https://www.scmp.com/rss/519635/feed The things that make life worth living. Entrepreneurship, collecting, social impact and more en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Jing Zhang Jing Zhang I WAS BORN in Lima, Ohio, a small city in the United States, to high-school sweethearts, in 1987. My childhood was split between the inner city and my great-grandparents’ farm: livestock, a wood-burning furnace, the whole thing. Although both my parents had been athletes, I never saw them in their prime. Instead, I watched my older sister. My parents split up when I was six or seven, and we moved to Columbus. My mum worked four jobs to support us. Money was tight, but there were constants: Bruce... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3365871/ohio-hong-kong-former-nba-player-bryant-austins-basketball-journey?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3365871/ohio-hong-kong-former-nba-player-bryant-austins-basketball-journey?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Sep 2026 00:00:13 +0000 Sumnima Kandangwa Sumnima Kandangwa In January 2025, Rahul Sharma ran his first marathon, in Mumbai, India. Months later, he learned of British ultra-endurance athlete William Goodge, who ran across Australia in 35 days, a journey of 3,800km (2,361 miles). It was all the encouragement the then 24-year-old needed to up his game. Within weeks, the Melbourne-based exercise physiologist had rallied two of his best friends and decided on a goal: he would run 566km (352 miles) from Point Pedro, the northernmost point of Sri Lanka, to... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3365183/born-fly-documents-hong-kong-born-rahul-sharmas-world-record-566km-run-across-sri-lanka?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3365183/born-fly-documents-hong-kong-born-rahul-sharmas-world-record-566km-run-across-sri-lanka?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:12 +0000 Annemarie Evans Annemarie Evans I WAS BORN in Perth, in Western Australia, in 1945. During the second world war, my father was with the military in an administrative position and left Australia in 1940 on the first troop-ship that departed. This was the Empress of Japan, a converted Canadian Pacific liner. I have one brother, Ross, who’s two years younger. We moved to Melbourne a few years later, and my mother and I flew down on one of the first commercial passenger flights. My brother and I went to Canterbury Primary School... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3364387/perth-pyramids-hong-kongs-graham-elsom-lifetime-travel-and-adventure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3364387/perth-pyramids-hong-kongs-graham-elsom-lifetime-travel-and-adventure?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Aug 2026 00:00:15 +0000 Hei Kiu Au Hei Kiu Au At a farm in Kaiping, in Guangdong province, in a rural landscape punctuated by weathered diaolou watchtowers, low-rise ancestral halls and countless rows of neatly stacked earthenware jars of ageing soy sauce, a flock of Magang geese is enjoying the soulful crooning of Bobby Darin. In fact, these birds have been listening to a lot of jazz lately, not just “Beyond the Sea”. The playlist also includes Bob Acri and Richard Rodgers numbers – tunes your grandfather might have nodded along to. But... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/food-drink/article/3364376/magang-geese-and-jazz-gen-z-siblings-put-modern-twist-guangdongs-culinary-heritage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/food-drink/article/3364376/magang-geese-and-jazz-gen-z-siblings-put-modern-twist-guangdongs-culinary-heritage?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:08 +0000 Annemarie Evans Annemarie Evans I WAS BORN in 1960 in Kwong Wah Hospital, where my late father, Gordon Ho, was also born. I have one younger brother and two younger sisters. My mother’s name was Leung Yuk-chun. She was a housewife. We grew up in Yau Ma Tei. We moved many times within the district. I am the last of four generations of master carpenters in Hong Kong. I will buy you dinner if you can find me another one! Our business, Sze Cheung, goes back more than 100 years. When I was born, we had the shop in Reclamation... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3359610/hong-kong-master-carpenter-louis-ho-being-last-his-line?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3359610/hong-kong-master-carpenter-louis-ho-being-last-his-line?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:07 +0000 Cheung Hok-hang Cheung Hok-hang Famed for crafting a US$200 million, 11,551-diamond necklace for Hong Kong jewellery giant Chow Tai Fook in 2015, Wallace Chan has, for decades, been synonymous with jewellery-making. He invented the Wallace Cut, a three-dimensional carving technique, in 1987, and Wallace Chan Porcelain, notable for being five times stronger than steel, in 2018. After an illustrious career working with gemstones, the septuagenarian artist is now walking down a different path. Last month, in the historic chapel... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3357902/wallace-chans-70th-birthday-marks-monumental-venice-biennale-debut?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3357902/wallace-chans-70th-birthday-marks-monumental-venice-biennale-debut?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Jun 2026 00:00:09 +0000 Ian Lloyd Neubauer Ian Lloyd Neubauer As I rev the accelerator, the liquid-cooled twin-cylinder four-stroke engine on the Honda CBR250RR roars like a caged tiger, aching to break free and run like the wind. Born and bred in Indonesia with throttle-by-wire technology derived from the RC213V, the fastest motorbike ever made by Honda’s racing division in Japan, it is a fitting chariot on which to negotiate the hair-raising twists and turns of the Mandalika International Street Circuit, on Lombok, Bali’s lesser-visited sister... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3357909/ride-champion-superbike-spin-around-lomboks-mandalika-circuit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3357909/ride-champion-superbike-spin-around-lomboks-mandalika-circuit?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Jun 2026 00:00:07 +0000 Annemarie Evans Annemarie Evans I WAS BORN in Macau in 1962. My parents had moved there from Fujian province after the second world war and that’s where my two elder sisters, elder brother and myself were born. We moved to Hong Kong when I was less than two years old and my little sister was born soon after. My father worked as a salesman for a trading company, importing canned food and drinks from mainland China. We moved into a two-storey, pre-war building with a big roof in Pok Fu Lam that we shared with a few other... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3356724/meet-michael-lau-conservationist-and-saviour-hong-kongs-romers-tree-frog?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3356724/meet-michael-lau-conservationist-and-saviour-hong-kongs-romers-tree-frog?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Jun 2026 00:00:07 +0000 David Ho David Ho A CHARITY WALK FROM SCOTLAND TO HONG KONG Content creator Kate Barr, known online as EduKate, is currently walking to Hong Kong all the way from Scotland in a feat of endurance aimed at raising £1 million (HK$10.5 million) for good causes. Having started from the town of Dumfries on April 19, the former Hong Kong resident is making the vast majority of the 16,000km-plus journey on foot to raise funds for three Scottish mental-health charities: Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH), The... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3356379/doing-good-celebration-those-making-world-better-place?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3356379/doing-good-celebration-those-making-world-better-place?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Jun 2026 05:00:07 +0000 Ellis Ng Ellis Ng In 2008, the Sha Tin Racecourse hosted some of the world’s finest equestrian athletes when it served as a venue for the Beijing Olympic Games. From June 22, a new facility on its grounds, in the open-to-the-public Penfold Park, will welcome a very different kind of rider: kids as young as three years old, helmeted, possibly nervous and guided by experienced coaches. Pony World is a new 7,700 square metre community space built and managed by the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) that combines... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3356644/hong-kongs-penfold-park-finds-second-life-horse-themed-playground-young-riders?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3356644/hong-kongs-penfold-park-finds-second-life-horse-themed-playground-young-riders?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:11 +0000 Hei Kiu Au Hei Kiu Au On the second night of the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district, which killed 168 people, Dr Luke Tsang stepped out of the train at Tai Po Market station. Before he could even smell the smoke from the flames, he was struck by how the station had transformed into a supply-holding point, with human chains passing water, blankets and clothing hand to hand. The sight transported him back to a rain-soaked airstrip in Haiti, where he’d witnessed a similarly chaotic scene of donated... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3356360/meet-hong-kongs-unsung-hero-volunteers-they-reflect-their-overseas-missions-and-aftermath-tai-po?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3356360/meet-hong-kongs-unsung-hero-volunteers-they-reflect-their-overseas-missions-and-aftermath-tai-po?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Jun 2026 00:00:07 +0000 Charlotte Shore Charlotte Shore Roberta Di Fazio Camilleri knows the importance of having single-gendered teams in sport – especially for women. The founder and captain of the successful all-female dragon-boat team the Renegades did not find her tribe by mistake, but by recognising what was missing in the sport. “My friends and I wanted to race competitively at Stanley. We’d met in a team that was more concerned with the social side of things than podium finishes and, over time, we’d become more ambitious,” she says. “We... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3355999/how-hong-kongs-all-female-renegades-dragon-boating-team-making-waves?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3355999/how-hong-kongs-all-female-renegades-dragon-boating-team-making-waves?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:00:14 +0000 Annemarie Evans Annemarie Evans I WAS BORN in a prefabricated asbestos hut left over from World War II at the site that had been the (American) Eighth Air Force’s base hospital in Norfolk, in east England. After the war, it was turned into Wymondham College, which was a boarding school, and the County Grammar School, which was a day school, where my father was deputy headmaster. I was born in 1959. In 1966, we moved into a bungalow in a village called Morley Saint Botolph. I had two older sisters, one of whom has died. IN... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3354926/how-wartime-hong-kong-became-passion-historian-and-author-tony-banham?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3354926/how-wartime-hong-kong-became-passion-historian-and-author-tony-banham?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:09 +0000 David Ho David Ho It may not seem like fans of Stranger Things, Bridgerton, Harry Potter and Star Wars would overlap much on a Venn diagram, but Comic Con has always been where such fandoms converge. The first-ever Hong Kong Comic Con (HKCC) is no exception, with stars including Jamie Campbell Bower (Stranger Things), Katie Leung (Harry Potter, Bridgerton) and Daniel Logan (Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones) expected at the event. But that’s not all. We are also hyped for the appearance of actors such... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3354745/inaugural-hong-kong-comic-con-unites-global-fandoms-star-studded-line?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3354745/inaugural-hong-kong-comic-con-unites-global-fandoms-star-studded-line?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 May 2026 00:00:10 +0000 Gigi Wong Gigi Wong On an April evening, the Happy Valley Suites at the Hong Kong Football Club buzzed with an unusual energy. Professionals and retirees mingled over dinner, swapping stories not of stock portfolios or property prices but of Antarctic expeditions, African safaris and train journeys across Japan. They were all clients of Jetour – some for decades – gathered to mark the tour operator’s 50th anniversary. It felt less like a corporate event and more like a family reunion. It’s a familial warmth that... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3353395/art-travel-how-50-year-old-hong-kong-tour-operator-betting-heart-over-algorithm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3353395/art-travel-how-50-year-old-hong-kong-tour-operator-betting-heart-over-algorithm?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:06 +0000 Annemarie Evans Annemarie Evans I WAS BORN in Worcester (in England’s West Midlands) in 1961. Dad was a priest there. On the morning I was born, the postman brought a letter containing a job offer for dad as the principal of a mission school in India. So, when I was six months old, the family headed off to India. India was a big part of my parents’ lives. My mother was born there; dad went out as a missionary. They’d met in India. I HAVE TWO older sisters and a younger brother, so my brother was born in India. We were... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3351866/meet-reverend-will-newman-chaplain-hong-kongs-st-johns-cathedral-and-stanley-prison?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3351866/meet-reverend-will-newman-chaplain-hong-kongs-st-johns-cathedral-and-stanley-prison?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 May 2026 00:00:10 +0000 Gavin Yeung Gavin Yeung In the hours leading up to this year’s International Women’s Day, on March 8, The New York Times published explosive revelations of workplace abuse at legendary Copenhagen restaurant Noma under the watch of chef-founder René Redzepi. There is a certain poetic justice to be had that, at the same time, a group of 11 female hospitality professionals from around the world concluded a weeklong residency at Rosewood Hong Kong centred specifically on writing a new, women-led chapter in the toxic,... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3350865/rosewood-throws-its-weight-behind-female-empowerment-hospitality?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3350865/rosewood-throws-its-weight-behind-female-empowerment-hospitality?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:00:17 +0000 Jianne Soriano Jianne Soriano Enzo Cheng’s upbringing was the varied one of a Hong Kong kid who juggled different extracurricular activities. “My mother helped me find my passion, but we weren’t able to find one specific thing that I was really good at. That might be why I’m someone who has multiple interests today, which I try to connect together,” says Cheng, the chief executive of Noc. It was during his college years that he finally hit his stride at being a jack of all trades. “When I was 18 years old, I moved to the... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3350502/head-noc-coffee-his-live-slow-philosophy-weekends?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3350502/head-noc-coffee-his-live-slow-philosophy-weekends?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:15 +0000 Annemarie Evans Annemarie Evans I was born in Plympton, Devon (southwest England), in 1943. My family moved to London because of my father’s work and then to Glasgow, where I was in a preparatory school, Belmont House School, in Newton Mearns. That’s where I learned to play rugby. I went with the school team to Murrayfield (Stadium in Edinburgh) to watch Scotland play. My father was in the packaging business and he was the managing director of the Scotland part of the organisation. My mother was a physiotherapist. We had a... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3349401/former-hong-kong-rugby-team-captain-reflects-first-sevens-tournament-1976?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3349401/former-hong-kong-rugby-team-captain-reflects-first-sevens-tournament-1976?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:09 +0000 Hei Kiu Au Hei Kiu Au Growing up in Zimbabwe, Innocent Mutanga harboured a childhood love for Hong Kong films starring the likes of Jackie Chan and Stephen Chow Sing-chi. They painted a picture of a city buzzing with energy – “the place to be” for anyone wanting to make it big – but little did he expect that he would call this city home one day. Today, he is fully embedded in the fabric of Hong Kong, juggling a career in investment banking, founding and running the Africa Centre, an NGO that fosters cross-cultural... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3350068/cross-cultural-love-story-forms-heart-africa-centre?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3350068/cross-cultural-love-story-forms-heart-africa-centre?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Apr 2026 00:00:24 +0000 Alexander Mak Alexander Mak Since the whistle was first blown on March 28, 1976, the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens tournament has grown from a regional invitational into a global spectacle, expanding from 12 teams in its inaugural edition to 30, competing in three distinct competitions, in 2026. In those 50 years – from the early days at the Hong Kong Football Club, in Happy Valley, through the Hong Kong Stadium era to games at its current home, the Kai Tak Sports Park – the contest has transformed dramatically, a pair of... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3349385/pictures-50-years-mud-sweat-and-beers-hong-kong-rugby-sevens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3349385/pictures-50-years-mud-sweat-and-beers-hong-kong-rugby-sevens?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Apr 2026 00:00:10 +0000 David Frazier David Frazier Doi Chiang Dao is one of Thailand’s most stunning mountains, a 2,175-metre limestone peak that rises like a behemoth from flat farmland. Every February, it becomes the backdrop to a 10-day festival called Shambhala in Your Heart. Organised by a group of silver-haired, 1960s purist Japanese hippies, the event is set in an Edenic campsite in northern Thailand, where shade trees flank a cool running stream and open-air hot springs are just a 10-minute walk away. In recent years, Shambhala has... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3349356/chinese-youths-find-freedom-thailands-shambhala-festival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3349356/chinese-youths-find-freedom-thailands-shambhala-festival?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2026 07:15:40 +0000 Andrea Lo Andrea Lo Step into Jeffrey Lee’s 10,000 sq ft office-slash-warehouse-slash-personal museum in Kwai Chung, and the first problem is purely logistical: where do you look first? The place has the bones of a warehouse – grey carpet, metal racks, long corridors – but it’s lit like a slightly feverish ballroom. The light hits glass, plastic and brass; it catches on badges, buttons and the glossy eyes of plush toys. One room is dedicated to military uniforms – a showroom of garment-bagged jackets, mannequins... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3348127/jeffrey-lees-extraordinary-museum-plush-toys-and-military-memorabilia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3348127/jeffrey-lees-extraordinary-museum-plush-toys-and-military-memorabilia?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Mar 2026 10:00:17 +0000 Gavin Yeung Gavin Yeung I WAS BORN outside Philadelphia and I lived a typical American East Coast suburban childhood. My grandparents had a business selling African violets, so we would help out in the greenhouses on school holidays. It wasn’t so much art, but it was very much about putting something beautiful into people’s lives. I WENT TO an all-boys’ Jesuit high school in Philadelphia, then I went to Duke University, in North Carolina, as an undergrad. My major was literature and history, but I started to study... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3348136/philip-tinari-his-journey-through-art-and-culture-and-tai-kwuns-potential?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3348136/philip-tinari-his-journey-through-art-and-culture-and-tai-kwuns-potential?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Mar 2026 22:00:12 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson Rahul Kadakia’s favourite gavel is not particularly beautiful. The lacquer has dulled, the wood is chipped with paint from the rostrum and the head sits slightly off-centre after cracking open during a Geneva sale, when a lot estimated at US$100,000 soared to US$1 million. It is, by any conventional standard, worn out. “This gavel has sold billions of dollars,” he says, with a small laugh at the incongruity. Newly appointed president of Christie’s Asia Pacific, Kadakia, 51, speaks quickly, with... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3347307/christies-auctioneer-rahul-kadakia-treasures-his-gift-gavel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3347307/christies-auctioneer-rahul-kadakia-treasures-his-gift-gavel?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2026 03:00:09 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson In the early 1980s, coral carpeted the seabed under the Tolo Harbour in northeastern Hong Kong. Coverage reached as high as 70 to 80 per cent in some areas, comparable to what scientists now see in the city’s marine parks. Within a few years, almost all of it was gone. “Not a lot of people actually know about this,” says Dr Apple Chui Pui-yi, assistant professor in the School of Life Sciences at Chinese University. As nearby towns such as Sha Tin and Tai Po developed, pollution and sewage... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3346172/hong-kong-scientist-trying-revive-citys-coral-reefs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3346172/hong-kong-scientist-trying-revive-citys-coral-reefs?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 07:15:08 +0000 Joyce Yip Joyce Yip Summer Wong Man-ting, 31, was ready to sprint into her final race at the 2025 World Obstacle – UIPM OCR World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, last September. Coming off a race in Barbados less than a month before, however, she was still recovering from both jet lag and injuries, and the relentless rain and 12-degree Celsius temperature had aggravated her cold. The horn blared, and the chorus of Banners’ “Someone to You” ripped through the tense air. Wong had one shot against Melia Ochsner,... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3345559/meet-summer-wong-face-hong-kongs-growing-ocr-scene?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3345559/meet-summer-wong-face-hong-kongs-growing-ocr-scene?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 05:00:09 +0000 Annemarie Evans Annemarie Evans I WAS BORN IN LONDON, but my father got a job in the Hallé orchestra as a clarinettist, so we all moved up to Manchester. My childhood was spent mostly in the town of Wilmslow, Cheshire, and I went to a specialist secondary school called Chetham’s School of Music, in central Manchester. My parents were both professional classical musicians, so I had a very bohemian upbringing. People sometimes ask me where I get my discipline from. I guess it was from that school, where we had to practise for... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3345711/jane-houng-her-dedication-womens-safety-after-murder-her-daughter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3345711/jane-houng-her-dedication-womens-safety-after-murder-her-daughter?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Mar 2026 07:00:07 +0000 Alexander Mak Alexander Mak Horse riding in Hong Kong has long been the preserve of the upper crust, with the high cost of keeping a horse limiting it primarily to the wealthy in this densely populated, space-starved city. In the 1970s, the Hong Kong Jockey Club took a pioneering step to democratise the sport, establishing public riding schools, including the Pok Fu Lam Riding School (established in 1978) and later, the Tuen Mun Riding School (opened in 1994). These schools were designed to provide access to horse riding... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3345658/pictures-horse-play-hong-kong-1970s-2000s?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3345658/pictures-horse-play-hong-kong-1970s-2000s?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Mar 2026 03:00:09 +0000 Lavender Au Lavender Au I WAS BORN in Guangzhou in 1979. In the 1980s and 90s, Guangzhou was a relatively special city in China. Many of my classmates had relatives in Hong Kong. It was more open, more connected to the outside world. People generally valued profit and were practically minded. The direct comparison with Hong Kong coupled with the continuous transmission of a kind of folk culture means that Guangdong has always had a very secular society. Even during the political movements of the 50s, 60s and 70s,... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3342638/author-hu-anyan-work-writing-and-overcoming-inferiority-complex?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3342638/author-hu-anyan-work-writing-and-overcoming-inferiority-complex?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Feb 2026 07:00:09 +0000 Faye Bradley Faye Bradley Guess how old she is,” says Naveen Sadhwani – who goes by Nick – gesturing towards a sprightly street cleaner we have just finished chatting with after handing her a meal of stir-fried noodles, a sponge cake, a bottle of water and a mooncake, this being just before the Mid-Autumn Festival. She’d beamed at us, alert, cheerful and radiating optimism. “Sixty or 70?” I guess, struck by her lively demeanour and upright posture. “Seventy-five?” offers another volunteer. Nick smiles. “She’s 85.” We all... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3340989/father-and-daughter-duo-philanthropy-form-family-bonding?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3340989/father-and-daughter-duo-philanthropy-form-family-bonding?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:09 +0000 Aidyn Fitzpatrick Aidyn Fitzpatrick Macau, made for high rollers, isn’t short on flashy experiences. After a night at the MGM Cotai Supreme Room, where a million-pataca chip stack looks paltry, you can toast your winnings at Robuchon au Dôme at the Grand Lisboa and pop open a vintage wine that will set you back 250,000 patacas, before resting your head in one of 14 invitation-only David Beckham Suites at The Londoner. But one experience trumps all these because it cannot be bought: to climb into a blue Mini and be taken on a... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3340789/meet-goncalo-cesar-de-sa-journalist-who-got-scoop-macaus-return-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3340789/meet-goncalo-cesar-de-sa-journalist-who-got-scoop-macaus-return-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Jan 2026 04:00:09 +0000 Annemarie Evans Annemarie Evans I WAS BORN IN a small city in the north of Mozambique called Nampula in 1962. My parents were living in Mozambique. My father was a soldier and the capital was called Lourenco Marques (present-day Maputo). It was, of course, a colony of Portugal. We moved to Portugal when I was four. My father became a merchant and he travelled a lot, so I seldom saw him. I stayed with my grandparents in Porto and then lived with my mother again in Lisbon a few years later. By then, she was separated from my... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3341202/ricardo-pinto-covering-macau-through-decades-and-launching-literary-festival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3341202/ricardo-pinto-covering-macau-through-decades-and-launching-literary-festival?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Jan 2026 09:00:10 +0000 Annemarie Evans Annemarie Evans I GREW UP IN A theatrical family. My mother was also on the stage and had just begun to really make a name for herself when she married my father (Leslie Sarony). Then we saw a little bit of his true character because he said, “There’s only one star in this family,” and she was told she couldn’t work any more. We used to go to wherever my father was playing summer seasons. He was half of The Two Leslies, which was the partnership that he began in, I think, 1937. I grew up watching them on stage.... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3339357/meet-neville-sarony-hong-kong-barrister-who-also-writes-acts-and-sings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3339357/meet-neville-sarony-hong-kong-barrister-who-also-writes-acts-and-sings?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Jan 2026 07:00:12 +0000 Andrea Lo Andrea Lo I’M A TRUE HONG KONG BOY. I was born and raised here. I’m 73. MY FAMILY BUSINESS has a 183-year history. I’m the fifth generation to run it. It started in Guangzhou around the time the Treaty of Nanking was signed (in 1842). My ancestor (who started the business) was stupider than a pig; starting a shop during a war – how would anyone make money that way? He wrote a couplet that reads, “New additions bring prosperity and style; determined colours reveal elegance and grace.” The couplet talks... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3337576/yau-yiu-wai-fifth-gen-owner-hong-kong-umbrella-store-shutting-shop-despite-his-lifelong-obsession?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3337576/yau-yiu-wai-fifth-gen-owner-hong-kong-umbrella-store-shutting-shop-despite-his-lifelong-obsession?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Dec 2025 07:15:07 +0000 Salomé Grouard Salomé Grouard For many, the holiday season is a complex ritual. Tucked 359 days after our last good resolution, Christmas promises to be the perfect time for reflection, celebration and gratitude. ’Tis the season to be jolly after all … But is it really? Christmas lights sparkle across Hong Kong, but this year, my festive spirit is choked with sadness. Less than a month before the celebration, Hong Kong lost hundreds of lives in the Tai Po fire: lives that were young and old, some far from home, others... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3337618/celebrating-christmas-amid-news-war-climate-change-and-tragedy-it-possible?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3337618/celebrating-christmas-amid-news-war-climate-change-and-tragedy-it-possible?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Dec 2025 00:00:09 +0000 Sumnima Kandangwa Sumnima Kandangwa Chefs United for Tai Po Six chefs from Jia Group restaurants – Ando, Mono, Louise, 22 Ships, Leela and Estro – are coming together for a seven-course charity dinner featuring an exclusive selection of rare wines by the bottle. Tickets are HK$3,888 per person with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to the Hong Kong Red Cross. December 9, from 6pm, Louise, PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Street, Central. To book, go to sevenrooms.com/experiences/louise Top Swop The vintage and second-hand clothes swap event... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3335288/4-ways-help-tai-po-fire-relief-efforts-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3335288/4-ways-help-tai-po-fire-relief-efforts-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Dec 2025 07:15:13 +0000 Andrew Sun Andrew Sun MY HONG KONG CHILDHOOD was very typical. I’m the oldest of five girls. From a young age, I carried the responsibility of helping my mum look after my sisters, so I developed a big sister mentality. That sense of looking after people is deeply rooted in my personality. Hospitality was introduced to me through one incident at my first job, selling advertising for a woman’s magazine. I met the PR manager of a hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. I was very young and my first impression was she’s so beautiful,... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3334742/peninsula-hong-kongs-first-female-general-manager-rainy-chan-burnout-and-joy-reinvention?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3334742/peninsula-hong-kongs-first-female-general-manager-rainy-chan-burnout-and-joy-reinvention?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Dec 2025 07:15:08 +0000 Aaina Bhargava Aaina Bhargava If there’s one piece of advice Andre Agassi offers, it’s to dream while awake. “It’s way too easy to dream when you’re sleeping,” says the American tennis legend. “Don’t be scared to dream big because it takes as much effort to dream big as it does small.” He advises choosing your definition of success carefully. Even if you achieve it, it might not feel the way you expected. Fresh off his run as Laver Cup captain, Agassi was in Hong Kong in October for the Prudential NextGen Aces event, a panel... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3334499/andre-agassi-hong-kong-his-comeback-and-learning-live-present?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3334499/andre-agassi-hong-kong-his-comeback-and-learning-live-present?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Nov 2025 21:00:08 +0000 Chris Dobson Chris Dobson I’M ONE OF FOUR SIBLINGS and the only one born in England, in 1972. My sister was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, my brother was born in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and my other brother in the Philippines. My father was in tobacco, so he travelled all over the world. He met my mother, who was with the Foreign Office in Bangkok. Then they lived in Chiang Mai, Kaohsiung, Tanzania and Manila. My grandparents met in Hong Kong at the Happy Valley racetrack in the 1930s, so I have a family history of being... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3333046/dominic-johnson-hill-started-hong-kong-art-walk-he-was-star-chinese-television?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3333046/dominic-johnson-hill-started-hong-kong-art-walk-he-was-star-chinese-television?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Nov 2025 02:00:11 +0000 Salomé Grouard Salomé Grouard For Maria Nemy Lou Rocio, a Filipino domestic helper who has been journaling since the age of six, writing has always been her refuge. “From best to worst, writing truly carried me through life,” she says. “It helped me process being abused by my adoptive family, excitedly document my first crushes, face suicidal despair when I wrote my ‘last letter’ …” In 2017, when she moved to Hong Kong, a city that often reduces Rocio and her peers to their jobs as domestic helpers, she decided to channel... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3332817/how-hong-kongs-zine-making-movement-helping-people-heal-and-be-heard?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3332817/how-hong-kongs-zine-making-movement-helping-people-heal-and-be-heard?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Nov 2025 02:00:16 +0000 Karen Cheung Karen Cheung I WAS BORN in 1974, and grew up in Kwun Tong. I attended Sam Yuk Middle School (now Hong Kong Adventist College), a coed boarding school in Clear Water Bay. My father is an alumnus. It’s a Christian school in a red brick building, and the meals were vegetarian. Sometimes, after lights out at 10pm, my classmates and I would leave our beds and snack on cans of twice-cooked pork. WHEN I WAS 12, I was listening to The Checkers, so I would wear checked shirts I had bought from the Ladies’ Market. I... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3331128/experimental-hong-kong-musician-nerve-his-fearless-approach-sound?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3331128/experimental-hong-kong-musician-nerve-his-fearless-approach-sound?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Nov 2025 02:00:11 +0000 Lauren James Lauren James A stumble on a step, a Yorkshire-lilted “ohh noh”, and world-famous Jarvis Cocker clatters down the stairs from The Listening Room. The frontman of 1990s Britpop phenom Pulp is mostly OK, but will headline Clockenflap the following evening a little less snake-hipped than usual, after breaking two ribs in this innocent attempt at returning to ground level after shopping for records. Rob Deal, the owner of the Tsim Sha Tsui emporium where Cocker, then pushing 60, had been browsing before his 2023... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3330450/how-did-jarvis-cockers-trip-hong-kong-record-shop-boost-vinyl-revival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3330450/how-did-jarvis-cockers-trip-hong-kong-record-shop-boost-vinyl-revival?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Oct 2025 07:15:08 +0000 Andrew Sun Andrew Sun I GREW UP IN a traditional Chinese family in the Philippines. My dad was a businessman working with his brothers. My mother was a homemaker, but in true Chinese fashion, if there was a shortage of staff, she had to help out. When a new business opened, she worked alongside my aunts. THE FAMILY BUSINESS grew and now we’re the biggest snacks and drinks producer in the Philippines. We also have shopping malls, digital banking and some media. That’s where I trained to run a media company and be an... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3330060/journalist-art-investor-how-kitty-go-built-her-second-act-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3330060/journalist-art-investor-how-kitty-go-built-her-second-act-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Oct 2025 02:00:14 +0000 Fionnuala McHugh Fionnuala McHugh One dank, unlovely morning in January, Ross Urwin sloshed around a Brussels market looking for mid-20th century furniture. He was sourcing pieces for Lane Crawford, which was planning an in-store exhibition during this year’s Art Basel Hong Kong. Urwin, who is a consultant for the store, says, “It was so bloody cold, so depressing and rainy. But it’s what I do.” From 2003 until 2007, he’d been buying director for Liberty of London, and would regularly find himself at dawn clutching a flashlight... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3330211/treasure-hunting-ross-urwin-lifetime-collecting-design-icons?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3330211/treasure-hunting-ross-urwin-lifetime-collecting-design-icons?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Oct 2025 22:00:19 +0000 Cat Nelson,Sumnima Kandangwa Cat Nelson,Sumnima Kandangwa Three vintage watch collectors share the origins of their passion and offer advice for those toying with starting their own timepiece trove. Mervin Ling There is something very meditative about winding a watch for me. To those unfamiliar with the world of horology, it may seem as if collectors wear their timepieces purely as a status symbol or display of wealth, but that’s often not the case. At least not for me. My fascination with watches began in childhood. My dad, who rarely wore... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3330191/patek-philippe-cartier-fp-journe-why-these-collectors-cant-stop-buying?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3330191/patek-philippe-cartier-fp-journe-why-these-collectors-cant-stop-buying?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Oct 2025 13:00:09 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson Welcome to our first collecting issue. What drives someone to build a collection? That’s the question, in part, we set out to answer. I am, admittedly and decidedly, an amasser of things but not a collector. I’ve got half of the equation (sentimentality) but lack the intentionality required in curating a set of objects. I open the door and let it all in. But the people in our stories have a much more deliberate approach. We spoke with vinyl obsessives, watch nerds and furniture fanatics – I say... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3330208/week-postmag-collection-obsessions-rare-vinyl-vintage-watches-and-bespoke-furniture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3330208/week-postmag-collection-obsessions-rare-vinyl-vintage-watches-and-bespoke-furniture?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Oct 2025 04:45:08 +0000 Aaina Bhargava Aaina Bhargava Aryna Sabalenka is living her best tennis life – travelling the world, eating well, soaking up the sun and winning big. Most recently, she took home the 2025 US Open title after a season marked by triumphs and near misses. “It’s a great feeling,” says the world No 1. “It’s just fun to be here, to travel around the world, to compete and win. All of it. I’m just really enjoying my tennis life.” Sabalenka is in Hong Kong for the Prudential NextGen Aces panel and exhibition match, speaking about... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3330242/aryna-sabalenka-loving-hong-kong-steffi-graf-and-inspiring-young-players?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3330242/aryna-sabalenka-loving-hong-kong-steffi-graf-and-inspiring-young-players?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Oct 2025 10:32:11 +0000 Annemarie Evans Annemarie Evans MY PARENTS WERE married in Hong Kong in 1949. My mother, who is 98 years old, was also born in Hong Kong, in 1926. I was told by my grandfather that his wife, Tehmi Pheroz Pavri, was the first Parsi married lady to live in Hong Kong on a permanent basis. Prior to that, all married Parsi women were left in Bombay (Mumbai). For some reason, my grandfather, who was already in Hong Kong with his father, brought her out from Bombay after marriage. I think she was all of 17 or 18 years old when she... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3329648/jimmy-minoo-master-life-fourth-generation-parsi-hongkonger?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3329648/jimmy-minoo-master-life-fourth-generation-parsi-hongkonger?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Oct 2025 10:15:13 +0000 Annemarie Evans Annemarie Evans I WAS BORN in 1967 in Caloocan, just north of Manila, in the Philippines. I have three siblings. I’m the eldest. My father had a much bigger clan, 10 siblings. Imagine the reunions we have on my father’s side! My family went into different kinds of businesses: textiles, poultry, restaurants. At one time we were an egg distributor, so we gathered them from nearby provinces wholesale and retailed them in the city. Whenever my dad had a new venture, I’d be there observing and sometimes I’d be the... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3328771/noel-de-guzman-painting-fire-and-silent-power-smile?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3328771/noel-de-guzman-painting-fire-and-silent-power-smile?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Oct 2025 10:15:08 +0000