Hello and welcome to a new series of The Works. It’s been a long, hot, and tension-inducing summer. For more than three months, Hong Kong has been gripped by the extradition law protests. The young people taking part have been mobilising through social media, online forums, and messaging apps. “Be Water” is their motto, and their activities have been fluid, leaderless, and open source. That fluidity and creativity has also extended to the means they use to get their messages across.

As the Chinese idiom goes, “independent at thirty”. Turning 30 is seen as a new life stage for many people. “Now, 30” is the title of a concert that’s coming up in October in which a group of musicians will be coming together to present an evening of classical music and original compositions. They include pianists Wong Wai-yin and twin sisters Chau Lok-ping and Chau Lok-ting, double bassist Chan Chun, and percussionists Raymond Vong and Emily Cheng.
Also taking part are the members of the Smash trio. They’re here to tell us more.