The hidden corners of Hong Kong you don't know | ABC Conversations Podcast
July 19, 2025
781
11
1.41%
Search the Record
IndexedEvery word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
Abc Australia Episodes Around July 19, 2025
See what was published immediately before and after this episode.
49:32Now PlayingThe hidden corners of Hong Kong you don't know | ABC Conversations Podcast
YouTube Description
as posted by the channelNovelist Emma Pei Yin ran away from Hong Kong as a teenager to start fresh in Australia. But she found herself repeatedly drawn back home whenever she put pen to paper.
Emma grew up in England and Hong Kong. But her life in Hong Kong wasn’t so much about the neon skyscrapers as it was about her family’s ancestral village, tucked away in the New Territories.
Emma spent her school holidays there with her grandparents, learning how to take care of the family cemetery and joining in Chinese Festivals.
Sometimes her grandfather would share his memories of the Second World War, when the Japanese military invaded and occupied Hong Kong.
As Emma became into a teenager, her relationship with her parents deteriorated. She eventually decided to leave them and Hong Kong, coming to Australia to make a life for herself as a writer.
But whenever she wrote, Emma found herself drawn back to Hong Kong; to the hundreds of islands, the fishing villages on stilts, the mountains, woodlands and beaches – all the things that tourists who think of Hong Kong as a city of neon lights and free Wi-fi don’t know about.
Content warning: This episode of Conversations contains discussion about sexual assault.
Further information
When Sleeping Women Wake is published by Hachette.
Help and support is always available. You can call Lifeline 24 hours a day on 13 11 14.
This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris, the executive producer is Nicola Harrison.
It explores family dynamics, multiculturalism, China, Hong Kong, modern history, writing, books, literature, historical fiction, Japanese occupation, World War 2, assault, victim-blaming, abortion, filmmaking, black sheep, family honour, London, forgiveness.
Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website. ()
Links & Promotions
Guests & Subjects Covered
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.