Fruits In Suits... Hong Kong style

The gay and lesbian business networking gathering, Fruits In Suits, was established as part of GLOBE (Gay and Lesbian Organization for Business and Enterprise) in the early 1990's here in Melbourne.

What many here in Melbourne may not realize is that over the ensuing years Fruits In Suits has also successfully migrated to, and been established in, a few other locations as well, including in Hong Kong. And there is currently interest for even more such business networking groups to be established around a number of other Asian countries.

Fruits In Suits Hong Kong (currently being rebranded as FINS...) was established around 6 years ago. FINS Hong Kong is currently headed up by expat Eric Herrera, the self-titled Chief Dreamer of FINS. Eric has an interesting ethnic background, and lives and works in Hong Kong with his partner of more than 20 years.

While Allan was in Hong Kong in November, he sat down with Eric for a chat about FINS in Hong Kong and how it varies from Fruits In Suits in Melbourne and other locations, about his life and background, about being a ballet dancer in an earlier life, and about life as an expat living and working in Hong Kong.

This very interesting interview is coming up this week (Wednesday, 9th December) on Orange Ribbon.

AND DON'T FORGET...! Starting with this weeks program, Orange Ribbon moves to its new timeslet of 8:00pm on Wednesday evenings, with JOY's new Koori program, Black and Pink, taking over our old 7:00pm timeslot. So Wednesday evenings on JOY will be one of international programming with Black and Pink at 7:00pm, Orange Ribbon at 8:00pm, and Global Sounds at 9:00pm.

And while this week's program is officially program edition No. 400 of Orange Ribbon, we will actually be having our 400th celebration next week on 16th December, where we hope to be able to bring back some old memories of Orange Ribbon over the past eleven and a half years.

Remember... Orange Ribbon now at its new timeslot of 8:00pm, this Wednesday evening, where Allan speaks with the Chief Dreamer, Eric Herrera, from Fruits In Suits Hong Kong..

Some interesting chats from Hong Kong

Regular Orange Ribbon listeners will know that Allan has spent the past month back in his favourite city in the world... Hong Kong. During his stay there, he attended the 2nd annual Gay Pride Parade on Sunday afternoon, 1st November, as did also our occasional program contributor, Reggie Ho, although somehow they missed each other on the actual day.

However, Allan did catch up with Reggie for a pleasant lunch at a Greek Restaurant in the Soho area of Hong Kong a couple of weeks later, and then arranged to meet up with Reggie again last Friday afternoon at his office in Quarry Bay, overlooking the beautiful Hong Kong Harbour. With that view in the background Allan recorded an interview with Reggie, covering a number of local LGBT issues, and also a review of the Pride Parade of earlier this month.

But Reggie also provided Allan with contact details for Brian Leung, who is well-known in radio and music circles in Hong Kong.

Brian Leung has more than 20 years radio experience with the three major radio networks in Hong Kong. Three years ago, Brian was approached to return to his former employer, the government-held RTHK Radio 2, to present a couple of new programs for that network. Brian assumed it was to use his music knowledge and experience to present new music programs. However he was amazed to learn that RTHK Radio 2 wanted him to present a weekly gay & lesbian radio program each Saturday evening. This was at the height of the Brokeback Mountain movie release, and RTHK thought it might be a good time to introduce a program for sexual minorities... specifically for the gay & lesbian community.

"We are Family" is Brian's weekly radio program, broadcast live at midnight every Saturday evening ion conservative Hong Kong. Brian chats to Allan about the start of the program, the issues of running such a program in Hong Kong, and about his own gradual "coming out" publicly over several years.


The only opportunity of catching up with Brian was last Friday evening, in a noisy coffee shop at the Festival Walk shopping Centre at Kowloon Tong. Brian was on his way to the premiere screening for the Hong Kong LGBT Film Festival, but was able to make 45 minutes available to Allan for this recorded chat.


Brian has several internet presences, including on Facebook, but perhaps this link will provide a general background to some of Brian's interests.

So.. all of this will be presented on Orange Ribbon on Wednesday evening, 25th November, at 7:00pm. Please join Allan as he chats to these two influential Hong Kong gay men, who each, in their own way, have a serious impact on attitudes to the gay & lesbian community in Hong Kong.

Allan in a "Pink Dollar" TV segment in Hong Kong

Last Sunday week (1st November, 2009) I attended the 2nd Annual Gay Pride Parade here in Hong Kong. Because I was rushing around with my JOY 94.9 t-shirt on, and my microphone and recorder, I was approached by a couple of media representatives wanting to know who I was, and what I was doing in Hong Kong.

RTHK English Language television also briefly interviewed me, and then later asked for a further interview regarding the so-called "pink dollar" and how it is handled in other countries compared to the lack of business interest in it in Hong Kong. About 50 seconds of this subsequent interview was used in the weekly TV program "The Pulse" on Friday night, 6th November. The entire segment runs for 9 minutes, and initially covers Hong Kong's Pride Parade then moves into the topic of the "pink dollar" and the apparent lack of business support here for gay & lesbian events.

I get my 50 seconds of fame at 4' 25" into the segment. And if you keep watching the segment a little further (at 6' 39") you will see introduced "... a former organizer..." of an earlier attempt at a gay Pride Parade in Hong Kong in 2005. That "former organizer" is our very own Hong Kong correspondent, Reggie Ho, who also gives his views about the "pink dollar" here in Hong Kong. Regular Orange Ribbon listeners will know that Reggie occasionally provides a Hong Kong news update for us, and has done so for about 7 years now.

Anyway, if you wish you can check out the 9-minute segment from RTHK's "The Pulse" program from last Friday night by clicking here.

But try to ignore some of the mis-facts that were allegedly attributed to me though. They sort of got some of the statistics and facts I had given them a bit confused.

Allan Smales (In Hong Kong)

Radical gay activists, and the Hong Kong Rainbow Centre

Ken jai (jnr.) and Tommy jai are two somewhat radical, yet committed and caring gay activists in Hong Kong, and are the founders of Rainbow Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Rainbow Centre. Both have fought hard and struggled to open, and then operate, a "drop in centre" for GLBTIQ folk in Hong Kong.

The first Rainbow Centre was opened in Mong Kok (Kowloon side) in 2000, but had to close again one year later because of lack of funds. But after several years, a replacement Rainbow Centre was re-opened in Jordan (also on the Kowloon side) in 2007. While an obviously much-needed venue and used by many gays & lesbains there, it still struggles to the present day in order to raise sufficient finance to keep this essential centre open. While Ken is the full-time coordinator of the centre, there is often insufficient funds left over each month for Ken to eke out even a poorly wage.

But Ken is also well-known for his radical activities in conservative Hong Kong, arising as a result of discovering he was HIV+ in 1995 while he was still in secondary school. Instead of going right into the HIV closet and locking the door, he got involved in AIDS Concern, and the AIDS Foundation... and so his Hong Kong activism commenced. Not only was he openly gay, but also openly HIV+.

Following the closure of the first Rainbow Centre in Mong Kok, Ken decided to try to enter electoral local politics as an openly gay HIV+ man. While unsuccessful on two occasions, his public profile was never-the-less elevated, and to this day he contiues to fight for right and justice for both GLBTIQ people in general, but also for the HIV community.

Ken met Tommy at a Tongzhi (GLBTIQ) Conference in Hong Kong in 1998, and immediately discovered another radical and concerned peer with whom he could work and share his concern for the community.

Tommy is also not publicity-shy (he admits to being a "media whore"...), and he has taken some radical actions that many of us in the West would not even be prepared to do. He became famous for his ‘Rainbow Actions’ in the Roman Catholic Cathedral, and in front of the Hong Kong Central Police Station where he led a protest against the prosecution of a BDSM club and shop, Fetish Fashion, by chaining himself in full leather gear to the police station hand rails.

These are two radical gay activists, yet who are also very genuine, committed, and deeply caring young Chinese guys who just want to make for a better place for gays & lesbians (or locally known as the "tongzhi community") in Hong Kong.

And Allan will be chatting with both Ken and Tommy on Orange Ribbon this coming Wednesday, 23rd September at 7:00pm on JOY 94.9. Please join us for a wonderfully interesting, and sometimes challenging, discussion. Would YOU be prepared to do just some of the things (in the West) that these guys have done in much more conservative Hong Kong?

Oh... and given the financial struggles that the much-needed Rainbow (drop in) Centre in Hong Kong continues to face, Ken and Tommy would be eternally grateful of any donations people may wish to make in order to help keep the centre open. It is constantly facing pending closure due to its limited finances, almost a month-by-month, hand-to-mouth operation. If you feel so inclined and would like to assist in some small way, donations can be made as follows:-

• 
  Bank: Hang Seng Bank (Hong Kong)
  Account: 356-142059-001
  Name: Rainbow of Hong Kong

Or if you would like to communicate with Ken about the struggles of the Rainbow Centre then you can email him at ken@rainbowhk.org .

Hong Kong update, and a familiar voice...

It's 4 months since we last chatted with Reggie Ho in Hong Kong. So this week, Hugh and Allan will get another update from Reggie about things that affect the tongzhi (queer) community in that metropolis. Topics to be covered include Idaho (International Day Against Homophobia) Day last Sunday, progress (or otherwise...?) on the promised anti discrimination legislation, and an embarassing reversal of totally unnecessary censorship at one of Hong Kong's universities.

Also this week... a voice from the past. Long-time Orange Ribbon listeners will be delighted to hear a familiar voice from the past... someone who was involved in the Orange Ribbon program for the first 7 years.
Who is it?


Well... you're going to have to listen in this Wednesday (20th May, 2009) between 7:00-8:00pm.

Orange Ribbon program on JOY 94.9FM

This week on Orange Ribbon

This week we will be presenting an interview that Allan recorded in Hong Kong three weeks ago, with Chung To, the Founder and CEO of the Chi Heng Foundation. Complete details and background to this interview can be found in Allan's earlier post to this blog dated March 6th, 2009.

Chung To is a most interesting, yet quietly-spoken, person, with a passion to provide living and education expenses for poor children in China who have been affected by the Aids epidemic. His organization now provides financial support for around 7,000 children in China, and the fundraising required for this support is substantial. Chung has given up his banking career for the past 5 years in order to provide volunteer support for his Foundation, and the children it supports.

Listen in to Orange Ribbon at 7pm on JOY 94.9 (Melbourne, Australia) this coming Wednesday evening (25th March) to hear this amazing story of a very dedicated and passionate human being.

Allan reports from Hong Kong (again...)

Yes, I know that I seem to have spent a lot of time up here in Hong Kong, but I do love the place, and I have many great friends up here as well. My partner, Pete, and I flew up here just two weeks ago for our umpteenth visit. However, Pete flew out of Hong Kong earlier this morning on his way back home to Melbourne, in order to attend the Daylesford Chill-Out Festival this coming weekend, and then he is off to Sydney and then Brisbane for a few days. In the meantime, I will remain on here in Hong Kong for the next 10 days. We will both meet up back at home (in Melbourne) gain on Monday 16th when I return from Hong Kong.

I have lost count of my visits here to Hong Kong, in particular over the past two years, but it is proba

bly 10-11 visits, totaling probably 6-7 months. Goodness...! I suddenly realized that this means I have spent upwards of 25% of my time here in just the last two years, ignoring various other visits I made here prior to the last two years.

Regular listeners to Orange Ribbon will know that we occasionally chat with Reggie Ho here in Hong Kong, and who gives us an update on what's been happening for the gay & lesbian scene here. Reggie was last on Orange Ribbon on 17th January. (If you missed it, you can click on the "Podcasts" tab on the JOY website, search for "Orange Ribbon" program, click on "Previous episodes...", then search for the program edition for 17th January.) Well, I hope to catch up with Reggie next week sometime for lunch/dinner and no doubt I will get some more local news I can report on when I return.

However, last Monday I caught up with Chung To, the Founder and Chairperson of the Chi Heng Foundation (www.chihengfoundation.com). Although born in Hong Kong, Chung moved with his family to the U.S.A. when he was 15. He subsequently went to college (university), obtained a Graduate and Masters degree in business finance, and then worked in merchant banking in New York for several years. At the age of 27 years he was then transferred to Hong Kong with his banking employer to take up a senior role here. But as will be revealed in an upcoming interview, Chung got involved in helping Aids-affected children in Hong Kong, and more extensively in mainland China. He started the Chi Heng Foundation which (among many other activities) now provides financial support for living and schooling expenses for around 7,000 Aids-affected children in Mainland China.

His work with Chi Heng Foundation became a full-time role, and so a few years ago he gave up his banking career and now works full-time as the volunteer Chairperson for his Chi Heng Foundation. But he hopes to be able to get back to some (personal) income-producing activities at some stage as he can't live forever with no income to support himself.

Chung To is an amazing Chinese gay and Aids activist, with a deep concern and interest in the welfare of mainland Chinese children who have been affected in some way by Aids... either by having parents or siblings living with (or have died of) Aids, or who themselves are living with HIV.

Chung is a very busy man, and travels a lot through mainland China keeping touch with the work that the Chi Heng Foundation undertakes. However, he set aside an hour for me last Monday afternoon to record an interview which I will be presenting on Orange Ribbon after I return to Melbourne... most probably it will be the program for 25th March.

So please stay tuned for updates, and the most likely date of 25th March when I will present to you my interview with this deeply driven and concerned local who has set aside his own career (and stable income...) in order to start the Chi Heng Foundation and to assist so many children in mainland China.

I will be returning to Melbourne on 16th March, almost immediately to the Melbourne Queer Film Festival which I shall be attending for most sessions, so I probably won't be on Orange Ribbon until the 25th March when I will present to you my recent chat with Chung To. Looking forward to talking to you all then.

Allan Smales in Hong Kong

Hong Kong update - 21st January, 2009

Reggie Ho was first introduced to Orange Ribbon listeners way back on the 19th December, 2002. On an earlier visit Allan made to Hong Kong in November, 2002, he first met up with Reggie, and Vivian So, who were both volunteers with the Horizons gay & lesbian (or tongzhi) phone counselling service.

Reggie Ho is a Hong Kong based journalist, and long-time gay activist, and has been a contributor to Orange Ribbon on a number of occasions since that first meeting in 2002... always providing a unique slant on Hong Kong gay & lesbian activities, news, and general issues.

However, we have recently realised that it is actually quite some time since we last chatted with Reggie about what is happening in Hong Kong. So this week we decided that we would devote the entire program to Reggie and to Hong Kong GLBT news and issues.

Given his long-standing involvement in the gay scene , and his journalistic experience, Reggie is always able to provide an intriguing and concise "insiders" view on what is happening. So... coming up on Orange Ribbon this week is a complete update on GLBT issues in Hong Kong. Topics that Reggie says he will cover include the following:

• After a few previous smaller attempts over several years, a few weeks ago Hong Kong held its first significant Pride March, with over 1,000 people taking part. Reggie was there, and can tell us a little of this important event.


• There has been a recent review of the Obscene and Indecent Tribunal Ordinance, and Reggie says that there have been some totally ridiculous views and submissions made, that would be laughable if they were not serious.
  
• Gays spread AIDS and abuse children..!!! That's just SOME of the outlandish claims made by some of the 60 religious groups that turned up to a Domestic Violence Ordinance hearing. Reggie says "They have gone nuts and sometimes even comical". He will tell us a little about this.


• Reggie also believes that he can see a rising anti-gay movement beginning to grow in Hong Kong, even though homosexuality was decrimilised way back in 1991. He will tell us why.

All of this will be covered in this weeks Orange Ribbon. So join Aline, Hugh and Allan on Wednesday evening at 7:00pm to hear some of the news from Hong Kong, as well as some of Reggie's views and thoughts on these topics.

HIV+ Chinese man on this weeks program (19th Nov. 2008)

Regular listeners to Orange Ribbon will know that I have just spent another month in Hong Kong, having just returned to Melbourne early last week. In fact over the past 21 months I seem to have spent a LOT of time up there (upwards of 6 months spread over about 8-9 visits...), because I love the place, and I also have many wonderful friends who live there, both ex-pats as well as local Chinese.

One of my very good Chinese friends in Hong Kong is Marc. I have been speaking with him for almost a year now (over several of my recent visits...) with a view to having him as a guest on Orange Ribbon. For reasons that will shortly become obvious, I was keen to interview Marc, but I was obviously well aware of the sensitivity of a subject that I wished to discuss with him in any interview I might conduct with him.

After careful consideration over many months, Marc finally sat down with me in Hong Kong last Sunday week to record the interview that I will present on Orange Ribbon this week. I sincerely thank Marc for having the gumption and openness to be interviewed, because he has a story that will provide hope for many others in the same position as himself, and particularly for other Asians who might be in the same position.

Marc is a Hong Kong-born Chinese, from a somewhat unusual family structure, his mother having been married and then divorced in China. She then made the decision to start a new life for herself, so moved south to Hong Kong, re-married, then had Marc and four more siblings, in addition to five half-siblings that had earlier been born in mainland China.

However... at the tender age of 18 years Marc discovered that he was HIV Positive. That was in 1987... which means that he has been living with the virus 21 years now. He openly discusses how this affected his younger adult years, and how his attitude to life changed as time progressed and he realised that perhaps he did not have a "death sentence" after all.

So please join me this coming Wednesday evening (19th November), at 7pm, for this weeks edition of Orange Ribbon. I also hope to include a few music tracks of some recent albums that I picked up in Hong Kong while I was there on this most recent visit.

Allan Smales

Coming up on Orange Ribbon this week (10th September)

This will be my last post from Hong Kong before I fly out of here again early tomorrow morning, arriving home tomorrow evening, Melbourne time. Hopefully my partner will be able to pick me up from the airport, depending upon whether his dance class will have finished in time or not. Otherwise, I am going to have to take a long (and expensive) cab ride home from the airport.

As usual, I have had a great time back here, meeting a number of new friends, and picking up a couple of interviews. I had hoped to arrange more than that, but circumstances seemed to prevent that happening. But as previously reported via this blog, I did get to chat to two very interesting people here, and these interviews will be run over the next few weeks on Orange Ribbon.

For this coming program (Wednesday 10th September) I will be running the interview I recorded with Chung Yiu two weeks ago. (Refer to my blog entry for 26th August.) A fascinating guy, with a great story to tell. So please do join me this week on Orange Ribbon (7:00-8:00pm Melbourne time) and hear what Chung Yiu chatted to me about.

In the meantime, I am already planning my next return to Hong Kong late next month when I will be back here yet again for another (almost) 4 weeks. But do join me this coming Wednesday evening for my chat with Chung Yiu.

Allan Smales (A final report from Hong Kong before returning to Melbourne tomorrow morning)

Another day, another interview in Hong Kong

During my stay here in Hong Kong this time I have gotten to know Christopher, a Hong Kong Chinese local who is a long-time musician, lyricist and writer, and who was involved with a band here some years ago and became well-known through their recordings and albums here, a number of which were very popular at the time.

Christopher got involved in Bhuddism about 5-6 years ago, and spends a lot of time these days with his so-called Bhuddist Master who is his counsellor and advisor in all things spiritual.

On the subject of things spiritual, Christpher also has the ability to liaise with, and interpret the spirit world. There is a very interesting background to his involvement in this spirit world and he has discussed with me his experiences dealing with the spirits of babies who were illegally aborted here in Hong Kong some 30 years ago.

Last night I was fortunate to record an interview with Christopher which I will be playing on Orange Ribbon sometime after my return to Melbourne next week. Christopher talks about life in the old Hong Kong of his childhood, and also about the "old" Macau he remembers before it was over-run by the casinos of the past 10-15 years or so.

Keep up-to-date by monitoring this Orange Ribbon blog so that I can let you know when I will be running Christopher's prerecorded interview.

• POSTSCRIPT: This interview is scheduled to be run on Orange Ribbon on Wednesday, 1st October, 2008. Listen in for this interesting interview.

Allan Smales (in Hong Kong, but back to Melbourne next week)

Interviewed a fascinating guy last night

(Allan Smales reports from Hong Kong)

When I travel, I invariably carry with me my microphone and recorder (or in this case, my laptop computer...) with the objective of trying to catch up with interesting people, and recording an interview for subsequent use on Orange Ribbon upon my return to Melbourne.

Last night, here in Hong Kong, I met up with such a fascinating guy called Chung Yiu. We first went to a local restaurant for a bite to eat, and then afterwards we returned to my hotel room to record an interview. (No.... wrong....! Not for the reason you think...! I needed a quiet location for recording our interview, so you've got the wrong impression on that one... ;-)

Anyway, I had found Chung Yiu by means of his blog (http://ipchungyiu.spaces.live.com/) a couple of weeks ago back in Melbourne and got quite absorbed in what he writes, this adventurous guy who seems to want to get all he can out of life... he's played with dolphins, bungee jumped off Macau Tower earlier in August and will be doing it AGAIN (but backwards this time...) this coming weekend, he is considering sky diving, loves to party, and who (as I was to discover last night...) had been training to be a Christian pastor at a Hong Kong Bible College until he was kicked out just a few weeks before his graduation because he decided to come out as a gay man.

You will get to hear Chung Yiu's interview sometime after my return to Melbourne later in September. Stay tuned for the scheduled broadcast date.

Allan Smales in Hong Kong.

Allan in Hong Kong ... in a TYPHOON!

Regular listeners to Orange Ribbon may recall that i was planning to be back in Hong Kong again from late this week, until 9th September. Well, I did the program with Hugh on Wednesday evening last (20th August), then Thursday morning I headed off to Tullamarine airport to catch my flight up here to Hong Kong. It was a bit of a bumpy ride, as we were pre-warned at the outset of the flight, due to a typhoon (cyclone as we know them in Australia...) in the South China Sea. But finaly landed in Hong Kong at 6pm last night (Thursday) and headed to my hotel.

What I did not know until after I arrived at my hotel, was that the typhoon was actually heading straight for Hong Kong, and so all through today (Friday 22nd August) there have been regular typhoon warnings and advice (on TV and radio) to the public to basically stay indoors.

I have never been in Hong Kong before during a typhoon, so was not quite sure what to expect. But it was certainly a very unpleasant day today, with public transport shutdown, most people not going to work, most shops and businesses closed, and the roads in Hong Kong (which are normally VERY VERY busy, were absolutely DEAD! I have never seen anything like it in Hong Kong before.

Take a look at these shots which I took earlier this morning BEFORE the main force of the typhoon passed over Hong Kong.

The windows to my hotel entrance were all taped up, there was literally NO traffic on Nathan Road with the exception of the very occasional car or taxi, no buses this afternoon at all, and virtually no people on the street.

Just 35 metres up Nathan Road from my hotel, a very large illuminated advertising sign came crashing down onto the footpath and onto Nathan Road itself, making a huge mess. Members of emergency services soon arrived to "fence off" this area, and to try and make the crash site as safe as possible under the circumstances. It was a big mess, and a very large sign, which (as far as I could tell) was a large Spaghetti House restaurant sign.
(Postscript: By lunchtime Saturday the "crash site" mess had been totally cleaned away, and by Monday (3 days later) a new large replacement sign was being erected. Things happen FAST here in Hong Kong.)

Mid evening this evening (Friday) my friend and I decided to go out and see if we could find somewhere to eat away from the hotel. But to no avail. Firstly because it was blowing an absolute gale, with strong blustery rain absolutely belting down, and secondly, it became very clear very quickly that there was absolutely nothing open anywhere in our immediate vicinity in Nathan Road.

As my hotel is located above one of the train subway (MTR) stations, we went down into the subway and found a 7-Eleven still operating, so all we were able to get for dinner this evening was some sandwiches, and some flavoured milk and fruit juice.

So... it's very lucky that I flew up yesterday instead of today, because most flights into Hong Kong International were cancelled this morning, and by this afternoon ALL flights had been cancelled.

I have been to Hong Kong many times over the years, and even spent upwards of 5 months here in just the past 18 months. But this is the first time I have ever encountered a typhoon in Hong Kong. Very interesting experience...!

Now... my next duties (once things settle down again over the weekend...) is to try and catch up with a couple of people with whom I have organized interviews that I will present to you, our listeners, after I return to Melbourne next month. See you all very soon.

Allan Smales (On holiday in Hong Kong... again!)