Our Volunteers 我哋嘅義工: Albert

Hello everyone, my name is Au Yeung Ching Man, and my English name is Albert. 

大家好，我叫歐陽靖民，英文名係 Albert。我同我嘅太太同大仔約五年前黎到愛爾蘭，女兒喺愛爾蘭出世。當初係因為喺愛爾蘭呢邊搵到工作，所以決定一家人搬嚟。

What brought you to Ireland? And what was your first impression of this place

My wife, our eldest son, and I moved to Ireland about five years ago, and our daughter was born here. We decided to relocate our whole family because I managed to secure a job over here.

To be honest, when we first arrived, it was the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, we spent most of our time at home. I worked remotely for almost a whole year before I actually met my colleagues in person at the office for the first time! My first impression was that there was so much green space, and it was incredibly windy! But after living here for a while, we’ve really grown to love it. The natural scenery is beautiful, the weather doesn’t get too hot, and the Irish people are immensely friendly.

乜嘢令你嚟到愛爾蘭？⁠你對愛爾蘭嘅第一印象係點？

我同我嘅太太同大仔約五年前黎到愛爾蘭，女兒喺愛爾蘭出世。當初係因為喺愛爾蘭呢邊搵到工作，所以決定一家人搬到愛爾蘭。

其實我地剛到愛爾蘭時，正值 Covid 高峰時期，所以到埗後大部份時間都係喺屋企，我幾乎工作咗一年之後先第一次喺辦公室親身見到我嘅同事！第一印象係覺得好多綠地，同埋好大風！不過住落之後我地都好鍾意呢到，大自然風光好靚，又唔會太熱，而且愛爾蘭人都好友善。

How did you start with Cantonese in Ireland? What do you think is the importance of organisations like 'Cantonese in Ireland' to people who have immigrated here?

I actually met a group of fellow Hongkongers living here through events hosted by Cantonese in Ireland. Since then, we've always stayed in touch, and our kids get to play together. That’s why I think an organisation like Cantonese in Ireland is so vital. I am incredibly grateful to the committee members for everything they have done for the Hong Kong community here!

你係點樣喺CII開始㗎？你覺得好似Cantonese in Ireland嘅組織，對移民過嚟嘅人有咩重要性？

我其實都係透過粵語愛爾蘭嘅活動認識左一班住係呢到嘅香港人，之後都一定保持聯繫，小朋友都會一齊玩。所以我覺得粵語愛爾蘭咁嘅組織係好重要，非常感謝一班幹事為呢度嘅香港人做左好多事！

The Cantonese version of the Scoil Scout website you created is really practical! What inspired you in the first place to create a school-searching platform specifically for Hong Kongers or the Cantonese community?

Actually, it was because I was looking for schools for my own children and found that finding school information isn't really that easy. Although most of the information can be found across different websites, there wasn't a user-friendly interface that integrated everything into one place. I enjoy building websites myself, and with the help of AI nowadays, I spent a bit of time creating this website from scratch. It makes things convenient for both myself and everyone else. I hope everyone will share their feedback with me if they have any suggestions!

你整嘅 Scoil Scout 廣東話版網站真係好實用！當初係咩啟發你，想特登為香港人或者粵社群整一個搵學校嘅平台呢？

其實都係因為自己幫緊自己嘅小朋友搵學校，發現要搵學校資訊都唔係咁容易，雖然大部份資訊都可以喺唔同網站搵到，但冇咩好好用嘅介面同埋全部資料都好分散。我自己都鍾意整網站，加上宜家有 AI 幫助，所以花咗少少時間自間整個網站出嚟，方便自己又方便大家，希望大家有咩意見都可以反映俾我聽。

Besides school information, you also created a webpage introducing Irish birds. Are you a birdwatching enthusiast yourself in your daily life? What made you want to document Ireland's bird ecology?

To be honest, my knowledge of birds is actually very basic, but I often see a lot of birds in my own garden and in parks, and I wanted to be able to properly introduce them to my children. That's why I made this webpage! You could say it makes things convenient for myself, and it also lets the kids learn more about things in Ireland. I also created a website introducing flowers, so feel free to check it out if you're interested!

除咗學校資訊，你仲整咗一個介紹愛爾蘭雀鳥嘅網頁。你自己平時係咪一個觀鳥愛好者？點解會想紀錄愛爾蘭嘅雀鳥生態嘅？

坦白講我對雀鳥認識係非常膚淺，不過經常喺自己花園同公園會見到好多雀仔，都想好好俾小朋友介紹一下，所以就做咗呢個網頁，算係方便自己，又可以俾小朋友學習多啲關於愛爾蘭嘅事物。我仲整個一個介紹花嘅網站，大家有興趣都可以睇下。

Both of these websites of yours successfully connect life in Ireland with Cantonese. Do you think that using websites or social media is a new way forward for promoting and passing on Cantonese culture?

"To be honest, my knowledge of birds is actually very basic, but I often see a lot of birds in my own garden and in parks, and I wanted to be able to properly introduce them to my children. That's why I made this webpage! You could say it makes things convenient for myself, and it also lets the kids learn more about things in Ireland. I also created a website introducing flowers, so feel free to check it out if you're interested!

⁠你呢兩個網站都成功將愛爾蘭嘅生活同廣東話連結埋一齊。你覺得利用寫網站或者社交媒體，係咪一條推廣同傳承粵語粵文化嘅新出路？

我都希望係咁，我整 website 主要係因為我係做 IT 行業，相對係我比較熟悉嘅事情。我的確都希望可以多利用科技，幫助小朋友學習粵語，同埋了解香港/廣東文化。如果大家有咩諗法，我好歡迎一齊去思考一下！

Anything to say to friends in Cantonese in ireland?

I think traveling more to different places in Ireland, understanding Irish culture and history, and finding an Irish person to chat with can help you more quickly build your own emotional attachment to this place!

想同CII嘅朋友講啲乜？

我覺得都係多啲遊覽愛爾蘭不同地方，了解愛爾蘭文化、歷史，搵個愛爾蘭人傾計，咁可以快啲令自己建立自己對呢個地方嘅感情！