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I was born in Hong Kong in a family of five.
My dad passed away when he was in his 30s. Mom raised us single-handedly. She is exceptionally brilliant.
My mom remarried in her 60s to Uncle Hui. He had courted my mom before when they were younger. Many years later, they ran into each other in Szechuan and fell in love. He accompanied my mom for 10 years before cancer took him away.
Canada is a place for kids and the retired.
My independence comes from the enormous amount of freedom that my mom has given me. Her independence is because of her exceptional circumstances in life.
My friends remind me not to become a control freak.
I am lucky in the way that I always meet the right people at the right time. I worked for Siu Fong-fong when I first started my career.
My brother organized a Ms. Chinatown Pageant at a Chinese broadcasting station in Canada during the 70s. I helped out during the first year and won the competition in the second year.
Once I heard a truck driver saying, “Gosh! How can she be a star with that face?”
I never said I was beautiful. I am born with this face.
But young people take things personally. I was quite upset.
Many people advised me to have double-eyelid surgery, but I didn’t. I am never considered mainstream anyway.
Culture and context define beauty. I was not considered as beautiful in the mainstream culture - but in modeling, my look did me well.
Know who you really are, then you will not be easily shaken. Beauty is very much about self-esteem.
I have worked in various fields. I was an actor, a model, an editor, a singer, a consultant... each experience contributes to who I am today.
It was ME who invited John to start hosting the show in 1998! He was the right person with the right experience in parenting and hosting.
Though we’re not a couple anymore, our shared spirits, beliefs and values haven’t changed. We have a lot of good common friends, and of course, our daughter! It is a lucky situation that we both have an open mind a positive attitude.
Talking bad about the other parent in front of your children is the worst thing a divorcee can do. The child suffers by going in-between.

I once had a listener describe their 20-year-old child as “little kid.” Come on, they are grown-ups who can vote!
Adapt to the fact that your children are separate beings. They develop their own opinions about things as they grow up.
The good thing about growing up in a single-parent family is that you have only one CEO instead of two.
The two sexes are of different species. We won’t be able to understand each other completely. What we can do is learn how to cohabit in the same world and try not to kill each other.
Serendipity is such a funny thing. I met my boyfriend 22 years ago. He took me around Los Angeles. We ran into each other last year and that’s how our relationship started.
He is good. I quite like him.
People in a coma can listen. In 2003, my brother suddenly fell ill of pneumonia and was in a coma. When he woke up, he told us that he could actually hear what we were saying to him.
My good friend Anita Mui was lying on the sickbed in the next building so everyday, I was basically running between the two buildings visiting them.
That was a nightmare.
Life is very, very vulnerable. Do what you want as soon as possible. Don’t delay.
I remember how it was like when I was giving birth to my daughter. The labor pain spreads from the back to all over your body, but it is still bearable.
Young people in their 20s should explore as much as possible to find out what they really like. People in their 30s should start contributing to society; and people in their 40s and 50s should start to educate the next generation.
People in Hong Kong are very sensitive to trends.
We can dress quite well in general, although the young tend to prefer branded items. The way they dress fails to reflect their own characters.
The dieting trends in Hong Kong are out of control and have been for a long time. I saw skeletons walking around town calling themselves fat. It only reflects a lack of self-confidence.
Being fat is not a sin.
People should not follow the trend – the trend should follow the people.
When I pass away, I want my friends to say, “Tina had quite a full and colorful life.” For people who don’t know me, well, who cares?


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Tina Liu Tin-lan

Magazines

“Conventional” isn’t a word often associated with Tina Liu. She is the beauty queen with single eyelids, she co-hosts a parenting radio show with her ex-husband John Sum Kin-fun, and she has worked in numerous fields with at least a dozen different job titles. Today she is an image consultant working with individuals and corporations. Tomorrow, who knows?
