【Interview with expert at Rocks Net-Prof. Owen Richard Bernhart 】
Small as Hong Kong is, it is so magnificent that the geographer has forgot to go back but settles down in Hong Kong. Dr. Owen wears thick, curled beard, which is as tangled as derris alborubra at Lai Chi Wo. Styled like a typical philosopher, he elaborates on geography with a romantic touch, just as Russo expounds on human nature.
Lai Chi Chong
At a sunny weekend at the end of October, Prof. Owen Richard Bernhart of the Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University strolled on the oldest land in Hong Kong together with the members of Hong Kong branch of Royal Geographical Society (RGS). They visited the Jurassic landforms at Lai Chi Chong, the rolling ancient desert heritage at Port Island, and the vertical sedimentary rocks accumulated for 400 million years at Bluff Head.
Dr. Owen and his team seemingly returned to the wilderness millions of years ago beyond time and space. They turned round Bluff Head and entered Double Haven Marine Parks, where there are rugged strange stones at Ap Chau, mysterious rock cave at Crooked Island, and heavenly east beach at Double Island. The geographer explored the mysteries of the earth while enjoying life through ecological tourism.
"If Hong Kong didn't have so many beautiful natural sceneries, I might have left here 16 years ago." Dr. Owen, an Englishman, has settled down in Hong Kong since he arrived here in 1991. He loves hiking and clearly understands how the landforms in Hong Kong were formed. In his spare time, he will share his geographical knowledge with nature lovers through field investigation classes organized by RGS, etc.
Double Haven
Once studying valley minerals in Kenya for many years, Dr. Owen accumulated much geological experience, and now imparts his knowledge to the young who are ready to devote themselves to decipher crustal codes in Hong Kong. He said, "Geology is wonderful and basic knowledge in natural sciences, and is fundamental to many subjects like physics."
From a practical economic perspective, geology solves many basic problems in urban development. For example, when Hong Kong constructed the artificial airport island at Chek Lap Kok, it was necessary to first learn about the mud on the seabed and then find sea sand for sea reclamation. For another example, stratigraphical research is required to find foundations with a hardness suitable for buildings.
However, geology is not so straightlaced. "A study of landforms and geology may help students better understand the world and broaden their visions," said Dr. Owen. For example, geography helps us to understand the geographical environment that we live in: Why is there a mountain outside my window? Why is the top of this mountain different from the top of that mountain in shape?
Cham Keng Chau in Tung Ping Chau
We are born here and grow up here. It will be ridiculous if we don't know how our home is there. Do the people living at Ma On Shan know why there are the huge scar and the extensive platform at Ma On Shan? It turns out that they were left by the ancestors who mined iron ores on the mountain about 100 hundred years ago. Do those who like climbing Tai Mo Shan know how the trapezoidal hillside at the position 700 m above sea level was formed? The answer is it is the ruin of the tea fields hundreds of years ago.
Just like making friends, the more you know, the more you will like. Dr. Owen loves Hong Kong more than many natives of Hong Kong. To find the most remote corner in southwest Hong Kong, he once set foot on Lantau Island, and he was surprised that “In the metropolis with 7 million people, I walked for 6 hours without seeing a single person.”
Geography teaching career itself is a colourful and wonderful journey. Once, Dr. Owen and a student were collecting samples on the sea north of Lantau Island. They sat on a sampan. Suddenly, a Chinese white dolphin jumped up with a splash into the air, just beside them. One night, Dr. Owen and his students dived into Tolo Harbour for research. The river course abounds with noctiluca scientillanses shining in dark water. It was another entirely different world.
Hong Kong students have many opportunities to learn geography. Geography classes are held in secondary schools to teach common knowledge of astronomical geography. However, Dr. Owen finds that many students forget the knowledge in books 2 to 3 years after graduation from secondary schools. Except college students majoring in geography, people have few opportunities to learn about landforms. Although hike is popular in Hong Kong, hikers usually just appreciate superficial beauties and strange shapes, and few of them clearly know the geological backgrounds of the sceneries.
"We should understand the things around us. Natural landforms are the results of human history and natural power. Only if we know their origins and mysteries can we understand the importance of protection." Dr. Owen said if citizens didn't understand the natural resources around them, the resources would be developed and used up quickly. In the past, many wild habitats fields in Hong Kong and around the world disappeared due to lack of conservation awareness.
Knowledge about landforms in Hong Kong not just comes from college classes. Dr. Owen suggests that we join some folk organizations relating to geographical environment in Hong Kong, participate in some guided appreciation activities, or read more books about the landforms in Hong Kong. Over the years, nature conservation awareness has been enhanced gradually, and more secondary school students have selected to major in geography in college. Nowadays, Hong Kong people should turn their initiative to protect nature into an understanding of nature, and carry forward the firm conservation commitment from one generation to another.
