Writers in Hong Kong can no longer make a living by what we give.
In this city, most people like to play on their cell phones instead of reading. Books have fallen out of favour, and very few are willing to buy a book. Influencers’ online channels are more popular than books. In the end, writers do not receive adequate financial compensation for their labour. This is why there are more and more KOLs, and fewer and fewer writers in Hong Kong! KOLs rush to do product endorsement and e-commerce live streaming. Professional writers are too proud to downgrade their status to match the harsh reality for survival!
Destiny is not just a case of chance or accident. Deep inside us, I have a desire for a thing to be achieved. For me, writing is that thing.
When I was at university, I worked as a part-time scriptwriter in a television station. I was only 18 years old. I met great directors, talented playwrights and superstars. I had what I had dreamt for and I was happy. I had lost my study time and the normal life of a university student, but I was still happy. I made my own happiness as a writer, and let go of all regrets.
After graduation from college, I worked as a lawyer because law was my other skill. Law got me good income. I wrote as a novelist and essayist. In those years, computers were uncommon. Smartphones had not been born yet. Writings had to be sent clumsily by post or by fax to newspaper office.
In those years, articles were written by hand but not printed from a computer. Correction fluid was a popular tool to make a change to the words.
My legal career was quite a success. I got so busy by being a lawyer that I forgot totally my passion about writing. I stopped my compulsive daily writing habit. It became a weekly, and then monthly, and finally a yearly exercise for me. I did not write for newspapers anymore and just casually published a book once a year. Later, legal work became my priority in the 2000s, and I paused writing for almost 10 years. I did not write anything at all. Taking a hiatus was a good rest but I felt guilty for ignoring my good publisher Cosmos Books (天地圖書) which regularly encouraged me to try to write again. Being lazy was a kind of freedom with a calm mind. I thought I would never write again.
About 10 years ago, the online newspaper “HK01” asked me to write again as a columnist. I struggled for a while between my immediate workload and lifelong passion to write. At last, I said yes. I am still the slave of my soul. It always forces me to do the right, and sometimes wrong thing when you look at it from an income perspective.
Fate struck me again, making me rise and renew the fight. More or less at the same time in 2014, Orange News (橙新聞) and Ming Pao (明報) invited me to write again for them. The multifaceted nature of my destiny has been unpredictable and powerful. Cosmos Books, seeing my revival as a writer, invited me for a book release once again!
I never understand my past. Things were too confusing and complicated. I made stupid decisions. But, I understand my future: I want a simple life with focus on what I want to do. Well, mission, if not ambition, may not be an easy task. Surely, God will arrange the best circumstances for my life.
Being unable to see a bigger picture of my future while I am often stuck in a rut. I can only be guided to take a baby step before I run.
In the Hong Kong Book Fair in July 2026, my new book “A Hurried Life太匆匆” will be released. It is a collection of my essays about life, arts and culture. It is my 16th book since 1996. I am very grateful to Cosmos Books which have rendered me boundless support.
Look forward to your kind purchase too!
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