First Person: Cheuk Wan-chi
Cheuk Wan-chi is Hong Kong’s youngest DJ ever, joining Commercial Radio at the age of 13. Her quick wit is not confined to the radio, though: over her career, she’s penned 16 books, written four film screenplays and curated an art exhibition. The ambitious multimedia talent talks to Grace Tsoi about eccentricity, her grandmother and her upcoming standup show.
When I was a kid, I dreamed of becoming a radio anchor, with tattoos all over my body. I told my mum that it would be a very hip thing to do, but she asked me to go to sleep.
Of course, radio stations were more fun than school! I could listen to my favorite songs; I could take the CDs back home; and people always paid attention to what I said.
I was a talkative child—until I stopped talking altogether in Primary 6. I suddenly decided that I wouldn’t speak a word more. Even when teachers demanded answers from me, I said nothing.
I think my upbringing was very normal. It was the others who missed something instead. When I was young, I could get the autograph of Priscilla Chan [a popular Cantopop singer in the late 80s]. Who missed more—you or me?
A colleague asked me why I didn’t do drugs, cut my wrists, or get married and have babies at a young age [due to my early fame]. I don’t really know why. But I think if you were not that type of person, you wouldn’t do such things ever.
I am a person who hates wasting time. When I was 15, someone offered me drugs. My immediate response was to ask if I could still go to sleep by 5am if I took it. I had to record in the afternoon and I had to sleep by 5am the latest. The guy gave in and said I shouldn’t take any drugs.