John Shaft beats Luke Skywalker hands down

03.11.2021/09.33

I always had decent pencil cases at kindergarten in Hong Kong and then when I started school in New Zealand. Usually they were car-themed but the pièce de résistance was this one, far nicer than what my classmates in my new home country had. While other kids were into Star Wars and things I […]

On Cantonese, for Te Papa’s Chinese Languages in Aotearoa project

26.10.2021/06.48

What a real honour to promote my reo! Thank you, Dr Grace Gassin and Te Papa for spearheading the Chinese Languages in Aotearoa project and for this incredible third instalment, where I get to speak and promote Cantonese! Obviously I couldn’t say anything earlier, especially during Chinese Language Week, but I am extremely […]

A brief misadventure into the Chinese internet

28.04.2021/10.31

When I was a kid and wanted to hit back at someone for being mean to me, my parents would often say that successful people, true leaders, would be 大方, which is roughly akin to saying that one should rise above it. I would say that goes with nations as well: you can tell when […]

From one émigré to the Lais, leaving Hong Kong for Scotland

31.12.2020/02.49

This final podcast of 2020 is an unusual one. First, it’s really directed a family I’ve never met: the Lais, who are leaving Hong Kong for Glasgow after the passing of the national security law in the Chinese city, as reported by Reuter. They may never even hear it. But it’s a from-the-heart piece recounting […]

COVID-19 infections as percentage of tests done, December 7

07.12.2020/22.29

It’s hard not to be in a bubble sometimes, especially when that bubble is safe in the southern hemisphere and away from wars and COVID-19. With TVNZ having a New York bureau, we of course hear about how poorly the US is doing with COVID-19, and we also hear from the London bureau, where […]

Podcast for tonight: behind the scenes on The Panel

28.08.2020/11.18

For your listening pleasure, here’s tonight’s podcast, with a bit behind the scenes on my first appearance on RNZ’s The Panel as a panellist, and ‘I’ve Been Thinking’ delivered at a more appropriate pace, without me staring at the clock rushing to finish it before the pips for the 4 p.m. news. You may also […]

Back on RNZ’s The Panel: on Hong Kong’s new national security legislation

08.07.2020/10.28

Public domain/Pxhere What a pleasure it was to be back on The Panel on Radio New Zealand National today, my first appearance in a decade. That last time was about the Wellywood sign and how I had involved the Hollywood Sign Trust. I’ve done a couple of interviews since then on RNZ (thank you to […]

Why I don’t find the Asiatic characters on Little Britain and Come Fly with Me racist

11.06.2020/09.50

BBC I have a problem with blackface and yellowface, generally when there are more than capable actors who could have taken the role, but I make exceptions in some situations. Take, for example, the news that Little Britain and Come Fly with Me are being removed from streaming services because of what are now […]

Where does Hong Kong’s new national anthem law leave parody?

05.06.2020/03.07

Steve Cadman/Creative Commons 2·0 I don’t profess to be an expert on how Hong Kong law functions these days with its mix of old British ordinances and the laws made after 1997, but one thing that struck me with at least the news reports covering the criminalizing of insults against ‘March of the Volunteers’, the […]

Going beyond a blacked-out image: thoughts on Black Lives Matter

04.06.2020/10.03

View this post on Instagram #blackouttuesday in support of Black Lives Matter. It was the only blacked out media I found on the phone. Recorded in our conservatory one night. A post shared by Jack Yan 甄爵恩 (@jack.yan) on Jun 2, 2020 at 7:39am PDT Usually I find it easier to express myself in written […]