Wanted: long-term strategy

Chao contends that the local government - which currently has 480 items on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hong Kong - can do more toward developing and raising public awareness about the same.

To that end, he advocates formulating long-term projects that will involve creation of incubation spaces to generate ideas, facilitate in-depth discussions and research, as well as work out ways of driving public engagement.

"The HKSAR government must identify specific heritage items and explore what is required to properly preserve them," he says. "It has done a lot for Cantonese Opera; but can you say the same of the craft of making Hong Kong-style costumes, or leung cha (herbal tea) or Unicorn Dance?"