strong women
Strong Women
I come from a long line of strong women, but always with a keen awareness that we live in a man’s world. My paternal grandmother fled the Communists on foot, walking 600 miles from northern China to Hong Kong—pregnant and on bound feet. One of my sharpest childhood memories was this constant hunt for children’s shoes for my grandmother—shoes that looked respectable, that wouldn’t look comical and childish on my grandmother’s “lotus” feet. From the time my grandmother was a small child, her feet were cut, broken, and tightly bound, again and again, until they stopped growing. Such was the man’s world she lived in—his definition of beauty is her everlasting misery. But my grandmother never let her bound feet stop her from walking, however slowly and painfully, towards her goals and dreams, towards a better life. On my mother’s side, my grandmother was a fearless smuggler. She kept her family alive in WWII by smuggling rice, soy sauce, and contraband between China and Hong Kong. She evaded enemy soldiers, fed resistance fighters, and outwitted rival smugglers. Because of my grandmothers, I have the life I have—and a fierce belief that I can do anything.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
Public Speaking Youth Champion
Public Speaking Youth Champion
My love for public speaking started when I was a teen in Hong Kong. In my last year of high school, I won the public speaking championship and was the representative of Hong Kong in the Pacific Rim International Public Speaking Contest in Australia. I was also in the Model United Nations—another youth event centered on public speaking.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
A Borrowed Place, Borrowed Time
A Borrowed Place, Borrowed Time
Having grown up in Hong Kong in its final days as a British colony, I often feel like an exile from a borrowed place, borrowed time. With constant news about the eventual handover, I was aware that the Hong Kong of my childhood has an expiration date, a particular piece of a fading empire. And what a place it was, with its inimitable mélange of misfits and cultures! As a girl, my classmates came from India, England, Australia, and the Philippines; our teachers were French Catholic nuns who taught us to sing French hymns and speak their version of the Queen’s English. I went to church on Sundays, visited Buddhist temples on holidays, and prayed to my ancestors at home. As a teenager, my best friends were a Scottish barmaid, an Aussie runaway, a loudmouthed Shanghainese waitress, and a rotation of American navy men (Hong Kong was a popular port-of-call for the Navy). That’s why I document places and moments in time—the sounds, the characters, the rituals, the textures of day and night. And most of all, I cherish the stories—of secret dreams, broken hearts, and enduring hope. Stories are all that remain when a place is no longer, and the people are gone.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.