Last Folk Song
Mountain folk song is a kind of improvised creation of the Hakkas. They often sing them during agricultural activities. Folk songs are not only a kind of music but also a way to communicate. | Lau Fook Kiu has been singing folk songs for a few decades since she learned it from her aunt. Folk songs play an important part in her life stories. | Chang Kwok Hung spent more than 10 years doing research about Hakka folk songs. He discovered that his mother was half talking half singing at his maternal grandmother's funeral and realized that this custom exists in his own family. This inspired him to dig deep into researching folk songs . | Generally, it is believed that Hakka folk songs in Hong Kong originate from mainland China. Cheung found out that there are local Hakka folk songs in Hong Kong as well. For instance, the history of Kowloon mountain folk song which highlights a ‘long-short-long-short' lyrical pattern can be traced back to more than 100 years ago. The popularity of Hakka folk songs declined in the 1950s to 1960s but they were revived again during the 1980s to 1990s. | During a mountain folk song gathering, Lau Fook Kiu was reunited with her cousin Lau Shu Tin. Later, they began to perform folk songs in various places. Lau Shu Tin learned the mountain folk songs by himself 10 years ago. Other than singing, he also tried to adapt songs and has performed in many places. He also inspired a lot of people to learn folk songs from him and teaches in a unique way... | Chang feels that folk songs' musical and local style should be preserved. However, he also thinks that it is difficult for folk songs to survive...
山歌是客家人的口頭即興創作，他們會在耕田、放牛或割草的時候唱。山歌不只是歌，更加是他們溝通的方式。劉福嬌跟姑姑學唱山歌，唱了幾十年，山歌為她的人生故事留下一個個註腳。張國雄研究客家山歌十多年。當初，他在外祖母喪葬過程中，察覺母親出現半說話半唱歌的情況，發現家裡也有這種文化傳統，這觸發他要研究本土山歌。一般研究都認為，現時香港客家山歌都是從內地傳入。張國雄發現香港有本土的客家歌調，本土的九龍山歌已經傳唱了一百年。它的特色：樂句是長短長短。客家山歌曾在五、六十年代式微，直到八、九十年代才重新興起。山歌聚會中，劉福嬌重遇堂弟劉書田。後來，他們一直往不同地方表演山歌。劉書田在十多年前開始自學山歌，除了唱山歌外，他還嘗試改編。劉書田到不同地方表演，吸引了很多人跟他學唱山歌，他的教唱方法卻與眾不同。山歌特色的曲式和地方色彩，張國雄覺得要好好保存。不過，他認為這個歌種難以流傳下去……
