questioning the authoritarian tendencies of democratic governments and military dictatorships. As a means of political dissent, disguised under humor, Pakistani protest songs indeed create a public sphere and promote consciousness on social issues (Pirzadeh and Pirzada, 2019). In the research of de Vries and van Elferen (2010) on Musical Ringtones, it was found out that the process of listening to the song could create a cultural identity.
While music was previously used for political representation, it was potentially seen as a tool for cultural policy with moral and educational potential. Roder and Wolff (2010) examine the evolution of the public sphere for music in Berlin from the time of Frederick II to the Prussian Reform in the early nineteenth century, suggesting that the popularization of music culture during this period was driven by the increased importance of representational culture at the courts. Nærland (2015) investigates the political significance of Norwegian hip-hop music through the theoretical framework of public sphere theory, exploring how music functions within the public sphere and its potential to contribute to public political discourse and deliberative democracy. Van der Waal and Robins (2011) discuss the song “De la Rey,” whose uplifting lyrics and catchy melody evoked a nostalgic longing for Afrikaners’ heroic past, sparking widespread performances and quasi-ceremonial gatherings. The song became a vehicle for expressing submerged feelings of honor and self-esteem among younger generations in new South Africa, though interpretations of the song varied widely. The way the media frames issues affects public perception and opinion (Luciano and Arturo, 2023).
Popular music is seen as a medium that unites different generations, resonating with core values of populism such as the notion of a homogeneous people and nostalgia for an idealized past (Padoan and Caiani, 2023). Cunningham (2001) explores the role of popular media in forming public ‘sphericules’ for diasporic communities. He investigates how displaced peoples use media (video, television, cinema, music, and the Internet) to negotiate new cultural identities, challenging traditional understandings of media and culture. Diasporic media play a crucial role in cultural survival and identity negotiation for displaced communities. These media facilitate the maintenance of cultural heritage, provide a platform for political and cultural debates, and help communities adapt to dominant cultures (Cunningham, 2001). Hermes (2006) explores the potential of popular culture to contribute to the public sphere, challenging the conventional boundaries between public and private, and between fiction and non-fiction, proposing that popular culture can play a significant role in reinvigorating civic engagement and public debate. He introduces the concept of “cultural citizenship”, which involves the rights and responsibilities individuals exercise through their engagement with popular culture (Hermes, 2006).
Dahlgren (2006) argues for a cultural perspective on civic agency, seeing citizenship not just in formal terms but also in terms of meaning, practices, communication, and identities. Ordinary people often engage in public debates through their interactions with popular culture, such as discussions among fans, neighbors, or co-workers. These “hidden debates” can be leveraged to address broader public issues and contribute to the public sphere. While popular culture offers opportunities for civic engagement, it also faces challenges such as commercialization and the risk of superficial engagement (Dahlgren, 2006).
While much research has been conducted on the intersection of pop music and the public sphere, most of these discussions have been politically oriented. There is a notable gap in the literature regarding the memory of place and heritage. Some scholars have argued that there needs to be more attention paid to cultural dimensions within the public sphere (Staab and Thiel, 2022). Therefore, the integration of the public sphere, pop music, and heritage in this thesis represents a significant contribution to the existing body of research.
2.2 Place Attachment, Public Memory, and Popular Music
The concept of place is intrinsically connected to the temporal dimension, as places are dynamic sites of events and happenings that cannot be separated from time or space (Malpas, 2018). Attachment is an apt word for describing the regret and mourning of displaced communities and it tenders to stronger connection within community members (Devine-Wright, 2020). Place attachment, defined as the emotional bond between people and a particular place, has been the subject of intense academic debate in various disciplines involving psychology (Scannell and Gifford, 2010; Gustafson, 2001), geography (Depriest-Hricko and Prytherch, 2013), and heritage. Another term frequently utilized is sense of place, which refers to both the character and identity of certain locations and how the identity is shaped in relation to them, creating a sense of belonging (Malpas, 2018), which is subjective and multifaceted, varying among different communities and individuals (Billig, 2005). Depriest-Hricko and Prytherch (2013); Cantillon and Baker (2022) argue that sense of place is a process, about which should be understood by individual or community stories that are shaped by people’s experience, knowledge and the memorial attachment to physical place across space and time. Moreover, the significance of a place extends beyond its materiality, persisting in individual and collective memories (Cantillon and Baker, 2022). Nostalgia, which encompasses a sense of loss and a sense of hope or longing for a better future at the same time, plays a crucial role in the collective memory which contributes to what the site is (Smith and Campbell, 2017). All the mentioned words could lead to the focus of this thesis about public memory, a synonym of collective memory.
Public memory is regarded as a collective memory of past events in the public domain in a society, which not only includes the recording of historical events, but also involves how society interprets and reconstructs these events through various media (Nicolosi, 2023), including popular music. Public memory could be used to shape the social understanding of events through selective reporting and narrative methods, to provide a space for discussion and reflection, and to influence policy-making and social identity (Nicolosi, 2023). In heritage management practices, intangible meanings are often not prioritized in the assessment of heritage value while the site significance goes beyond materiality (Cantillon and Baker, 2022). Heritage conservation involves two aspects, one is for monuments and other forms of existence, another is for the customary social lifestyle fabric of a city (Fosler, 2019).According to Smith (2006), heritage is no longer refined as physical objects or alleged intangible heritage, it is a process of engaging cultural and social performance, rendering memories, identities and human affiliation. Everyday heritage, mention by Fosler (2019), refers to the making of place and urban heritage led by the local community, emphasizes the importance of community involvement in heritage conservation. In the modern and critical definition of heritage, the products of different performances and the place for such performances are account for heritage. In some case where the place is gone, however, the significance and meaning still linger in individual and collective memories (Cantillon and Baker, 2022), in an intangible or resided in another tangible forms.
Popular music often addresses a public, creating a shared cultural experiences among listeners. Public memory is influenced by media (Nicolosi, 2023), and music has the ability to arouse cultural memories and to endow stories of past with meaning and identities, indicating what places were like in the past (van der Hoeven, 2018). Bakri, et al. (2021) reckons that a place becomes particularly significant to its residents when they have a narrative connection to it, including the name of the place as well as family and community histories. Schiavone, et al. (2022) stated that popular culture could be an educational tool in the conservation of tangible or intangible heritage. In this sense of heritage conservation, Malpas (2008) did a conceptual investigation into the subject of how new media that are digital and measurable work for the “sense of place” and the cultural heritage. He recognizes that new media have the potential to promote cultural heritage that people inherit collectively in ways such as recording, re-narrating and providing assistance in remembering and reconstructing of significant locales. Nevertheless, it is worth noticing that the “information” delivered by new media has limitation, which could not be as strong as the cultural significance closely cohere around the places and things (Malpas, 2008). Van der Hoeven and Brandellero (2015) are among many proponents of the viewpoint that places could be remembered via music. Songs using names of places could reinforce the connections between place and community, support the maintenance of cultural identity and serve as a means of conserving historical stories (Post, 2020). It is worthy mentioning that public memory is a dynamic process, influenced by social structure, cultural background and political factors (Nicolosi, 2023).
2.3 Heritage Discourse and Popular Music
Music, as a form of discourse, can create and sustain the public. There are two types of heritage discourse discussed in previous heritage studies (Schiavone, et al., 2022; Smith, 2006), that is, Authorized Heritage Discourse (ADH) and Heritage From Below (HFB). Music, as a bottom-up approach, could resonate with local communities and their attachment to culture (Van der Hoeven and Brandellero, 2015). Similarly, Mort (2020) analyzes the creative work of poets in relation to places, concluding that these written narratives subjectively or collectively reflect the identity of a place. Narratives and discourses could be conveyed through various media, genres, and formats, one of which is music and its lyrics, which serves to connect our personal identities to broader cultural narratives (Van der Hoeven, 2018). Van der Hoeven and Brandellero (2015) point out that the memories popular music expresses attached to specific places could contribute to the sense of belonging in regional neighbourhoods, and the lyrics are capable of depicting the cultural landscape of an urban area in a certain time period.
In the era of mass media, the influence of popular culture including music could transcend the geographical and ethnological boundaries, constructing and reconstructing identities (Van der Hoeven and Brandellero, 2015). The word “popular culture” was defined by academics at the beginning, and the vernacular expression of popular culture is formed in the process of evolution and the combination between culture products and consumer conducts (McKee, 2022; Deng, 2017). It is raised the consideration of the difference between popular culture and folk culture, that the latter is more grass-rooted (Deng, 2017).
Popular culture, including films (Schiavone, et al. 2022), music (Long, 2014), sports, has been widely acknowledged to be capable of attracting tourism under the fandom culture (Lexhagen, 2023). Some professionals in heritage studies use music as a subject to explore its heritage significance. Some research cover a wider scope of popular culture. A research done by Schiavone, et al. (2022) explores the ongoing relationship between conservation of heritage sites and the production of popular cultural products such as film and tourism, shedding light on the protection of intangible heritage imbued in place. Geraghty (2019) also finds out that where the background of a fiction is, there will be tourism because of the literature. The similar culture-triggered tourism also happens in music (Van der Hoeven and Brandellero, 2015; Long, 2014). In the study of music and tourism, Long (2014) proposes that local and national identities are expressed through lyrics of popular songs, while the images and emotions linked to specific places are stereotypical. Furthermore, the word “Soundscape” is used to demonstrate the phenomenon that listeners build up an imagination about places solidified by popular music (Long, 2014).
The impact of popular music is influenced by the special setting of the prevailing popular culture, and also depend on the balance between cultural expressions and economic effects on the public (Askin and Mauskapf, 2017). Music, as one of the new media which passes down meanings and sensory experience by melodies and lyrics, opens us a new access for audience to engage with the cultural heritage and enables new forms of collective memories (Malpas, 2008). In this sense, popular music could be treated as a tool to increase public engagement in the heritage discourse within public sphere, and the public shaped by popular music collectively engaging in the creation of evolving meaning of public memory.
3. Hypothesis: Popular Music, Public Memory, and Heritage
In the process of investigating the role of popular music in shaping public memory of heritage sites, this research proposes a hypothesis that popular music can serve as a means of public education to raise awareness of heritage. Given that this assumption involves cross-disciplinary dialogues, the literature review aims to introduce various concepts and topics, smoothly transitioning to the core argument of the article.
4. Methodology
This section outlines the methodology employed in this study, including the research design, data collection, and the limitation of this research. By utilizing a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach, this study aims to gather in-depth insights into the relationship between popular music “Wedding Invitation Street” and public memory on the Lee Tung Street.
4.1 Research Design
This research employs a case study approach on previous research and disclosures, focusing on Lee Tung Street and the song “Wedding Invitation Street” to examine the role and impact of popular music in shaping public memory. Firstly, detailed account of the history and significance of Lee Tung Street will be provided, highlighting its cultural and social importance within Hong Kong. In the case study section, how the urban renewal project has affected Lee Tung Street will be also explored, presenting the changes and their implications for the community and public memory. Then, the song “Wedding Invitation Street” by Kay Tse, written for Lee Tung Street will be introduced. A thorough analysis of the lyrics will be conducted to understand the themes and messages conveyed by the song and how they relate to the historical and cultural aspects of Lee Tung Street.
To gather public opinion, a survey (see Appendices) aiming to collect information about public’s familiarity with Lee Tung Street, their impression of the area, and how the song influences their memory and perception of the street. By structuring the research in this way, the study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the tole of popular music in shaping public memory, using Lee Tung Street and the song “Wedding Invitation Street” as a focal point.
4.2 Data Collection
A structured questionnaire was designed in the platform of Microsoft Forms to collect data from participants who are familiar with at least the song or the street. The questionnaire includes both closed and open-ended questions to capture a range of responses. The questionnaire was released online, mainly personal networks and Red. Data were collected between 18th June, 2024 to 18th July, 2024, with a total of 82 respondents. In this study’s survey, the respondents exhibit a diverse range of backgrounds. Approximately 30% of the respondents are from Hong Kong, primarily consisting of working professionals and students. The remaining 70% are from regions outside of Hong Kong, mainly comprising tourists and individuals who came to Hong Kong for educational purposes. The respondents’ places of residence are quite dispersed, with about one-tenth residing permanently in the Wan Chai district, half residing in other districts of Hong Kong, and the rest being tourists. Most respondents belong to the younger generation, with an age range roughly between their early twenties and under forty (this is likely influenced by the author’s social network and may also be because this generation is particularly influenced by popular music). The collected data and answers from the questionnaire were analyzed using the automate-formed figures of Microsoft Forms for statistics such as percentages and Conventional Content Analysis (Hsieh and Shannon, 2005) for open-ended answers. Responses in traditional Chinese or simplified Chinese, are translated into English by the author.
4.3. Limitations
This methodology provides a framework for the analysis in the following sections. In the section of findings, results of the survey and analysis of the lyrics will be incorporated to construct the basis of arguments. However, there were some limitations, such as the people did the questionnaire are predominantly ordinary public, lacking of professional viewpoints and the covering of public is restrained by the spread of social media that some public not reachable to author’s network are excluded. Overall, this study summarizes the accessible information as much as possible within the scope of the author’s ability, effectively supports the research objectives and makes valuable insights and a certain degree of contribution to the topic of exploring the role of popular music in shaping public cultural memory of heritage sites through the case of Lee Tung Street.
5. Lee Tung Street: the “Wedding Invitation Street” in previous studies
5.1 Background and Significance of Lee Tung Street
Wan Chai District is one of the earliest area to be developed in Hong Kong where Eastern and Western culture mingled, which has been an important residential space for Chinese since 1860s (Smith, 1995). Lee Tung Street, built between 1911 to 1920 (Zheng, 2000; Zhou, et al., 2007), is 9 meters wide and approximately 150 meters long, intersecting with Queen’s Road in the South and with Johnston Road in the North (Figure 1). This area is an important zone for residential and local small business activities (Zhou, et al., 2007). As is could be noticed from the ground floor plan (Figure 1) that there are many small-scale shops while the upper floors are designated for residence, which highlights the mixed-use character in the vicinity.
Figure 1: Ground floor of Lee Tung Street before demolition (Ho, 2003)
In the early period, buildings on Lee Tung Street were three-storey Tong Lau - a type of building representing Chinese’s colonial identity of Hong Kong (Chu, 2012). It was then in 1950s rebuilt by a private company into six-or-seven-storey which was the tallest building in Wan Chai at that time (Zhou, et al., 2007). By the urban renewal project, the Tong Lau in Lee Tung Street are among the only existing architecture collections from 1950s-1960s (Anon, 2005).
Wan Chai used to be the printing center of Hong Kong before 1970s (Zhou, et al., 2007). Concomitantly, some merchants started printing various wedding invitations, calendars, and New Year’s packets, thus rendering the name of Wedding Invitation Street, that many new couples and even international enterprises came (Zhou, et al., 2007; Anon, 2008). The characteristic culture of Wan Chai area is features as interdependent small business based and the lifestyle delineated by a close community network.
Lee Tung Street is well known not only because of its printing products, but also for its business model and community coherence that led to its prosperity in printing. According to Zhou, et al. (2007), the rectangular ground floor plan is suitable for their merging production and sales at one site where the shop is at the front and the factory is located back inside (Figure 2), through which the business prototype is convenient for the operations of small business, the promotion of product quality and collaboration among neighbouring shops in material and different processes. All of these lay the material base of Wedding Invitation Street and its business gathering, becoming one of the substantial supports of the culture in Wan Chai and constituting the unique cultural landscape in this district.
Figure 2: Upper floor plan [left] and ground floor plan [right] (Community Museum Project, 2005)
5.2 Urban Renewal Project and Its Impact
In the background of redevelopment mainly lead by the capitalism planning in Hong Kong’s real estate (Huang, 2009), this is already a city in the name of consumption, forgetting, control and deprivation, leading to the loss of something, such as the cultural fabric of urban communities (Zhou, et al., 2007). Lee Tung Street and other street blocks were within the H15 redevelopment area, and more than 600 business sectors and more than 1000 families that will be affected, old buildings being demolished for new development, tenants being relocated (Zhou, et al., 2007).
Since the official notice of the urban renewal project in 1997, arguments and debates against the complete demolition of Lee Tung Street continued even after the project. Residents, neighbourhood joint with professionals in conservation as well as other fields formed a bottom-up community group, outlined the Dumbbell Project in which interests of all parties and retain of local characters are well-balanced (Huang, 2009). However, this alternative proposal was turned down in 2005, for the reason of lacking environmental impact assessment and traffic impact assessment (Huang, 2009; Zhou, et al., 2007). Civic campaigns like displaying signals of resistance (Figure 3) do has significant implications although it failed, revealing the dark side of urban renewal officials, proposing alternative possibilities for urban development, deepening the collective memories from democratic perspectives (Zhou, et al., 2007).
Figure 3: Signals of resistance of community (Community Museum Project, 2005)
After the renewal carried out as scheduled, it is then followed with breakdown of community networks between neighbors and the collapsing of a sense of collective identity, with business moved out and the street of local economic characteristics disappeared (Zhou, et al., 2007; Anon, 2008). Everything has become mechanized: mechanized residences, mechanized shopping malls, mechanized restaurants, mechanized entertainment centers. The life with local characteristics of Hong Kong has really become a passing cloud, leaving only the yellowed images in old photos. The Hong Kong government likes to promote cultural preservation, but while improving it, it seems to be constantly destroying Hong Kong’s culture (Anon, 2008). A strong linkage between local residents and place fostered through their everyday interaction could could be proved effective in conserving urban cultural and historical landscapes (Mosler, 2019). However, Lee Tung Street presents a different case. Despite its rich cultural significance and the deep emotional ties of the community, the street faced redevelopment that led to the loss of its original character and traditional shops. The transformation into a modern, commercialized area has sparked debates about the effectiveness of heritage conservation efforts that prioritize economic development over preserving authentic cultural heritage. Critics argue that this approach undermines the unique historical and cultural identity that made Lee Tung Street a cherished part of Hong Kong’s heritage.
5.3. Public Sphere About Lee Tung Street
It is widely known in Hong Kong during that period of time, that criticism, public resorts, and discussions are everywhere in the public sphere in Hong Kong. Focused on Lee Tung Street, previous papers and literature from specialists in conservation, urban studies and politics have discussed its architectural-historical significance (Ho, 2003; Anon, 2005), its cultural relics that bring communities together (Anon, 2005; Zhou, et al., 2007), and have delved into the failure of those bottom-up movements from the essence of Hong Kong’s development (Zhou, et al., 2007), from the perspectives of politics and Foucaudian subjectivity to categorize the residents as subject under the political power and government ideology (Huang, 2009). Most of the research are done to illustrate the significance of the street and the criticism of the action of authorities.
Street is one of five elements people use to build the cities they imagine (Lynch, 1960). The redevelopment of Lee Tung Street has sparked considerable debate regarding the balance between urban renewal and cultural preservation. In many literature and recent research practical projects, heritage is deemed as a catalyst for the regeneration of a city, enlarging its economic opportunity while preserving the authentic urban fabric (Pendlebury and Porfyriou, 2017; Fouseki, et al., 2020), and it should not be treated like Lee Tung Street, whose original appearance and community coherence were completely destroyed. For Wan Chai people, the buildings on Lee Tung Street are the location of their small-scale shops and residences, are the basis of their close interpersonal network, and the basis of Wan Chai people’s identity, in which their collective memory is materialized and visualized by the builders; For non-Wan Chai people, Wedding Invitation Street represents the local economy and culture since the 1960s, and it is a resonant of collective memory (Zhou, et al., 2007).
Community Museum Project did a thorough architectural and visual conservation of Lee Tung Street, portraying the special traces of time and unique community-wide cultural characteristics including the steel gates, mail boxes, doorbells, signals (Figure 4) and business typology, showing the trace of time and the indigenous profound cultural landscape (Anon, 2005). For the residents of Wan Chai District, they have lost the close ties and unique cultural atmosphere of the community. Lee Tung Street today is completely different from the past, just like many examples of urban renewal.
Figure 4: Signals (Community Museum Project, 2005)
Apart from academic studies and museum project led by specialists, newspapers, online forums, social media, and other public spheres also feature public discussions about Lee Tung Street. These mediums allow the public to share their memories and opinions, contributing to a more inclusive understanding of the site’s cultural significance for many years. Articles are published on Ming Pao (2008a; 2008b), online news networks such as South China Morning Post (2013; 2017; 2020) and Hong Kong Free Press (2015; 2016), personal websites and blogs (HKedCity, 2022; LN CUS Alumni’s Blog, 2009), reflecting on personal memories, urban gentrification, and other issues related to Lee Tung Street. Cultural products, such as poems (Lam, 2017) expressing the grief of losing Lee Tung street for ever, videos documenting the civic campaign, and articles in the book of Xu (2007), recalling personal experiences on the street. Particularly, the Cantonpop “Wedding Invitation Street” is one of the cultural products that is produced under this topic (Ming Pao, 2008a; Ming Pao, 2008b; LN CUS Alumni’s Blog, 2009; Liang, 2020).
5.4. “Wedding Invitation Street”
From the history of Hong Kong popular music, it is found that many popular songs involve social issues, reflecting social consciousness and local culture (Liang, 2020). The song “Wedding Invitation Street”, sung by Kay Tse, written by Wyman Wong, taking the reconstruction project of Lee Tung Street as the theme of the song, is a typical example, bearing the human-and-land contradiction accompanying the development of Hong Kong, the nostalgia and the “Old City Plot” in the hearts of some Hong Kong people (Shi, 2021). Another example of the relationship between popular culture and heritage sites in Hong Kong is the movie “Echoes of the Rainbow [歲月神偷]” on the Wing Lee Street (Huo, 2021).
This Cantonese song was released in 2008 and won multiple music awards in the same year. The song was played on multiple online platforms, such as Spotify, Youtube. Cantopop is the folk popular music in Hong Kong and is getting popular internationally, expanding its influence into mainland China, such as the platform NetEase Cloud Music. From a mainland listener’s perspective, the song is famous for its melody and there are approximately 40,000 comments under the song of the singer. Moreover, some foreign singers also perform this song (Youtube, 2015).
The singer Kay Tse is very concerned about social issues, in the record of interview (Ming Pao, 2008a), she said that she preferred the Hong Kong that emphasized working and prospering together, rather than the Hong Kong that speculated. When she saw the forum held for Queen’s Pier, she called Wyman and asked to create a song about Hong Kong conservation. Thus, the song “Wedding Invitation Street” was born (Ming Pao, 2008a). Seeing the local community moved out as a result of urban gentrification, Kay Tse said, “demolishing someone’s ‘place’ is to destroy their life……and those people have their entire lives uprooted. Basically, under the premise of ‘making money’, many people’s lives are forced to be changed.”
The song borrows the story of a couple who are about to separate to metaphorically expresses sympathy for the demolition of Lee Tung Street (Liang, 2020). The lyrics use “losing a street” to imply the sadness and helplessness of “losing a lover”, while use “losing a lover” to describe the loss after demolition and reconstruction (Ming Pao, 2008b). It is acknowledged that the this song represents a spirit of Hong Kong, and Wyman Wong said so himself (Liang, 2020; Shi, 2021; LN CUS Alumni’s Blog, 2009; Huo, 2021). Some previous articles have analyzed the meaning of lyrics, and here are the representative interpretation of several words and lines. The recurring word “forget”, in “forget the flowers planted”, “forget the one loved”, “forget the old sweet home” and “forget the sand castle”, suggesting the writer’s intention to persuade everyone should forget the street they once had as the reality of demolition. The line “next day, the wall with happy memory and the wedding photo, will all be dismantled” refers to the originally festive street will be removed, leaving it as a cold street. The line “The sweet moment is what you lent it’s time to take back it; Can’t be passed to the nest generation, is it?” outlines the colonial history and the complex Hong Kong identity in “post return” era. In the last line, Wyman wants to propose that people putting down the keys in hands, as well as being free and getting go of the past.
Although the song was written to express the positive attitude to “forget” the past, and admit the future, Kay Tse revealed in the interview (Ming Pao, 2008a), that, “what is not written in the song [Wedding Invitation Street] is grief and anger, that it is a love story on the surface, but in fact it talks about the changes in Hong Kong, where there is no room for negotiation when a street, people and things are to be changed.” Regardless how the song is written and how it would be interpreted, this song reflects the collective memory of Lee Tung Street, integrating fictional narratives with real urban renewal events. Such kind of cultural product highlights the significance of maintaining intangible heritage, which includes the emotional and historical connections people have to places.
6. Findings and Discussion
Based on the literature review and the case study, the survey conducted could provide some of the main findings that are complementary for the further discussion. Popular music plays a multifaceted role in shaping public perception of urban spaces and cultural heritage.
6.1. Lee Tung Street is the memory of a generation
First of all, it is essential to understand how people perceived Lee Tung Street in the past, particularly those who are familiar with the street before the release of the song. Several responses highlighted the overall condition of the street, focusing on its business activities and cultural significance to Hong Kong. According to the survey, around 80% of respondents agreed that the street’s past life, appearance, and attachment constitute part of cultural heritage of Hong Kong. In describing the street, many respondents used terms such as “local culture”, “folk atmosphere”, “human touch”, “Chinese festive atmosphere”, “traditional”. One respondent remarked,
“In the past, Lee Tung Street maintained its traditional market style and was an integral part of inheriting historical memories.”
Another echoed this sentiment, stating,
“That is the memory of a generation.”
The street was widely recognized for its thriving printing industry, producing items such as “wedding cards for newlyweds before they get married”, “invitation cards for company events”, “birthday banquet cards for elders”, “invitation cards for baby’s 100-day banquet”. For many, Lee Tung Street was a crucial destination for these events. This significance is further supported by a response that noted,
“It was part of old Hong Kong in which a certain type of business gather around a street or urban area to trade. It is known for printing traditional wedding cards and other related goods. I walked pass this area quite often in the past but I had not personally used any of the services provided by these shops. Its urban fabric is quite typical of its era and is not distinctively memorable. Naturally, because of the business there, the decor and advertisements from them had created a unique atmosphere.”
These responses collectively illustrate that the former Lee Tung Street, with its architecture, lifestyle, business activities, and unique sense of place, significantly contributed to the concept of heritage in the minds of the people. In the survey, 82% of respondents agree that these elements form the special and local heritage of Hong Kong. This perspective represents a novel approach to defining heritage (Smith, 2006), aligning with the evolving conception of everyday heritage (Mosler, 2019). As we can see from the case study, there were many specialists and local communities acknowledged the cultural significance of the street and regarded it as part of heritage of Hong Kong, whereas, the developers and interest-driven parties ignored and disregarded.
6.2. Popular music enables awareness of places and stories behind
For many individuals unfamiliar with a city, popular music serves as a vital medium through which they can gain insights into various locations. The lyrics, themes, and stories conveyed in popular songs often paint vivid pictures of urban landscapes, cultural landmarks, and significant events. Those who delve into the background of popular music gain a deeper understanding of the urban narratives embedded within the songs. In response to Question 18, “Do you agree that these songs can, to some extent, increase people’s understanding and emotional connection to these places?”, 83% of the respondents agree, proving that popular music can be seen as an educational tool (Schiavone, et al., 2022), enhancing their comprehension of places. Additionally, when asked in Question 17 to provide examples of popular music linked to real sites in Hong Kong, several respondents listed specific song titles and provided details about the connections between the music and the locations.
下一站天后 (Diva… Ah Hey): “Tin Hau” is a subway station in Hong Kong Island;
詩歌舞街 (Sycamore Street): “Sycamore Street” is a street in Tai Kok Tsui;
山林道 (Hillwood Road): “Hillwood Road” is a street in Tsim Sha Tsui;
土瓜灣情歌 (To Kwa Wan Ballad): “To Kwa Wan” is a bay or/and a district in Kowloon;
介乎法國與旺角的詩意 (Poetics - Something Between Montparnasse and Mongkok): “Mong Kok” is a subway station and an prosperous area in Kowloon;
皇后大道東 (Queen’s Road East): “Queen’s Road East” is a street in Hong Kong Island; this song also represents the contradiction of Hong Kong identity when return;
彌敦道 (Nathan Road): “Nathan Road” is a street in Kowloon;
維多利亞 (Victoria): “Victoria” is the name of Hong Kong in colonial time;
永順街39號 (39 Wing Shun Street): “Wing Shun Street” is a street in New Territory, the location of 39 Wing Shun Street is a primary school; the singer once studied in this school;
浪漫九龍塘 (Romantic Kowloon Tong): “Kowloon Tong” is an area in Kowloon;
燕尾蝶 (Swallowtail butterfly): the song talks about develop new town in suburban area of Hong Kong;
芬梨道上 (In Fannys road): “Findlay Road” is a path on the Peak of Victoria Peak in Hong Kong Island;
天水圍城 (Tin Shui Wai Town): “Tin Shui Wai” is a New Town in Yuen Long Distric; this song describes the difficulties people face living in Tin Shui Wai;
獅子山下 (Below the Lion Rock): “Lion Rock” is a mountain in Hong Kong; this song reflects the changes of national identity of the Chinese who immigrated to Hong Kong;
There are many Cantonese pop music (Cantonpop) involve destinations beyond Hong Kong. From the information those respondents provide, it could be indicated that, many people would like to learn about the background and meanings embedded within the lyrics, for they could tell what social issues or life stories conveyed through popular music. Hereby, popular music can act as a narrative tool, telling stories that highlight the historical and cultural value of heritage sites, thereby fostering a greater appreciation and awareness of heritage among the public. However, it is worth mentioned that, the initiative to explore stories behind the lyrics and music production is largely depend on the audiences themselves.
In the case of Lee Tung Street, certain number of visitors were drawn to the street due to their familiarity with the song associated with it. This familiarity piqued their curiosity and interest in the physical location where the narrative of the song unfolds. In the question 15 “Do you agree that popular music (‘Wedding Invitation Street’ for example) can be the reason people visit the site?”, approximately half of the respondents affirmed that their visit was motivated by the song. These findings support the argument that popular music can promote music tourism (Van der Hoeven and Brandellero, 2015; Long, 2014), which could be applied to the practical treatment and conservation of other heritage sites in the future.
6.3. Popular music envisions the image of a place
As noted in Long’s (2014) study on Sheffield, people who are fans of music representing a city often envision the city as depicted in the popular songs. For example, romantic melodies evoke images of Paris, while Jazz would represent its origin city, New Orleans. Listeners would create an image or vision of a city or places based on what they hear and feel from popular music. Two respondents mentioned:
“I learned about ‘Wedding Invitation Street’ through the lyrics. It should be a place full of festive memories.”
“I think it should be festive before.”
These responses indicate that for those who have not visited Lee Tung Street, the song evokes a festive image of the place in the past according to their understanding of the song. However, another respondent who lived nearby noted that the street was old and not frequently visited, and that the redevelopment improved its appeal and made the street more attractive. This differing perspective might be influenced by personal experiences or by observing the street at different times. This phenomenon also implies that representations through cultural products, such as popular music, might lead to romanticization, which probably deviates understanding from the reality (Schiavone, et al., 2022).
Furthermore, understanding and interpretation of the song varies individually, approximately 40% of respondents recognized both the romantic story of a couple and the reality of urban renewal, a few never noticed the lyrics or only perceived it as a love story. One respondent wrote:
“Kay Tse’s original singing can never be surpassed. This is something that people who can only hear ‘Love’ cannot understand.”
Therefore, to some degree, the impression of a place audiences obtain from popular music is subjective, biased and an imagined construction. Malpas (2008) also points out that although music do has the potential to disseminate sense of place whether it is connected to the referred place or a newly constructed form, it should be admitted that such understanding of culture and experience has certain distortion with the ‘place’ and ‘time’.
6.4. Popular music delivers, emphasizes and evokes public memories about places
Music as a narrative approach in expressing emotion and transmitting knowledge (Post, 2020), is capable of telling urban stories and evoking memories effectively. As a “mnemonic cultural object” (Neiger et al., 2011), popular music, such as “Wedding Invitation Street” is associated with the lost of sense of community following the urban renewal project, a sentiment shared by over 80% of respondents. Throughout time and space, many events and memories need to be preserved in some form to evoke people’s recollections, and music serves as an excellent medium for this purpose. In the survey, when respondents were asked whether popular music could achieve these functions, the majority agrees, though few people doubted the ability of the non-object and abstract music to deliver a concrete reality. Specifically, 83% of respondents acknowledged that songs like “Wedding Invitation Street” could increase their understanding and emotional connection to places like Lee Tung Street, demonstrating music’s role in enhancing cultural memory. In the responses, listeners frequently express their feelings of regret and lament the stark contrast between the past and present Lee Tung Street. Some responses are as follows:
“The buildings of the past have collapsed, and the beautiful new Hong Kong is no longer there.”
“I miss those past stories, and every time I hear this song, it makes me feel sad.”
“I was quite shocked when I went there; I didn’t expect to see almost any trace of old Hong Kong. It was just a purely commercial street.”
According to the paper by Huo (2021) and the influence of this song, “Wedding Invitation street” has become part of the new public memory.
While the narrative of popular music encapsulates collective memory, it fundamentally remains a subjective expression of the author (Mort, 2020). In “Wedding Invitation Street”, the author eventually wants to encourage people to look forward and accept the reality (SOHU, 2018). Consequently, the audience may not always grasp all the information the authors intend to convey, and the authors may not always clearly pass down the exact memories to all the audiences. This phenomenon is evident in the survey responses, where some participants perceived the song as merely a love story, while others recognized its deeper connection to urban renewal and community loss. This divergence highlights the subjective nature of music interpretation and the challenges in using popular music as a tool for conveying precise historical and cultural memories
6.5. Popular music creates a public sphere for heritage discourses
In the era of mass media, popular music could undoubtedly serve as a venue for the public sphere. Historically, discussions and definitions about heritage were dominated by experts in heritage studies or related fields (Smith, 2006). However, popular music allows creators outside this domain to become disseminators of information and knowledge of heritage, thereby expanding the reach of heritage discourses and discussions. When respondents in the questionnaire were asked about their views on Lee Tung Street and “Wedding Invitation Street”, they reflected on urban renewal and heritage protection, such as:
“Urban development and modernization are inevitable, but it would be better to preserve some traditions in the process.”
“It seems like a paradox of urban development. Some places exist because of past economic models. However, when these economic models collapse or change, the form also changes. So, should we preserve these buildings, and how significant is it if the economic model and function they represent have completely changed?”
“The song makes me feel the change between the old and the new, and at the same time brings me the sadness of things changing and people changing.”
These responses indicate that the public can be influenced by cultural products beyond professional academic courses, such as popular music. This shift highlights the potential of popular music to democratize heritage discussions and engage a broader audience in cultural and historical reflection. Beyond this specific questionnaire, it is evident from numerous comments on the music that the public frequently engages in discussions about heritage and laments the loss of culture in Hong Kong (Abbas, 1997). This type of public discourse on heritage is facilitated by the production of popular music.
7. Concluding Remarks
Concluding from the literature review, case study of previous research, and this specific survey done for Lee Tung Street, it is noticeable that popular music that earns prevalence among the public could for sure have an educational impact on the public memory regarding the heritage discussion. There are mainly 3 dimensions that the public educated by popular music: one is to understand the stories behind; one is to strengthen the memories; one is to think critically about the heritage-city debate. Upon finishing this thesis, several points need to be discussed further. Through this specific case, it could be concluded that the popular song ‘Wedding Invitation Street’ not only commemorates a particular place, inspiring, evoking, and creating emotional linkage and cultural memories, but also contributes to a broader cultural understanding of heritage in fast-paced Hong Kong. Upon finishing this thesis, some important reflections are included.
7.1. Lee Tung Street: Successful or Not?
In the demonstration of the case study of Lee Tung Street, this urban renewal project disappointed local communities, conservationists, and those who cherish Hong Kong’s local culture. However, in the unstopping progressive development and commodification of metropolitan Hong Kong (Huang, 2009), there are some negative aftermaths that people have to accept as what has been expressed in the lyrics, such as community networks, historical features, and living traditions (Zhou, et al., 2007; Anon, 2008). From the author’s observation, leaving aside the cultural-historical importance of the street, Lee Tung Street today is a well-planned outdoor public space, serving catering and seating. Many new residents and the Hong Kong public are satisfied with the redevelopment. Thus, in this sense, the “public” that is against it and the “public” that is benefited from it are differentiated.
Whereas, arguments and condemns still exist. There are many considerations that H15 project did not deal with. The city glamour of Hong Kong is largely consisted of diverse local characteristics and identities, which are physically explicit in the architecture (Ho, 2003), as well as inherently present in its social fabric. As stated in the management of cultural landscape principles (Mitchell, et al., 2008), the people associated to the built environment is the main stakeholder. Cheong and Fong (2018) raise questions on whether these processes genuinely enhance the life quality of neighborhoods or merely lead to their displacement. Accordingly, “sense of place” of original residents (Billig, 2005; Waterton, 2005; Cantillon and Baker, 2022), community stories (Depriest-Hricko and Prytherch, 2013), and functional values (Ho, 2003) should be included in the planning stages, which were greatly neglected by the benefit-driven bodies (Sebastian Veg, 2007).
In the official evaluation of the historical and architectural value of old buildings on Lee Tung Street, it was judged only referring to the existing Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance and the standards of Antiquities Advisory Board that those buildings are not old enough, aesthetically pleasing enough and with no relation to any historical figure (HKSAR Government Press Releases, 2007; Anon, 2005). It is told by the Development Officer (2007) that after receiving the public suggestions, the redevelopment considered to leave the central location on the street for the wedding-themed mall (SOHU, 2018), which is a sarcastic action as well as the two wedding statues situated on the street.
7.2. Popular Music: Opportunities and Limitations
Popular music, as a cultural product mediated by mass media, often comments on societal issues, values, and movements, reflecting public sentiments and reinforcing collective identity. By being broadcast through mass media, it can influence public opinion on narrated topics. What is special in this discussion is that, here, the popular music has been acknowledged as heritage, the heritage site is totally different today or it could be described as disappeared; and one stance the author intends to take is that the memories, campaigns and stories surrounding this heritage site are reckoned to be the intangible “heritage” and legacies of the city.
The arguments this thesis intends to make are that, popular music could retain public memory by telling stories; popular music has the power to evoke personal and collective memories by its emotional and nostalgic qualities; popular music serves as an educational tool, raising awareness about places; and most essentially, popular music creates a public sphere for the heritage discourses that engages public participation. Although there some research on the impacts of popular culture, specifically films (Schiavone, et al. 2022), on the heritage management, popular music still remains at its exploring stage in heritage practices. Popular music, such as the song “Wedding Invitation Street”, serves as a powerful tool for shaping public memories and fostering a sense of nostalgia. The song also exemplifies how popular music can educate the public about urban stories, enhancing their understanding and emotional connection to heritage sites. Furthermore, it underscores the potential of music to bridge the gap between past and present, creating a continuity of cultural identity and memory that transcends physical transformations.
However, this study has limitations. On the one hand, the findings are based on one case which is a specific but not general study, and the sample is not large enough, therefore it could not play a decisive role in the overall topic; on the other hand, choices in the questionnaire are written by the author, giving some preconceived guidance in thinking, and each person would possibly posses different attitude and ideas about different sites. In discussing the topic of popular music, there are several constraints in playing its role. First and foremost, the “public” of the group that are influenced by music and the group that own the memory before the music is different. Similarly, the “public memory” shaped by the song, the “public memory” affected by the song, and the “public memory” keeps intact and not influenced by the song are three different aspects that need clarification. As is discussed in previous sections, popular music could sometimes romanticize and idealize the reality, potentially distorting public understanding, though music could promote public memory. In addition, the subjective nature of music interpretation could lead to varying degrees of understanding among listeners. Moreover, the spread of music through mass media does not ensure uniform reach, potentially excluding certain audiences. Another limitation of popular music is the language barrier, that in the most cases audience would appreciate the melodies of songs instead of its lyrics. Lastly, popular music sometimes could only be an inducing and educating approach, which means the true understanding and contemplation depends on the personal initiative to learn more about the background and to engage in the discourse proactively.
7.3. Implication and Future Direction
Through the case of Lee Tung Street, we might draw a conclusion that it is the popular music that partly enables more audiences aware of the urban stories behind the song. One of the major theme this song conveys is nostalgia, although nostalgia serves as a barrier to progressive urban regeneration to some extent (Wright, 2023), Smith and Campbell (2017) call for a progressive use of nostalgia, that not merely a yearning for returning to the past, but to acknowledge the identity and values and creatively utilize them to envisage a better future. It is worth questioning that if the urban renewal project acknowledged the social and cultural value of Lee Tung Street, might some elements have been conserved? Although, there are criticism on the effect of this song, saying it is of no use since the project has implemented (SOHU, 2018), the song still to some extend preserve the intangible aspects of heritage even when the physical sites change or disappear.
While heritage tourism is in its prevalence nowadays, the impact of a song due to the affection and passion of music can also bring in certain music tourism to the site (Van der Hoeven, 2018). From this perspective, if Hong Kong did preserve old urban areas such as Lee Tung Street and their local characters, visitors and tourists could participate in and observe the real and living small traditional commercial and industrial activities of Hong Kong. They can understand that Hong Kong is not only skyscrapers and modern shopping malls, but also small shops full of local characteristics reflected by streets and the different indigenous lifestyles.
Preserving collective memory and local culture is not about murdering it and then putting it in a glass coffin and interpreting it into culture (Zhou, et al., 2007). Cultural production that promotes the heritage propaganda (Stenou, 2002), such as popular music is in need. Popular music could be as a realm for heritage discourse, but also has the potential to educate the public and authority if it is produced before the vanishing of heritage. However, discrepancy between heritage theories and practical application will always remain (Lesh, 2020). One way is to increase the educational role of popular music and encourage or support creators to integrate heritage discourses into popular songs, which might increase public awareness and recognition of heritage and culture. Additionally, what should be noticed here is that, considering the limitations mentioned in the earlier discussion, questions such as “How and under what circumstances, or is it controlled or by chance or in between, could popular music optimally engage the heritage discourses?”; “Whether the ‘imagination’ or ‘constructed memory’ shaped by popular music align with the memories that existed already?”
For the future studies, it is suggested to do more in-depth case studies to support the linkage between heritage and popular music. It is also encouraged to inspire more music works to involve the discussion on heritage, expanding the public sphere on heritage discourse and educating the public on the significance of heritage. In the background of popular culture and the discussion of political turn in Hong Kong, the prevalence of Cantopop and the heritage practices in Hong Kong is closely-knitted. Therefore, further research in the identities expressed via popular music and heritage conservation in Hong Kong could also be a possible direction to incorporate popular music, public memory and heritage.
8. References
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Anon (2008) 灣仔社區地圖集 : 灣仔未來發展藍圖計劃. 香港: 香港浸會大學地理系.
Lam, G. (2017) 我懷念的利東街. 我是灣仔文化人 = Tales of Wan Chai : a cultural chronicle. 楊華 (ed.). 香港: 灣仔區議會.
Xu, Z. B. [徐振邦] (2007) 集體回憶香港地. 初版. 香港: 阿湯圖書.
Zheng, B. H. [鄭寶鴻] (2012) 港島街道百年. 香港第1版. 香港: 三聯書店香港有限公司.
Zhou, Q. W., Du, L. J. and Li, W. Y. [周綺薇 et al.] (2007) 黃幡翻飛處 : 看我們的利東街. 第1版. 香港: 影行者有限公司.
Academic Books and Chapters
Abbas, A. (1997) Hong Kong: Culture and the Politics of Disappearance. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Bandarin, F. (2012) ‘From paradox to paradigm? Historic urban landscape as an urban conservation approach’, in Managing Cultural Landscapes. 1st edition. United Kingdom: Routledge. pp. 213–231.
Chu, C. L. (2012) “Between Typologies and Representation: The Tong Lau and the Discourse of the ‘Chinese House’ in Colonial Hong Kong”, in Colonial frames, nationalist histories : imperial legacies, architecture and modernity. Farnham, Surrey; Ashgate.
Devine-Wright, P. (2020) ‘Place attachment’, in The Routledge Handbook of Place. 1st edition. Routledge. pp. 506–517.
Fraser, N. (2017) ‘THE THEORY OF THE PUBLIC SPHERE: The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (1962)’, in The Habermas Handbook. New York Chichester, West Sussex: Columbia University Press. pp. 245–255.
Fouseki, K. et al. (eds.) (2020) Heritage and sustainable urban transformations : deep cities. London: Routledge.
Lesh, J. (2020) ‘Place and heritage conservation’, in The Routledge Handbook of Place. 1st edition. Routledge. pp. 431–441.
Lynch, K. (1960) The image of the city. Cambridge, Mass: M.I.T. Press.
Malpas, J. (2018) Place and Experience: A Philosophical Topography. Second edition. United Kingdom: Routledge.
Mitchell, N., Rössler, M., and Tricaud, P-M. (Eds.). (2008) World Heritage Cultural Landscapes: A Handbook for Conservation and Management. Paris: UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
Mort H. (2020) ‘Place and heritage conservation’, in The Routledge Handbook of Place. 1st edition. Routledge. pp. 644–654.
Padoan, E. and Caiani, M. (2023) ‘The Interactions Between Populist Actors and Popular Music in the Public Sphere’, in Populism and (Pop) Music. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG. pp. 147–175.
Post, J. C. (2020) ‘Place Names and Kazakh Song Making in the Western Mongolian Steppes’, in Handbook of the Changing World Language Map. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 685–705.
Smith, C. T. (1995) A sense of history : studies in the social and urban history of Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Educational Pub. Co.
Smith, L. (2006) Uses of heritage. London ; Routledge.
Stenou, K. (2002) Unesco universal declaration on cultural diversity : a vision, a conceptual platform, a pool of ideas for implementation, a new paradigm. Paris, France: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Unpublished Academic Literature (Conference and Thesis)
Ho, B. W. (2003) Conservation of local character in old urban areas of Hong Kong a case study in Lee Tung Street, Wanchai. Master Thesis. University of Hong Kong.
Huang, S.M. (2009) A Sustainable City renewed by ‘People’-Centered Approach? Resistance and Identity in Lee Tung Street Renewal Project in Hong Kong. In 6th Annual Graduate Student Conference, organized by the Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia (pp. 19-21).
Kersey, T. et al. (2011) Public communication in the networked public sphere. PhD Thesis. Indiana University.
Liang, L. C. [梁鑾城] (2020) 從謝安琪的歌曲-看香港人社會意識的演變：二零零五至二零一八. Bachelor Thesis. The Education University of Hong Kong.
Nærland, T. U. (2015) Music and the public sphere: Exploring the political significance of hip hop music through the lense of public sphere theory. PhD thesis. Universitetet i Bergen.
Roder, M. and Wolff, C. (2010) Music, politics, and the public sphere in late eighteenth-century Berlin. PhD Thesis. Harvard University.
Shi, G. Q. [施光瓊] (2021) Hong Kong Pop Songs and the Changes of its People’s Social Mentality (1974-2008) [香港流行歌曲與港人社會心態的變遷（1974-2008）]. Master Thesis, Wenzhou University.
Wu, J. et al. (2011) Entertainment and the public sphere: The convergence of popular culture and politics in China’s public sphere and cyberspace. PhD Thesis. State University of New York at Albany.
Published Academic Literature
Askin, N. and Mauskapf, M. (2017) What Makes Popular Culture Popular? Product Features and Optimal Differentiation in Music. American sociological review. 82 (5), 910–944.
Bakri, A. F. et al. (2021) The Role of ‘Sense of Place’ in the Revitalisation of Heritage Street: George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal. 6 (18), 305–312.
Billig, M. (2005) Sense of place in the neighborhood, in locations of urban revitalization. GeoJournal. 64 (2), 117–130.
Cantillon, Z. and Baker, S. (2022) Ketch Yorlye Daun Paradise: Sense of place, heritage and belonging in Norfolk Island’s Kingston and Arthur’s Vale Historic Area. Thesis eleven. 172 (1), 93–113.
Cheong, C. and Fong, K. (2018) Gentrification and Conservation: Examining the Intersection. Change over time. 8 (1), 2–7.
Cunningham, S. (2001) Popular media as public ‘sphericules’ for diasporic communities. International journal of cultural studies. 4 (2), 131–147.
Dahlgren, P. (2006) Doing citizenship: The cultural origins of civic agency in the public sphere. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 9(3), 267–286.
Depriest-Hricko, L. R. and Prytherch, D. L. (2013) Planning and Sense of Place in a ‘Dying’ Downtown: Articulating Memories and Visions in Middletown, Ohio. Journal of urban design. 18 (1), 145–165.
Deng, P. Z. (2017) The Evolution of Concept of Popular Culture and Its Significance. Theory and practice in language studies. 7 (5), 389-.
de Vries, I. and van Elferen, I. (2010) The Musical Madeleine: Communication, Performance, and Identity in Musical Ringtones. Popular music and society. 33 (1), 61–74.
Elizalde, L. H. and Fitz Herbert, A. (2023) The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere [Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit. Untersuchungen zu einer Kategorie der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft], by Jürgen Habermas, Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, 1989, trans. by T. Burger and F, Lawrence, 301 pp. [Originally published in German in 1962]: Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit. Untersuchungen zu einer Kategorie der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft, by Jürgen Habermas, Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, 1989, trans. by T. Burger and F, Lawrence, 301 pp., [Originally published in German in 1962. Church, Communication and Culture 8 (2) p.325–329.
Geraghty, L. (2019) Destination Antwerp! Fan Tourism and the Transcultural Heritage of A Dog of Flanders. Humanities (Basel). 8 (2), 90-.
Gustafson, P. (2001). ‘Roots and routes: exploring the relationship between place attachment and mobility’, Environment & Behavior, 33: 667–686.
Hermes, J. (2006). Hidden debates: Rethinking the relationship between popular culture and the public sphere. Javnost/The Public, 13, 27 – 44
Hsieh, H.-F. and Shannon, S. E. (2005) Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis. Qualitative health research. 15 (9), 1277–1288.
Huo, S. X. [霍胜侠] (2021) 香港城市更新中的大众文化介入——以《喜帖街》《岁月神偷》《点对点》为例. 社会科学研究. (5), 197–205.
Lexhagen, M. et al. (2023) Popular Culture Tourism: Conceptual Foundations and State of Play. Journal of travel research. 62 (7), 1391–1410.
Long, P. (2014) Popular music, psychogeography, place identity and tourism: The case of Sheffield. Tourist studies. 14 (1), 48–65.
Malpas, J. (2008) New Media, Cultural Heritage and the Sense of Place: Mapping the Conceptual Ground. International journal of heritage studies : IJHS. 14 (3), 197–209.
McKee, A. (2022) ‘Popular culture’ in popular culture: academic and vernacular usage. Annals of the International Communication Association. 46 (1), 1-29.
Mosler, S. (2019) Everyday heritage concept as an approach to place-making process in the urban landscape. Journal of urban design. 24 (5), 778–793.
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Pendlebury, J. and Porfyriou, H. (2017) Heritage, urban regeneration and place-making. Journal of urban design. 22 (4), 429–432.
Pirzadeh, S. & Pirzada, T. (2019) Pakistani popular music: A call to reform in the public sphere. South Asian popular culture. 17 (2), 197–211.
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van der Hoeven, A. and Brandellero, A. (2015) Places of popular music heritage: The local framing of a global cultural form in Dutch museums and archives. Poetics (Amsterdam). 5137–53.
van der Hoeven, A. (2018) Narratives of popular music heritage and cultural identity: The affordances and constraints of popular music memories. European journal of cultural studies. 21 (2), 207–222.
van der Waal, K. (C. S. ) and Robins, S. (2011) ‘De la Rey’ and the Revival of ‘Boer Heritage’: Nostalgia in the Post-apartheid Afrikaner Culture Industry. Journal of southern African studies. 37 (4), 763–779.
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Warner, M. (2002) Publics and Counterpublics. Public culture. 14 (1), 49–90.
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9. Appendices
9.1. Questionnaire
| No. | Question |
|---|---|
| 1 | 您來自哪裏？ Where do you come from? |
| 2 | 您住在哪裏？Where do you live? |
| 3 | 您多大了？What is your age group? |
| 4 | 您知道利東街改造之前的“喜帖街”嗎？是見過它以前的樣子還是僅僅是聽説過？ Do you know the previous Lee Tung Street before urban renewal? |
| 5 | 您如何看待過去的利東街，即喜帖街？如果您不瞭解，可跳過此問題。How was the previous Lee Tung Street look like to you? If it is not applicable to you, you can skip this question. |
| 6 | 請問您平時來到利東街的原因是什麽？For what intention you come to Lee Tung Street |
| 7 | 您如何看待多年前利東街/喜帖街的改造項目？How do you think of the urban renewal project of Lee Tung Street? Do you think it is successful? If possible, can you provide more information and your opinion? |
| 8 | 您聼過謝安琪的《喜帖街》嗎？Do you know the popular Cantonese song ‘Wedding Invitation Street’ by Kay Tse, written by Wyman Wong? |
| 9 | 您如何看待《喜帖街》這首歌？How do you think of the song ‘Wedding Invitation Street’? |
| 10 | 您如何理解歌詞中的“別再看塵封的喜帖”、“當初的喜帖金箔印著那位他”？ How do you understand the lyrics of ‘Stop looking at the dusty posts’, ‘The original gold foil of the invitation letter was printed with the image of him’? |
| 11 | 您如何理解歌詞中的“筑得起 人應該接受 都有日倒下”、“但霎眼 全街的單位 快要住滿烏鴉”、“裱起婚紗照那道墻 及一切美麗舊年華 明日同步拆下”？How do you understand the lyrics of ‘people can afford to build the block, should accept that they will fall down one day’,’in a blink of an eye, the entire street is about to be filled with crows’,’frame the wall of wedding photos and all the beautiful old times, will be removed simultaneously tomorrow’? |
| 12 | 您是否認同《喜帖街》這首歌表達了港人對於過去的喜帖街消失的情感？Do you agree that the song successfully captures the emotion felt and always to be felt such as nostalgia by the Hong Kong people regarding the disappearance of Wedding Card Street/previous Lee Tung Street? |
| 13 | 您是否認同過去的利東街，及喜帖街給人們的印象，和當初的樣子、生活是香港城市的文化遺產？Do you agree that the past life and appearance, as well as the attachment to this street is the cultural heritage of urban Hong Kong? |
| 14 | 您是否認同流行音樂比如《喜帖街》，能夠述説城市故事，傳播文化遺產？Do you agree that popular music (‘Wedding Invitation Street’ for example) can tell the urban stories, and educate public about the cultural heritage? |
| 15 | 您是否認同流行音樂比如《喜帖街》，能夠成爲人們來到這裏的原因？Do you agree that popular music (‘Wedding Invitation Street’ for example) can be the reason people visit the site? |
| 16 | 您是否認同流行音樂一定程度上能夠保護城市中的文化遺產？Do you agree that popular music can serve as a role to conserve the cultural heritage or urban heritage in a sense? |
| 17 | 您知道其他有關或者提到香港某個地點或某條街道的音樂嗎？香港以外的也可以。請列出它們。Do you know and can you list other songs that are related to or refer to a certain place or street in Hong Kong? Outside Hong Kong is also available. |
| 18 | 您是否認同這些歌曲在一定程度上能夠提高人們對這些地點的瞭解和情感聯結？Do you agree that these songs can, to some extent, increase people’s understanding and emotional connection to these places? |
| 19 | 對於利東街和《喜帖街》，您還有什麽個人看法？Do you have any other comment on the Lee Tung Street and “Wedding Invitation Street”? |
| 20 | 您是否有其他建議，可以讓流行音樂更好地發揮對城市遺產教育的作用？Do you have any other suggestions for how popular music can better play a role in urban heritage education? |
9.2. Original Answers (Selected)
9.2.1. Question 5
a. 我是通過歌詞了解到的囍帖街，應該是一個充滿了喜慶回憶的地方。
b. 氣氛比現在好，屬於特色街道（售賣特定產品），要訂喜帖就會聯想到囍帖街
c. The original Street was an important part representing the local culture.
d. It was part of old Hong Kong in which a certain type of business gather around a street or urban area to trade. It is known for printing traditional wedding cards and other related goods. I walked pass this area quite often in the past but I had not personally used any of the services proved by these shops. Its urban fabric is quite typical of its era and is not distinctively memorable. Naturally, because of the business there, the decor and advertisements from them had created a unique atmosphere.
e. 過去的利東街保持著傳統的街市風貌，是傳承歷史記憶的一個組成部分
f. 据说很喜庆
g. 過去的囍帖街售賣印刷品、信封、利是和揮春，我覺得是一條很有民俗風情、有人情味的街道。
h. 那是一代人的回忆
i. 準新人結婚前印婚咭，公司有活動印邀請咭，長輩壽宴咭，BB百日宴邀請咭，必到此地印喜帖
j. 原来没什么人很老 现在建筑很好 很多地方还很老
k. 充满人情味和独特中式喜庆氛围的街
l. 带有香港民俗氛围的一条街
m. 想象不出来这个地方以前的样子和现在的样子有什么联系
n. 谢安琪原唱永远无法超越 这是只能听出小情小爱的人无法理解的
o. 不算很了解，似乎是居民和商業比較集中的地區
p. 通过谢安琪的歌曲了解到了《喜帖街》
q. 只知道以前很著名做囍帖的地方
9.2.2. Question 20
a. 過去大廈倒下，美麗新香港已不再。
b. 我怀念那些过去的故事，每次这首歌我都会感到悲伤
c. 現在的利東街是豪宅區 房子很貴
d. 时代在向前，人也向前，有些东西保留不了是可惜，但也无可奈何，接受就好
e. 很喜歡這首歌，歌詞能引起思想上的共鳴
f. 城市建设、现代化 不可避免 但在这个过程中能保留一些传统会更好
g. 好像是种城市发展的谬论。有的地方因为过去的经济模式而存在着。可当这种经济模式瓦解或者改变时，这个形态也跟着变了。那是否去保留这个建筑呢，意义有多大呢，如果它所赋予的经济模式和功能已经完全改变了的话
h. 承载着香港人一代回忆的街道
i. 利東街在節日經常有很漂亮的裝飾，吸引了很多遊客來打卡
j. 实际上去了那里，还是挺震惊的；因为没想到几乎看不到一点老香港的影子，就是纯商业街。
k. 歌曲讓我感受到新舊的轉變，也同時帶來了因物是人非的傷感
9.2.3. Question 21
a. 融入建築的歷史
b. 设立奖金 鼓励音乐人创作
c. 要不整理一份香港遗产音乐指南？讲述香港音乐里的老地方
d. 新媒体宣传
e. 结合现在citywalk的热潮，可以邀请明星达人创作
f. 可以將與文化教育有關的歌曲多加推廣，如置入廣告裏
9.3. Lyrics (Chinese and English)
忘掉種過的花 重新的出發 放棄理想吧
Forget the flowers planted; All things get restart; All dreams are put down;
別再看 塵封的喜帖 你正在要搬家
Don’t read the invitation card; you are moving out;
築得起 人應該接受 都有日倒下
One should accept all the buildings; some day will fall down;
其實沒有一種安穩快樂 永遠也不差
There is no such kind of happiness that last forever;
就似這一區 曾經稱得上 美滿甲天下
It’s like this district; once said to be; so famous;
但霎眼 全街的單位 快要住滿烏鴉
Suddenly; crows are occupying all flats on the street;
好景不會每日常在 天梯不可只往上爬
Golden days can’t be forever; One may fall down from the ladder;
愛的人 沒有一生一世嗎 大概不需要害怕
There’s no one; can be my life-long lover; perhaps there’s nothing to fear;
忘掉愛過的他 當初的喜帖金箔印著那位他
Forget the one loved; The name on invitation card with gold letters;
裱起婚紗照那道牆及一切美麗舊年華 明日同步拆下
Next day, the wall with happy memory and the wedding photo; will all be dismantled;
忘掉有過的家 小餐枱沙發雪櫃及兩份紅茶
Forget the old sweet home; The sofa, the fridge and the tea on the table;
溫馨的光境不過借出到期拿回嗎
The sweet moment is what you lent, it’s time to take back it;
等不到下一代 是嗎
Can’t be passed to the next generation, is it?
忘掉砌過的沙 回憶的堡壘 剎那已倒下
Forget the sand castle; Fort of memory; falls down suddenly;
面對這 墳起的荒土 你註定學會瀟灑
Facing the ruin; you are deemed to learn how to become carefree;
階磚不會拒絕磨蝕 窗花不可幽禁落霞
Bricks can’t reject being worn down; Windows cannot tie the clouds down;
有感情 就會一生一世嗎 又再惋惜有用嗎
Can love make you stay with me for the whole life? It is now useless to sigh;
終須會時辰到 別怕
The time (separation) will come; don’t fear for it;
請放下手裡那鎖匙 好嗎
Would you put down the key in your hand please.
9.4. Discussion
Here are some revelations during the thesis presentation that I need to consider more or to do research on in the future.
a. There is another street and a pop music of it in Hong Kong that one reviewer mentioned. He suggested to do a comparison of the two cases which might make the research more interesting.
b. One reviewer advises that a list of Cantonese songs that are related to places could be listed, and the Hong Kong’s folk music development should be researched for a better understanding of the role of popular music in Hong Kong.
c. In referring to the work “memory”, memory should be existed before, and the people I should reach to are the Wan Chai communities that have been relocated, which I cannot make it; However, I have different view, I think memory could be constructed, like the younger generation who don’t have any physical linkage to the Lee Tung Street before; Anyway, this kind of memory might better be referred as “imagination” or “impression”.
d. One of the reviewer knows the Lee Tung Street, he said he feels angry when hearing this song, because it evokes the sad memory, which is a surprising reaction. Such direct users’ feelings are beneficial to my study, but I didn’t get this information due to my personal limitation in doing a research.