TEDxYouth@HongKong - Michael Leung - City Beekeeper
Michael Leung runs a young and diverse design studio in Hong Kong called Studio Leung. He is also the creative director of HK Honey - an organisation of Hong Kong beekeepers, artists and designers. Michael has worked with international companies. He focuses on products and services that engage and empower communities. His studio work ranges from mass-market consumer electronics to conceptual objects for people who have passed away.
This is a really neat video. Leung talks about how he got started in urban beekeeping and how the organisation he started tries to get more local honey in the shops, educate people and companies about being more environmentally aware, and just other general things the group of beekeepers, artists and designers are doing.
“I learnt from Mr Yip a form of beekeeping where you wear no protection. I kind of feel it’s more ethical and it creates a closer connection between you and the bees. Because if you start wearing a net and gloves, you’re a bit kind of less aware of if you’re disturbing them, and you might start feeling more confident. So by not wearing protection, I move really slowly and I don’t really bother them if they’re aggressive at all.”
Also, he’s pretty pleasant to listen to, which is always a plus. And just as an aside, he kept making small jokes, but the audience wasn’t too keen on laughing at jokes, apparently. Not that that’s particularly relevant to anything, though.
