Nine-year old Aiden Tsang is much like any other kid of his age – he enjoys going to school, taking care of his pet bird CC, and pursuing hobbies such as building Lego, drawing, playing the piano and reading. He also happens to be a content creator who teaches Cantonese and Hong Kong culture through his popular Instagram account @cantohkaiden.
In the eight months since Aiden’s account was set up last August, it has attracted 121,000 followers, with one video on how to say “Thank you” in Cantonese garnering 92,000 likes. Aiden’s infectious smile has even won over celebrities, including Kay Tse, Qu Wanting, Jimmy O. Yang and Tang Siu Hau, who have all left him with words of encouragement.
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O. Yang described the 9-year old’s “Thank You” video as “the best,” while Tse was hooked on Aiden’s recent Chinese New Year music video, repeating its catchy chorus “you too, you too” in her comments.
“Honestly, we never expected that, so it’s a real surprise for us,” says Aiden’s dad, Benny Tsang, who manages the Instagram account. “It’s been a huge encouragement. It reminds us that what we are doing is actually bringing people joy and it helps connect them with Cantonese.”
Preserving your mother tongue
The idea of teaching Cantonese via Instagram first developed after Aiden and his parents immigrated from their native home of Hong Kong to the Western Australian capital of Perth in September 2024. The family wanted to be closer to Benny’s parents and sister in Australia, and to give Aiden the opportunity to experience a new lifestyle and environment, as well as more outdoor space to play.
The move to Australia, however, meant that Aiden’s chances to use Cantonese would be significantly reduced, putting him at risk of losing fluency in his native language.
“Compared with bigger cities like Sydney and Melbourne, I think the Cantonese-speaking population is less than 1 percent of the total population in Perth, which is roughly about 19,000 people,” Benny points out.
The Instagram account thus serves as a means for Aiden to continue to remain close to his Cantonese roots in spite of living in a predominantly English-speaking environment. The idea itself originated from Aiden, who was inspired to become a teacher on Instagram after discovering videos of other young children who were teaching English and performing musical instruments on the platform.
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“He [Aiden] got really excited, and he said to me he wanted to be a little teacher as well on Instagram, so from there we thought, why not make something meaningful and fun at the same time?” Benny recalls. “Since we are Cantonese and Cantonese is part of our family and culture, we decided to turn this idea into short, playable Cantonese lesson videos.”
Instagram is not the only method that Benny and his wife, Ruby, rely on to maintain Aiden’s Cantonese ability. The pair also make an effort to only speak to Aiden in Cantonese and read Chinese books to him during bedtime, a routine that gives him consistent listening, speaking and vocabulary practice.
Filming for social media
When it comes to the making of each reel, Aiden and his parents work closely together, with the 9-year-old serving as the actor, dad as the director and scriptwriter, and mum as the cameraperson.
Aiden treats the production of each video as an opportunity to enjoy himself. “What I love the most is I can play different roles,” he says. “It’s really fun. In the video where I taught the pig, I got to pretend to be a mum or a little girl!”
Still, he admits that he was “a bit nervous” in the beginning, as “it felt kind of weird talking to a camera,” although he says he now feels “much better and more confident.”
Already, the young content maker has collaborated with several other influencers and personalities such as Subyub Lee, Yuki Leung and Ruby Lau. His dream, however, is to film a video with US popstar Taylor Swift, as he enjoys listening to her songs, including her latest single “The Fate of Ophelia,” which he says is his favourite.
[See more: ‘X也’ and ‘Ta’: The gradual rise of gender-netural pronouns in Chinese]
Even though the response on Instagram has been largely positive, Benny is mindful of the fact that social media carries inherent risks.
“Making videos is simply a fun family activity, and it is our responsibility as parents to make sure social media doesn’t affect Aiden’s well-being or development,” Benny points out.
As the manager of @cantohkaiden, Benny plays the role of gatekeeper, monitoring and filtering all comments and direct messages, and making sure Aiden doesn’t view anything that’s negative or harmful.
“I think what matters most is balanced, age-appropriate use and strong parental guidance, so kids can stay safe while still benefiting from technology in a healthy way,” Benny says.
The future
Outside of making videos, Aiden’s living out his life and dreaming big just like any other regular 9-year-old. “I want to be an actor or pianist when I grow up,” says the young Instagrammer. “Being an actor would be fun because I can play lots of different roles.”
He’s already acclimatised to school in Australia, which he says is “great” and not very different from Hong Kong, although there are less tests and homework to worry about.
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“I’ve made a lot of new friends, and we learn new things, not only in the classroom. We also learn outside and from the nature around us,” he says with his signature cheeky smile.
Moving forward, Benny notes that @cantohkaiden will remain a “fun family project” that they will continue “as long as Aiden enjoys it.”
“Honestly, every new video that we make, we feel excited about because whether it goes viral or not, it’s [the culmination of] all the hard work that we contributed,” he points out. “We make it together as a family.”
