People

  by James Ho "Which song should I sing?" Zoe Sung asks while yawning her partner. The 21-year-old girl is sitting on the sofa next to the electronic piano. She is preparing for a singing-contest-audition. People would probably be nervous if they were going to have an audition in two hours. Yet it was not the case for Zoe, who has run into top-three in three similar competitions before. Zoe Sung Wai Man is a fourth-year university student. She is an award-winning singer and one of the few, who has stepped on the stage of the Hong Kong Coliseum as a backup vocalist at the age of 19. "When the lighting and the Hi-Fi starts bombing, it feels like it is me who is having the concert in front of the audience," she recalled on being a backing vocalist in HK Coliseum in Hung Hom, the stage of which is regarded to be only prepared for the top singers in the industry. Zoe was a member of "Show Choir" in high school at that time. The choir opened up many opportunities for her to sing in concerts of many famous local singers, like Eason Chan, Gem Tang and Edmond Leung. Zoe has recently joined a monthly tournament called "Show Off Voice Challenge", where she has to compete with dozens of talented but amateur singers, for an opportunity having their own songs published. Before being an active member of singing contests, Zoe used to be one of the buskers on street, who performed simply with a guitar or electronic piano. But her band did not last long. "It was fun at the beginning, but then my partners started asking me to sing more popular songs to attract more audience, which in my perspective is inappropriate," she said. She believed that street …

  by Richelia Yeung & Tiffany Lui The photo "The World of A Wild Child Who Chases His Dream" depicts a young man staring at the breathtaking night view of the city. The image shot a young photographer to fame. Kelvin Yuen Sze-lok  was the winner of the 2015 National Geographic's International Photo Contest.  He also had an honourable mention in youth group of the Taiwan section. The 19 -year-old Hong Kong photographer took the picture at Kowloon Peak, one of his favorite shooting spots. The award came as a surprise. "I thought they sent the email to the wrong person," Kevin said. "Being a photographer is more than just pressing a button on the camera," . Kelvin did not plan to be a photographer. The year 2 student at Hong Kong Baptist University said it was a trip to Lion Rock nearly two years ago that first aroused his passion in landscape photography. He was attracted by the clouds over the hill that day and brought his camera to record the moment."I get to see a different side of Hong Kong."he said. He has since become a self-taught photographer, learning from online tutorials and articles. "I just keep trying and gain experience," he said. Kelvin s tries to strike a balance between school and photography. "I go to classes in the morning after shooting the sunrise on the mountain." He said his parents are more concerned about his safety than his academic results. "They are very supportive of my hobby," he laughed. "Landscape photography is full of challenges, "he said. "The weather can make a huge difference in the photos even if I go to the same location." Kelvin said it is tough to walk through rough terrains while carrying all the photographic equipment in his backpack. But the …

  By Celia Lai Wearing a pair of thick glasses with a phone in hand, Joseph Lai Hung-Fat walks around the university campus like every other student. But Joseph is actually a "super hero" named KNIGHT in the cyber world. KNIGHT dresses up like Batman but in a remade version: blue cloak and mask, grey shirt and a pair of glasses. Unlike the cartoon character who saves the city with advanced technology, KNIGHT draws animation and makes videos. The 25-year-old illustrator has captivated nearly 70,000 subscribers on Youtube and 20,000 followers on Facebook in three years with his drawings for copypasta, an internet slang for disseminated forum post. Inspired by Japanese comics, Mr Lai illustrates his characters with distorted faces which readers find entertaining. " The way I present my work makes me different from other illustrators," he says. The young illustrator selects some copypastas with political elements in an attempt to mock Hong Kong's political and social problems. One of his pieces named Mark Six portrays the frustrating life that an ordinary Hong Konger leads. (KNIGHT depicts the miserable life an average Hong Konger leads: Mark Six is the mere breath gap to taste hope under the invisible control of hegemony.) "Politics is everything," he says. "Yet Hong Kong people are extremely apathetic to politics. I want to arouse my readers' attention to current issues by presenting politicians in a humorous way." Mr Lai is among the voices speaking out on the adverse effects of the Copyright (Amendment) bill. Critics call it the Internet Article 23, equating it with the controversial national security law. He posted a comic in which KNIGHT is blindfolded and bound with the Chinese characters of Internet Article 23 as background, symbolizing the restriction on free speech. "What I did was to spread the news so …

by Alfred Lam & Daniel Ma Pink Lee Wai-ki was a financial reporter, but a trip to Tibet in 2006 made her rethink the purpose of her life. She felt a calling to help people in need, so she quit her job and used her savings to travel and volunteer in different countries, such as Colombia, Mongolia and India. After years of travelling, she realised that real happiness and the meaning of life lie in helping others without expecting anything in return. "You do it just because you want to," she said Pink grew up in a single-parent family with an extremely quiet, violent and mentally abusive father, so she left home immediately after she graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and found a job as a journalist. A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on April 25, 2015, killing nearly 10,000 people. Pink Lee was a long-term volunteer in Nepal. When she went to the mountainous epicenter of Gorkha, she was the leader of a group of volunteers in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Soon after the earthquake, Pink raised over $400,000 for relief work. That was used to send over eight tonnes of supplies to the victims and helped 700 families. To better manage the funding and relief work, Pink then founded Light On with her friends. It is a non-profit- making organization whose goal is to build at least two schools in the local community. Though Nepal received donations from around the world after the earthquake, Pink says Nepal has serious corruption and bureaucracy issues. If she did not start the reconstruction projects, people there might have to wait for at least two years. Pink is not paid for her charity work. She writes columns and teaches yoga for a living. Profits from Light On Cafe on …

by Crystal Tai His military haircut and worn-out clothes suggest a primitive living style. A man with a small farm and a house full of second-hand furniture, 33-year-old Mok Ho-kwong redefines the meaning of wealth and fame. Mr Mok, also known as Wild Man, does not choose the usual way of living after his graduation from the University of Hong Kong. Inspired by his teacher, Wild Man left the rat race about ten years ago and has since lived in the outskirts of the city. Being the founder of Natural Network, Mr Mok lives with the humble earnings he makes from holding environmental workshops and ecotours that mainly targeted students. "Nature has given me another option. People solve problems with machines in the city while in the countryside, I overcome challenges in life by tuning into the nature," he said. Everyday Wild Man collects dry leaves and wood to build fire for cooking. He plucks sweet potato leaves fresh from his backyard to be served along vegetarian dishes. Despite living on only $3000 a month, Wild Man has introduced another way of living to those who invest all their savings into shabby, cage-sized bed space – a rural way that revives the rustic joys of life. "I feel happy after clearing a patch of grass or seeing my plants growing. You don't need reasons or purchases to be happy. Happiness is not a privilege of the rich," he said.   But not everyone in the city feel the same. The recent Hong Kong Happiness Index Survey done by Lingnan University reveals that people's level of happiness is at all-time low. On the other hand, citizens are not leading a greener life as well. "When people live in the city, they're forced to lead a wasteful lifestyle," he said. "They dump their leftover to landfills while at the farm, you can use them as compost." Mr Mok did not start off to be an environmental activist. As a child, he was told that being close to nature means getting mosquito bites on his legs and dirt on his hands. It …

  by Jonathan Chan Valuing academic achievements, attending after-school tutorial classes have become a common and popular phenomenon among students in Hong Kong. According to a research conducted in 2012 by Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, more than 70 per cent of primary school students and 61 percent of secondary school students had private tuition. But not all households can afford tuition fees. Leung Kai-yip, 34, is the founder of "On Fire", a volunteer tutors group. Having grown up in a low-income family, Mr Leung could not pay for tuition classes even when he had poor school results. Inspired by his unfortunate childhood and a movie titled "Pay it Forward", Mr. Leung wanted to spread his love and influence others. He decided to start a project to help deprived students learn better. "I believe knowledge is the key for underprivileged children to break the cycle of generational poverty and they deserve better," he said. But starting the voluntary tuition group was tough. At the beginning, Mr Leung had difficulties finding voluntary tutors and a place for classes. He also had trouble reaching out to students in need through the group's Facebook page. He eventually came up with a new idea to approach parents near wet markets in different districts. At the same time, he found people willing to spare time for underprivileged students. Some were even professionals. In offering free tutorial classes, Mr Leung stated certain criteria in the selection of students. For example, those who received School Textbook Assistance, attended project briefing sessions and accepted home visits. On top of these, he emphasized the importance of students being enthusiastic in learning. At this moment, "On Fire" relies on more than 100 volunteers and offers weekly tutorial classes at 25 locations across the city. Some classes take place in …

  by Phoebe Chau "Sit, Yahoo!" Yahoo, a young dog, immediately obeys. Without doubt, there's mutual trust between Yahoo and (his/her) owner, Edith Lee Yuen-yan. Ms Lee is a cadet trainer and puppy walker at the Hong Kong Seeing Eye Dog Service (HKSEDS), as well as a mother of two daughters. She volunteered to be a "Puppy Walker". "I would say my two daughters influenced me to make this decision," she says. Yahoo, a 2-year-old male Labrador, was adopted by Lee in 2013. "I spend most of my time taking car of Yahoo. It is my responsibility to do so," Lee says. The cadet trainer takes the role of a mother and has to shoulder heavy responsibilities and sometimes sacrifice. As a cadet trainer, Ms Lee provides Yahoo with daily socialization training. "Yahoo should be able to acquire the skills to overcome obstacles, in order to be qualified as a seeing-eye dog," she says. Although she understood that Yahoo would not stay with her for good, an air of melancholy surrounds Ms Lee when she's asked about Yahoo's future placement. But she says visually impaired people need Yahoo's presence more than anyone else would. Upon the completion of training, seeing-eye dogs are paired with visually impaired users. "The ‘eyes of the blind' were born to serve the community. It's their mission.They are not house pets," she says. Seeing-eye dogs will only become someone's house pet when matching fails. If that happens, says Ms Lee, the puppy walker will then keep them as a pet. Failure in matching seldom happens. David Wong was successfully matched with Hong Kong's first locally trained seeing-eye dog. He experiences a sense of security when his dog navigates him. "I hope the seeing-eye dog service will become more popular, and bring benefits to more visually impaired users," he says. But without sufficient capital and human resources, seeing-eye dog training will develop at a glacial pace. "We are hunting for families who are willing to commit and to walk seeing-eye dogs as daily training routines," Ms Lee says. So the selection of a puppy walker is strict, in order to prevent abandonment …

  by Choco Chan She is an adorable 6-year-old child on stage, but a newlywed 26 year-old in real life. Angelika Wong Ching-ching is a rookie theatre actress. She introduces herself as Siu Lung, the nickname she is known by because she is only 150-centimetre tall. "I don't mind being short. My height has actually given me a lot of opportunities for many roles on stage," said Siu Lung. In ‘With Love, William Shakespeare', she played the main role, Juliet and drew a lot of attention. "I was thrilled when I received the call from the director because I was just a fresh graduate but was offered the main role," she recalls in excitement. "The director later told me he chose me simply because I was short enough to act as a sweet innocent girl," the 26-year-old said. "But I did not mind at all," she smiled. Unlike many successful actresses, Ms Wong did not have any drama experience during her secondary school years. But she liked singing and was always encouraged to join singing competitions at school. She started voice lessons when her music teacher discovered her singing talent and recommended a good tutor for her. But she found practising Italian and German songs "very boring". "I had no idea what I was singing. But now I am so grateful to the teacher because she helped me build a strong foundation. That's why many directors think of me when they need an actress who can sing in their drama," she said. Ms Wong wanted to study music at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts after secondary school. But the programme was not available then. So she chose drama instead because she thought that was similar. She got her first role in Disneyland soon after graduation. Dressed as a …