This Hong Kong Life

"You are stressed, I am also stressed!"

Hong Kong is a fast-paced society. Sometimes you just wanna shout “I've had enough!" Being exposed to such a high-pressure environment could make us put our emotions aside, or even neglect our true emotions.

Find out how our guest (and KELY alumni) Avneet deals with stress, and her experience in advocating mental health. Spending quality time with yourself is very important too!

Have you ever felt dragged back by or struggled to move forward with your emotional baggage? Expectations for yourself, from your parents or friends could bring you down sometimes - how do we cope with that? In EP5, we are co-hosting with Melody and Vivian from Unlabelling Effect to talk about the uncertainties and pains of growing up, and how to restart with new beginnings. Our key takeaway? We are free to perceive ourselves in any way we choose.

The mainstream society has always had specific expectations of how "male" or "female" should behave. These expectations are reinforcing the gender stereotype. How do we construe and interpret concepts like "equity" and "equality" under gender dynamics? How should we adjust ourselves to cater for the needs of different genders? Listen to what our guests, Rita @ Unlabelling Effect and Emery, have to say, and reflect on the relationship between "gender" and "mental health support"!

We talk little to nothing about mental health, despite its vital importance to our personal lives and health What is the cause of these common phenomenon? How can we vent out stress? How should we resolve with our emotions? In this episode, we have invited Wincel to join us and share her answers with us. Make sure to tune in and listen from anywhere you can!

In a metropolis like Hong Kong, we often meet people from different races and cultural backgrounds. How do they live in such a vibrant city while maintaining their identity ? What obstacles have they faced while being themselves? With the deeply inhibited stereotypes in Hong Kong's community, how do these hinder people from being themselves?

In this episode, we are glad to have Renee and Jeal, sharing their ideas and thoughts about cultural conflicts and the issue of self-identity among different communities in Hong Kong. Make sure to tune in and listen from wherever you are!

Season 7 is back with the brand-new theme 'Under the Surface'! Very often when we look at something, we are merely taking in the tip of an iceberg. There's always more - much, much more - to what we can see.

In Hong Kong, 47.5% of students have drunk alcohol before (Narcotics Division, 2022). At family gatherings or due to peer pressure, many young people are exposed to alcohol at an early age. Our young host, Renee, and Youth Services Officer, Miriam, exchanged their thoughts on this.

Ever wondered what boarding school is like? Jayde described her experiences in boarding school during this episode. Jayde is grateful for her boarding school experience, where she met friends and grew as a person. Jayde explained how the house-mother and house-daughter relations allowed her to build a good friendship. Jayde gets inspiration from being around others, though she mentioned struggles with meeting people in university in comparison with being surrounded by friends in boarding school. As an arts lover, Jayde writes poetry and songs. She does dance and drama too. Jayde mentioned how reading and writing poetry helps to “release emotions in a healthy way.” At the moment, Jayde regularly prioritizes alone time, and she continues to delve into the world of literature as an English major student.

Some people have full access to education, and some do not. Henry, a student from Durham University, discussed education inequality and the differences between types of schools both in the UK and Hong Kong. Having previously studied at Renaissance College in Hong Kong, Henry went through training to teach Maths, Geography, and English to students in Nepal. His community services showed him the divide between his experience in school and those of the Nepalese students. In that Nepalese school, basic commodities like WiFi had to be built too with the help of Henry’s class. Henry also participated in a fundraiser during university, where he raised funds to travel away from the university as far as possible to raise awareness and learn about education inequality. Henry continues to make a difference in education, and he is interested in addressing the societal needs of the educational system. Being passionate about education, Henry will go into the education field in the future.

Do not miss out on Henry’s insightful story!

This episode highlights Olympia, a leader in Pedal4Lalibela, a fundraising campaign by her school with England-based charity Soil of Amhara. She shared her volunteering experience through cycling and raffles competition to promote universal education in Lalibela Primary School, Ethiopia. Ranging from the variety of books to the conditions of classrooms, Olympia and her team improved the learning resources for the local students. Besides, our guest today also revealed how she also co-founded ‘Along Hong Kong’, a dementia elderly service-oriented organization with friends from other schools during the pandemic. Volunteering has taught her approaches to dealing with mental breakdowns and overcoming hardships in life. “Don’t give up because, at the end of the day, little by little you will find yourself making good friendships and learning a lot,” said Olympia.

Nazreen shares her growing-up journey as a third culture identity person and how she tackled mental health challenges. During her hard times, she had been kept rethinking her position and life paths. With the nurture of religious belief, Nazreen could finally figure out her values and passion for empowering herself and the community. She further integrates her interest with the workplace who is now the youth services officer of KELY, that she also lives her life to the fullest. Check out her story!

In view of the education needs of children from underprivileged families during the pandemic, Chloe, a 14-year-old girl, founded a platform with her friends, providing virtual language tutorial classes for these children. In this episode, Chloe shares her vision of minimising education inequality in Hong Kong. She also talked about her experience and learning in collaborating with overseas education organisations and reaching assistance to kids around the world.

Knowing chance does not always come to us, Felix, a 22-year-old youth, seizes every opportunity to put what he has learnt into practice and give back to our community. Under the pandemic, a local artist looked for an IT talent to help develop creative IG filters. Seeing this would be a great chance for him to apply his knowledge, he took up that challenge and successfully created his first selfie filter. Over the years, he has already developed over 20 brilliant filters for remarkable brands and celebrities.

Aside from unlocking his potential, Felix also wanted to support his peers with this new technology. He happened to know KELY, and created two IG filters with peer support elements for “Project Connect”, our new youth mental health referral service.

Under the stressful atmosphere of the pandemic, Ivan found that it's important to maintain life balance to stay both physically and mentally healthy. In this episode, Ivan talks about his connection with his dog, who is dear to his heart, and their long hike to stay healthy. Ivan also shares about a campaign with his friends to raise funds for a dog shelter which was almost permanently shut down due to financial difficulties and a rising number of abandoned dogs.

Welcome to Season 6 of “This Hong Kong Life”! The theme of this season is “Things I’m proud of…” This season, our youth host, Renee, will be interviewing members of the youth to share their experiences of trying new and different activities while embracing the “new normal.” Join us for our first episode, featuring Joshua!

Joshua enjoys different types of art and experimenting with various mediums. During the pandemic, he explored new art forms such as digital drawing. In this episode, he will share details about his experimental community art exhibition project themed “Hong Kong subculture.” Joshua noticed other teenagers of a similar age suffering from the challenges of mental health issues and felt inspired to use his art to bring changes to the community and communicate with those teenagers. Here is Joshua’s contribution -

“Dear Mum and Dad, I used to be a really annoying kid, I want to apologise for doing all those bad things before. Thank you for supporting me all the time!”

Goran, who was born and raised in an architecture family, leveraged our platform to express his true feelings to his parents. He knows that only when we BUILD mutual trust with our family, we can feel open and comfortable to talk through all our difficult things. Under the pandemic, Goran has tried to strengthen his family bonds in multiple ways, such as going joggling with his parents, having regular video calls with other family members who are living abroad. He hopes to grow as a better man and support his parents in the future.

Here comes our last episode of the Season 5 of “This Hong Kong Life”, a podcast with stories from Hong Kong youth. The theme is “Dear Mum and Dad”.

Adelaide, who has a huge passion for psychology and mental health, knows the significance of mutual understanding between parents and children. When having any conflicts with her mum, Adelaide instantly calms herself down and tries to empathize with her mum. Rather than saying whatever she wants, she would prefer sharing her own feelings on the inside when both of them are in good moods.

Seeing parents may also face mental health challenges like young people, Adelaide suggests we should put ourselves in their shoes and support each other when needed.

Pandemic definitely makes a positive change in Zuhaa’s family that everyone has got much closer to one another. In the past, Zuhaa had to manage everything about study on her own without family support. With the “work from home” arrangement, her parents could finally spend more time on talking with Zuhaa and her siblings, and even being actively involved in selecting a right college for her younger sister. Zuhaa is grateful to see her family bond has become stronger and they can now make a decision as a whole.

Winston always thinks it is imperative to maintain a good relationship with his family. Knowing his traditional parents never talk through their own problems, Winston takes an active role to share his own issues and encourage his parents to open up. He believes taking these baby steps will help bring all his family members closer together.

Gladys never thought that she could get to know so much more about her parents than ever under the pandemic. At the beginning, she just hid herself in the room to avoid having any conflicts. After talking with her father by chance, she was surprised that both of them were very into video editing and shared quite a number of interests.

Looking back in time, Gladys feels blessed that her parents have been giving her a lot of freedom and respecting for her privacy as always. She believes parents are also human beings who can often make mistakes, thereby we should learn to have sympathy for them and understand their difficulties.

There would be a lot of big changes for Andrea in the future as she was ready to go to study abroad this summer. Under the pandemic, it was sometimes chaotic for her getting along with her family but she believed communication and building mutual trust was the most important. She also believed there was not a perfect family but they would be there for you whenever you needed them.

In episode 3, we have Jacob who starts off the conversation by sharing his poor relationship with his family a few years before. During his school days in the UK, a lack of communication caused some issues with him and his parents. After coming back to Hong Kong, Jacob successfully bridged the relationship gap with his family due to the fact their communication has got better. He believes that communicating thoughts and feelings is always the best way to strengthen bonds.

Before Covid, Ken was mainly at school and there was a lack of communication between him and his parents. Bottling up his emotions, he found himself in a depressive state. However, due to social distancing and school closing under the pandemic, he spends more time at home now with his family. Not only his bond with his parents has strengthened, he also realizes that communication is key and that you should try more to share your emotions with your parents as they can help you through it better than most people can.

Welcome to Season 5 of “This Hong Kong Life”, a podcast with stories from the Hong Kong youth. The theme of this season is “Dear Mum and Dad”.

Here comes our first episode! Jack, a psychology student from University of Hong Kong, shares his story under the pandemic. He describes the relationship between himself and his parents as a 'toxin'. Instead of showing love and care, they kept shouting and yelling at each other since Jack was studying at primary school. Yet he found out things had better changed after he studied abroad in UK at the age of 14. He realised that keeping a certain distance from his parents could actually help generate a healthier relationship among them. Let's listen to what he want to share with his parents!

As a freshman to society, Charlotte who graduated from Social Sciences in the University last year considered the pandemic as bringing certain impacts to her life, and urges her to make different new attempts, in terms of job-seeking, developing interests and getting along with friends and family. Not only has she built interest in photography during this time, but she also learnt to cook and tried out new dishes! “Be fearless to try” would be the advice she has for youths - only when you keep exploring, that you’ll finally have some gains.

To 23-year-old Ice, realising and pursuing her own dream of becoming an actress has always been her true passion - and now she is, in the final round interview of admission to the APA (Academy for Performing Arts), given all obstacles under the pandemic. Finding joy in what she’s doing now keeps her motivated to explore more opportunities. To all youths out there having self-doubts or struggles on their future, she emphasised the importance not to be afraid of failures, “Let it pass if you face challenges, and let them tell you eventually how life would bring you.”

Currently in her final year of University, Jenny has been overwhelmed by her school work, competitions, projects and internship, having meanwhile uncertainties for graduation and stepping into society with fresh eyes. Majoring in Photography, she has even taken up a project to teach youth participants photography skills, and to exhibit their photos taken in their own communities. This ‘golden chance’ as she described her definitely spiced her last bit of Uni life up. Click in to listen to what she advice she would give to youths like her!

Episode 5 welcomes our special overseas guest, Lilybelle. Currently residing and studying at Grade 9 in Australia, Lilybelle shared her story of being born and raised in Hong Kong, while abruptly moving to another country during the pandemic. Having barely had the chance to say goodbye to her friends and home as well as changing curriculums and living under a new culture, she shared the challenges she faced while making a huge transition and advice that has helped her grow and maintain a positive spirit. This lively and optimistic young girl definitely nailed it.

17-year-old Vanessa has definitely seized the chance to discover more interests under the pandemic, having more free time off virtual lessons - online gaming and fitness both make her life more fruitful, not to mention making overseas new friends! Click in to listen to her suggestions for her fellows for maintaining well-being and balance.

Describing herself as an optimist, 15-year-old Renee does not find COVID-19 putting a halt to her navigation and exploration to different opportunities. Instead, she has engaged herself in wakeboarding and hockey, which are “so fun” to her especially when with friends. She even got to travel abroad during this critical period, that certainly keeps her life under the pandemic more fruitful and exciting. Tune in to share her positivity!

Listen to Season 4 of “This Hong Kong Life”, a podcast with stories from the Hong Kong youth. The theme of this season is “New Normal under the Pandemic: A Year After”.

It has not been an easy time for Charlie since the pandemic. Apart from social isolation, he encountered a traumatic family issue that tremendously changed his life. Instead of falling into decline thereafter, this amazing 14-year-old decided to get himself involved in several community projects in promoting mental health. His courage and dedication are undoubtedly true inspirations - listen to his impressive story and advice he has for his peers!

Season 4 kicks off with 14 year old Kiki - an energetic and talkative youth, who is excited to get back to school after such a long period. The pandemic does not seem to put a halt to her exploration of extracurricular activities - becoming a well-being ambassador, joining school teams, and even gaining the first ever internship experience all bring colours to her life under COVID-19. Listen to the lively conversation and her tips for her fellows!

16-year-old Gladys, a typical local teen as well as a long-distance runner, shares her experiences on relieving stress bearing the responsibilities both as a student and an athlete. Packed often with a hectic schedule, she often felt overwhelmed with alot of pressure. Through speaking up to her peers and teachers openly on mental health issues, she has recognized the importance of maintaining a balance in life. Tune in to hear her thoughts on staying positive and being honest with oneself.

We understand that conversations around mental health can be encouraging, but sometimes, also difficult. If you would like to find out more resources for help in Hong Kong please check out our Coolminds Project - https://www.coolmindshk.com/en/resources/.

If you need to speak to someone, check out the various 24hr hotlines in HK including https://www.openup.hk/

19-year-old Juhi has already had enough stress from COVID as someone graduating from secondary school this year; she didn't need the additional challenge of being body shamed. She admits how comments from others and cultural expectations of external beauty has affected her mental health, but also, shares her fight back to stay healthy and push forward positively to strive for a healthy balance.

If you need resources or information around supporting a friend who might be struggling with their body or eating habits, please visit Heda - http://www.heda-hk.org/

We understand that conversations around mental health can be encouraging, but sometimes, also difficult. If you would like to find out more resources for help in Hong Kong please check out our Coolminds Project - https://www.coolmindshk.com/en/resources/.

With so much stigma attached to the topic of mental health, 18-year-old Yin Yan shares her reflections as a young person who never felt safe to seek help growing up. Now, having graduated from secondary school, she recognises the changing complexities of a changing Asian society, how subtle changes in the school environment, as well as self-awareness, can help the mental conversation be more widely accepted.

We understand that conversations around mental health can be encouraging, but sometimes, also difficult. If you would like to find out more resources for help in Hong Kong please check out our Coolminds Project - https://www.coolmindshk.com/en/resources/.

If you need to speak to someone, check out the various 24hr hotlines in HK including https://www.openup.hk/.

We all have friendships that we value and care about but what do we do when our friends go through a difficult time? 24-year-old Marco (and KELY Youth officer!) shares his personal account of walking with a friend going through trauma and his reflections on his own mental health journey and his own growth in becoming a better, supportive friend.

If you need resources or information around supporting a friend who has experienced sexual assault, please visit Rain Lily - https://rainlily.org.hk/

We understand that conversations around mental health can be encouraging, but sometimes, also difficult. If you would like to find out more resources for help in Hong Kong, please check out our Coolminds Project - https://www.coolmindshk.com/en/resources/. If you need to speak to someone, check out the various 24hr hotlines in HK including https://www.openup.hk/.

Tiasha, ethnically Indian, born and raised in Hong Kong, shares her personal mental health journey in this episode. Only 16 years old, Tiasha shares the power of speaking to her school counsellor and how it has helped her express herself and improve her overall mental wellbeing. As an advocate for strengthening the mental health of young people in HK, Tiasha shares 2 key factors - open relationships with parents and a positive school environment. Listen in for her full story!

We understand that conversations around mental health can be encouraging, but sometimes, also difficult. If you would like to find out more resources for help in Hong Kong please check out our Coolminds Project - https://www.coolmindshk.com/en/resources/. If you need to speak to someone, check out the various 24hr hotlines in HK including https://www.openup.hk/

Always labelled as the "difficult" and "troublesome" child, Abraham shares honestly with us on this week's episode on how being diagnosed as a high functioning autistic individual has helped him come to terms with being different. Tune in to hear his daily struggle in adjusting his thinking to fit social norms, interactions with people and how he embraces life as young adult today in a healthy and positive way.

If you are based in HK and you'd like to learn more about autism and similar mental health disorders, visit https://www.dhcas.gov.hk/en/index.html.

We understand that conversations around mental health can be encouraging, but sometimes, also difficult. If you would like to find out more resources for help in Hong Kong, please check out our Coolminds Project - https://www.coolmindshk.com/en/resources/. If you need to speak to someone, check out the various 24hr hotlines in HK including https://www.openup.hk.

Have you ever thought of starting your own initiative or campaign at your school? This episode is a deep dive into Nyassa and Hyning's story of how raising awareness about mental health issues for their peers went from being a personal encounter to a whole school project, making room for youth to speak up and have positive conversations about mental health within their own school community.

Check out Peace of Mind in HK and be inspired for your own initiatives! Happy World Mental Health Day!

We understand that conversations around mental health can be encouraging, but sometimes, also difficult. If you would like to find out more resources for help in Hong Kong, please check out our Coolminds Project - https://www.coolmindshk.com/en/resources/. If you need to speak to someone, check out the various 24hr hotlines in HK including https://www.openup.hk.

Season 3 kicks off with a personal story from 22-year-old Alex, who has found strength and positivity in the most difficult of times. From being cyberbullied to now pursuing a career in counselling, Alex shares her 10-year journey in finding herself, her voice and her passion in helping others.

We understand that conversations around mental health can be encouraging, but sometimes, also difficult. If you would like to find out more resources for help in Hong Kong please check out our Coolminds Project - https://www.coolmindshk.com/en/resources/. If you need to speak to someone, check out the various 24hr hotlines in HK including https://www.openup.hk.

We're wrapping up our summer 2020 season with 3rd generation Filipino Hong Konger John Joseph, aka JJ. We first met JJ when he was 17 and now as a 2nd year architectural student. He shares his journey in holding onto his dreams and how to pursue it, playing sports and being surrounded by mentors and friends who've made a difference in his life.

Claire has always dreamed of living in Hong Kong since she was young. Having grown up in Jilin Province in Mainland China, she shares her personal journey in pursuing her passions and how each summer was spent prioritizing her activities and finding ways among her peer groups to stay focused on achieving their dreams. Claire has also been interning with KELY this summer, tune in to hear her reflections on her experience as an intern.

Being a Third Culture is never easy especially when you are in so many countries. Sixteen-year-old Ankita reflects on her experiences having lived all over the world and how these have shaped her to the person she is today. This episode highlights Ankita's personal journey in discovering her passions in sustainability from choosing to being a vegan to her summer projects this year to help with the environment. Tune in to hear about more!

Fourteen year old Niki calls Hong Kong home, but she has moved and lived in multiple countries and school communities. From celebrating milestones and favourite summer plans, in this episode, listen to Niki share the highs and lows of being part of a generation that is growing up global, and how she has found ways to cope with the changes as well as adapt during COVID 19.

Season 2 kicks off with Sumi's story. She is an ethnically-Nepalese youth who was born, raised in Hong Kong and the first in her family to go to University! Listen to Sumi reflect on her experiences growing up in HK, how transitioning into adulthood has affected her and what her summer plans are during this time of the coronavirus.

Check out the student organisation Sumi & her friends started for the next generation of Nepalese youth in HK - https://www.facebook.com/junshk/. More in the podcast!

(Thanks to www.bensound.com for their royalty free soundtrack "Hey" used in our intro and outro jingle!)

We love a good besties story! Shannon and Miriam have known each other for a number of years now, and although they are in different schools, they have found ways to keep up their friendship and support one another, even during COVID-19! We caught up with these two just after schools restarted in Hong Kong after 3 months of school suspension - tune in to hear how they are re-adjusting during this time.

(Thanks to www.bensound.com for their royalty free soundtrack "Hey" used in our intro and outro jingle!)

Currently studying her Masters degree in Data Science from the City University of Hong Kong, Phoebe was first diagnosed with mental illness due to academic stress when she was in university. She now lives with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and shares her journey of going through this change and overcoming difficulties. Social interaction is the biggest challenge for many SEN youth and they often face negative labelling in the community. Hear Phoebe's story of hope for equal learning opportunities for those living with SEN.

(Thanks to www.bensound.com for their royalty free soundtrack "Hey" used in our intro and outro jingle!)

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Nathaniel shares his unique perspective growing up in a mixed family attending both the international and local school systems. Tune in to hear about his perspective on what skills youth need today to be resilient and ready for the future. Relationships with family are never easy, but Nathaniel shares how he has worked on his relationship with family, especially during covid-19!

(Thanks to www.bensound.com for their royalty free soundtrack "Hey" used in our intro and outro jingle!)

Mehek is a secondary school student who was born in Singapore, raised in Venezuela, Chile and returned to Hong Kong 3 years ago. Being a third-culture kid, Mehek is exposed to a variety of cultural influences: What does she consider home? How does she look at things? She also talks about her relationship with her parents and sister as well as teen relationship. While going through the current COVID-19 pandemic, Mehek shares her reflection on the situation on a personal and general perspective.

(Thanks to www.bensound.com for their royalty free soundtrack "Hey" used in our intro and outro jingle!)

Kawal, ethnically Indian, born and raised in Hong Kong joins us for this week’s latest episode. As the first in her family to get into University, she shares on overcoming generational and communication gaps with her parents, travel experiences to India, summer internships and volunteer projects and her own vulnerability on the stress she feels from the uncertainties under the impact of COVID-19. Check in with how Kawal is adjusting her plans and passions during this time to choose positivity and productivity.

(Thanks to www.bensound.com for their royalty free soundtrack "Hey" used in our intro and outro jingle!)

As a postgraduate student in HKU, Ricky is getting ready to join the education sector! As a young person himself, he shares his experiences working with younger youth, including stories as an ecotour guide and how it has shaped his choices today. Ricky also describes his daily life under Covid-19 and encourages his peers to take this time to enrich oneself including picking up hobbies.

(Thanks to www.bensound.com for their royalty free soundtrack "Hey" used in our intro and outro jingle!)

Born and having grown up in Hong Kong, Louis shares his relationship with his family, from sibling rivalry (and love!) to the push and pull interaction with his Chinese parents when choosing what to study in university and where to go. As a law student today, he talks about considerations for anyone thinking about studying law and how he’s been coping with his own worries with Covid-19 with school work, social media and the needs around our city at this time.

(Thanks to www.bensound.com for their royalty free soundtrack "Hey" used in our intro and outro jingle!)

Abby, a University student in Hong Kong, who grew up in India shares her childhood in Bangladesh and school life at boarding school in India. She talks about her decision of returning to Hong Kong for University. Globally, as we are all under the effect of coronavirus, Abby shares the condition of her family and friends who live across the world and her perspectives to get through this tough time.

(Thanks to www.bensound.com for their royalty free soundtrack "Hey" used in our intro and outro jingle!)

In this first-ever episode Renee, a 17-year-old secondary student, shares her experiences growing up in Hong Kong and Singapore while in the international school curriculum and how these transitions have contributed to her struggles with solidifying her identity. Renee speaks about being more vulnerable with people and how people and culture around her made her feel at home and heard. She also speaks on coronavirus boredom and how it has prompted her to pick up new hobbies, such as skirt-making! Be sure to listen in to hear Renee share her unique perspective of Hong Kong and how the city has shaped her life.

(Thanks to www.bensound.com for their royalty free soundtrack "Hey" used in our intro and outro jingle!)