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)