Everyone has a Charlie Brown Christmas

If you go with the flow, you can survive this holiday season

We've been conditioned to make Christmas a special occasion, a picture-perfect celebration with delicious feasts around the dining table, fabulous gifts picked out and beautifully wrapped, homes warmly decorated and keeping traditions to the letter.

But things change over time, and so do expectations.

Years ago we used to write Christmas cards to a long list of people, then for years pre-Covid we summarised our year in a letter sent out with cards, but this year we only sent out a mere handful.

Expectations bring more tension and stress

We used to brine and roast a turkey every year, checking on it hourly and basting it to prevent it from burning in the oven. The last two years we pre-ordered a roast piglet and we still had lots of leftovers. Congee made from the bones is just as good as the ones made from turkey.

It can be so hard to hold things together with expectations to be happy and joyous 24 hours a day, which can lead to tension and arguments that reverberate to the rest of the family. It just ruins everyone's day, or the rest of the holiday.

Which is why I'm so grateful for A Charlie Brown Christmas, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.

The animated annual classic is about how Charlie Brown feels depressed and wonders if he will find the true meaning of Christmas. He eventually finds it in a small sad-looking tree that we all call "a Charlie Brown tree." 

A jazzy Christmas makes things better

When Charles Schultz made the TV special in 1965, it wasn't clear how A Charlie Brown Christmas would be received.

But maybe it resonated with people -- as someone on Instagram posted, they felt seen. 

Christmas for me is the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas. It's light, jazzy and improvised, cause that's what life is... go with the flow to survive the holidays intact!

Review: Factory

Factory gives a peek inside a Lenovo factory during Covid-19

The Vancouver International Film Festival started on October 2 and right out of the gate I watched a movie on the first day, a documentary from China called Factory (工厂）.

The country is known for its massive factories that churn out everything from cheap plastic goods to furniture, sex dolls to microchips and iPhones.

As trade wars have led to companies moving away from Chinese-made products, China is still considered the best when it comes to manufacturing smartphones, tablets and computers.

Viewers get access into the workers' dormitories

But what happened to these factories in early 2020 when an unknown virus seemed to originate from Wuhan, China and then spread around the world?

Director Hao Zhou focuses on the Lenovo campus in Wuhan during the pandemic and we see the operations manager named MT who is under pressure to figure out how to get workers back into the factory to get products out the door. He copes by smoking a lot.

Factory gives a very real picture of what factory managers need to do to curry favour with government officials in order to jump over bureaucratic hurdles, then rounding up workers, interviewing and training them, and then working them on the line.

It's soul-crushing work, having to work 10-12 hours a day, putting together circuit boards, assembling smartphones, testing them, and not only do it accurately but faster. Faster! Faster! 

In the 148-minute documentary, we also see life from the workers' point of view. One worker claims he is working hard enough, but his superior begs to differ, and they argue it out in front of the human resources staff. Viewers are shown what their dormitories look like, and how it's hard to get enough sleep when half the people are on the night shift, and the others on day.

Director Hao gives a real picture of factory life

One worker admits he feels lonely despite living with five other people -- he doesn't feel like he has anyone he can really talk to.

A round-faced woman wearing makeup explains she used to work in a beauty parlour and now is testing out smartphones before they are packaged. It's not the kind of work she wants to do, but it pays the bills, despite being away from her child and husband.

The younger workers don't like being called migrant workers -- that was their parents' generation. These Gen Z people want more respect and feel they deserve more pay for what they do. They only make a few hundred US dollars a month and wonder how they will ever afford to buy a home.

Meanwhile MT and senior managers are feeling the pressure to keep the company globally afloat, with supply chains in India faltering, while the United States sees its death rates skyrocket from Covid-19 infections. MT's friends wonder why he continues to do this stressful work when he's made enough money to retire. Maybe it gives him status? Financial security? Loyalty? 

Factory is pretty much unflinching picture of life inside a factory. It's quite amazing for the director to not only get this kind of access, but also be able to show many scenes with people swearing and workers being rebellious. There are even scenes addressing mental health issues like bipolar and depression, with one female worker having stomach pain issues and deals with it by cutting herself. How Hao was able to persuade Lenovo to film everything is a feat in itself.

Hopefully after watching this film, viewers will have a greater appreciation for the faceless people who made the smartphones, laptops and tablets they use everyday.

Factory

Directed by Hao Zhou

148 minutes 

Coldplay Chris Martin's Tips on Battling Depression

Some 200,000 attended the Coldplay concerts in Hong Kong

A few days ago my Instagram feed was flooded with videos and pictures from friends (seemed like all of them!) attending Coldplay "Music of the Spheres" concerts that were held at the new Kai Tak Sports Park for four nights.

In total about 200,000 people attended. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, dancing and singing their hearts out to the music, and flashing lights on their concert wristbands.

Martin's video giving tips at the HK harbourfront

However at least one person was working hard to fight his emotions -- Chris Martin, the frontman of Coldplay.

The band posted a video yesterday of him sitting on the ground by the harbourfront somewhere in Causeway Bay perhaps, wearing a toque to try to disguise himself a bit.

He first thanked fans for coming out to the concerts, but admitted he was a bit nervous, and then added he was battling depression.

"So I was going to tell you some things that have been helping me on tour and maybe some of them might be good for you too," Martin said.

His tips?

Free-form writing, where you write down your thoughts at the moment and then burn or throw them away;

Fans enjoyed the Coldplay concerts

Practice transcendental meditation;

Watch the 2023 drama Sing Sing;

Read a book on breathing techniques;

Listening to the music of electronic producer Jon Hopkins and London-based singer-songwriter Chloe Qisha.

"Those are some of the things that are helping me to stay grateful and happy to be alive," he said.

Picasso's Tenuous Link with Asia

Zeng Fanzhi's portrait of Picasso

I managed to squeeze in some time this afternoon to go to M+ in West Kowloon to see the Picasso exhibit called "Picasso for Asia: A Conversation" that's on until mid-July.

Tanaami Keiichi's interpretations of Picasso's art

The Spanish artist was a giant in the art world and has influenced so many following behind him, that this show not only showcases his work and how it evolved in his different periods, but also how other artists have been inspired by him.

More than 60 of Picasso's works were loaned from Musee national Picasso-Paris, which holds the largest and most significant collection of his art, and they are compared and contrasted with around 130 pieces of art by 30 Asian artists.

The opening painting is a portrait of Picasso by Chinese artist Zeng Fanzhi painted in 2011. It depicts Picasso as very intense with large eyes his hands muscular, and casually holding a cigarette in his right hand. 

Picasso's study of a horse for Guernica

The show is a good introduction to Picasso for those not familiar with his work. It first explains he learned to paint from his father, Jose Ruiz y Blasco, who was an art teacher and painter. Blasco quickly saw his son's artistic talent and helped him develop it.

In addition, the exhibition briefly addresses Picasso's detrimental relationships with women he considered his muses; he identified with the story of Pygmalion, a sculptor in Greek mythology who carved a statue of a woman so perfect that she came to life. He also identified with the Minotaur also in Greek mythology a character with a man's body and a bull's head, that was at times vulnerable or blind, or sexually charged and violent.

There are paintings that show his sketches for his masterpiece Guernica, and paintings of doves that soon became the global symbol of peace. The exhibition even points out that China used Picasso's paintings of doves on stamps and other propaganda.

The start of Picasso's Blue Period

Picasso's Blue Period from 1901 to 1904 is explained -- he was depressed following the suicide of his close friend, artist Carles Casagemas. Picasso expressed his sorry by painting him in Portrait of a Man. There are also works from Picasso's cubism period, how he began to see things in shapes that became more and more abstract.

One of the rooms invites visitors to sit down and watch videos of Picasso freely painting on glass, a vase of flowers, a bull, or a dove. At one point he stops and looks at the viewer before walking away. It's fun watching him painting quickly and easily, very sure of himself and carefree.

The show also demonstrates how Picasso was greatly influenced by masters before him, and shows his interpretations of paintings by other artists, like Francisco Goya and Edouard Manet. In that way the exhibition wants to show that Picasso wasn't just considered a master, but always an apprentice wanting to learn more from others.

Meanwhile Picasso's link with Asia is tenuous -- he made one painting that was related to the Korean War called Massacre in Korea, where one can easily see how he has made direct associations to Goya's work, The Third of May1808, and Manet's paintings depicting the execution of Emperor Maximilian.

Picasso painting a vase for the viewer

Nevertheless, while a few of the Asian artists' work are directly related to Picasso, others aren't so much, which makes the associations to him not quite credible...

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Picasso for Asia -- A Conversation

Until July 13, 2025

M+

Protestor Shot by Police is Sentenced to Jail

Tsang was sentenced to three and a half years in jail

The convictions against 2019 protesters continue with one who was shot by the police has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for rioting and assaulting a police officer.

Tsang Chi-kin, who was 18 years old at the time, was involved in clashes with the police on October 1, 2019. He was in Tsuen Wan when an officer fired a live round at close range at Tsang -- shooting him in his left lung, only 3cm from his heart.

He was rushed to hospital in critical condition and later had the bullet removed.

Tsang was shot by a police officer October 1

According to Judge Ada Yim, before Tsang was shot, some 200 protesters were gathered in the area, throwing Molotov cocktails and bricks at the police, and setting fires. 

At the time Tsang was dressed head to toe in black, including goggles and gloves, and was carrying a makeshift shield.

He had no prior criminal record, and was diagnosed with depression in 2017. Yim said Tsang cooperated with the police investigation and wrote his own plea letter regretting his actions. But she said his depression and injury from the shooting were not reasons for a lower penalty.

She handed him a sentence of 40 months for rioting, and an additional seven months for assaulting a police officer. 

Last July Tsang was arrested along with three others in Sai Kung as they were planning to escape to Taiwan by boat. Before that, the four had been hiding in various safehouses for two years until crowdfunded money ran out.

Tsang examining his X-rays

The courts continue to convict, with at last count in April, some 6,000 more cases to go. 

Tsang will do his time, and then what will his future be in Hong Kong? Does he even have a future there?

 

Remembering Coco Lee

Lee's sisters want fans to remember her "bright smile"

Fans are mourning the loss of singer Coco Lee, who died on Wednesday after she attempted suicide on Sunday and had been in a coma since then. She was 48 years old.

Her older sisters made the announcement on Instagram, saying in part:

"With great sadness, we are here [to] break the most devastating news: Coco had been suffering from depression for a few. years but her condition deteriorated drastically over the last few months," the sisters said.

She married Rockowitz in 2011 at the Ritz-Carlton

"Although Coco sought professional help and did her best to fight depression, sadly that demon inside of her took the better of her."

They added that this year marked the 30th anniversary of Lee's career, and that they would now focus on looking after their elderly mother.

The Instagram post did not mention Lee's husband, Bruce Rockowitz, with whom she tied the knot in 2011 in a mega star-studded wedding celebration at the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong. There were rumours in 2019 that the marriage was on the rocks, and that she had tried to get pregnant through in vitro fertilisation but was unsuccessful.

Last October she had moved out of their home and into a serviced apartment in the Four Seasons Hong Kong. But on June 30 she was hospitalised briefly, then moved into her sister's home on the Peak, where she attempted suicide.

Lee was best known for singing A Love Before Time, from Ang Lee's 2000 movie, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She was the first Chinese singer to perform the song at the Academy Awards the following year.

Throughout her three-decade career, Lee released 15 albums, and her single Do You Want My Love climbed to number four on the US Billboard charts in December 1999.

She also voiced the character Mulan in Disney's animated film in 1998 and sang the theme song, Reflection.

The last single she released in February was called Tragic. In her social media post at the end of 2022, Lee acknowledged she had an "incredibly difficult year", but encouraged her fans to spread positivity and "be an influential figure to inspire people."

It's devastating to discover how much pain she was in, and how she felt she had to keep it from people. But as her sisters say, she is now free from pain and depression, though she leaves behind a heartbroken family and legions of fans who admired her for years.

The Challenges of Uprooting to Canada

Transition from Hong Kong to Canada not that easy

While it is great the Canadian government is offering specific pathways to permanent residency to young Hongkongers, many of the ones that are here are having a tough time.

Generally speaking, these people in their 20s have either recently graduated from university or have one or two years' working experience. As a result they have not accumulated much savings when they come to Canada.

Many young migrants feel lost in Canada

Many of them are overwhelmed, having to start fresh with limited resources, as they find everything is expensive, from rent to food and necessities. One told a friend that she only had C$50 left to buy food. I wondered how she managed to get enough nutrition everyday.

As they don't have many qualifications or work experience, many of these young people are stuck in retail or hospitality jobs, earning a low salary with few benefits until they become eligible to become a permanent resident.

But perhaps most importantly, many here are lost and wondering what they are doing here. Many left because of the repercussions of the 2019 protests, or they did not see a future for themselves in Hong Kong. However now they are wondering if they made the right move and if they are stuck in Canada for good.

Feeling lost can be scary and undermine one's self-confidence. This same friend told me of young people who were very depressed, some of them to the point of being suicidal which is shocking and sad to hear.

Ho struggled to pay for rent and food in the UK 

It reminds me of the 27-year-old woman Fion Ho Yee-king who died by suicide in November 2022 in the UK after struggling to afford to pay her rent and food. 

Ho had a Master's degree in international affairs, but could not find a better-paying job, and was forced to live in a flat share that she described as unhygienic. She also had to choose between eating either lunch or dinner each day to save some money.

Is the Canadian government aware of these young people in the country struggling to make ends meet?

The sudden migration of people from Hong Kong has left many of them unmoored -- they did not choose to leave their hometown -- the government made repression in the city so unbearable that they didn't have much choice but to leave.

Hopefully these young Hongkongers can seek help from NGOs that help immigrants settle, get help with finding food, and know they are not alone.

Remembering Gor Gor 20 Years On

Lots of flowers for Cheung outside Mandarin Oriental (J Pang)

It is a relief to see there are crowds of people outside the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong in Central as they place their bouquets of flowers and messages for "Gor Gor" -- Cantopop star Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing, who died 20 years ago today.

I say it's a relief because last year it was such a shock to see aggressive-looking police in civilian clothing verbally warning people not to gather near the hotel and they weren't even allowed to leave their flowers there to pay their respects to the singer who committed suicide there.

Paper cranes the theme this year (photo:J Pang)

Last year I worried that this would be the new normal, but this year it seems lots of people have turned out and the flower arrangements even more elaborate. There's even a white tree branch that is covered with red and white paper cranes strung over its branches. 

Another has a poster with a painting of Cheung with wings, and the artwork is attached to red roses in the shape of a heart, and white feathered wings on each side. Just as decadent are two giant red hearts made of red roses and in the middle of each one is the Chinese character 哥 or "gor", "older brother".

This morning CBC Radio Vancouver had a segment talking about Cheung, and Helen Leung Hok-sze, a Simon Fraser University professor in gender, sexuality and women's studies was asked who he could be compared to in terms of western artists. She suggested Lady Gaga which seems quite appropriate, for her experiments in fashion, musical styles, and acting.

Also interviewed was Pearl Wong, a friend of Cheung's. She talked about how genuine he was, not afraid to show his true emotions, and generous as a friend. Wong explained he was generous in that he was a thoughtful person. For example, noticing that she likes to wear scarves, he bought her a colourful scarf that she appreciated.

Cheung died at the age of 46 (photo: J Pang)

While everyone remembers Cheung and how he battled depression, how far has Hong Kong progressed when it comes to talking about and dealing with depression? It is still a taboo subject, and not everyone knows where or how to get help. There probably aren't enough psychologists and counsellors to help either.

Although the flower arrangements in front of the hotel are gorgeous and thoughtful, how about channeling those funds towards helping make resources available for people to talk about their mental health issues in the name of Cheung, like paying forward counselling sessions for those who need it but can't afford it?

That could help lots of people ease their pain a bit, and also help remember the Hong Kong icon who was a trailblazer in so many ways not just on April 1, but everyday.

Just a thought.

Almost Half of Secondary School Students are Depressed

Many students participated in the protests, some now in jail

After over two and a half years of the pandemic with schools closed and at-home learning from computer monitors has taken a toll on Hong Kong students' mental health. 

We are not surprised.

NGO Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service conducted a survey among 1,192 secondary school pupils and found 48 percent of them had symptoms of depression, including feeling hopeless about the future, or a loss of fun. Some 36 percent displayed moderate to very severe signs of depression.

Pandemic has taken a toll on students mentally

In addition, 51 percent of those interviewed were found to have symptoms of anxiety, such as being afraid of embarrassing themselves, dry mouth and trembling. These cases needed professional help.

Ivan Fang, a committee member of the NGO said mental stress often stemmed from a dissatisfaction with daily life. The students who did the survey said they were most upset about the Covid-19 pandemic, their education and the state of society.

Sadly this will be a vindication for parents who took the difficult decision of moving their families from Hong Kong to start their lives elsewhere. While they are mostly in primary school, these children who have migrated to places like the UK, Australia, and Canada seem to be happy and not dragged down by the severe pandemic restrictions like in Hong Kong.

In some cases parents may want their children to complete secondary school and then go abroad for university, or others don't have the means to leave the city. But with the pandemic taking such a toll on these young people, they probably can't hang on much longer.

Depressed students feel hopeless about the future 

Perhaps it's no wonder that 70 percent of the respondents also had poor relationships with their parents, making the students' mental health even worse. 

It's also not helpful that the government does not value its next generation and instead throws it in jail.

Hopefully these students will address their symptoms and understand they are not alone. Everyone in Hong Kong is going through not only the trauma of the pandemic, but also that of the 2019 protests and the political repression happening now.

It's a lot to process for a teenager, let alone an adult.