“For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?” Mr. Bennet remarked in Pride and Prejudice. I suppose the same question could be asked of writers, and the s ...More
EJ Insight2023-05-10
We are raising our youth to become hyper-efficient question-answering machines, but fundamentally constricted askers of questions. For far too long we have equated academic excellence and accomplishme ...More
EJ Insight2023-05-09
Much has been written on how friendships begin… A chance encounter on the streets. A shared workplace. A neighbourhood in which one is brought up with another. Acquaintances, friends, good friends. So ...More
EJ Insight2023-05-08
There is something conspicuously perverse about the state of domestic political discourse in Hong Kong. There is an odious, growing tendency to brand all things “Western” as evil, and to celebrate all ...More
EJ Insight2023-05-03
As a general rule of thumb, policies that deliver for the people, are much better than promises of policies that claim to deliver. The Inflation Reduction Act introduced by Biden’s White House, for al ...More
EJ Insight2023-04-14
Every once in a while, we may find ourselves doing things that are quite clearly beyond our comfort zone. Such actions may confuse us. They may also thwart us and catch us off guard at our most vulner ...More
EJ Insight2023-04-13
What makes a good leader? Folks beg to disagree over this seemingly innocuous yet fundamentally divisive question. Some posit that leaders are defined by their ability to inspire and motivate others - ...More
EJ Insight2023-03-30
I’m no expert in geopolitics. Yet there are a few thoughts that I’d like to explore - in a conversational manner - with folks who are interested in geopolitics, and from whom I most certainly hope to ...More
EJ Insight2023-03-29
I got back to Hong Kong late last week. And it took me no time to come to the conclusion - there are few places quite like home. Masks are now gone (though some folks remain obstinately wedded to them ...More
EJ Insight2023-03-20
And so, she did it. Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian to win the Best Actress award in the history of Oscars. “Everything, Everywhere All At Once” also swept six other awards this evening - a crown ...More
EJ Insight2023-03-20
A spectre haunts the state of international geopolitics. It is a spectre that has nought to do with military confrontations, nuclear weapons, or the most advanced of gadgets that states are resorting ...More
EJ Insight2023-03-10
We live in an era of polarisation. From radical identity politics, to racist bigotry directed towards immigrants; from chauvinistic militarism and nationalism, to unapologetic and unnuanced embracing ...More
EJ Insight2023-03-10
There are few societies in which I am as conscious of my age, as in Hong Kong. “A twenty-five year old…”, “A youth academic”, “A youth writer”… So on and so forth, you get the gist and I get the drill ...More
EJ Insight2023-03-03
“Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove” Shakespeare once quipped. But in my eyes, love must necessarily alter when it alteration finds. For love ...More
EJ Insight2023-03-02
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been going on for a year. As Russian troops look to be mobilising for one last hurrah, and as Ukrainian troops – riding on a ceaseless tidal wave of NATO equipment ...More
EJ Insight2023-02-24
History is boring. We get it. I get it. Indeed, there’s a reason why certain politicians and goons enjoy piling on history – it’s because history is defenseless in face of the more exciting, animated, ...More
EJ Insight2023-02-23
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. A story that revolves around a tradition in a small town – “The Lottery”, which, through a purely random mechanism of arbitrary selection, arrives at a particular ind ...More
EJ Insight2023-02-14
For Hong Kong to be truly back, we must go maskless – now. Dropping the inane mask requirement is a necessary but insufficient part of Hong Kong’s trek towards normalisation. The following makes the c ...More
EJ Insight2023-02-14
A movie that moved me as much as it impressed, that dazzled with its spectacular theatre whilst allowing us to dote on its finer details. A story about a migrant family; a story about all of us. A tal ...More
EJ Insight2023-02-03
A few months back I sat down with a couple of friends from a leading university in Hong Kong – and we had a terrific, electrifying chat about how we could bring Effective Altruism (EA) to the city. Ma ...More
EJ Insight2023-02-03
