I grew up in Hong Kong and half my family were third generation Hong Kong-ers. Some of my family came from the southern Canton provinces in China. My mum was born in Singapore and my dad was born in Hong Kong.
I spent the first 14 years of my life growing up in Hong Kong. I have friends there that I grew up with when I was a kid, and somehow after so many years, we still managed to keep in touch and seeing them pursue their dreams is something that has stuck very close with me as a kid. That routine of travelling between both countries just became more innate in me as I grew up, and I just wanted to absorb whatever Hong Kong has to offer and whatever Singapore has to offer, albeit the very different environments.
I do embrace the Singapore identity. Whatever it may be, I think it is sort of an interesting relationship between me and my time spent here. I think a lot of it is a sense of belonging, or at least a sense of having this identity come with studying here and completing my National Service.
It's supposedly a modern tang zhuang, which is sometimes called a Tang suit, typically worn by males in the family. But this piece was actually created by Cathay Pacific, and it's meant to be a lounge piece. It’s something that I really, really enjoy wearing. This dress object is sort of my way of recognising the work that my mom used to do, because she used to be cabin crew. That's one of the reasons why I picked this – it’s a homage to a Singaporean lady who had to leave her family in Singapore to go and work in Hong Kong.
Secondly, tang zhuang is perhaps a more accurate representation of what dressing up for the occasion would look like in Hong Kong. We wear this during Chinese New Year, weddings, baby showers. Not a lot of people wear gowns on a normal day anymore, but you still see that in Southern Chinese provinces.
