Director Emerita of the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts Gillian Choa is on Straight Talk this week to tell us how Hong Kong can be an East-meets-West cultural hub. In fact, she said Hong Kong has, since the '80s, been an art center with popular demand locally and has attracted overseas talents.

Check out the full transcript of TVB’s Straight Talk host Dr Eugene Chan’s interview with Director Emerita Professor Gillian Choa:

Chan: Good evening. This is Eugene Chan. This week on Straight Talk, we are joined by Director Emerita of the Academy for Performing Arts, Professor Gilian Choa. Professor Choa was the first female and first Hong Kong resident to lead the academy, which consistently ranked first in Asia under her leadership. With over 25 years of experience at the academy and a diverse background in theater design, film, TV and luxury branding, Gilian is indeed a creative force. Let's hear her thoughts on Hong Kong's role as an East-meets-West cultural center. Welcome, Gilian!

Choa: Thank you.

Chan: You had such a diverse, or what we call a fascinating journey from theater design to heading the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts! Looking back, what first inspired you to pursue a career in the arts area?

Choa: Well, I think it's always been in my mind. And I always tell people that I think by the time I was 12, I knew this is the direction I wanted to take. I have been fascinated with dance and music since I was at a very young age. And also, you know, I love watching films. I probably watch everything I can get my hands on. So, basically, you know, it's arts and, of course, at that time. I wasn't sure exactly what kind of arts I would get into, but most likely performing arts, because of my involvement in dance, particularly in ballet as a teenager. And then eventually, in fact, I joined TVB as an intern for two consecutive summers before I went to university. So, that actually gave me some experience in, of course, television work, and it inspired me to think that maybe I will get into directing or producing or something.

Chan: Right. So, Gilian, I know we actually went to the same high school, and it's always been the tradition of producing more scientists or more healthcare professionals from our school, being somebody so artsy, so-called. Did you find your school helped in that environment, or did you actually find your way, even in the school, to become an arts person?

Choa: Well, I mean, as you know, our school is, you know, music is really very important. We have a very successful senior choir. I was one of them, you know. And we literally won everything those years that I was at secondary school. So, we actually sang in our own, you know, productions of operas and everything. So, there's that side of it as a school that we were able to actually find our way in the arts, it could be so there are people who are in humanities and arts and certainly still very interested in performing arts, maybe not as a profession, but certainly, you know, as a hobby.

Chan: Right, I mean, you were the director for the academy from 2021 to 2024 and being the first female director. What does that mean for you?

Choa: I think when I became the director, I really didn't think much of it. I just thought, Okay, I'm someone who's been there for a long time, and I was able to win the position. But of course, you know, once I became the director, then everybody else was saying, "Oh, you're the first, you know, the first female." So, I think it is important, because it, you know, you become kind of a role model for future female artists, and our students, particularly, and we have, sometimes we joke at the academy that we have a girls school.

Chan: Oh really?

Choa: But in fact, if you look at the statistics, you know, we are practically 50/50, but there are certain areas that are definitely dominated by females, certainly in the design areas and dance, for instance. So, really, we do have a lot of female students, and to be able to be the first director of a performing arts academy is telling them that this is something that that you know can inspire them to do the same, maybe one day.

Chan: Not only being the first female, you're also the first Hong Kong person, or although people don't see you as a Hong Kong person, but I know you're a Hong Kong person. With this impressive career from theater design to luxury branding, as mentioned earlier. How does this prepare you for this role to lead the academy? Have you done any sort of new innovation during your term as the director with all this background?

Choa: Well, it is important, because I was freelancing as a designer for 12/13 years before I entered the academy. So, during that time, I was, of course, very familiar with the industry and how it was developing at the time. I joined the academy in 1996. So, by that time, there was a degree program already and there were, you know, preparations, or at least talk about a master's degree, you know, beginning a master's degree at some point. For me, you know, having had that background of being in theater, in film, and going into a performing arts school, you know, which has drama, has film, has music, has dance, everything. Basically, we have six schools, and, of course, all the production arts as well. That actually helps me to be a teacher, to teach students. And this is what it's all about in the real world. So, to start with, it was really about teaching, about letting everybody know, certainly students, you know what's out there and how we need to prepare them for the real world.

Chan: Right. I mean, I also have some background of your work, and you were leading for the first ... I mean, the last two, three years, and the Academy has ranked first in Asia for three consecutive years. So, what do you think that sets Hong Kong aside from the other institutions in the region? What makes us rank first?

Choa: Well, I think ranking first, you know, of course, we are very honored that we've got this, you know, accolade for six years already, and we're maintaining it. I think part of a reason is because, first of all, it's quite unique for an Academy to have all the disciplines in performing arts, and it makes our students also very unique, and our academic development very unique, because they can work together. We actually have, we would like everyone to have the chance to do a lot of interdisciplinary work. Our students work across disciplines. This is something that most schools don't have, and certainly in Southeast Asia and mainland, you can see that, of course, this is now you can see that, you know, there are more schools that are more diverse, but certainly, traditionally you go to drama schools, there are dance schools, there are music schools, and they are quite separate for us to do that, We are actually producing students who have much broader perspective, and that's what we really wanted to do all these years, is that to prepare them for the industry, but all also to prepare them for life, you know. So, the education part is very important because they're very good at what they do, their talent, their discipline, but at the same time, they are broad minded. They're able to move around the industry, and they're very adaptable.

Chan: Right, Gilian. The National 14th Five Year Plan has expressed clear support for Hong Kong to develop into an East Meets West Center for International Cultural Exchange. Why do you think Hong Kong is ideal for this, and how are we doing so far? Are we halfway there, or are we already there? What is your view?

Choa: Well, I think we've been there for a while. I think maybe we haven't labeled ourselves as a center. I think it takes the government, and the government's incentive to actually tell the world what we are and position ourselves very clearly that we aspire to be an east-west cultural exchange center or hub. And we certainly have the advantage that our history is giving us an advantage. We've always been a bit East-meets-West. I think it's in all of us, our education, everything, particularly in our generation, going through and even now with the schools, English is taught, and English history, European history, Chinese history. We actually have been put in a place growing up in this kind of environment where Hong Kong being an international city, we're able to think internationally, and we understand the East as well as the West.

Chan: So, Professor, I mean, I had the privilege of visiting the Academy a few times. I was invited to your APA board, which was a very lavish and nice occasion. And also I've attended some of your operas, music and concerts. How is ... I mean, how do you see Hong Kong people sort of being exposed to the academy's good work? I mean, do you see more and more people coming to the academy? Have you seen that trend, sort of over the years?

Choa: Actually, people probably don't know, but we actually have a very good audience, and almost all our drama productions, you know, they're 80 percent full, you know, we do ticket, at, of course, very low price ticketing, but we do have a lot of young people interested in coming to see our work. And of course, we do a lot of innovative work as well, particularly in the past few years, certainly in the digital art area, media art area, we're looking at, you know, even pop shows with a lot of sort of 3D mapping, you know, animation, etc. So, we train people to really be able to walk into the industry when they graduate, very comfortably.

Chan: Right, Professor. Let's take a short break now but viewers stay with us. We will be right back.

Chan: Thank you for staying with us. Director Emeritus of the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts Professor Gillian Choa has been with us, offering her insights into how Hong Kong can be an ‘East-meets-West’ cultural hub. So, Gillian, in the first half, you did mention that Hong Kong, with our sort of unique history and with a lot of Western people living in Hong Kong, and also not to mention we are part of China, so ‘East-meets-West’ is very natural. So, some people do say Hong Kong is a culture desert or culture desolate, do you agree?

Choa: Absolutely not. I think we were labeled that probably back in the ’70s or something. But as you know, you know, since the early ’80s when City Hall, I think that was probably the milestone, when City Hall was built, that was the beginning of how we were bringing much more international arts, performing arts, etc. to Hong Kong. And of course, then we had the Arts Festival, which became extremely successful over the years. And we bring the best international artists into Hong Kong every single year, which is starting soon, actually. So, I think the statistics of last year was, I think, the GDP of creative arts in Hong Kong is about 4.6 percent, which is huge for the number of industries we have, and this one industry is actually occupying 4.6 percent of our GDP. So, that is enormous. And how do we get that? Because we have many, many arts events. I was told over 8,000 a year or something like that. So, of course, it is not just performing arts, it is creative industries. We are talking about visual arts, you know, digital arts, any kind of arts-related events annually.

Chan: Right, since you mentioned all the strengths of Hong Kong, of being sort of a bridge between East and West culture, do you see any weaknesses in Hong Kong?

Choa: Well, weakness is, I suppose, the thing is, you know, with the pandemic, after the pandemic, we really only just had two years to really build ourselves again. I think the weakness is that we opened a little bit later than others, which was a good thing, because, I think, we, you know, we controlled the pandemic very well. Some countries actually opened probably too soon, and there are problems, you know, associated with that. But because of that, in the last two years, you know, we really had to build our economy again, and we had to think about how we are going to position ourselves under this kind of economy, under the new regime, you could say, the new era after the pandemic, what opportunities we actually have, and advantages we have right now. And we have to be able to grasp all that and run with it.

Chan: Right. Gillian, another area I am sure many viewers will be wanting to know is, there is often a lot of talk about Hong Kong integrating with the other, to the Greater Bay Area, having our strength. Do you think Hong Kong's strategic location will allow us to still stand out as a cultural hub for ‘East-meets-West’?

Choa: Well, I think it is the biggest opportunity we have now, to be this hub because with all the encouragement of certainly government in developing the GBA area, and GBA is not the Chinese mainland, we are part of GBA. There are nine cities within China, and then there is Macao and us. So, the 11 cities make up GBA. And there is so many opportunities in the mainland, and we know that Shenzhen and all the other cities are developing very quickly. And for Hong Kong, that is the opportunity because we can go in there, they can come out into us, and we can bring talents into Hong Kong. As we know, you know, our younger generation is sort of depleting a little bit, you know, the primary schools are closing. And we need to encourage young people to have more children.

Chan: Yes, yes.

Choa: But in the meantime, there is a lot of incentive, of course, to bring talent into Hong Kong, young talent, experts, etc.  And it is going to build Hong Kong in a different way. And I think the future of Hong Kong is very rosy.

Chan: Right. Gillian, I think we have touched on a very good sort of an overview of Hong Kong as our advantages of being a cultural hub. And hopefully, we will be there. And hopefully, we will lead Hong Kong. Over the last few years, we had some challenges. We all know that we had the social unrest, we had the COVID. And many tertiary institutions were hijacked. I mean, we all know that on the news, it was some very unpleasant scenes. And being the leader of the academy, what did you do to ensure the safety of the institution, the staff, and the students?

Choa: Well, I wasn't a director at the time, I was a deputy director at the time.

Chan: Right.

Choa: But we very quickly had an emergency group that we put together, which consists of the council chairman at the time, our director, myself, and my counterpart in administration. I was a deputy director academic, and also student affairs.

Chan: Right.

Choa: So, we were actually looking back, we were really working very hard to monitor the situation all the time, particularly because of our location, it is quite vulnerable. So, first, it is to protect the building, you know, so whenever we hear stories about, or information rather, about anything that might happen in the area, of course, we have to close campus, we have to ask staff and students to leave, etc. So, about protecting it, it is protecting the building, the campus itself, because our campus is very open. So, we really need to lock up the doors at the time, so crowds couldn't actually come in and take refuge. So, that was controlled very well. Whereas come to the students, of course there are student sentiments. You know, I think people underestimate peer pressure. I think at the time, all the students in Hong Kong, particularly at universities, they just felt that they would have to band together or something. A lot of them, the younger ones, don't really understand what it is. So, it is for us as educators, we need to educate. And I think we took a lot of effort for us to actually talk to our students and make sure our staff talk to our students, to make sure they understand what is going wrong and that they should stay, you know, on the right side of the law, basically.

Chan: Would you say the APA has survived this challenge?

Choa: Yeah, we survived very well because we didn't have anything painted on the wall, you know. So, I think also it is our students because they are very hard-working. And I remember by the time it was October, you know, we didn't really hear much from them anymore because we usually November is our production months, so everybody is getting into rehearsals, and they were very busy.

Chan: Right.

Choa: I think quite different from other university students who probably go to lecture a few times a week. But for ours, it is 9 am to 11 pm – a lot of times.

Chan: Really? Right, because I think this is a very good opportunity for people to know more about the APA because traditionally some people say that in arts and culture, we sort of encourage idealism and romantic ideas, and giving students more revolutionary aspirations. Do you agree? And have you seen that in Hong Kong?

Choa: No, I think people tend to think that creative artists means they are so creative that they would, you know, they would do everything. I don't really think so. Of course, we hope that Hong Kong is already, we have freedom of speech, and people are open-minded, and we want our students to actually have that kind of thinking of being open-minded, but understanding that they are within a community. It is not just the community of the Academy, but the community of Hong Kong. And I think as a citizen of Hong Kong, we do have a duty towards our own community. So, freedom is not about doing anything you want, freedom is about not harming others as well.

Chan: So, Professor, when we come to the last part of the show, we'd like to say, how would you advise Hong Kong in general to the viewers? How can we expand an influence over for ‘East-meets-West’ sort of culture, which we do treasure a lot? Because this is what Hong Kong is at the end of the day. What would you say to us?

Choa: I think the latest blueprint actually tells us that that is the direction we should align ourselves with, which is we are looking at culture, but we are also looking at tourism, sports, you know, we have that bureau now that has been established a few years ago. And the whole goal and objective is to see how we can boost arts and culture, but at the same time, linking ourselves with tourism and also sports activities. And sports and arts, you know, there’s a lot that we can do together, to boost each other. At the same time, cultural tourism is something that could be very lucrative, I think. So, I think that is a direction we should be developing, and that would give a lot of opportunities for the future for our young people.

Chan: Right, I think that is all the time we have for now. And thank you, Gillian, for sharing your journey with us. I mean, Professor Choa’s insights highlight how emerging Eastern and Western artistic traditions fosters a dynamic cultural ecosystem to drive Hong Kong's future as an ‘East-meets-West’ center for cultural exchange. Thank you for joining us and have a good evening.

Choa: Good evening!