Newly minted author Sonia Leung tells Kate Whitehead about life in a Diamond Hill slum, a devastating rape and how she finally followed her dream. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Profile

Raped at 14, she was haunted for years – now her dream has come true

11 Mar 2024 - 7:15AM

Fresh from her talk at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival, newly minted author Sonia Leung tells Kate Whitehead about life in a Diamond Hill slum, a devastating rape and how she finally followed her dream.

Newly minted author Sonia Leung tells Kate Whitehead about life in a Diamond Hill slum, a devastating rape and how she finally followed her dream. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Raped at 14, she was haunted for years – now her dream has come true

Fresh from her talk at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival, newly minted author Sonia Leung tells Kate Whitehead about life in a Diamond Hill slum, a devastating rape and how she finally followed her dream.

11 Mar 2024 - 7:15AM

Which Jane Austen book changed this mental health charity founder’s life?

Lucy Lord MBE, a decorated obstetrician who is also the founder and executive chair of mental health charity Mind HK, reveals the Jane Austen book that she has read over and over again for 50 years.

7 Mar 2024 - 5:15PM

Dune is not just a story, it’s a warning about climate change

If the themes in Dune, about a resource war, climate change and a dying planet, sound familiar, that is because they should – Frank Herbert intended his novel to be a warning, not just a story.

2 Mar 2024 - 5:15PM
Lucy Lord MBE, the founder and executive chair of Hong Kong mental health charity Mind HK and a decorated obstetrician, says that what she sees in Jane Austen’s Persuasion has grown with her stages of professional development. Photo: Mind HK

Which Jane Austen book changed this mental health charity founder’s life?

Lucy Lord MBE, a decorated obstetrician who is also the founder and executive chair of mental health charity Mind HK, reveals the Jane Austen book that she has read over and over again for 50 years.

7 Mar 2024 - 5:15PM
Books and literature

Dune is not just a story, it’s a warning about climate change

If the themes in Dune, about a resource war, climate change and a dying planet, sound familiar, that is because they should – Frank Herbert intended his novel to be a warning, not just a story.

If the themes in Dune, about a resource war, climate change and a dying planet, sound familiar, that is because they should – Frank Herbert intended his novel to be a warning, not just a story.

2 Mar 2024 - 5:15PM
Books and literature

‘Do you get aroused?’ A retired dancer aims to demystify ballet

David McAllister, former principal dancer with The Australian Ballet, and its longest serving artistic director, helps people peek behind the curtain with his new book, ‘Ballet Confidential’.

David McAllister, former principal dancer with The Australian Ballet, and its longest serving artistic director, helps people peek behind the curtain with his new book, ‘Ballet Confidential’.

27 Feb 2024 - 6:18PM

She was weak, alone, pregnant. And suddenly a prisoner of war no more

An excerpt from Searching for Billie sheds light on the life of a World War II internee at Hong Kong’s Stanley camp – the author’s mother – in the chaotic days following the Japanese surrender.

18 Feb 2024 - 11:15AM
She was weak, alone, pregnant. And suddenly a prisoner of war no more

How Hong Kong independent bookstores are in flux amid closures

Recent months have seen well-known independent bookstores close in Hong Kong after they were suspected of breaking various laws, but novel business models are seeing new ones emerge.

14 Feb 2024 - 7:19PM
How Hong Kong independent bookstores are in flux amid closures

‘Do you get aroused?’ A retired dancer aims to demystify ballet

David McAllister, former principal dancer with The Australian Ballet, and its longest serving artistic director, helps people peek behind the curtain with his new book, ‘Ballet Confidential’.

27 Feb 2024 - 6:18PM

She was weak, alone, pregnant. And suddenly a prisoner of war no more

An excerpt from Searching for Billie sheds light on the life of a World War II internee at Hong Kong’s Stanley camp – the author’s mother – in the chaotic days following the Japanese surrender.

18 Feb 2024 - 11:15AM

How Hong Kong independent bookstores are in flux amid closures

Recent months have seen well-known independent bookstores close in Hong Kong after they were suspected of breaking various laws, but novel business models are seeing new ones emerge.

14 Feb 2024 - 7:19PM

Books Spotlight

Books | OPINION
Billie Gill in the 1950s. During the 1930s she was a fixture of Shanghai’s literary scene. Our writer Jason Wordie sat down with her for enchanting conversations about the past, before her death in 2006. Photo: Courtesy of Gill family

Then & Now | A brief but beautiful encounter with a key literary figure from 1930s China

Conversations with the late Billie Gill, a fixture of the literary scene in Shanghai, China, in the 1930s, make up fond memories for one writer, who recalls two enjoyable days spent in her company.

9 Mar 2024 - 7:33PM

Then & Now | A Hong Kong amateur historian dead 35 years but whose work still resonates

Hong Kong-born Portuguese scholar José Maria ‘Jack’ Braga was one of a group of amateur historians, including Austin Coates, whose spadework dug up unexpected riches for later authors to utilise.

Hong Kong-born Portuguese scholar José Maria ‘Jack’ Braga was one of a group of amateur historians, including Austin Coates, whose spadework dug up unexpected riches for later authors to utilise.

3 Jul 2023 - 7:45AM
A Hong Kong amateur historian dead 35 years but whose work still resonates

Then & Now | Published in 1957, this is still Hong Kong’s most comprehensive history book

With Hong Kong at a crossroads, the time is ripe for another book providing broad-ranging insight into the city, a feat not attempted since 1957’s comprehensive history work Hong Kong Business Symposium.

With Hong Kong at a crossroads, the time is ripe for another book providing broad-ranging insight into the city, a feat not attempted since 1957’s comprehensive history work Hong Kong Business Symposium.

31 May 2023 - 7:45AM
Published in 1957, this is still Hong Kong’s most comprehensive history book

Then & Now | As ‘red lines’ entangle Hong Kong, some thoughts about toads and frogs

With freedom of speech and free access to the books of one’s choice in Hong Kong narrowing, a writer finds solace in one of life’s most basic certainties.

With freedom of speech and free access to the books of one’s choice in Hong Kong narrowing, a writer finds solace in one of life’s most basic certainties.

21 May 2023 - 9:15AM
As ‘red lines’ entangle Hong Kong, some thoughts about toads and frogs

Then & Now | The Macau merchant whose private tropical bird aviary astonished visitors

British merchant Thomas Beale built a vast aviary in Macau in the early 19th century that housed birds from tropical Asia, including the exotic bird of paradise many naturalists had thought to be mythological.

British merchant Thomas Beale built a vast aviary in Macau in the early 19th century that housed birds from tropical Asia, including the exotic bird of paradise many naturalists had thought to be mythological.

1 May 2023 - 8:15AM
The Macau merchant whose private tropical bird aviary astonished visitors
Camp Lt Christopher D’Almada e Castro of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps in 1937. Photo: Courtesy of the D’Almada Barretto Collection

Then & Now | The Hong Kong legal eagle whose bravery as a POW is stuff of local legend

Christopher D’Almada e Castro of Hong Kong’s Portuguese community was a distinguished lawyer who assisted British intelligence at great personal risk while in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.

10 Apr 2023 - 11:17AM
A 1920s aerial view of Hong Kong, with Western District in the foreground and the Kowloon peninsula and hills in the background. Australian William Farmer Whyte sailed into Victoria Harbour for a two-day visit in 1923, recorded in his travelogue. Photo: The University of Hong Kong Libraries

Then & Now | ‘There is nothing in the world like Hong Kong’: 1923 travel writer impressed

An Australian painted a picture of Hong Kong both wonderful and weirdly familiar in a 1923 travelogue belatedly published last year. He marvelled at its roads and night vistas, and disliked its drab buildings.

27 Mar 2023 - 8:40AM
Billie Gill in the 1950s. During the 1930s she was a fixture of Shanghai’s literary scene. Our writer Jason Wordie sat down with her for enchanting conversations about the past, before her death in 2006. Photo: Courtesy of Gill family

Then & Now | A brief but beautiful encounter with a key literary figure from 1930s China

9 Mar 2024 - 7:33PM

Hong Kong-born Portuguese scholar José Maria ‘Jack’ Braga was one of a group of amateur historians, including Austin Coates, whose spadework dug up unexpected riches for later authors to utilise.

3 Jul 2023 - 7:45AM