My life begins on this date. I am born in Hong Kong, which was very different to the way it is today. My family were natives of one of the many fishing villages on the island. At the time, the small island was only just emerging as a developing country, with the textile industry as its catalyst, and so had to deal with an influx of immigrants. I remember the first ten years as very 'dynamic', and of making very many new friends at school who had come from abroad with their families.

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Even greater changes would coincide with my upbringing.  By the age of ten, I had become a keen and adventurous boy. My parents once told me that there had always been visitors and trade, but that it seemed to happen around them. The new trade involved the people of Hong Kong and our culture! I loved to imitate the Martial Arts films that I often went to see in the cinema.

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My family was not poor, but many of my friends were. Those who had come from abroad to work in the textile factories had nothing, while those of us who originated on the island had a little wealth passed down from our ancestors. This meant that I often felt different from my immigrant friends, and as I grew older the gap between us would widen. By the age of fifteen these differences became unavoidable.

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My father had managed to establish a successful fishing business which supplied the textile factories. Now however, industry was shifting to finance and the island was really modernising. The golden age of development gave way to a new era of uncertainty, which my parents took seriously. They used most of the money saved to send me to university. I remember the pressure on me to succeed conflicting with my own interests: my passion had long been filmmaking.

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At the age of 19 I left began classes in Business and English at the University of Hong Kong. My progression was slow, and I found most of the people disrespectful to my fishing background, especially the Chinese aristocrats whose families had fled the Communist revolution. There were also Europeans at the University who seemed to avoid the Chinese altogether, but I managed to meet one or two due to shared interest in filmmaking.

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My introduction to the film club was the turning point which motivated me to succeed in my English course, and as you can read now, I didn't do to badly! As for business, I didn't share the skills of my father. His monitoring of my progression but me in a difficult situation. If he didn't believe in his hopes for my future as a businessman, would he spend money for me at University? I decided to sacrifice the film club for a concentrated effort in studying business. 

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The effort paid off and I managed to pass all of my exams. My father was proud but I didn't see a future in business. I found myself to be more creatively minded. I immediately took a job in teaching English to school children in the city. This was well paid, and I became the pride and provider of my family.

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This work became tiresome and I longed to travel. I took up the offer of a British friend from when I attended the film club, and using the cheaper method, took the long journey by boat. This itself was probably the worst experience of my life. The conditions were poor and I was ill for days on end. Upon arrival in England I felt disorientated and depressed. My parents had expressed concern at me giving up the teaching job and I had a terrible feeling that I had disappointed them a second time and thrown something valuable away.

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After settling into this new environment my mentality began to improve. I was staying at the London home of my film club friend, who by now had lost all interest in films. I saw the similarities to Hong Kong, but London was unlike anything I could ever had imagined. Everybody looked the same but the girls looked nothing like they did in the magazines. After just one month I knew the city well, but I found my friend's indulgent lifestyle of listening to records and drinking alcohol to be tiresome, and decided to look for work.

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After 2 months of looking for work, using my Chinese language as my main quality, I saw the perfect job advertised. Film translator. While I longed to return home, this was an offer I couldn't refuse. However, I found the work repetitive, frustrating and very badly paid. After 5 months of this I could do no more. The English winter was setting in and I felt that my time here was overdue. I thanked my friend and his family repeatedly. The experience, even if having been disappointing, had provided me with a great improvement in my English language. The little money I had paid for an equally unpleasant but seemingly shorter boat trip back to Hong Kong.

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Arriving home was comforting, my family seemed to have changed, but welcomed me and were eager to hear about my experiences. My younger siblings had grown older and I felt disconnected from me. Upon reflection I had often neglected them to pursue my own dreams. I spend the next months living at home with my family before returning to work teaching English in the city school after the Chinese New Year on February 5th.

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