I rewatched Princess of Chaos, the TV drama centred around my friend, Bevan Chuang. I’m proud to have stood by her at the time, because, well, that’s what you do for your friends. I’m not here to revisit any of the happenings that the TV movie deals with—Bevan says it brings her closure so that […]
Tag: St Mark’s Church School
John Shaft beats Luke Skywalker hands down
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
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 […]
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On publishing in 2021, as told to Business Desk
Above: Coverage in Business Desk, with me pictured with Lucire fashion and beauty editor Sopheak Seng. Big thanks to Daniel Dunkley, who wrote this piece about me and my publishing work in Business Desk, well worth subscribing to (coincidentally, I spotted an article about my friend and classmate Hamish Edwards today, too). I […]
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A refreshing piece on diversity in our mainstream media
Two fantastic items in my Tweetstream today, the first from journalist Jehan Casinader, a New Zealander of Sri Lankan heritage, in Stuff. Some highlights: As an ethnic person, you can only enter (and stay in) a predominantly white space – like the media, politics or corporate leadership – if you play by the rules. […]
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When not having something drives creativity
I hadn’t expected this reply Tweet to get so many likes, probably a record for me. I knew my parents couldn’t afford The Lettering Book, so I went without, which forced me to create my own typeface designs. Later I became the first digital typeface designer in this country. — Jack Yan 甄爵恩 (@jackyan) July […]
The newer the Instagram, the clunkier the video
It’s been nearly one week with the new Meizu M6 Note. It’s the “international” model, which means it’s not Chinese-spec, and there was no way to turn it into a Chinese one. One observation is that the international one is far buggier than the Chinese one. Either that, or Android 7 is far […]
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Keeping the Victoria in Victoria University of Wellington
A letter I penned today to Prof Grant Guilford, Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University of Wellington. I support the official adoption of a Māori name (I thought it had one?) but removing Victoria is daft, for numerous reasons, not least the University’s flawed research, dealt with elsewhere. Wellington, August 8, 2018 Prof Grant Guilford Vice-Chancellor […]
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The maternity ward of the early 1980s was a very different place
Virginia McMillan/Creative Commons Now the PM and her partner, Clarke Gayford, have shown off their daughter to the world (video at the end of this post), it reminded me of my own experiences in the maternity ward many years ago. I’m not a parent at the time of writing: I’m talking about the 1980s […]
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The Rongotai years
This came up today at Victoria University where an old client of ours asked about my 2013 campaign. I remembered there was something about education that I wanted to address at the time. One of the stranger emails during 2013 came from a former classmate of mine at Rongotai College. A brilliant guy at […]