Meet the musician who turns Hong Kong’s noise pollution into urban symphonies

Walking around the streets of Hong Kong, you might notice a man curiously holding out his phone and pointing it towards the sky in the middle of the crowd.

To Laurie Lau Kwok-hong, the incessant ticking of traffic lights, the jingles in MTR stations and even the “tsks” of annoyed commuters all have endless potential to be transformed into notes that form the harmony of the city’s soundscape.

Indeed, what others consider noise pollution in a densely populated city like Hong Kong is often music to Lau’s ears.

The 27-year-old musician went viral on social media in April for recording noises he heard around the city and remixing them into music.

In his most viral video, part of a series called “Have a Good Day” with over 1.7 million views on Instagram, Lau stands by the gantry in the MTR, the train doors and the tactile map for the visually impaired, and records sounds before combining them into a song.

The video was well received, with many praising Lau for his creativity, while some also joked that the repetitive noises of Hong Kong’s public transport system reminded them of the “trauma” of commuting at peak hours.