Opinion | Chinese names in Singapore and Malaysia aren’t weird; they reflect cultural diversity

Opinion | Chinese names in Singapore and Malaysia aren’t weird; they reflect cultural diversity

Someone had an issue with my name recently. It was not a person more familiar with European or English names – “Oh great! Why can’t he make it easier for everyone and call himself Matthew or Mark?” – nor was it a Hongkonger, like that officer from the Immigration Department from years before who had … Read more

Opinion | Hong Kong for 1930s tourists: shopping, sedan chair rides, a side trip to southern China recommended in guidebook

Opinion | Hong Kong for 1930s tourists: shopping, sedan chair rides, a side trip to southern China recommended in guidebook

What did visitors to Hong Kong experience in the mid-1930s? International leisure travel, then, was only for the affluent; almost anyone else who ventured beyond their home countries did so for work opportunities; tourist activities encountered en route were just a welcome bonus. After the free-spending, worldwide economic boom that characterised the Roaring Twenties abruptly … Read more