Hong Kong Stories

Stepping down from a more than a decade legal career, Mary Jean Reimer was looking for a peaceful life. After her retirement, Reimer helped to raise fund for the maintenance of Ting Wai Monastery – only to discover accidentally that the personnel of the Monastery were allegedly involved in a series of misconduct. She had no choice but to straighten the issues out. She managed to save the donor’s donation and provided legal support for free … Mary Jean Reimer believes that changes and ups and downs in life are destinies, and yet are created by ourselves. Reimer made her debut in the entertainment industry in the late 70’s, and was already an actress in a leading role when she was very young. She should have ample chances in front of her and yet she found that an acting career was not what she wanted. She retired from the entertainment industry after marrying Master Lau kar-leung and began a new chapter in her life. To make a living, she had knitted sweaters overnight for sale and pursued a career in selling insurance products ... At last, her perseverance spirit helped her find her own world in the legal field. After going through a life of toil, we hope that when she looks back on this part of her life again in the future, she would be looking at an epic with unimaginable beautiful sceneries.

HASAYAKEE, BALA BALA BU, Whose Rooster is This… These children’s pop songs were once the companions of those who were born in the 80’s and 90’s. As they have grown up and started working, they stopped listening to children’s pop songs. Do they ever remember who sang them though? Cicy Chan, who joined the Canto-pop scene as a teenager, sang mostly children’s pop songs. She spent six years in this career to be hailed as “the queen of children’s pop songs”. An introvert, she found stage life stressful; in the end, she wound it up. This ex-career, however, introduced her to the work of make-up art and hairstyling. Gradually, she developed an interest in this field; later, she enrolled in a make-up art course and started launching the career of a make-up artist. Once she was a client of make-up service; now she puts make-up on others. For Cicy, it’s not easy to put her ego down. Now she enjoys a career launched all by herself with her own skills; her clients range from brides to party-goers. The career is now going stable. Recently, she has decided to undergo another major transition in life, re-training into an eyebrow shaping artist. By doing this, she hopes to have more time for her growing son and strike a balance between career and family. Cicy was once a celebrity. Now she is an ordinary person enjoying life. The changes she has gone through show us that you can start again and enjoy the boundless possibilities in life - only if you can put the past behind.

All of us grow up with children’s programme. Every character and every session brings us lots of collective memory. Issac Ng, graduated from talent training course of a television station in 1993, has a baby face which soon made him a host of children’s programme and brought him roles of student in dramas. However, after sixteen years, there was still not much breakthrough on the roles for him. He started to know his position in the entertainment industry. He learned to accept it, and let go of it. In 2008, Issac left the television station. He lived in Australia with his wife for a period of time, then, came back to Hong Kong to learn about catering business from his father-in-law, which made him work 12 hours a day. Since he had been an actor, sometimes he becomes a focus of everyone. But it is not an obstacle for him. He’s willing to be in any role, from waiter, to barista, cashier or even dishwasher. Now, Issac owns a take-away shop and a restaurant and keeps fighting for his business every day. But he truly knows that, what he is pursuing is just a simple life with his wife.

Winnie Young has a face that is familiar to the average local TV audience. She started out in the local showbiz in 1995 as a beauty pageant contestant; she worked as TV show MC / host, and appeared in various TV dramas as the female lead. However, in order to take better care of her growing kids, she bowed out of showbiz. Out of the spotlight, she still managed to launch another profession and continue to lead a dazzlingly enriching life. Winnie grew up in the United States. At college, she majored in Journalism. After graduation, Winnie signed up for a beauty pageant, hoping to pursue a career in the TV station as a news reporter. Finally she won the pageant, only to attract media spotlight that compelled her into showbiz. A bit reluctant as she was, Winnie nevertheless did her duties the best she could, to avoid her colleagues working overtime because of her. As she recalls, “It was quite daring for me [to join showbiz] at that time, as I, not too well versed in Chinese, was doing a job that required good Chinese skills. Finally, the burden of family made her bid farewell to showbiz. Entering motherhood, she continued to “do her best”; that’s why she insisted on studying Child Education and Psychology even as a busy mother, all because she wanted to give her kids a better upbringing. While doing further studies, she discovered her interest in education. With the encourage and support of Miss Lili Tsang, principal [of a ballet school] and someone to whom she had been indebted so much, Winnie launched her teaching career, starting out as an etiquette instructor. Now she has opened her education centre and kindergarten, venturing into the career of an educator. Winnie has never tried to shape her own future, and yet whatever task is presented before her, she will always try her best, for her own good as well as for the good of those around her. Maybe this is the driving force behind her next target: to open her own primary school in the near future, so that

Maybe you can recognise his face, but you can’t recall his name. Maybe you do know that he is a champion swimmer, but you can’t remember which TV programmes he has appeared in or which roles he has played. Having struggled in the TV business for thirty years, he still holds on to his dreams about acting, thanks to his perseverance and determination that all come from his sports. His name is Wong Chak Fung Brian. Brian started swimming from a young age to follow the footstep of his father, a renowned swimmer in the 1950’s. Brian is a multiple-time champion of the cross harbour race and still holds the record from then. He is also a devoted Chinese martial arts practitioner. His healthy and energetic image gave him the opportunity to appear in an RTHK programme about young people, which also saw the start of his showbiz career. For all the years that followed, however, he was given only minor roles and programme host assignments, which never set him on the path to fame. In 2001, Brian and his friends started a joint venture in food and beverage. Business was robust at first, this time really bringing him fame and fortune. However, Hong Kong was soon struck by SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which drove him to bankruptcy and ruined his marriage. Then he found himself at the lowest point in life. Fortunately, perseverance from his sportsman’s side stepped in; he rose from turmoil and started all over. Banking on his expertise in swimming, Brian is now teaching swimming classes. At the same time, he practises Chinese martial arts and Thai boxing; he has even become a licensed instructor, referee and adjudicator of Thai boxing. He is now flourishing in both swimming and boxing; his talents are fully utilised. Having gone through so many ups and downs, now Brian lives in optimism, believing that everything happens by providence. Even though he is still passionate about acting, it is no more than a hobby for him. He hopes to continue to make the best u

Born to a celebrity couple in showbiz, Ursule Wong is thought to be having a competitive edge over other people in showbiz growing up in this environment. Yet, she has a different feeling. Her parents' achievements are just like both sides of the same coin – both an aura and a standard of success, casting a shadow and putting pressure on her to follow. At first, Ursule worked hard to try to fulfil her dream of becoming an actress. But more than a decade has passed since, in most people’s image, she is a hostess rather than an actress. As the distance between her dreams and reality cannot be narrowed, Ursule decided to reduce her work in showbiz in 2012. She gradually put her time to another dream. Starting from scratch, she creates her own brand by learning how to design ladies' underwear, and looks for her own small world again. Today, for Ursule Wong, her parents are no longer bringing her an aura nor any pressure, but instead her live and attitude. Her parents are no longer the shadow she needs to follow, but an important part to form her own small world.

It was one single decision that rewrote the whole life of Wong Yik Wong Yik took part in the New Talent Singing Awards, a singing contest, in 1986. Then he signed a contract with a record label and kick-started his singing career. He became the most popular rising star of his record label, and launched six albums the next three years. He appeared in numerous TV programmes, either as a host or an actor. At that time, when his stardom was most promising, he was suddenly frozen out by his record label because he insisted on retaining his relationship with his first love. He lost all career prospects; even his family ties, which had been once strong, were then going loose… Wong Yik, the youngest son of the family, has been pampered by family members all his life, especially by his third sister, who is his senior by ten odd years. She even gave up her own job to run chores for her brother; when he abandoned his singing career because of love, it broke her heart. For some years, the two of them acted as if they were strangers to each other. As time went by, they mellowed, and they became more understanding. Gradually they got close again like before. Today, Wong Yik runs a “dai pai dong” (a cooked food stall) together with his third sister, and leads a stable life with his wife and son. As about the decision he made many years ago, he has no regret at all. He is even grateful about the experience, which showed him his own inadequacies and helped him grow into the Wong Yik today – the Wong Yik with a happy family.

Alan Wong, whom we know well, was a reporter and anchorman who used to appear on the TV screen often. After he left the TV news industry, he is still frequently seen but as a wine critic. This major career change is in fact part of his exploration along the path of life. Alan, a non-journalism major, tried different occupations before he became a journalist by chance, reporting and anchoring in the largest TV station in the territory. The working environment and the job nature put him under stress. A “facial nerve paralysis” condition forced him to take a break, to stop and think. Finally, he decided to quit the TV station in order to restore the balance among career, family, and hobbies. Now in the field of public relations, Alan has more time to nurture his wine tasting hobby; also, he has ample opportunities to care for society as a free agent. His present glamorous lifestyle owes itself in every way to his experience in the media industry. His journey along the front line of journalists, with all related experience … All these have painted a breath-taking view along his path of life.

Miss Yellow – a name familiar to many in the DJ world. She is one of the few female DJs in Hong Kong, and the first who moved from being an artiste to becoming a DJ. Miss Yellow who uses the stage name WONG Yat-tung, was born WONG Po-yan. Approximately 17 years ago, she dabbled in the showbiz through a beauty pageant in the hope of becoming famous and making some quick money, so that she could leave the home she hated. However, during the years of drudgery in the TV station, she had always been assigned similar roles such as sultry lady or mistress. Her sluggish career then made her wondered about the road ahead. She then met her DJ mentor Ryan by serendipity, and made an attempt to learn DJing. As Miss Yellow has been in love with music since her childhood, plus her natural talents and efforts, combined with her own reputation, she managed to stand on her feet within a year in synergy with right timing and conditions. She was then catapulted to fame in no time and she has even engaged in the music industry as a singer in recent years. The transition into the DJ business has pulled Miss Yellow out of rock bottom and allowed her to resume her life goals. On the other hand, religion has also transformed her thoughts and attitudes, and turned the old “gloomy and megalomaniac” WONG Yat-tung into the present “positive, optimistic and friendly” Miss Yellow. The relationship between her and her mother whom she has always given a cold shoulder to, is also improving. As for love life, she finally met her Mr. Right, and the two has already entered into wedlock at the beginning of this year, and commenced their new chapter in life… The Miss Yellow now neither hides her wretched childhood, nor her ignominious old-self, and she does not brood over her failing past. It is all because she understands that her life is now different. She wishes to continue disseminating positive ideas through music, and exert influences on people who are close to her through love.