1. 《LIFE+》Magazine
  2. 《LIFE+》Magazine Issue List
  3. Winter 2023 Issue
  4. The end, from the beginning
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    21 November 2023
    Asked to picture a drab meeting room, with a senior figure in museum education and management, explaining to you that there’s significant chance we’re staring at the end of the world; and you’d probably anticipate rather a sombre conversation. Not if you’ve got Lawrence Lee breaking the bad news.
    Lawrence Lee, Director of the Hong Kong Science Museum

    Lawrence, Director of the Hong Kong Science Museum, is a fizzing ball of positive energy. Even when confronted by potential extinction. An evangelist for the power of science, he describes his discipline as having the ability to teach us critical lessons about the past, whilst offering incredible solutions for the future.

    Referring to the Museum’s latest Palaeontology exhibition, .Extinction Resilience, a journey through the five global extinction incidents that have occurred in the last 635 million years, he explains, “For the past events, the organisms, the creatures, they had nothing to say. They were helpless, they couldn’t control it. But this time, we have a choice. I’m not a doomsday person, I’m here to remind people that there’s still time. Not much. But there’s still time to revert a mass extinction.”

    It’s no surprise to hear from Lee that science is the key to survival, and making it engaging is his calling. The collection of artefacts, experiences, and storylines the Museum is presenting here in Hong Kong are designed to guide visitors through what we’ve learned about our planet’s chequered past. And to make it compelling, his curation team has assembled a wonderful collection of fossils illustrating each key chapter of this dark tale.

    The oldest fossils on display, the stromatolites, are generously donated to the Museum by the world-renowned geologist, Professor Chan Lung Sang, and are mind-bogglingly three billion years old. Yes, billion. Sealed behind glass, they’re beautiful in form and colour, but mysterious in appearance to the uneducated. In contrast, Professor Chan has also included fossilised tree trunks from a collection held by the Chinachem Group’s Nina Park. Mere youngsters in comparison at five million years old. That’s right, there’s no glass, and you’re allowed to touch them. Lawrence Lee explains their significance :

    "These trees provide a missing piece of the puzzle,and they share with us so much understanding of the past climate, habitat, and environment."

    Photo: Nina Park’s wood fossils are being displayed in Hong Kong Science Museum

    Chinachem, custodians of Asia’s largest collection of wood fossils, is joining the efforts to educate and entertain the people of Hong Kong around their precarious history. Under the expert guidance of Professor Chan, Chinachem is opening Nina Park in Tsuen Wan, a fossil garden showcasing the Group’s remarkable collection in a setting which encourages relaxation, enjoyment, and learning. Interactive and entertaining, Nina Park will animate the guest experience in surroundings that encourages visitors to get up close and personal with these relics of a million lifetimes.

    Reflecting on the need to make science engaging to help get the climate change message across, Lawrence Lee excitedly adds, “Light them up! Make them curious. Because curiosity is the most important thing.”

    His arms are now waving vigourously as he speculates that the scientist with the cure for our extinction may be a schoolgirl, visiting Nina Park, who gets inspired by the fossils she touches with her own hands. Lawrence Lee’s fire for our future burns bright.

    The end, from the beginning

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