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important for the movement. The Centre’s direc- She hopes that the book can encourage
tor, Associate Professor Michael Chan Che-ming people to bridge the generation gap in their
at CUHK’s School of Journalism and Communica- families. “Let’s put politics aside. Talking
tion, found this result “quite surprising”. about buzzwords on LIHKG has already pro-
“Usually for those (aged 55 and above) who are vided a good opportunity for us to improve
considering retirement, they want stability rather our communication with the elderly,” says
than changes,” Chan says. He thinks what moti- Cheryl.
vates the elderly to learn how to use social media
apps is their eagerness to learn about the younger
generation’s thoughts. Also, traditional media The movement might end
sources may not satisfy their needs to acquire real- one day, but the relationship be-
time information on this movement.
tween the old and the young will
Reconnecting the old and the young never terminate,
Mei, 59, a volunteer of Part Time Guai Suen, who

Volunteers of Safeguard the Children bring full sets of equipment to every protest, including their yellow vests, helmets, goggles and masks. does not want to disclose her full name, used to
think young people were indolent and decadent. But
she now understands the young better after using so- Witnessing solidarity of the two genera-
cial media platforms. “If this movement did not take tions amid the social unrest, Cody thinks
place, young people would not talk to me, and there this movement has helped to mend the
would never be such a channel [of communication],” once-distant intergenerational relationship.
says Mei. “The movement might end one day, but the
Part Time Guai Suen is planning to publish a relationship between the old and the young
book to explain the meaning of buzzwords such as will never end,” he says, “[I] hope [the book]
“Pin Post to Top” (置頂) and “Boost Post for Sharing” can promote cultural integration, and the
(推post) to the silver-haired audience, which are two generations can show greater care for
specifically used on online discussion forum LIHKG. each other.”
Cheryl, one of the editors of the book, says the
students involved in editing work realise that they
should teach the elderly how to obtain information Edited by Jasmine Ling
with smartphones instead of just introducing them
basic functions of these devices. “The book also al-
lows me to talk to my family and ask for their ad-
vice. For example, I asked them whether they could
understand the content if I designed like this and
whether they feel comfortable when reading the
book,” she says.

Left: Students of Part
Time Guai Suen teach
elderly how to use the
LIHKG Forum;
Right: Part Time Guai
Suen is planning to pub-
lish a book that explains
buzzwords used on the
LIHKG Forum (Photo
Courtesy of Part Time
Guai Suen)