https://www.scmp.com/rss/5564/feed Kate Whitehead is a journalist and author of two Hong Kong crime books, After Suzie and Hong Kong Murders. She is also a qualified psychotherapist and recently won the MIND Media Award for the second consecutive year. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Kate Whitehead Kate Whitehead The wellness ritual you can’t live without? My work as an auctioneer can be high-pressure, and when I need to relax, I do weight training. I find it an almost meditative practice and do it three times a week, either at Pure Fitness or at the clubhouse at home. The most conversation-sparking feature in your home? Guests often comment on the design of our home, which my talented wife, Grace, can take credit for. We live in Tseung Kwan O and have a great sea view. She made the most of the ocean... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3322003/what-inspires-auctioneer-and-modern-art-expert-when-hes-clock?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3322003/what-inspires-auctioneer-and-modern-art-expert-when-hes-clock?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Aug 2025 22:00:10 +0000 Kate Whitehead Kate Whitehead The wellness ritual you can’t live without? We live in Clear Water Bay and can get on some good trails directly from our home. Once or twice a week I like to do a morning run. Exercise is a good stress release and I enjoy the therapeutic benefits of being in nature. The most conversation-sparking object in your home? We have black On The List bags everywhere in the house and in the back of the car. We use them for everything. When the kids were younger, they could fit in them but now they’re a... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3315631/french-entrepreneur-lifes-about-enjoying-life-and-family-time?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3315631/french-entrepreneur-lifes-about-enjoying-life-and-family-time?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Jun 2025 21:15:09 +0000 Kate Whitehead Kate Whitehead I WAS BORN in London in 1965 and adopted by a couple in Leicester as a baby. My dad was an economist and lectured at the University of Leicester, and my mum was a dispensing optician. In 1972, dad got a job with the United Nations and was seconded to Bangkok. His speciality was public utilities, energy and water. I remember flying kites in Lumphini Park and weekends in Pattaya. I went to a school run by American nuns called Ruamrudee International School, which probably helped to inform my... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3315218/david-webb-speaking-truth-power-and-life-terminal-cancer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3315218/david-webb-speaking-truth-power-and-life-terminal-cancer?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Jun 2025 05:00:11 +0000 Kate Whitehead Kate Whitehead The wellness ritual you can’t live without? I do a 20-minute breathwork routine every morning. The Sudarshan Kriya (a breathing technique taught by the Art of Living Foundation) helps centre me and give me clarity. I have been doing it for about 13 years. I got so much from the practice that I began teaching it to others and am now an Art of Living teacher. The most conversation-sparking object in your home? A brass carving of the Hindu god Ganesh. My husband and I bought it in New Delhi as... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3312389/good-taste-inspire-yoga-founder-neelam-harjani-takes-postmag-qa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3312389/good-taste-inspire-yoga-founder-neelam-harjani-takes-postmag-qa?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Jun 2025 07:00:10 +0000 Kate Whitehead Kate Whitehead The wellness ritual you can’t live without? I drop my eight-year-old son off at school just before 8am and go to House of Fitness, a boutique gym on Possession Street in Sheung Wan. I could go to a cheaper gym, but this one is between my son’s school and the office, so it’s convenient. The most conversation-sparking object at home? Roomba, our robot vacuum cleaner. We have one at home called Rob and another in the office called Bob. People always comment on Rob, whether he’s running over the dog... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3310862/tiny-island-creative-director-alexis-holm-opens-postmag?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3310862/tiny-island-creative-director-alexis-holm-opens-postmag?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 May 2025 11:00:09 +0000 Kate Whitehead Kate Whitehead I grew up in Sheung Shui, in the New Territories, close to the border, and think of myself as a country girl. I lived with my parents and two older siblings in the house that my grandfather built. It was made of wood and metal and other materials that he had to hand. My aunt was a farmer and lived within walking distance of our house. We went to a village school, Wai Chow Public School, in the morning and hung out at my aunt’s place in the afternoon, fooling around with my cousins. We went... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3308682/art-rice-and-its-connection-community?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3308682/art-rice-and-its-connection-community?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 May 2025 23:00:09 +0000 My parents married when they were 18. My dad got into alcohol early in their marriage and my mother was the breadwinner. I was born in (January) 1990, the Year of the Snake, in Henan province. There were endless fights between my parents and a lot of my childhood was about trying to avoid the fights. My mother realised she needed to own a business to make more money – and she’d need it because she ended up having three kids – so she went to the city to work as a waitress and eventually became... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3305917/stand-star-jiaoying-summers-comedy-and-growing-ugly?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3305917/stand-star-jiaoying-summers-comedy-and-growing-ugly?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Apr 2025 06:00:13 +0000 The 1980s and 90s were the heyday for Hong Kong action movies, and I was exposed to a lot of that on television as a kid. My parents are from Hong Kong and I was born in 1990 in Texas, in the United States, where most of my mum’s family live. My dad was a civil engineer and we moved to Hong Kong when I was three. I was a big fan of Power Rangers, a TV show that started off in Japan, about a bunch of people who have the ability to transform and enhance their powers to defend the Earth. My younger... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3304270/jason-li-martial-arts-hollywood-stunt-double-and-daredevil?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3304270/jason-li-martial-arts-hollywood-stunt-double-and-daredevil?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Apr 2025 23:00:09 +0000 I am an island person. I was born in 1962 in Sri Lanka, an island; then I moved to Australia, an island; and then to the UK, another island; and now I’m in Hong Kong, which is full of islands. Islands have always been open to exchanges and sea routes and people coming and going. They have rich cultures with influences from other places. I am one of those people. Party house My father was a doctor and my mother was a musician. My uncle was the conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka. My... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3302194/museum-directors-adventurous-journey-sri-lanka-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3302194/museum-directors-adventurous-journey-sri-lanka-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Mar 2025 07:10:02 +0000 Great minds blazing a trail: five women are leading the way in the realm of science. See our other features on Megan Lam, Gina Jiang and Florence Chan. Wendy Lam is a determined 32-year-old, bringing environmental savvy into what has long been the workhorse of China’s economic boom. Growing up in the 2000s, she witnessed first-hand the environmental impact of traditional manufacturing through her father’s garment factory in the Pearl River Delta, which sparked her interest in eco-friendly... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3301250/wendy-lam-didnt-current-sustainable-packaging-so-she-made-her-own?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3301250/wendy-lam-didnt-current-sustainable-packaging-so-she-made-her-own?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Mar 2025 06:00:08 +0000 Great minds blazing a trail: meet the women who are leading the way in the realms of science and invention. See our other features on Megan Lam, Gina Jiang,and Wendy Lam. In 2019, Florence Chan was in the third year of her PhD in biomedical engineering. Her research focused on using artificial-intelligence vision to recognise the status of cells, differentiating between stem cells, cancerous and healthy ones. She was impressed with how efficient AI was in recognising their subtle differences.... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3301240/florence-chans-award-winning-ai-vision-tool-helps-blind-navigate-their-world?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3301240/florence-chans-award-winning-ai-vision-tool-helps-blind-navigate-their-world?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Mar 2025 22:15:07 +0000 My parents were touring with a show in the south of France when I was born in 1971. It was the early days of their attempt at creating a new kind of circus. They still had some animals in the show and were living in a caravan. My mother Victoria Chaplin-Thierrée’s water broke just before the show and I was born two months premature. I was three the first time I participated in the show. They placed me in a box during the intermission and told me all I had to do was jump out and run backstage.... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3301494/curious-life-french-circus-performer-aurelia-thierree?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3301494/curious-life-french-circus-performer-aurelia-thierree?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Mar 2025 10:15:13 +0000 I was born in Tokyo in 1981. At that time, Tokyo still had the atmosphere of the 1960s and 70s. The sky felt high and the buildings were kind of dreamy and dramatic-looking. I now appreciate that that time was precious. My father was a salaryman and my mother worked in the clothing industry. As a child, I loved reading and read widely. My favourite authors were Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren and Margaret Rumer Godden. I loved... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3300458/writer-asako-yuzuki-talks-food-culture-and-inspiration-behind-butter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3300458/writer-asako-yuzuki-talks-food-culture-and-inspiration-behind-butter?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Mar 2025 10:15:08 +0000 Kate Whitehead Kate Whitehead New faces of heritage series: For four artists at the forefront of their craft, a deep sense of Hong Kong’s past is fuelling their vision for the future. See our other features on Kiri T, Jive Lau and Dennis Mak Mitche Choi Wai-shan was 13 years old when she first took to the stage at the Sunbeam Theatre, Hong Kong’s historic Cantonese opera venue. Portraying a male character, she donned a tightly secured headpiece that allowed her to dramatically swing her ponytail, capturing her character’s... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3298488/cantonese-opera-star-mitche-choi-keeping-hong-kong-tradition-alive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3298488/cantonese-opera-star-mitche-choi-keeping-hong-kong-tradition-alive?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Feb 2025 10:15:07 +0000 I was born in 1993 with spinal muscular atrophy, a disease that means your muscles get progressively weaker. My sister, who is four years younger than me, and I grew up in Siu Sai Wan, in the eastern part of Hong Kong Island. My parents didn’t know how to take care of me at first. When I was young, I could walk with some assistance. By the time I was in primary school, I was using a manual wheelchair and later I switched to an electric one. Why me? I did all my schooling at the John F. Kennedy... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3297589/boccia-champion-ho-yuen-kei-her-journey-paralympics-glory?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3297589/boccia-champion-ho-yuen-kei-her-journey-paralympics-glory?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Feb 2025 22:15:07 +0000 In the early 1900s, my grandfather was a trader operating between Hong Kong and Foshan, in Guangdong. His eldest son was my father, Hui Lap-sam, who helped him in the business. My dad’s two brothers were a decade younger than him and lived in Foshan. On one occasion, as my dad and grandfather were entering the Foshan city gates, my dad was relieved of all his money so that my grandfather could enjoy the opium. Big brother It wasn’t long after that that my father’s younger brothers moved to Hong... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3294043/he-escaped-death-beheading-1940s-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3294043/he-escaped-death-beheading-1940s-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jan 2025 19:00:11 +0000 Kate Whitehead Kate Whitehead The fish vendors at the Kam Tin market know the team from Organic Farmula by sight. Every month the farmers buy a staggering 100kg of fish, but they aren’t after the prime fillets, instead they want the offcuts and scraps that would otherwise go to waste. This fish isn’t destined for a dinner plate, it is meant to nourish the soil. The fish sellers “charge us less than the wholesale price, they said they aren’t making a profit from us, they do it to support us”, says Kelvis Keung Yi-ting,... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3291455/can-new-wave-hong-kong-farmers-bring-agriculture-back-city?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3291455/can-new-wave-hong-kong-farmers-bring-agriculture-back-city?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Dec 2024 03:07:46 +0000 My dad came from a good family and his father was pretty wealthy, but dad was a big spender, so it didn’t pass down to my brother and me. My parents emigrated (from Hong Kong) to Canada in the 1980s, and I was born in Toronto in 1990. My parents split up when I was two, but they continued to live together and, when I was four, we moved back to Hong Kong. For a while the family lived together with my grandfather and aunt. My dad was a playboy, so I never saw much of him growing up. My aunt, who... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3290953/hong-kong-tattoo-artist-mr-koo-talks-mental-health-and-finding-solace-art?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3290953/hong-kong-tattoo-artist-mr-koo-talks-mental-health-and-finding-solace-art?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Dec 2024 01:15:08 +0000 My younger sister and I were encouraged to read a lot and we spent a lot of our childhood in the library with mum. It was there that I found books filled with code. When I was 10 years old, in 1986, I discovered if I typed the code into our PC at home, I could play a game. I would make errors and correct them. Eventually I saw a pattern and understood logic in that way. I started changing the code to make my own games and that’s how I got interested in problem solving, which led to my eventual... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3290309/meet-man-who-brought-poker-out-hong-kongs-shadows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3290309/meet-man-who-brought-poker-out-hong-kongs-shadows?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Dec 2024 00:15:07 +0000 My dad came from humble beginnings. He arrived in Hong Kong from India in the 1960s with just spare change in his pocket and lived in Chungking Mansions. He built an amazing company in garment manufacturing and trading. He married my mum, who is Chinese, and I was born in 1975. I went to Kennedy Road Junior School and Island School and was a minority in expat-heavy schools. Sweet child o’ mine When I was 13, at Island School, I watched (the music contest) Battle of the Bands. I saw Simon Garcia... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3289436/meet-man-behind-thailands-iconic-wonderfruit-music-festival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3289436/meet-man-behind-thailands-iconic-wonderfruit-music-festival?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Dec 2024 04:45:13 +0000 I first realised there was something strange on my body when I was three years old in kindergarten. I wondered why I wasn’t wearing the same uniform as the girls and why I went to a different toilet. Did that mean I wasn’t a girl? I was too young to understand gender, so the thought just hung there as a question. I lived in Sha Tin with my parents, grandma and brother, who is five years older. My dad worked as a safety manager at construction sites and my mother was a cleaner at a fashion... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/article/3287371/how-trans-social-worker-found-community-and-acceptance-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/article/3287371/how-trans-social-worker-found-community-and-acceptance-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Nov 2024 09:45:07 +0000 Growing up in Glasgow, Scotland, in the 1970s, I was aware of accessibility and inclusion issues. My dad’s best friend had been in a wheelchair since an accident on his 18th birthday. He and his wife, who was also in a wheelchair, were around a lot and dad, an engineer at Rolls-Royce, built a ramp so they could get into our house. I have a younger brother, Gareth. We lived in a racially diverse area where everyone, including the Indian and Chinese communities, spoke with a Scottish accent. On... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3286501/how-organiser-went-corporate-dei-planning-music-festivals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3286501/how-organiser-went-corporate-dei-planning-music-festivals?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Nov 2024 22:15:08 +0000 I missed out on a summer holiday, so stepping into the hyperbaric oxygen chamber at Cryo, in Central, Hong Kong, feels like the trip I’ve been craving. The sleek silver chamber resembles a space capsule and is fitted with two comfortable seats and ample space to stretch out. After a brief rundown of the safety features and what to expect, I put on my nasal cannula, and the glass door slides shut. I’m ready for take-off. Destination – better health. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), which... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/wellness/article/3284151/what-hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-and-how-can-it-help-insomnia-and-muscle-aches?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/wellness/article/3284151/what-hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-and-how-can-it-help-insomnia-and-muscle-aches?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Oct 2024 19:15:08 +0000 My dad was the eldest of 13 children. As an adult, he and seven of his siblings and their families lived on the same small street in a slum area of Bangalore in southern India. I was born in 1984 and have a younger brother and sister. I was always outside with the other kids. We played “leg cricket” – hitting the ball with our leg – in the street. There were often power outages and when they happened at night people would come out of their homes. We kids loved playing hide and seek during the... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/food-drink/article/3284133/how-sandeep-kumar-became-one-asias-best-bartenders-after-dropping-out-college?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/food-drink/article/3284133/how-sandeep-kumar-became-one-asias-best-bartenders-after-dropping-out-college?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Oct 2024 09:45:07 +0000 My parents met in the queue to join the Spanish Society during freshers week at Exeter University. My mum didn’t realise she needed 50p to join and dad gave her the 50p. We always say that was the greatest investment he ever made. He was a working-class Brummie (from Birmingham) and she was from a Hong Kong Chinese family. My mum hardly understood a word he was saying for the first few years because he had such a strong Brummie accent. Hong Kong connection I was born in Banbury, England, in 1980... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3282905/how-descendant-chinese-paper-merchants-built-successful-stationary-business-out-quarantine-souvenirs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3282905/how-descendant-chinese-paper-merchants-built-successful-stationary-business-out-quarantine-souvenirs?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Oct 2024 09:45:08 +0000 My parents were both chefs. They worked together in a few restaurants and briefly ran one, but soon found that restaurant work doesn’t fit well with family life. They had me young – my mum was 17 and my dad was 19. I was born in 1964, the eldest of five brothers; the youngest was adopted. We lived in a few towns on the southern coast of Sweden – Simrishamn and Landskrona – and my formative years were spent in Hörby, in (Skåne), the southernmost county in Sweden. Success and failure My mum’s... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3282422/how-swedish-ex-banker-ended-selling-sustainable-paints-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3282422/how-swedish-ex-banker-ended-selling-sustainable-paints-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Oct 2024 07:19:43 +0000 My mother is from Shanghai and came to Hong Kong when she was two years old. She became a model. My dad, Noel, was born in Sydney and became a professional guitarist when he was 15. In 1967, he moved to Hong Kong and was the singer and lead guitar player at the Hong Kong Hilton Den and then set up his own record company. He launched his own album series in the early 1990s called Middle Kingdom, fusing Western and Chinese music, and became the biggest international selling record artist from Hong... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3281666/why-former-investment-banker-turned-comedy-after-burning-out-corporate-world?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3281666/why-former-investment-banker-turned-comedy-after-burning-out-corporate-world?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Oct 2024 08:15:13 +0000 Edie Hu was born in California, but today calls Hong Kong home, making a living advising clients on Chinese art and antiquities. Much of her spare time is spent training for and completing the world’s most epic open-water swims. No 1 son My great-grandfather in Shanghai had four wives and 18 children. My grandfather was the eldest child and took over the family banking business. In 1950, the family came to Hong Kong and ended up in shipping. With some friends, my grandfather established the Min... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/article/3280947/how-art-specialist-broke-records-open-water-swimmer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/article/3280947/how-art-specialist-broke-records-open-water-swimmer?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Oct 2024 09:00:01 +0000 Kate Whitehead Kate Whitehead When Brenda fell down a set of steps in 1990, fracturing her sacrum, she was left in agony. She didn’t want to take painkillers, so her mother sent her to a Chinese herbalist, who prescribed a concoction of ginseng and frogs’ legs. “Frogs are known for having very strong hind legs,” says Brenda. “The hope was that it would make me strong. I took it three times and I don’t think it really worked.” During a three-week break from her teaching job to recuperate, she moved as little as possible to... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/article/3279997/psychology-chronic-pain-why-exercise-and-mindfulness-not-just-rest-and-medication-can-be-vital?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/article/3279997/psychology-chronic-pain-why-exercise-and-mindfulness-not-just-rest-and-medication-can-be-vital?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Oct 2024 02:45:07 +0000 Kate Whitehead Kate Whitehead My father began his career as a soldier. By the time I was born in Beijing in 1967, he was an officer at a state-owned corporation. My mother was a kindergarten teacher. My dad had only one day off every two weeks and my mother also worked long hours, so until I went to school I stayed with my grandmother. I saw my parents when they had a weekend off. My grandmother lived in a big siheyuan (courtyard house). She had good relations with the neighbours and all of us kids played together in the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3278871/fashion-star-guo-pei-her-upcoming-m-show-and-unexpected-request-rihanna?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3278871/fashion-star-guo-pei-her-upcoming-m-show-and-unexpected-request-rihanna?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Sep 2024 23:15:09 +0000 My mother was 16 when she arrived in Hong Kong in the 1950s, fleeing famine on the mainland. Not long after she arrived, she met my father, who had also escaped the famine. They married in 1954. My birth is recorded as December 30, 1956, though my mother insisted that I was actually born a few days later, on January 1. Perhaps a mistake was made in the paperwork over the public holiday. My mother was illiterate and we didn’t have the money to give red packets to the nurses and midwives as was... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3278860/hong-kongs-dr-fauci-yuen-kwok-yung-growing-poor-and-weathering-sars-and-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3278860/hong-kongs-dr-fauci-yuen-kwok-yung-growing-poor-and-weathering-sars-and-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Sep 2024 00:15:08 +0000 Kate Whitehead Kate Whitehead I was born in Hawaii in 1968 in the early morning hours after Richard Nixon was elected president of the United States. My mother contemplated naming me Richard, but thankfully she was also a Beatles fan and ended up naming me Paul. I have one sibling, a brother who is 14 months older than me. It was just the two of us in a small Japanese family. He was the eldest son, which meant I was out of luck – he got all the love, attention and adoration because in Japanese culture the firstborn son is... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/3276940/comedian-paul-ogata-his-own-words-why-robin-williams-and-andy-bumatai-were-early-role-models-and-i?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/3276940/comedian-paul-ogata-his-own-words-why-robin-williams-and-andy-bumatai-were-early-role-models-and-i?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Sep 2024 22:15:08 +0000 Kate Whitehead Kate Whitehead My roots are in rural Buckinghamshire (southeast England), which is where my parents’ families come from. My mother’s side were farmers and my father had been part of a family brickmaking business. He managed to quarrel with everybody in both families, so we were rootless for the first eight years of my life, going around the country looking for new ways to make his fortune and by and large not succeeding. My younger sister, Alicia, and I had minimal contact with the (extended) family and other... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3275974/how-i-became-one-first-women-hong-kong-civil-service-oxford-university?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3275974/how-i-became-one-first-women-hong-kong-civil-service-oxford-university?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Aug 2024 03:15:10 +0000 Kate Whitehead Kate Whitehead I was born in Hong Kong in 1961 to an Austrian mother and a Chinese father. My father worked in the family business, part of the Shaw Studios, on the distribution side. In those days, respectable women didn’t work and from what I understand my mother wasn’t allowed to work. She would say she was “only” a housewife, but what an incredible job that is. When I was a little girl and people asked me what I wanted to be, I’d always say “A cook and a mummy”. Today, I am a mother to three, grandmother... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/fashion/article/3275153/run-run-shaws-grandniece-claudia-shaw-growing-kowloon-girl-working-celine-and-chanel-and-becoming?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/fashion/article/3275153/run-run-shaws-grandniece-claudia-shaw-growing-kowloon-girl-working-celine-and-chanel-and-becoming?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Aug 2024 22:00:10 +0000 I was born blind. The biggest challenge for people with disabilities is that there is a balance that families have to go through – are you overly protective or do you allow people to be independent? Families sometimes err on [the side of] being too mindful of safety and protection, so you lose the skill set of being able to be independent. My family erred on the independent side. I was born in 1973, in Michigan (in the United States). I have an older brother, Mark, and a younger sister, Beth. My... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3274306/how-us-justice-richard-bernstein-fought-thrive-while-living-blindness?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3274306/how-us-justice-richard-bernstein-fought-thrive-while-living-blindness?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Aug 2024 01:00:21 +0000 My dad’s side of the family is in the shipping industry. My grandfather was an engineer in the navy and my father got on a bulk carrier when he was 18 and went around the world. He moved to Hong Kong when he was 24 and built a career out of bulk carrier shipping. I was born in Hong Kong in 1992 and have an older sister and a younger brother. A couple of months ago my sister and I went back to the Matilda Hospital, where we were born, and put our handprints on the Matilda babies’ handprint... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3273338/filmmaker-thomas-overs-transnational-life-kuala-lumpur-durham-and-manila-and-driving-food-truck?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3273338/filmmaker-thomas-overs-transnational-life-kuala-lumpur-durham-and-manila-and-driving-food-truck?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Aug 2024 03:15:10 +0000 I was born in Hong Kong in 1975, the youngest of three children. When I was three, my two older brothers, who were then six and nine, went to boarding school in Wales. I was effectively an only child. There was hardly anyone at home, aside from my father. He was a barrister. He and I had breakfast together. He’d ask me to choose a newspaper article and read it out loud to him over breakfast and we would talk about it in the car on my way to Kellett School. My mother came from a very privileged... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3271987/jo-soo-tang-loving-hong-kong-volunteering-and-making-her-days-count?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3271987/jo-soo-tang-loving-hong-kong-volunteering-and-making-her-days-count?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Jul 2024 09:00:14 +0000 My grandfather on my dad’s side was a judge in Pennsylvania. He and his wife travelled the world on cargo ships. They played checkers and dominoes with the crew, visited different ports of call and sent us postcards. Following his adventures gave me the travel bug. I was born in California and grew up in North Bay near San Francisco. My dad was in private financial planning and very outdoor-centric. He took my younger brother and me camping a lot. I was a sporty kid and got into swimming when I... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3271115/hong-kong-environmental-entrepreneur-doug-woodrings-serial-start-ups-his-own-words?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3271115/hong-kong-environmental-entrepreneur-doug-woodrings-serial-start-ups-his-own-words?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Jul 2024 03:15:08 +0000 My parents are college sweethearts from Bombay, India. They moved to Taiwan for business opportunities and both speak Mandarin. I’m a “Made in Taiwan” baby, born in 1988. My younger sister and I had the typical American life in Taiwan: we went to the American School and the American Club; had a front yard and a backyard; and celebrated Halloween and St Patrick’s Day. In 1995, my dad decided to move his import-export business to Hong Kong, as a window into China. My mum was nervous about the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3269902/spark-madness-cookbook-author-simran-savlani-culture-shock-creating-crack-sauce-and-hosting-dinners?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3269902/spark-madness-cookbook-author-simran-savlani-culture-shock-creating-crack-sauce-and-hosting-dinners?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Jul 2024 03:15:10 +0000 Jenny (not her real name) faced burnout in a string of communication manager roles. She sought the help of a trauma-informed therapist after seeing Instagram posts on “inner child”. “The idea of there being this little me inside the adult me really resonated. I don’t think I’d have gone for straight talk therapy, but inner child was something I felt I could work with,” Jenny says. The inner child refers to the child we once were. Hashtags like #innerchild and #innerchildhealing abound on social... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3269125/what-your-inner-child-why-it-can-cause-adults-problems-and-how-begin-healing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3269125/what-your-inner-child-why-it-can-cause-adults-problems-and-how-begin-healing?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Jul 2024 03:15:08 +0000 The best ideas are often born in the most trying of circumstances. For three close friends and artists, their “aha moment” came during a very uncomfortable job interview. Yeung Siu-fong, an installation and performance artist; Thisby Cheng, a filmmaker and video artist; and Bomb Lam, an architectural researcher, had formed a collective called c.95d8 in 2022, and been living together in a village house in Sai Kung, in Hong Kong’s New Territories. Their struggle to find an affordable space for... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3267822/crip-art-disabled-artists-get-new-hong-kong-platform-sparked-shocking-job-interview?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3267822/crip-art-disabled-artists-get-new-hong-kong-platform-sparked-shocking-job-interview?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Jun 2024 03:15:08 +0000 My grandmother on my mother’s side had seven children. Her husband died in his early forties and she raised the kids on her own. When my mum got married, she and my dad got a flat near my grandmother’s, in Mong Kok, on Fa Yuen Street, close to the flower market. I was born in 1986 and my younger sister arrived 18 months later. Every Saturday we went to my grandmother’s flat. My aunts and uncles played mahjong and my sister and I played with our many cousins. It was a close family life centred on... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3267537/i-opened-box-night-i-had-my-first-moment-got-vera-liu-selling-sex-toys?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3267537/i-opened-box-night-i-had-my-first-moment-got-vera-liu-selling-sex-toys?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Jun 2024 23:15:08 +0000 I was born in Hong Kong in 1952, a dragon year, and grew up in To Kwa Wan, East Kowloon. My parents had six children – three boys and three girls – and I’m the fourth child. My father had a big shop with many stalls, selling wooden shoes, sweets and biscuits. He brought in eight pinball machines to earn some extra money, but it was illegal, and the government confiscated the machines and destroyed them on the street. My dad owed money for the machines and had to sell everything to pay back the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3266580/how-hong-kong-buffalo-whisperer-went-yelling-and-crazy-happy-tending-animals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3266580/how-hong-kong-buffalo-whisperer-went-yelling-and-crazy-happy-tending-animals?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Jun 2024 23:15:07 +0000 Amid the bustle of the Venice Biennale, jewellery creator and sculptor Wallace Chan finds solace on the steps of the Chapel of Santa Maria della Pietà. Gazing out at Venice’s Grand Canal, he radiates a sense of spiritual well-being. “I live to create,” Chan says. “My purpose lies in the act of creation itself.” Spiritual wellness refers to our sense of purpose, meaning and inner peace in life, as well as a connection to something greater than oneself, which can be religious, philosophical or... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3265597/how-mindfulness-helps-hong-kong-artist-sculptor-wallace-chan-achieve-spiritual-wellness?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3265597/how-mindfulness-helps-hong-kong-artist-sculptor-wallace-chan-achieve-spiritual-wellness?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Jun 2024 09:15:08 +0000 My mum could tell a great story by adding things that may or may not have happened. Dad was a stickler for details and precision, as you’d probably expect from a military pilot. That combination possibly helped me in terms of trying to be a storyteller who could keep people interested while also adhering to the facts. My dad was a pilot for the Royal Australian Air Force. He was sent on secondment to Sheppard Air Force Base, in Wichita Falls, in Texas, to train United States pilots. It was there... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3265636/journalist-and-true-crime-podcaster-pursues-justice-australian-women-murder-victims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3265636/journalist-and-true-crime-podcaster-pursues-justice-australian-women-murder-victims?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Jun 2024 23:15:09 +0000 My father worked for China Dyeing Works in Hong Kong. I was just a few months old when he was posted to Ghana in 1969 and I moved there with my parents. When my mother got pregnant with my brother, she came back to Hong Kong to give birth and returned to Africa with him. My memories of the five years in Ghana are from the Super 8mm films my father shot – lots of jungles, waterfalls and lush landscapes. In the 1970s, we emigrated to Vancouver, Canada. In those days, it was a beachcomber town,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3264821/mean-girls-actress-jo-chim-hiding-her-chinese-side-and-being-remembered-more-her-day-job?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3264821/mean-girls-actress-jo-chim-hiding-her-chinese-side-and-being-remembered-more-her-day-job?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Jun 2024 23:15:11 +0000 I come from a family of artists and my parents were both Hindustani classical musicians. My mother was the first female tabla (an Indian hand drum) player on the international stage. I was born in 1963 in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, one of the biggest states in India. When I was two years old, my father got a job as a professor at Delhi University and we moved there. My mother also worked at the university. Extended families, with cousins and uncles and aunts, are a big thing in India. But we were... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3264203/saurabh-shukla-going-theatre-defiance-his-indian-familys-wishes-film-roles-and-being-typecast?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3264203/saurabh-shukla-going-theatre-defiance-his-indian-familys-wishes-film-roles-and-being-typecast?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 May 2024 03:35:12 +0000 My father is German, and my mother is Czech, and they met at a summer camp where they were both improving their Russian skills. I was born in Berlin in 1978 and have a brother who is a year younger. My father has always been an adventurous man and focused on Eastern Europe, and that defined my childhood. We travelled and did a lot of camping. When I was about six, he said that if my brother and I were good we’d get a present. The reward was a snorkel set. Soon after that we went to Austria and... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3262992/underwater-photographer-and-dive-instructor-hong-kong-why-he-loves-his-alternative-lifestyle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3262992/underwater-photographer-and-dive-instructor-hong-kong-why-he-loves-his-alternative-lifestyle?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 May 2024 03:15:09 +0000 I was born in 1976, in Rio de Janeiro, and grew up in Leblon, a small neighbourhood where everyone knew each other. My mum worked for the government and my dad worked at the marina, which was run by the state. My brother, who is 11 years older than me, and my younger sister lived with us at home. I have many half siblings from my father’s previous relationships. We lived two or three blocks from the beach, and I spent a lot of time playing outside on the street and surfing. I was very sporty; I... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3262139/brazilian-jiu-jitsu-gym-owner-kiko-cacella-life-rio-his-short-mma-career-and-hong-kong-success?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3262139/brazilian-jiu-jitsu-gym-owner-kiko-cacella-life-rio-his-short-mma-career-and-hong-kong-success?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 May 2024 23:15:12 +0000 The Covid-19 pandemic laid bare a stark divide between the haves and have-nots in Hong Kong. Those with means transitioned to remote work, ensconced in spacious homes that accommodated comfortable work and study set-ups. They could afford hotel quarantines, and travelled when the rest of the world opened up. And if they needed mental health support, private therapy was readily available. But for the working class, especially those in manual labour and the service industry, the pandemic brought... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3261675/lonely-depressed-lacking-mental-health-help-covid-19s-toll-hong-kongs-working-class-laid-bare-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3261675/lonely-depressed-lacking-mental-health-help-covid-19s-toll-hong-kongs-working-class-laid-bare-new?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 May 2024 23:15:16 +0000