PLUG Magazine- The Secrets Issue

C O M M U N I T Y & C U L T U R E - D E C 2013

SECRETS

CONTENTS

Community 11 Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil 14 Street Level 15 30 Years + 26 Mr Gay HK 18 PLUG x AIDS Concern 22 The Launch Party 26 Stop. Turn. Smile.

30 Spin Me A Tale

CULTURE 40 FILM Reel Queer 44 MUSIC Queer Undertones 48 PHOTOGRAPHY Donald Lung 52 ART Travis Jeppesen 58 FOOD Excessive Food Culture 62 TRAVEL Tibet 66 STYLE The Wanderlister+ 70 FASHION Haze Ng 76 SEX Hush Hush

MAGAZINE

LET’S NETWORK

EDITORIAL DIRECTORS Liam Greenall Timothy Loo COMMUNITY EDITOR Josie Mitchell

Check out our new website! www.plug-magazine.com

CULTURE EDITOR Sean Broadhurst

Be a part of the PLUG journey!

WEB EDITOR Lap Capistrano

plugmagazine.tumblr.com

facebook.com/plugmaghk @plugmagazinehk

BUSINESS DIRECTOR Guishe Munoz MARKETING John Gil PHOTO EDITOR Phoebe Yeung GRAPHIC DESIGN TEEM Timothy T Wong

CONTACT info@plug-magazine.com

The

SHOCK Issue

COMING NEXT © A Publication of PLUG Magazine Secrets Issue, December 2013 - February 2014 Printed by Invoice PLUG is fully protected by copyright and nothing may be printed wholly or in part without permission.

CONTRIBUTORS “What’s your guilty pleasure?”

Dear PLUG, Josie Mitchell COMMUNITY EDITOR Eating cheese just before bed. It feels so indulgent and makes for an entertaining night of bizarre dreams. The calorific guilt never lasts long.

Lap Capistrano DIGITAL EDITOR Butt squeezing. I am very big into butt squeezing. I just love butts.

After having PLUG hand delivered to me in

Loved every drip of Sweat! I tend to flip pages

my Chelsea apartment, (just north of the

looking for a photo that captures my interest,

Stonewall Riots and south of Manhattan’s

and I must say the whole issue had me hooked.

leather-daddy bars), I can truly say that the

This magazine gave me a much needed breath

magazine’s transatlantic journey was well

of fresh air! Plug me in!!

worth the security check. More than just a little

Keren Magen- Haim, Guangzhou

cheeky, the editorial content proved to create a balance highlighting the individual perspective

Reading “The Logic of Sweat’ by Joseph

in a collective community of Hong Kong’s

Gualtieri, though being close friends with a

LGBTQ. With inspiring playlists, introspective

gay man, gave me valuable new insights into

narrative, international photo essays, and

homosexuality and the gay community.

unique spin on the fashion/art scene, I really

Kim Pinder

found PLUG to hit all of the marks for what makes a magazine a page-turner.

Emma Herblot WRITER Watching Honey Boo Boo.

The letter from the editors was a nice personal touch. This was an incredible issue, the main

Despite

catering

to

a

very

specific

demographic, PLUG transcends the usual

topic was very appealing!

Cesar Sanchez

cliche anecdotes into a much more tangible

Timothy T Wong DESIGN TEAM Late night bike rides around Yau Ma Tei hunting for a sneaky midnight snack.

Jason Kwan WRITER Pulling all-nighters playing Maplestory while singing along to the background soundtrack off by heart...it makes a great bedtime lullaby! Also, the satisfaction of mastering silent farting in public.

experience regardless of sexual orientation.

It came to my attention, through a friend on

Neat, sleek, modern, and crisp are a few

the scene, that there was a new magazine for

adjectives that come to mind when describing

the gay community. He let me read his copy,

the editorial layout and composition. I would

and I’ve also checked out your digital version

have really enjoyed having a female writer in

too. I’m curious to know how you will market

the mix and honing in on the queer identity

and distribute the print version to gay people

as it rarely discussed and often overlooked. I

who are not part of the gay scene here in Hong

truly believe that Plug can be the next platform

Kong?

for encompassing not just the gay, lesbian,

Anson Chui

and minority experience but maintaining the global human journey that is in each one of us.

May your issues find their way back to the Big Apple come hell or high water!

Jordan Katz

Yimou Lee WRITER Eating Taiwanese instant noodles and thinking it’s the best meal all week. Maybe I don’t feel too guilty about it, but it’s definitely a pleasure!

8

Beauty Market Editor, Moodofliving.com

Hi Anson, We now have the marketing maestro, John Gil, working alongside PLUG’s Business Director to devise the best plans possible to reach a wide audiences from our LGBT readers and beyond. Keep your eyes and ears on PLUG’s website over the next few months for all the info. Thanks for getting in touch with us. Getting feedback like this will only help us grow and develop!

PLUG

Editors’ Letter

Secrets. We all have them. Our own and others. We try to keep them in, but splurt them out in drunken rants or in the midst of a tiff with a lover.

Some secrets will stay with us until we’re pushing up daisies. Most folks who identify themselves as LGBTQ begin their exploration of sexuality within a secretive bubble, which slowly bursts as enigmas reveal themselves. Most bubbles pop with a variety of outcomes, while some stay floating in the universe forever. We wanted to uncover the secretive, ambiguous narratives that are embedded in us all post-coming out.

The Secrets issue launches on the 1st of December, World Aids Day, a day when people from all over the globe unite in the fight against HIV. Stigmas and secrets still surround the virus and PLUG investigates it from two different perspectives- a very insightful and moving interview with Mr Gay Hong Kong, Michael J. Morrill and a straight-talking discussion with the Chief Executive of AIDS Concern Hong Kong.

Not all secrets are sombre and serious, some are flippant and others playful.

In this issue our Culture Editor, Sean Broadhurst, finds hidden meaning in the film archive and introduces us to the ‘levels’ you must pass in order to gain membership to Hong Kong’s ‘Top Secret Food Club’. Joseph Gualtieri’s article ‘Stop.Turn.Smile’ explores the notion of secrecy and desire in the backward glance.

On a personal note, we would like to thank everybody who has read, supported and been involved in PLUG’s growth and greatness since the launch of our first issue. The PLUG Team have dug up their own secrets and stories to explore the intimate nature of why secrecy seems to be an integral part of our shared psychology.

Unravel the mysteries, the guilty pleasures and wintery whispers in our sophomore issue of PLUG. - Liam and Tim

9

Community

HEAR NO EVIL SPEAK NO EVIL An interview with Betty Grisoni and Abby Lee. Written by Josie Mitchell and Emma Herblot.

It would be hard to find someone within the local LGBT community who has not heard of Betty Grisoni and Abby Lee, the power couple who are not only behind Les Peches, which runs events for lesbians, bisexuals, queer women and their friends in Hong Kong, but also spend a great deal of time raising money and campaigning for LGBT rights. On top of all that, they never miss a good party and can be seen together at any event worth going to.

Les

8th

sustain sometimes. When a place closes

birthday! How has the event evolved

Peches

is

celebrating

its

down, we have to move. This is the reality.

since it started in 2005?

But change can be good – a refreshing new

Abby: We have grown quite a lot. We are

venue where girls have a new playground.

very proud of the fact that we started with 20

Betty: I would say the main challenge is

people but we worked hard at growing and

not so much the venue, people will follow us

promoting the organization. It was hard at the

anyway. No, I would say the main challenge

beginning. There was no Facebook back then,

is to keep pleasing the ladies. That right there

even emails were not that popular as people

would be your issue number one!

were not confident sharing their personal

Meeting at their house for one of their renowned, mouth-watering dinners, we were bowled over by their three beloved dogs as we discussed their plans for Les Peches, how it all started, the LGBT community, and discrimination in HK.

information so we were communicating via

So why do you think there is such a

SMS and it was expensive!

lack of lesbian bars and clubs in Hong Kong?

What was your initial motivation?

Betty: Like Abby said, it is very much due to

Abby: We felt the scene was lacking. There

the economy. In the world, there are very few

was only karaoke at the time and we tried

lesbians places compared to men’s. To own

going to them, but people are very passionate

a bar in Hong Kong is very expensive and

about their singing in Hong Kong so it is

very very difficult. Women, not necessarily

difficult to have a meaningful conversation

just lesbians, don’t spend as much money.

or easily meet people.

They drink maybe two to three drinks, it isn’t

Betty: We had some lesbian friends when

sustainable. And then we complain that we

we arrived but the circle was really small and

have nowhere to go…

after 2 months, we realized it was always the

Betty: Yes, they are complaining but look,

same people – so we felt we needed to do

they buy two beers in one evening, they

something.

meet a girlfriend and you don’t see them for three years! That is why we always come up

Les Peches has changed venues quite a

with new things, have themes, something to

few times, has it been hard to manage?

attract people to come.

Abby: Well, Hong Kong’s property market changes like crazy and businesses cannot

11

COMMUNITY

At the earlier Les Peches parties, there

A big problem for gay rights in HK is

seemed to be a divide between western

that we don’t have anti-discrimination

and local girls. How did they become

laws. Do you think there is a lot of

more integrated?

discrimination

Betty: It is all about education. Our vision

community in HK?

from the beginning was to have a group that

Abby: There is, definitely. When it comes to

consolidates all of the lesbians, bisexual and

law, for example, if you are not a local here

queer women in Hong Kong. There was a

and you want to bring your wife whom you are

lesbian community and there were parties

legally married to overseas, it is not recognized

when we first arrived but they were very much

here, so you are being discriminated against.

divided, so our main mission was to bring them

The partner will not have the same heterosexual

together.

benefits in terms of stay in HK. Couples will

against

the

LGBT

experience visa issues and recently, the HK Where do you see Les Peches five years

immigration has become stricter. There have

from now?

been a few cases where the partner has been

Betty: Honestly? I don’t know. I don’t even

deported because of over-staying. It does

know what Hong Kong will be like in five years’

happen.

time. One thing we would like to do more

Betty: There is discrimination. There is also

through our platform is to advocate gay rights.

a difference between gay men and women.

We see that through a social platform, it is

Lesbians tend to be more discreet about their

easier to speak about very serious issues rather

sexuality. It’s hard to find very strong cases

than at a round table.

of discrimination because a lot of employers wouldn’t actually say you were fired because you

There is almost no awareness about

are gay. But I also believe that HK is still quite

safe sex for women in HK. There is

free. You have to understand that whatever

distribution

about

happens, you can still voice yourself out here.

condoms for men, is there anything for

There is very little of what we call ‘gay bashing’

women?

which is a reality in a lot of other countries. HK

Betty: Well, it’s true that scientifically, the rate

and other Asian countries are moving quite fast

of STD’s is lower amongst lesbians...

and yes, there’s no anti-discrimination law but

Abby: I think someone tried to bring out the

there are a lot of discussions. In Hong Kong the

findom (a finger condom) once but it was badly

religious groups are quite strong. They have

promoted. The girls thought it was more of a

influence on the government, but little by little,

novelty rather than being useful and to protect

you have to push boundaries. The more people

them.

who come out, celebrities, bankers, lawyers,

Betty: It’s true that we haven’t really touched

high powered individuals, the more acceptance

on that, we have been focusing more on other

there will be. I believe in visibility. It may not

basic rights. One of the things we do at Les

be for everybody. People may keep it a secret

Peches is to provide a platform for others to

for whatever reasons, but in the end visibility

promote so if someone approaches us with idea

is one way to make things change. A couple like

about promoting safe sex, we would provide

Abby and I, our life is not very different from

the platform for that.

straight couples. Our family life is very much

12

of

information

“Les Peches gives both the local and foreign lesbian and bisexual women of Hong Kong the inspiration, strength and environment to be their true selves.“ Josie Mitchell Community Editor

The more people who come out, the more acceptance there will be.

I believe in visibility.

the same as theirs. We don’t own a gay car, gay house or gay dogs!

to be gay or lesbian in HK is not a life threatening situation, when

The government is listening; foreign organisations like the US,

it is still very much so in other countries, quite a lot of western

French and the UK consulate are starting to open up. LGBT rights

countries, so we have to look at that too.

are starting to be a big issue, a big platform.

Abby: In HK, it is different. It is more cultural rather than about being physically abused. It is more about growing up in a Chinese

Do you think the foreign community has helped a lot in

conservative environment. And people being afraid of coming out

that sense?

to their families. There is a strong saving face value around it.

Betty: Yes. It is not just the expat community, some help also

How the family will cope in turn about handling the coming out

comes from the financial community. A lot of the big wigs are

to their own relatives.

gay, I don’t know why. When a senior VP you want to bring to

Do you think it is more of a generational limitation? Will

HK has a partner, you have to start opening things up. This is

the next generation of parents carry this on or it could

what is actually putting pressure on the government, those large

change and how?

financial institutions talking about LGBT rights which are now

Abby: I think the newer generation of parents is slightly more

becoming an issue.

open but then I wouldn’t dare to say it has improved a lot.

So to go back to the initial question about discrimination, yes, there is discrimination in HK but we have to look at the fact that

13

Abby,

you

grew

up

in

a

Chinese

environment. How was coming out in that environment?

Abby: I was lucky, my family is quite open.

When I told my mom I was only about 10 years old. She said “Why don’t you wait until you are more grown up. You have time; you don’t have to decide now. When you decide, you choose whoever you are happy with”. My parents would always tell me to take my time; it was their way of expressing their love. As long as their child is happy and comfortable, it doesn’t matter who you are. My whole family is very accepting. My brother had a baby and we went back in Singapore for a celebration. My grandmother, who’s now in her 70’s, suddenly asked me “How about you two? You

STREET LEVEL

have been together so long and you are not getting any younger. You should have a kid soon, you could adopt”. I was like “Wow, my grandmother is progressive!”

So sometimes, you may think that Chinese are the most conservative families but I guess it’s different

We asked the people parading at November’s Hong Kong Gay Pride a few pertinent questions. Thanks for the help!

for everyone and I would always encourage people to come out if they can. You will know when it is the right time. For some people, it is when they have found someone and they want to introduce

Do you think ga y p eop le shou ld b e allowed to ma rr y?

them. But it is not something you will go to the Feng Shui master and ask which date is the most auspicious and nonviolent time!

Y ES NO

100 % 0%

Betty: Yeah, but one day you have to come out.

You cannot keep a secret for too long. Secrets are fine but...

Abby: For your general mental health, and well-

Do you think we will see ma rria ge e q u a lity in H ong Kong in 2 0 1 4 ?

being, otherwise it would eat you up inside...

Betty: It is not an easy thing to do but the secret has to come out. It is not a bad secret.

So do the girls at Les Peches share a lot of their secrets with you?

Betty: Yes, one of the things about Les Peches is that we see no evil, hear no evil and say no evil.

Y ES 5% N O 95%

Ha v e you ever b een tested for H IV ?

Y ES 53 %

NO 47%

One thing about our success is that we never spill the beans. We provide a platform and ensure people are in a safe environment. We do give a lot of counseling and Abby is really good with that.

PLUG congratulates the lovely ladies at Les Peaches on celebrating their 8th year of advocating for lesbians, bisexual and queer women. We hope there are many more years ahead!

14

Do you p refer to tell you r own s ec rets or keep other p eop le’s s ec rets?

TEL L 43 %

KEEP 57 %

30 YEARS+

2014 marks 30 years since the first reported case of HIV in Hong Kong. We highlight the city’s current status through two interviews- a candid chat with the recently crowned Mr Gay HK and a down-to-business Q&A with the Chief Executive of AIDS Concern. You may be surprised to learn the hometown battle against increasing infection rates is far from won.

In reality, the stigma against people with HIV is creating an atmosphere of discrimination that forces people to keep their status secret, hindering the transparency that promotes awareness and understanding. And we all know the damage that can be done from keeping secrets.

COMMUNITY

MRGAY HK Interview by Timothy Loo

I have the supervirus.

I can show you my pills. These are for mornings; these ones are fine. I have resistance to this pink one, the 123 pill, so that’s why I take the other two. Basically when I take that pink pill, the other two are fighting the drugs in it- there’s a conflict between the pills. But I can’t stop taking the pink one because it has another drug in it that I need to suppress the disease. So at night, it’s pretty frequent that I wake up completely drenched in sweat, crazy dreams, and all sorts of stuff. I’ve learned to deal with that okay, but still, it’s a pain in the ass to have to change my sheets everyday.

These are my last pills that need to be refrigerated. I just picked up my medication on Friday and they gave me one that doesn’t need to be refrigerated so I can actually take my pills around with me.

When I came out on Facebook about my HIV status, those few months had been just hell for me. I hated my job, I hated not having a social life, things weren’t going well with my personal relationships, so it was a tough time. I’ve always dealt with things on my own. I didn’t want to be a downer so I came across as happy-go-lucky all the time.

But at some point I was just like, fuck this, people have to know.

For a long time keeping it a secret wore away at my soul, I found myself lying and making up stories and I got caught up in the stories. You tell so many lies to so many people you get lost in your lies and you lose your integrity with people because they think you’re making up stories. You’re always trying to look out for everyone else, and you don’t realize what you’re doing to yourself.

16

Even if I’m having safe sex, it leaves me with a guilty conscience. With my ex, we dated for three months before we had sex. We got to know each other really well, it’s like we courted each other. I told him I was positive and it took him a good two weeks before he was comfortable, and then there was no problem. People in Hong Kong don’t wait that long.

Technically there’s no law about disclosing it, so people are careless and complacent. People need to learn to take on a little bit more responsibility.

There’s the mindset that if someone’s willing to have unprotected sex, they’re willing to take on the risk of contracting HIV and a number of STI’s. So if they don’t ask in the first place, it’s not my responsibility to tell so I can just fuck you bareback. That’s fucked up.

Take responsibility for your own actions; be smart about the choices that you make. Not that I’ve always made the smartest choices. It would go a long way in terms of prevention if people did the responsible thing. If you’re

I met this guy once and I going to have bareback sex, if you are involved in any activity that puts you at risk, you have to get tested.

You have to do what you can to keep it from spreading.

But in order for people to be comfortable with getting tested, we have to banish the stigma, discrimination, ignorance and fear.

told him on our first date

Sometimes people assume it’s a local stigma, but the discrimination and stigma runs deep in all cultures.

went on to say, “Look at it

Compared to other Asian places Hong Kong’s a lot more progressive. You get free medication if you have a HKID and free medical checkups. Hong Kong, Japan and Thailand are the hubs for people living with HIV in Asia. Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia still have travel restrictions. Singapore has an all out ban; you’re not even allowed to visit.

When I found out I was positive in Korea I had no other option but to conceal my HIV status. I had built up my reputation to the point I was on TV, I had a radio show, I was teaching CEO’s, I was in the thick of the gay scene, and if I came out about it to the wrong person I ran the risk of being deported. I had to hide it.

that I’m positive. And he just said, “Dealbreaker”.

Okay, enough, but he

this way, you walk in to a supermarket and you have a whole big pile of fresh ripe tomatoes. And then there’s that one rotten one. Why would I choose the rotten tomato?”

In Hong Kong I don’t run the risk of being deported, so why should I keep my mouth shut about it? I can get out and talk about it. There’s still a lot of work to be done to reducing the stigma.

I never sought out this position as Mr Gay HK to boost my ego. It’s not a one-man show even though it’s a title that goes to one person. It’s hard for me to be the person to get up and say all this but somebody has to do it and now that I’m a public figure what I say carries a whole new weight. I’ve got some good plans ahead for my reign as Mr. Gay Hong Kong…

Our man of many talents having some fun at the PLUG launch party.

COMMUNITY

PLUG

x

AIDS CONCERN An interview with Andrew Chidgey, CEO

Looking at the government website, there was a

Where does Hong Kong fail in terms of tackling

spike in reported cases of HIV infection in 2012 (from

HIV infection? What should the priority be?

389 cases in 2010 to 513 cases in 2012). What does this mean? Why don’t we see a drop in numbers?

There has been a big increase in the last 3 years.

It is ver y worr ying because it means more people are being infected and are having to live with the consequences of HIV – this means medication, risks to health, and problems with relationships. The big increase in infections is among men who have sex with men. Too many people are taking risks with their health and not protecting themselves. It is also because people aren’t getting tested and diagnosed early enough so they are passing HIV onto others.

“Transmissions between heterosexuals remain stable, but male to male transmission is increasing.” What do you attribute this to?

It ’s a mixture of factors. It is easier than it used to be for men to have casual unplanned sex because of the internet. In some of these cases people aren’t protecting themselves by using condoms. However, there is also some complacency. Many guys in their teens and twenties weren’t aware of the AIDS panic in the 1980s and 90s. I’ve heard people say that HIV isn’t a serious risk. That sor t of complacency leads to situations where people don’t bother using a condom. Sometimes if people have been out drinking or have taken drugs this increases the risk that they don’t protect themselves or that accidents happen.

I don’t think it is accurate to say Hong Kong has failed on HIV infection. Infection rates here are still lower than many par ts of the developed world. However, it is right to say that we have failed to stop the rate of infection rising and we have a par ticular problem in terms of rising infections among gay men. We need to get better at identifying the most at risk people and to help them understand how to protect themselves.

We also need to diagnose people muc h earlier and get them on treatment earlier too. People who are diagnosed can take action to protect others. Being on HIV treatment also significantly reduces your risk of infecting others. We can also improve sex education for young people so they understand the risk.

Do you think there is a culture of denial in Hong Kong? Of those that get infected and do nothing about it?

It is ver y notable from all the people living with HIV that AIDS Concern speaks to that a vast majority feels a strong sense of responsibility about not passing HIV onto other people. There are some people with HIV who aren’t taking the right treatment that will improve their health and reduce the risk of them passing HIV onto others so that definitely needs work.

+

2,600 The number of people living with HIV in Hong Kong.

18

PLUG x AIDS CONCERN

+

“It is really unfortunate that so many people feel that they have to hide their status because of the problems it may cause them.”

0.1% Hong Kong’s adult HIV prevalence rate. In comparison, South Africa’s rate is 17.3%, with 5.6 million people of it’s population living with HIV.

However, the muc h bigger issue is the people infected in Hong Kong who do not realise they are infected so are passing HIV onto others without knowing it. This is why safer sex remains really impor tant and also why getting tested regularly is especially impor tant for gay men.

What do you consider to be the stigma behind being HIV positive?

‘Stigma’ is about shame and it is something many people with HIV talk about. There is self stigmatization whic h many people with HIV have internally. People talk about feeling bad for having got HIV and also about how they feel they must have deser ved it for doing something wrong.

People also find that family and friends are not always suppor tive. Sometimes reactions can be ver y hostile. This is par tly based on homophobia but also the fact that HIV is most commonly contracted because of sexual contact.

One of the problems for young gay men who find that they are HIV positive is that they may not be out about their sexuality with their family. They then find that they have to decide whether to tell loved ones that they are gay and HIV positive and this can be too muc h for them. At AIDS Concern we help people by discussing these issues like disclosure of HIV status and we put people in contact with other people living with HIV.

Do you find a lot of people choose to keep their HIV status to themselves?

Many people c hoose to only tell 1 or 2 ver y trusted people. Some people don’t tell anyone at all and that can be a lonely experience. One guy was telling me that he is worried about telling even his most trusted friends as he is concerned they might accidently tell other people and then ever yone will know. For some people with HIV they feel that it is about their health whic h is a private matter. However, it is really unfor tunate that so many people feel that they have to hide their status because of the problems it may cause them. It ’s suc h a shame as well because so of ten family and friends are in a position to provide a suppor t network and are of ten more understanding than people expect.

In a more general sense in Hong Kong the absence of openly HIV positive people does mean that the general public feel that HIV is not a major issue. If more people were able to be out it may be easier to improve public understanding.

For more information please visit the AIDS Concern website at www.aidsconcern.org.hk

+

200 The total number of deaths from HIV/AIDS in Hong Kong.

19

HONG K ONG PRIDE PLUG was proud to be a part of this year’s gay pride event and thanks the people in our community who came out and supported by joining in the march and the party in the park. We hope to see you and many more again next year!

THE LAUNCH PARTY @X X X

Stop. Turn. Smile.

by Joseph Gualtieri

It’s happened to all of us; you’re walking down the street, alone or with company, and you catch sight of something—a patch of exposed skin, the reflection of sunlight on his glasses, maybe his shape of his jaw or the flop in his hair—and you can’t look away. Your gaze rests first on whatever feature drew your attention and then moves up to his eyes, longing for a reciprocal look. Sometimes, it’s a false alarm; you’ll fix your stare, often through lowered eyes, as he blithely goes on his way. But then, maybe his gait wasn’t so steady, his look so absent. Maybe you spied his eyes dart to meet yours as you passed. So you wait a few beats, a step or two, and then you turn, not your whole body, just a minor rotation of the head over the shoulder, and find out: is he looking back?

The backwards glance, that mobile acknowledgement of interest, with its hint of intrigue, is, perhaps, the one practice of gay street life that extends throughout space and time, reaching into all cultures. Such encounters, whether ephemeral or leading to higher-level engagement, bring together two of the key elements of contemporary gay life: secrecy and desire. After all, in public spaces from sidewalks to office corridors, any signs of attraction between two men (or women) takes place on enemy territory where secrecy is demanded. However ‘multi-use’ a public space may be, we in Hong Kong do not yet live in a society where they are acceptable sites of queer encounter.

After all, this isn’t cruising, where everyone knows where to go and what’s expected. As such, cruising lacks the secrecy inherent in the backward glance.

Queer communities have long been carved out their own spots for encounter and exchange. Anyone, gay or straight, who has ever enjoyed the pool in Kowloon Park or used the public toilet at Wah Hing Lane in Sheung Wan is well aware that Hong Kong has plenty of public spaces more or less given over to gay cruising. Of course, these complement the saunas and bars and clubs where we congregate and forge connections of all varieties. Critical as these spaces may be, their power to connect does not extend beyond their edges, and those who lock eyes on neutral ground aren’t aided by the existence of such contained queer spaces.

And so each of these passing encounters are as fraught with danger as well as opportunity. The risks generally outnumber the opportunities: he may be straight

26

and take your stare as some kind of predation; he may be gay but make you feel silly by showing complete disinterest; or, and perhaps most insidiously, he may also be gay and entirely interested and he might even turn around, but then what? Not too long ago, I experienced a rare triple backward glance. Neither the other boy nor I could figure out just what to do, and by the third turn-around, we were too far away for our private exchange to turn into something stationary and interactive rather than mobile and silent.

After all, silence is the currency of secrecy; we see this most clearly in the latter half of Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love, which, incidentally, was originally titled Secrets. Reporter Chow and secretary Su, reflecting on their unconsummated love affair, leave the truth of amour unvoiced; she telephones him to not tell him that she loves him, remaining silent in the line, while he finishes the film by whispering the secret of his love into the ruins of Angkor Wat. In this case, silence gives structure to feeling and establishes itself as a bond between the two; silence provides a form of solidarity, giving a paradoxically empty shape to their shared secret. Silence is a dialogue, to be shared among intimates.

This silence of solidarity, however, is not the same silence as that enforced on the gay community. Rather than a horizontal silence that yields inclusion, ours is a top down, vertical silence that excludes us from the normal realms of public space. Rather than being silent as a conscious activity, we are silenced, our budding encounters renders illicit and unacceptable in shared space. The secrecy, then, is often not a secrecy of our own choosing, but one imposed upon us for fear of very real familial and societal consequences. Here, silence is a monologue, issuing from the heteronormative dominant. While such enforced silences may be apparent in the pressures that keep the gay community segregated from the civic sphere, one finds a disturbing trend toward the silence of internalized homophobia, even in settings where one might expect more openness.

A brief anecdote to illustrate this point. When I first moved to Hong Kong, I had two local colleagues whom we’ll call Darren and Chris. They had been acquaintances during their undergraduates years and now, as postgraduates, they were assigned to share a small office. Through various indirect means, each has long ago learned that the other was gay. Each also knew that the other knew he was gay. From time to time, Darren or Chris would emerge, flush-faced and smelling of protein, from the little office with some or other cute boy in tow.

And yet they never shared, never discussed, never mentioned anything about

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relationships or love. Even though no one was fooled, they continued to play the pronoun game and referred to their partners as “friends”. This unenforced silence embodies perhaps the most insidious breed of secret: the unacknowledged nonsecret. Neither of them actively withheld any information from each other nor did they allow their shared experienced as queer academics to bring them even slightly closer together. In a way, this might appear to be the ideal arrangement; one can imagine how, in a world where gay relationships are as common as brown eyes and knee socks, there would be no need for special bonds within the queer community.

Ideal as this may sound, living one’s sexuality as an unacknowledged non-secret can only lead to disaster; without the support structure of shared experience and orientation, one’s homosexuality is experienced as a series of catastrophes. Each moment of connection is transmuted into an opportunity for exposure, a reminder of vulnerability. In Darren’s case, every moment of his relationship with his thenboyfriend, elaborated to me during a wrenching breakup, was marked by extreme anxiety: What if he sees me staring at him? What if he’s not actually gay? What if I’m too fat or too short or too ugly or too boring? What if someone sees us together? What if he’s cheating on me? How much more of this can I take? How much longer will this last? How will I ever meet anyone again? What did I do wrong?

Certainty, we’ve all had these kinds of questions, but, in Darren’s case, these anxieties came to define sexuality itself. With nowhere to turn and secrecy to maintain, he could respond only with fear.

Nowhere to turn, that is, except to me. It was nice to be there for my colleague, to listen to his confessions and to offer the occasional word of encouragement; it was nice to offer a bit of community to someone for whom it was so obviously lacking. It would have been nicer still if this had led to some level of friendship or connection between us, something that would have outlasted the moment of crisis.

This, however, was impossible; Darren’s sexuality was so thoroughly ensconced in a web of secrecy that the risks inherent in any sort of visible friendship with me, an entirely out colleague, far outweighed whatever value he could see in a sense of community that lasted beyond the most grave moments of crisis; we’ve exchanged only chitchat in the two years since his breakdown.

Like the backwards glance on a crowded street, the exchange between Darren and me lasted only a moment before it was snatched away, stultified by social pressures,

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an intra-communal alienation in avoidance of larger-scale, social censure. Now, I don’t think that many members of the PLUG community experience the same level of anxiety as Darren; if you’re reading the print edition of this, anyone who can see the cover or any of the photos within knows that you’re at least gay-friendly. But how are we, who may feeling varying degrees of greater comfort with living our sexuality in the open, to reach those like Darren and Chris, who remain isolated despite the presence of allies? What cultural changes can we effect that make our public spaces less hostile to queer interaction?

Of course, the short answer is: I don’t know! Hopefully we will hear some of your ideas. It will be a long time before the streets of Hong Kong are host to as many interactions and encounters as those of New York or London. While we may not be able to control the development of cross-societal attitudes, we can take some specific steps to get things going. If we begin to queer-up public spaces on our own terms, we can begin to stem the of secrecy and guilt that penetrated Darren and Chris’s office. We might also be more excited rather than nervous about meeting some people outside of explicitly queer spaces.

And so, I propose that every backward glance turn into a stop-and-chat or, if you’re in a hurry, at least an acknowledgement. Doesn’t matter if you have second thoughts or if, at a second glance, the guy doesn’t quite do it for you; the point is less to make a new friend than to create a new baseline of acceptability. If there’s eye contact and a turnaround, stop walking, flash a smile, and say hi. No need to exchange numbers or gross pics. It’s enough just to generate a sense that, if they want, two queer people can meet and get friendly on the street. However awkward your first few encounters may be, you will be directly contributing to a change in the queer experience of Hong Kong’s streetscape.

The opposite of openness is not privacy; it’s secrecy and all of its attendant feelings of guilt, shame, and anxiety. Luckily, we have an antidote in the form of community. Whatever Hong Kong may lack, Asia’s World City has a network of queer alliances, organizations, venues, and individuals that requires no apology.

Let’s take that out on the street. Let’s live that in spaces between our safe zones.

All you have to do is stop, turn around, and smile.

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SPIN ME A TALE Text and Styling Liam Greenall Photographer Phoebe Yeung Models Jaroslav Bily | Breezy

A Non-Collector It’s the Christmas holidays, the Georgian steel fire is crackling away in the parlor room and the grandparents are popping round for a sherry and a nibble on mum’s over-cooked fruit cake. It sounds all very prim and proper, doesn’t it? In reality, I am stuck in my bedroom, stuck to my pillow and stuck on the thought of ‘how did I get so drunk last night?’. I’ll have to whip out my best smile and play the grandson duty, oh so dutifully, when one of them passes me over the ovalish shaped present. I know what it is, I have known each year, every year, since I was a wee `nipper. It is safe to say I have had a few years of practice. Open slowly. Look surprised. Smile.

Kiss and hug grandma and then granddad and finally, in an overly enthusiastic tone that could rival any kids Saturday morning TV presenter, express “Wow! I love it! A jumper? Thank you!”. I’ll add this to the collection of worn-once-and-never-again jumpers. Remind me to take them to the charity shop in the New Year.

A Return Home I’d not been home in a few years over Christmas, and this year would be no different. My partner was living in Berlin at the time and we decided that we would spend Christmas in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris, amongst the jazz and smoke. A colleague told me I must check out Frip’irium - a vintage store with a twist. I dragged my other half to the metro and merrily skipped in festive cheer to Hôtel de Ville to try and find the store. My iPhone had not yet been invented and the old method of trial and error was used in the hunt for a winter warmer. I spent about an hour (okay, maybe two) in the store and ended up buying old and worldly vintage finds that would never fit in my suitcase.

A few days later it was nearing New Years Eve. I did promise to be back home for that holiday. My prediction was right, no space whatsoever in my suitcase. I would have to wear that mammoth, light gray, loose-knit sweater I had fallen in love with when I saw it at the back of the rail in Frip’irium.

It was the flight back from Charles de Gaulle Airport to my hometown that I started to think about the history behind every vintage jumper I had bought over the past few years.

The stories they’ve been part of, the secrets they’ve had to keep, the tales that they’ve been told. Each jumper, each strand of wool, had its own life, or should I say lives. The poor jumpers that my grandparents had given me all those years ago didn’t even have a life, they didn’t get a chance to breath. Remind me to rummage them out of the loft and take them to the thrift shop after the New Years party.

My prediction was right, no space whatsoever in my suitcase.

Only A Few Weeks A Year After spending the summer in Japan, with many afternoons spent crawling the streets of Harajuku, Tokyo for vintage finds (you should definitely check out Ragtag and The Sun Goes Down for vintage designer wear), I visited Hong Kong for a long weekend. It was hot, sweaty and humid. I’d always assumed that flip-flops, shorts and a T-shirt were a staple all year round when I finally arrived back in the city and called it home a few years ago. Luckily, I was proven wrong. For a few weeks, each year, the cold days and even even chillier nights descend upon us.

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There is a space at the back of the my wardrobe for those big, chunky, thick and gorgeous knits that I have collected and been given as presents over the years. Some styles do endure the ever changing trends and fashions, and the vintage jumper is one of them. Take them out of hiding and give them a new lease of life, give the yarn a new spin. And for those whose collection is limited or nonexistent (you may also consider a quirky vintage knit for your lover this Valentines Day), there are a range of vintage finds to be found here in Hong Kong. For the more upmarket end Midwest and Bang Bang! 70s are perfect places to get lost in. For those on a smaller budget Mee & Gee, in Mong Kok, is the foolproof paradise for hunting and rooting through rails and rails and more rails every garment imaginable. A true vintage wonderland!

FROM PLUG’ S EDIT ORS AND READERS.

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SPIN ME A TALE F r i p’ i r i u m : 2 r u e de la Ver r er i e , H ô t e l d e Vi l l e , P a r i s, F r a n c e R agt ag : 6 - 1 4- 2 Ji ng u m ae, S hi buy a -k u, T o k y o The S u n Goes D ow n: 1 - 1 2- 1 7 Jin n a n , S h i buy a -k u, T o k y o Mi dw es t : S hop 5 8 , G/F Vi ct or i a Ce n t r e , 1 5 Wa t s o n R o a d , T i n H a u, H o n g Ko n g Bang B ang ! 7 0s : 1 /F , 1 6 A A b er d e e n S t r e e t , Ce n t r a l , H o n g Ko n g Mee & Gee: 6 4 T u ng C hoi S t r ee t , M o n g k o k , H o n g Ko n g

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CULTURE

REEL QUEER

By Sean Broadhurst

Visibility. Visibility has always been something that we, as a community, as any community, strive for. And we’ve come a long, long way in terms of our visibility. Parades, protests, civil rights, Rac hel Maddow, whatever. But when we look at movies, whic h are essentially a historical record of the prevailing values and morals of society at large. Be it mainstream movies or underground films, both show a reaction to or reflection of the times in whic h they were made. And if we look bac k at the histor y of cinema; we see that for a long time we were invisible, we were a secret. Cut out from the scripts, altered to become a dif ferent issue, or hinted at only through a ver y specific set

It created humor out of opposing expectations, of taking

of codes and signals. So let ’s take a little trip invisibility

the norm and skewing it. Creating a reality so unlike our

lane and take a look through our reel histor y.

own that we had to laugh. But there was still a gay reality bac k in those days. There was a ver y specific idea of what

Bac k in the early days of film, in the 1910s and 1920s, gay

a gay man was in the early 1900s, an idea that still ver y

c haracters actually did exist and were seen quite frequently

muc h exists today. The idea of the sissy. A thin, white man,

in movies. However, they were almost exclusively used as

maybe with a moustac he, and with his weak wrists held

a joke. Here is an example of a frequently depicted scene

perpetually in gay T-Rex repose. He minced and swished

involving a homosexual c haracter:

about and showed no interest in women. This concept of por traying gay men as ef feminate was firmly entrenc hed in popular culture even as far bac k as the silent film era. And

A m an is dan c in g wit h a wom an .

that was our visibility; as a joke. But even still, visibility was visibility. Negative though it may be, people could

Man 2 : Min d if I c ut in ?

see it, it wasn’t hidden away in the fringes.

Wom an : Sure .

But then ever ything c hanged.

Man 2 t ake s t he o t he r m an an d t h ey s t ar t dan c in g.

Enter: The Motion Picture Production code (AKA the Hay’s code), the brainc hild of one William Harrison Hays, a

Cue l aug h t rac k .

former post master general from Indiana. In 1930, the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) adopted the Hay’s code, whic h was put in place to make sure movies upheld the values and practices of decent people living in a decent countr y. Ever ything was banned.

Profanity. Violence. White slaver y. Open-mouthed kissing.

Lustful embraces. But most of all...sexual per versity (read: homosexuality). And so our friend, the sissy, lef t the screen and went bac k into the closet.

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FILM

based on her position in Gutman’s queer family. When you pic k up on all these subtle clues, it reframes the movie, and Bogar t ends up becoming the antagonist, though he is meant to be por trayed as the protagonist. But, again, these clues would only be visible to a queer audience.

In some ways, it was our invisibility that made us visible. What I mean by this, is that some movies just didn’t make sense unless you accepted that the c haracters were homosexuals.

The movies couldn’t explicitly state this and the more the censors tried to hide it, the more obvious it became. Movies like Gilda (1946), a film noir about a love triangle between a casino boss, his right-hand man and his new wife, don’t make But little did Hays know, that closet had a secret exit. And

sense without homosexuality. If there is no homosexuality,

it is here under the Hay’s code that we flourished in our

then where is the main conflict of the movie drawn from? If

own secret visibility. Directors, screenwriters and actors

you don’t accept that the two male c haracters in Gilda are in

had to work around the constraints of the hays code, and

love with eac h other, then what exactly is the movie about?

in doing so, created a secret gay onscreen vocabular y.

Ever y action and ever y piece of dialogue became coded,

There is a great anecdote from Gore Vidal, screenwriter for

and you wouldn’t be able to see it unless you were looking

Ben-Hur (1959), from the film, “Celluloid Closet” (1995).

for it.

A cer tain lingering glance, for instance, or a

He says they purposely wrote the relationship between

symbolic gesture with a phallic object. These would all

Ben-Hur and Messala as if they had formerly been in a gay

be missed by mainstream audiences not looking for the

relationship. They informed the actor playing Messala about

subtext, but for a gay audience, these things were pic ked

the subtext behind their relationship, and you can pic k up

up on ver y easily.

on this in the way he stares at and interacts with Ben-Hur (played by Charlton Heston). But they deliberately did not

Take the Maltese Falcon (1941). To a mainstream audience,

tell Heston about this subtext, so as to not freak him out. And

it was a pulpy, crime caper; but watc hing it through a

so, all the while, he’s starring as one-half of a gay duo, but

queer perspective, it can be viewed as something else. It ’s

he doesn’t even know! And this was equally true of the Hay’s

basically about a bunc h of queer people being bullied by

code. A huge amount of queer subtext was snuc k into a great

Humphrey Bogar t (or also a pulpy, crime caper, because

deal of movies made during the 40s and 50s.

queers can still enjoy movies too, not ever ything has to be an allegor y). But we are given so many subtle hints and

Over time, these subtle ways in and around the constraints

clues, from the way Peter Lorre’s c haracter is introduced

of the Hay’s code wore it down until it basically didn’t

by way of his gardenia per fume and the way he ver y

exist anymore. Although, homosexuality was still one of the

subtly runs his hand over his walking stic k and places it on

last remaining taboos when it was abandoned in the late

his lips, to the por traits of naked men hung on the walls

60s. However, still more obvious and more explicitly queer

of antagonist Gutman’s apar tment. Even the supposed

c haracters did star t to appear during the 60s; though it did

love interest for Bogar t can be read as a queer c haracter

come at a cost.

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As we moved into the 70s and 80s, we gained more positive visibility. Movies like Boys in the Band (1970) and Personal Best (1982) showed queer c haracters living happily and without being punished in the end.

But those were still ver y few and far between. The trend of punishing queer c haracters still existed, but grew more graphic. Explicitly queer c haracters were depicted as evil and almost always murdered by the protagonist. In Cruising (1980) and Dressed to Kill (1980), and many others, the main villain is personified by their sexual per versions. Be it BSDM and leather in Cruising or transvestism in Dressed to Kill, these c haracters were sic k , twisted and evil because of their sexual per versions and normalcy could not be returned until they were destroyed. Both these films contained an obscene amount of violence towards queer c haracters.

Welcome, the sad and lonely queer.

These were c haracters who were explicitly referred to as

But it wasn’t all bad. Both of those films were massively

gay, but were depicted as sad, lonely, full of self-loathing

boycotted and finally a conversation about persecution

and in the end were always punished with suicide or

and negative por trayals entered into the mainstream. It

murder. It ’s dif ficult to say whether these films meant

is here that we also see the emergence of mainstream

to showcase the plight of homosexuals and argue for

homosocial bonding.

equal rights, or whether it was just to make us appear as pitiable and unable to fit in with real life. Walk on

Homosocial

the Wild Side (1962) is an example of this. A man goes

relationship formed between two members of the same

looking for his estranged girlfriend and finds her working

sex. It implies a great deal of intimacy and comfor t

in a brothel, as well as in a lesbian relationship with the

between the two par ties, but is not inherently sexual. I

older matron. Neither are happy c haracter and in the end

guess if we’re not being academic about it, we can just

(SPOILER ALERT), they are both murdered. The 60s were

call it a “bromance.” But we’ll stic k with homosocial

full of movies like this; all featuring sad and lonely queer

bonding to at least give this ar ticle the appearance of

c haracters unable to find a place for themselves within

“legitimacy.”

society, until they violently lef t it, either by their hand or someone else’s.

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bonding

is

defined

as

an

intense

FILM

Anyway, while this had cer tainly been seen many

Then came the indie years of the 1990s, where queer

times before, suc h as in Ben-Hur mentioned above,

c haracters

homosocial bonding became more bold, more intimate.

the reduced cost and easy distribution created by the

And while these relationships were never depicted

independent movie model. There were also many mainstream

as being sexual, it was definitely implied (for those

movies featuring explicitly queer c haracters in the lead roles.

looking for it, at any rate). It also allowed for (coded)

Movies like In and Out (1997), To Wong Foo (1995), and The

gay c haracters to be protagonists in films whose genres

Birdcage (1996) all had main c haracters who were queer.

were typically considered masculine. Lost Boys (1987)

None of these movies were per fect, but it was still a huge

and Top Gun (1986) both feature intense homosocial

leap for ward compared to the Hay’s code. It can even be

relationships with a great deal of suggestive dialogue

argued that some of these movies were made specifically for

and homosexual innuendo. Both are also movies from

a straight audience to preac h tolerance and understanding.

ver y masculine genres (horror and action, respectively),

Films like Philadelphia (1993), whic h starred Tom Hanks as a

whic h are genres that rarely fall under the umbrella of

gay man suf fering from HIV, were made to appeal to straight

queer cinema.

audiences and show them life from a gay perspective, rather

were

allowed

to

flourish

freely

thanks

to

than appealing only to gay audiences.

And t he n we f inish at last in t he 00s, whe re t hings still are n ’ t pe r f e ct, but t hey’ ve ce r t ainl y go tt e n a lo t be tt e r.

We ha ve LGBT f ilm f e stivals. We ge t nom inat e d f or Oscars, and whe n we don ’ t win t he m , pe ople cast aspe rsions ove r t he vo ting com m itt e e , accusing t he m of hom ophobia (cough cough Broke bac k M ount ain). U nive rsity classe s are of f e re d on “C ont e m porar y Que e r C ine m a.” We ha ve scads of cr itics tr ying t o argue and cont extualize what “q ue e r cine m a” or “q ue e r cine m as” is/ are .

Our pre se nce br ings

about discussion and dialogue . O ur abse nce cre at e s conve rsation and raise s q ue stions. P re se nt or abse nt, we are still t he re , invisible no longe r.

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Q U E E R U N D E R T O N E S A Playlist of Same-Sex Serenades

The Smiths Swooning, while spooning, to the perfect love song with your lover on Christmas Eve is lovely, isn’t it? And not forgetting the holding of hands under the table, while playing footsie, on February 14th in your favourite restaurant while lyrics of love flutter in the background.

Cupid has been a busy boy since the launch of PLUG’s Sweat Issue, spreading his message of love and lust. Did you know Aphrodite is his mother? If she was around today, the goddess of love, beauty and pleasure would be singing from the top of her lungs about love equality.

That’s a fact! Sadly, she’s not, but we do have equally influential gods and goddesses of the music scene serenading us with tales and wooes of same-sex loving.

PLUG have compiled a playlist of songs for you to get love lost in. Lyrical overtones of same-sex love, secret loves and lovers that coulda, shoulda, would’ve been… Go on, have a listen.

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| T h i s C h a rm i n g M a n

We’ve all been there… Got the call off our bestie demanding we get dressed immediately and go out and hit the city hard, in which we reply ‘I would go out tonight, but I haven’t got a stitch to wear’, reciting the famous line from The Smith’s ‘This Charming Man’. Morrissey’s lush lyrics tell the tale of a passing “charming man” in a luxury car who stops to offer the protagonist a lift. Of course he’s a little hesitant, but after a little deliberation he accepts. Whatever happened next on that desolate hillside?

The Irrepressibles

| Two Men in Love

The Irrepressibles are an Art-Pop orchestra created by multi-talented Jamie Irrepressible. I’m sure you’ve all seen the video for their critically-acclaimed single ‘In this Shirt’, were sexually haunting images are presented as the homosexual version of any mainstream pop video on MTV. Their sophomore album, Nude, fused modern electronica and orchestration. Lyrically it was bold. Jamie’s dark, retro and soulful moans on ‘Two Men in Love’ makes you fall in love in an instant. In love with Jamie. And in love with any man within a 5m radius.

MUSIC

Perfume Genius

| Hood

‘ You would never call me baby if you knew the truth’ - Got something to tell us Mr. Per fume Genius? The piano-driven ballad was the second single taken from Per fume Genius’ second album ‘Put Your Bac k N 2 It ’. The frontman of this one-man show, Mike Hadreas, surely knows how to pull the hear tstrings of the queer youths of the world. The trac k is just under 2 minutes and the dramatic drumming at the end leaves us with feelings of wanting to know more about his dir ty secrets. The singer-songwriter is frank when it comes to his sexuality and the music industr y “I’m ver y conscious about it, but I also want it to not be a big deal.” We’ve got to still call him baby for that.

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MUSIC

Tegan and Sara

| Closer

From indie folk to synth pop sounds, the dynamic identical-twin duo from Calgary, Canada know how to craft a tune that plays in your head for days. ‘Closer’, which reached No 1 on the Billboard’s Hot Club Song chart this year, was penned predominantly by Tegan in reminiscing about the the times in relationship before all the complications, and arguments and heartbreaks. Essentially, it’s about falling from lust to love. Tegan said “these relationships existed in a state of sexual and physical ambiguity”. And we know exactly what she’s on about. We’ve been there, we’ve done that, we’re still wearing the band’s t-shirt.

Frank Ocean

| Forrest Gump

There is no denying that Ocean’s influence on the heavily hetrosexual world that is hip-hop has been refreshing. Him and Mykki Blanco, whose queercore debut album ‘Michael’ hits us in 2014, have pushed hip-hop envelopes this year with their same-sex love lyrics. Ocean’s track ‘Forrest Gump’, recounts his first-love when he was nineteen. Ocean croons ‘you’re so buff, and so strong. I’m nervous Forrest...’.

He even used his Tumblr account to thank the man for the influence on his life, he stated “I don’t know what happens now, and that’s alrite. I don’t have any secrets I need kept anymore...I feel like a free man.”

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Brett Every

| What a Beautiful Day

Brett Every is an Australian singer-songer who is, safe to say, out and proud and expresses same-sex love on each of his four solo albums. Every’s 2012 offering, TALES OF TEN MEN, is a collection of songs that he wrote with male names in each title of the songs.

There is a Joey, a Henry, a Jack and a Mr. Smith. Each song is worth of a mention on this playlist, but it is Every’s track, “What a Beautiful Day”, that’s getting first billing. It’s political. It’s brash. It’s about marriage equality. It’s just bloody lovely. Let’s all get married.

Now and together!

Tracy Chapman

| Give Me One Reason

I’m sure you’ve all wept at some point, in the process of a break up, listening to Miss Chapman. The twelvebar blues track ‘Give Me One Reason’ is taken from her 1995 offering New Beginning. The deep, emotionally charged vocals on the first few opening bars tell us that the relationship is spiralling into the no good territory . We feel the pain and frustration when she commands “give me one reason to stay here, and I’ll turn right back around.” It’s an ultimatum, the final page in a chapter. Get your act together, woman! Who could say goodbye to Tracy?

Patrick Wolf

| Ho u se

Patrick Wolf’s latest release, Sundark and Riverlight, is his 10th anniversary musical offering. On it a collection of songs reworked from his previous albums, in which he restitches the string arrangements of ‘House’, a happy omen that narrates the tale of sharing a new home with his Dylan Thomas look-a-like lover. Wolf is no longer a lonely man, phew!

And don’t forget Miss Modern Aphrodite herself, Kylie Minogue and her track ‘All the Lovers’. It needs no explanation. Spread the love, lovers!

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B A N A N A C H E R R I E S N I P P L E S Photography by DONALD LUNG

DONALD LUNG

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How would you describe your work?

My work is all about lo-fi, low pixels, randomness and realness. I enjoy taking photos under stress-free circumstances with no boundaries or constraints.

What inspires you to create?

Each person, thing, and object is hidden from view in the city, and I am fascinated by their intertwined relationships. Through the desire reflected in the daily life, a series of interactions occurs within the surrounding in an extent of hidden situations. For endless repression and extended desire, one can probably capture a portion of it and in it’s fullest through cameras.

How do you approach the people you use in your work?

These are the things and people that are related to me or at least I think they are.

What is the process?

There is no specific way. Sometimes I find specific subjects to photograph in order to visualize a composition I have in mind. Sometimes it’s just having an idea or concept and trying different ways to achieve it.

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What do you find exciting about the process?

Taking photos is like being robbed by someone. You have to make very quick and important decisions in a second to let go of what you have. Taking black and white photos is letting go of all the colours in front of you. The moment you press the shutter, the colour is gone for no reason. To me, this is a suicidal action.

Colour photos don’t attract my attention in the same way.

Who inspires you?

People who survive in this rotten city.

You live and work in Hong Kong, what’s special about this city?

This is a place where seven million people live, yet it’s still a city where you always bump into people you know.

Tell us a secret…

When I was five, I threatened my mother with a knife when she forced me to do my homework.

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T R A V I S J E P P E S E N Wr i tten by Jaso n K wa n

The red star embroidered on a thin green cap, the 90s white-washed jeans, and the look of wonder and fatigue. My sensors flash violently: tourist.

Rain, refuge, eyes nod. I sit, he smokes, we begin.

Travis Jeppesen is a novelist, poet and an ar t critic. His ar ticles have been published in ar t-forum, randian (燃点), 3:am Magazine, New York Press, and his own ar t criticism platform, disorientations. com. His criticism style is of ‘object-oriented writing’, whic h pushes against the boundaries of ar t criticism. Travis is currently touring Europe and America to promote his new book , The Suiciders, whic h has just come out this October. For cer tain I could tell that he was American. His use of the term ‘bathing suit ’ and his pronunciation of ‘anti-bee-otics’ were undeniably Americanisms.

He grew up in Nor th Carolina and moved to New York to pursue his studies. He is now based in London and Berlin.

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ART AND CRITICISM We s aun t e r t h ro u g h H o n g Ko n g Pa r k , n o tic in g t h e s o a ke d , f at c h i l dre n u n d e r t h e wa t e r- f o u n t a in a n d t h e a e s t h e tica ll y funereal m a r r ia g e re g is tr y. L o s t in s e a rc h f o r t h e ‘ L ig h t Bef o re D a w n ’ ex h ib itio n a t t h e A s ia S o cie ty, I m a ke my advan ce o n Tra vis a s we s u c k o u r p o p s icle s in t h e s u ltr y S unda y h e a t.

Do you feel your style of art criticism evolved into ‘objectoriented writing’, or was it a breakout concept? How did your style take form?

T: I t hi nk w r itin g a b o u t a r t is p e r h a p s t h e m o s t d if f icu lt f o r m o f wr i t i ng t h a t ex is ts , w h ic h is p a r tl y w hy I wa s d ra w n t o it – t h i s s en s e o f a w r itin g o f t h e im po s s ible . E ve r s in c e Os ca r W i l de, t h e id e a t h a t a r t cr itic is m s h o u ld b e a n a r t f o r m in and o f i t s e lf h a s b e e n a ro u n d , t h o u g h t o d a y it s e e m s t o h a ve l ar g el y be e n ig n o re d , m ire d as it is in a ca d e m icis m . O b je c to r i ent ed w r itin g is t h e n a m e I ’ ve g ive n t o my ow n p r iva t e at t em p t t o tu r n w r itin g a b o u t a r t in t o a r t – o r “ a r t w r itin g ” , i f yo u wa n t ; it ’ s a ll a b o u t g e ttin g r id o f t h at “ a b o u t”

Travis has removed himself from the traditional modes of art criticism. Instead of simply taking an exegetic approach by describing and commenting on the artwork, he enters a synergetic relationship with the artwork, allowing the observer and the artwork to reflect off of each other; the possibilities (or limitations) of the artwork dictates the capacity of the observer ’s response.

ART

How does this approach affect your view on individual art pieces as opposed to critiquing an exhibition as a whole?

T: Well, in a way, it doesn’t really have any ef fect on it either way, as object-oriented writing will always necessarily be “private” writing, from the perspective of the ar t market. When I talk about the “ar t market” in terms of writing, I’m referring largely to how writing about ar t circulates – through magazines and in exhibition catalogues, for example. Ar t magazines aren’t really interested in my object-oriented writing – they just want exhibition reviews or feature-style profiles on individual ar tists. With catalogue essays, you’re given a bit more freedom as a writer, though not always as muc h as one would like. Anyway, given that I have to earn a living, I have to tailor my writing towards the needs of these commissioning bodies, whic h hopefully I’ve figured out how to do without compromising my own style.

“I t wa s a da r k a nd s t o r m y ho us e wi f e , m y f r i e nds ha d v i o l e nc e i de a l s i n t he wr o ng zo o . A ni m a l s c ha s i ng a f t e r us , we s c r a m b l e d do wn t o t he s ho wc a s e c i t y t o f i nd o ut whi c h o f o ur f e a r s wo ul d g e t us t he r e s ha r pe s t . A r o t t e n m e na g e r i e o f t wi nk s a nd s ul l e n ya r ds t i c k s , a wa i t i ng t he b ut t o c k b r i g a de t he y ha d b e e n pr o m i s e d, f ut ur e s e m i na r y wa s m o r e m y t hi ng o nc e i t ha d a l r e a dy dr i f t e d do wn t he s t r e a m . T he t i m i ng o f t he da y wa s m y a na t o m y a l s o .”

- ‘T h e S y st e m’ , d i sor i en t a t i on s.c om.

F i na ll y we ar r ive a t t he A s i a S o c i e t y where t h e rece p tio nist inf o r ms us t h at t o da y i s t h e l as t da y of t he exhibition. Fur t her m o re, t h ere i s o nl y t e n minut es lef t. S t i l l s aunt er i ng , Tra v i s t akes out h is pen and no t ebo o k , whi l e I o bs er ve h i m , ob s er ving t he ar t.

Would you consider ‘object-oriented writing’ to be an art form in itself?

T: I’d like to, though I’m sure many will disagree.

Though in Europe and the US, there has recently been a lot of interest in this notion from ar tists and curators, and lately, I’ve received commissions to somehow bring this concept into exhibition spaces.

So this produces interesting new c hallenges for me. Though I still consider myself purely a writer, and would never tr y to claim that I’m an ar tist. So even if my writing is being “displayed” somehow in a galler y or museum, I would actually view it as yet another form of publication.

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T H E S U I C I D E R S

ART

In which direction do you see art criticism heading?

T: You know, I see a lot of people writing ar t criticism today who are not writers at all and who basically have nothing to say. A lot of people just want to be in “the ar t world” and will use any excuse to get in the door, so to speak , to provide some justification for not merely being a hanger-on, and they seem to think writing is an easy way to do it, that it ’s an easy task. I find this notion personally insulting, but I believe that it accounts for a lot of the tripe that is published as “ar t criticism” or ar t journalism these days.

As editorial and journalistic standards continue to lower, there will be more and more of this stuf f published. But there are also some really strong, stand-out, individual voices out there – some really serious writers doing ar t criticism.

But you have to really seek it out. So in a way, the situation is akin to any other ar t form – you have to wallow through a lot of bad painting and cinema, for example, to find good examples of those ar t forms, also.

What was your first impression of the Hong Kong art scene?

T: Well, I don’t think that first impressions should be trusted at all, but I was of course ver y inspired and c harmed by the city, as I think most first-time visitors are. It has already become a major center for the ar t market – a number of major international blue c hip galleries have already opened up shop there – though this does not always mean that it ’s a great environment for ar tists. That ’s the most impor tant thing. Is it an af fordable city in terms of studio spaces and living costs for ar tists? I haven’t spent enough time in Hong Kong to pretend to know the answer to this question, though the answer will ultimately determine whether the city is destined to be a major center of the ar t market, of ar t production, or of both.

In conversation, you mentioned that New York’s presence as a ‘cultural melting pot’ is diminishing: is Hong Kong experiencing a similar situation? And if so, why?

THE HONG KONG ART SCENE After a night of unfathomable freedom in the streets of blue and black, we rise from our mutual hangovers. A thirty minute gap; we meet at Che Kung Temple station.

Crossing the water, we arrive at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum in elevated spirits to explore the Bruce Lee exhibition.

T: I really hope not, but again, being an outside obser ver, I’m not the best to comment. I was, however, shoc ked whenever I met a white British or European person in Hong Kong who told me they’d been living in the city for twenty years and didn’t speak a word of Cantonese – whic h basically accounts for ever y white person I met there! To me, that seems a remnant of colonial arrogance. It doesn’t really matter how culturally diverse a place is if the people are going to self-segregate along those lines. I’ve been living in foreign countries for more than ten years, and can tell you that rule number one is: Learn the fuc king language! Though perhaps I’m being overly harsh and judgmental...

T h e S h e u n g Wan f o o t bri dg e e m pt i e s as w e m o u n t t h e s t e p s , a n d wai t i n g p at i e n t l y, h o l d i n g m y ph o n e be t w e e n o u r e ars , we are s e d u c e d by t h e ro m an t i c I C C l i g h t d i s pl ay t h at m o c ks u s wi t h i t ’s pat h e t i c s o u n d t ra c k.

55

TRAVIS JEPPESEN

Bidding us dark side, the side of Travis and reconvene, and Albert

T H S U I C E R

goodbye, over the dark sea on the the pixel cyclist evaporates from the skyscraper and from our sight.

I vanish from the footbridge and in the crowded halls of the Victoria Museum in London.

“Zach tells Peter to go hang his work up in an art gallery.

Peter denies. He says the truth is a biscuit with a liquid disease spread across. Here comes a shaman banging his dumb ass drum. Since Adam is dead we ask him to join our band. Haven’t you ever heard of us? We’re the Suiciders. All our fans are animals, living and dead.”

- The Suiciders

THE SUICIDERS AND STYLE Dreadfully dizzy and voiceless, I searc h through the V&A museum. Travis greets me with attentive arms and we eat. Being both voiceless, as Travis had just finished an eight hour reading of The Suiciders at the Institute of Contemporar y Ar ts, we sipped our soup in mournful silence and grinned woefully.

What experiences did you have in writing this novel, and how do you feel you’ve progressed as a writer?

T: Well, I wrote it over a ten year period, during whic h time I threw it out and star ted over again a number of times. It was a ver y wild ride! Hopefully that ’s reflected in the writing itself.

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In The Suiciders, one of the characters describe a “private language”: do you believe in the concept of a private language? Is language not essentially expression which can be translated and understood?

T: Yes, I totally stand behind the notion of a private language, or what Deleuze and Guattari have referred to as a “minor literature”.

Among other things, it has profound political implications: the rejection of consensual meaning, whic h encode rigid norms that are meant to strictly refer to reality. One obvious example of this would be identity categories like “male,” “female”, “gay”, “straight”, or whatnot – these forms of language are in essence used to regulate behavior and legislate reality. As suc h, language must be disrupted on ever y level, and this can only begin with an eruptive flow of private anguages. The c haracters’ language arguably isolates the reader from their per versions of reality, but as we continue to engage with their world, we begin to accept these per versions as normality.

ART

E

Is their language then a form of isolation or a medium for communication?

T: I would say it ’s the latter, as long as the acceptance you refer to takes place on the side of the reader.

C I D S In this day and technological age, do you believe that we can still communicate privately and keep secrets?

T: I would hope so. Other wise it means there would be no suc h thing as intimacy anymore, and who wants to live in a world where that is the case?

For a “suicider�, what is a secret?

T: For a suicider, a secret is a collective truth!

The tunnel wind billows as the Underground train approac hes South Kensington station. We flit down the steps and descend bac k into the real. Hurr ying, I toss my bags onto the train and turn to locate my bug-eyed par tner.

Rush, embrace, eyes waves, to Berlin.

meet.

I

board,

he

57

TOP SECRET FOOD CLUB

by Sean Broadhurst

Hong Kong is a city of excess, a city of materialism and a city with a large population. Whenever you find these three things working together, you will inevitably find wealth and exclusivity added to the list. Hong Kong’s dining scene is no different.

As we all know,

Hong Kong has a pretty fantastic dining scene. There’s basically nothing you can’t get. HK has some of the best food in the world in every different kind of cuisine. But,

LEVEL ONE Let’s start off with the most obvious way to get into the club: MONEY. Money is one of the things keeping most of us filthy, unwashed masses out of the fancy restaurants. The prices of restaurants in Hong Kong can be absolutely ridiculous. Hong Kong is a business epicenter, a place to take out international clients and impress them. How do you do that?

Obviously, it’s not you or your company or your ideas, it’s how much MONEY you can spend on a pancake.

And as business has boomed, so too has the dining scene. Of course, it’s not just needing to impress people that’s made restaurants so expensive. It’s just that lots of people in Hong Kong have lots of money and like to spend it on food. Based on our research (though no tasting) of the menus of Hong Kong’s many fine-dining establishments, we can say you should expect to spend 1500 per person on average (though often significantly more).

LEVEL TWO Alright, so, you’ve made it past level one. You HAVE the money, but do you have the FRIENDS? The FRIENDS who also have the MONEY? Glancing over the list of expensive restaurants, one notices a pattern. Not only do you have to be loaded, but you also need to have about 10 other friends who are also loaded, or at the very least, you need to have big enough pockets to keep them all afloat.

Many restaurants require you to book out an entire restaurant or have enough patrons to fill their private kitchen. Do you have 1500 to enjoy this set meal?

Well, I hope you brought enough for the rest of us!

you’ll note, I did say there’s basically nothing, so let’s take a look at that stuff. The stuff you can’t get. Here’s a peek at some of the exclusive dining you can find in Hong Kong’s high-end restaurants. Let’s see if you have what it takes to navigate the labyrinth that is Hong Kong’s TOP SECRET FOOD CLUB.

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LEVEL THREE OK. Level three. Phew. We’ve made it. We’ve got the money. We’ve got the friends with the money. Awww shit, wait. Level three is the referral!

That’s right, some restaurants in Hong Kong are so exclusive that you need to be referred to them before you can even get a reservation. Nevermind your money and your friends, you also need to know someone who’s dined there before (who also had the money and the friends). The Stone House is one such place. The Stone House is a private kitchen located in a hotel, and while they do have a listed number, it is only for the dining room; a referral is needed to enjoy the private

kitchen. Little information seems to exist on either. Not much has been written about the private kitchen in the last couple years, so maybe everybody who’s eaten there already is dead and can longer refer new diners.

BOSS BATTLE ALRIGHT. YOU’VE MADE IT TO THE BOSS BATTLE. Did you bring your dungeon map? Or, at the very least, your google maps app? The final step for gaining access to the TOP SECRET FOOD CLUB is to actually find your restaurant. Hong Kong isn’t exactly the easiest place to locate restaurants. Whether they are hidden in alleys, unmarked buildings or high above ground level, finding your TOP SECRET FOOD CLUB restaurant can be a challenge. The Krug Room is hidden in the heart of the Mandarin Oriental hotel and has a secret back entrance for its guests. While most other kitchens are hidden on random floors in nondescript buildings without names or numbers. So bring that map and leave yourself enough time to find the restaurant and….. SUCCESS. WELCOME TO TOP SECRET FOOD CLUB.

Optional side quest: EASY CUISINE MADE RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE Alright, so you want to pad out your gamerscore, why not try this optional side quest? Go out and find some simple, easy home dining meals. Perhaps a simple stew or a baked potato; now find a chef who HAS STUDDED IT WITH GOLD AND TRUFFLES AND TRUFFLES MADE FROM GOLD. Side quest complete.

Cheung Fun Cost from street food vendor: $5 Cost at Bo Innovation: $480 Why? White Truffle, duck egg yolk and yak milk cheese Poached Egg with Smoked Salmon Cost from Flying Pan: $84 Cost from L’ATELIER de Joël Robuchon: $720 Why? Sologne Imperial Caviar Beef Strip Loin Cost from Outback Steakhouse: $234 Cost from Amber: $1428 Why? A purée of forgotten ‘cévennes’ onion, braised short ribs. Oh, and it’s Wagyu beef.

59

SPIES, MONKS & SEX-COPS

Written by Yimou Lee On the street of the world’s second-highest capital city, we

That politically sensitive question was odd for someone who

were being spied on. Two men in military crew-cut and black

had just heard for the first time about my country: a self-

leather jackets had been following us for the past 20 minutes,

ruling democratic island of 23 million which China considers

all the way from the famous Tibetan-themed Phin Tsok Ge

a “renegade province” and has never ruled out the use of force

Don Restaurant to the 1300-year-old Ramoche Temple in the

to bring it under its control.

northwest of Lhasa.

“China says it belongs to China and Taiwan says it belongs It’s not hard to figure out who put a tail on us. Two Tibetans

to Taiwan,” Miles replied, a vigilant veteran of Taiwan’s

accosted me and my friend, Miles, while we were savoring our

special forces. But that neutral statement – at least from

very first Tibetan hot pot in the restaurant, claiming to be

our Taiwanese perspective – couldn’t save us from trouble.

the monks from Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, Tibet’s

The half-hour long surveillance didn’t end until Miles and I

second-largest city.

stopped and stayed in some souvenir shops, sending the two followers a strong message that we were aware of their actions.

“Does Taiwan belong to China?” After a ten-minute causal conservation – mainly focused on Taiwan’s whereabouts as

So then, is gay life possible in the Tibetan capital where even

the two claimed they had never heard of that exotic place –

dining in a restaurant could easily make you a target for the

the question was raised out of nowhere by one of the self-

estimated 9,000 plainclothes policemen lurking in the city’s

proclaimed monks, who was wearing the maroon and yellow

tea houses, diners, wet markets, street shops and temples?

Buddhist zen robe and spoke very limited Mandarin.

The apparent answer is no.

60

TRAVEL

Lhasa is a city where half a million people dwell yet the

to the Central Tibetan Administration, Tibet’s exiled

closest person on gay geosocial networking app Grindr

government. Tibetans, the target of the surveillance, are

is some 165 miles away. Beijing has turned Lhasa into

deprived of the right to go abroad, work in any mainland

one of the most strictly monitored cities in China after

province outside of Tibet, and even move freely inside the

the unrest in March 2008 – a series of riots and protests

region as they need state approval to visit one Tibetan

that resulted in the violence and oppression the state-run

city from another. Phuntsok, a 21-year-old man working

Xinhua news agency said killed 19, while the officials of

in a three-star hotel in Lhasa, was not allowed to visit

Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, put the death toll

his family living in the countryside since he had lost his

at 99.

ID card.

Since then, the “Big Brother” in George Orwell’s novel has become a real-life nightmare for Tibetans. There is a street dome camera about every 10 meters, and a “police service station” every 200 meters – and there are 165 of them in operation across the city as of 2013, according

Beijing has turned Lhasa into one of the most strictly monitored cities.

61

“We live in fear,” said Wangqing, a Lhasa-based Tibetan tour

After three days in Lhasa, the inbox of my Jack’d account

guide. He said Tibetans have now learned not to talk about

– another gay geosocial dating app that is apparently more

“sensitive issues” on mobile phones, the Internet and in any

popular among locals – had received 22 new messages from

public place. “If one looks closely,” he said, “hidden cameras

Tibetans and Han Chinese, with many of them starting with

and recorders can be seen in every monastery” – even in the

straightforward, efficient sex invitations such as “Do it?”,

7th century Jokhang Temple, the most sacred and important

“Sex?” or “ML?” – Make Love.

temple in Tibet. “If you talk about politics in public, say in a tea house, someone will come to get you in just one minute,”

Among them, four identified themselves as policemen or

he said.

soldiers based in Lhasa. “You are a police officer. Isn’t it too risky?” I asked 27-year-old Jack’d user “Lhasa Police,” who

But Lhasa is also home to over 10,000 members of the Chinese

claimed to be a policeman based nearby the Potala Palace,

Armed Police Force and the People’s Liberation Army, which

with a profile picture of him wearing a police uniform.

gives an interesting twist to the seemingly barren gay scene on the Roof of the World: Underneath its iron curtain, Lhasa has

“Police also have emotions and needs,” Lhasa Police replied.

a sexually flourishing gay life that may surprise many of us.

“I’m on duty tomorrow evening. We could meet at noon.”

62

Tibetans have now learned not to talk about “sensitive issues� on mobile phones, the Internet and in any public place.

Gay sex in China was decriminalized from “hooliganism” laws

“The gay culture is quite barren here,” said Little B.

in 1997 and homosexuality was removed as a mental illness in 2001.

As I was about to give up my search for gay bars on my third day in Lhasa, another local policeman asked me on Jack’d to

“Lhasa’s gay scene is definitely confined to hook-ups,” said

meet up at a pub tonight. And I asked desperately if we could

Little Fish, a 28-year-old Chinese lesbian who moved to Lhasa

meet up in a gay bar.

four years ago. “The city of Lhasa is like the city of hook-ups – for both locals and tourists. ”

“There is no gay bar here, hah” replied the 26-year-old, 175 cm, 64 kg Tibetan police.

There is no gay bar in Lhasa, a fact I tirelessly confirmed with many local Jack’d users. But Little Fish told me that a

But he offered me a threesome with his friend, a 31-year-old,

tiny, hidden bar on the back of the Potala Palace called “That

180 cm, 79 kg, Lhasa-based soldier.

Time” (那時間) was a gathering place for members of some online lesbian forums, the only social platform for the queer

There are many different ways to turn down an invitation for

community in Lhasa.

sex on Jack’d, but I’m pretty sure this one only works in Lhasa, a city at an altitude of 3,600 metres.

She and her girlfriend, Little B, a Lhasa-bred Chinese, said they never hold each other’s hands on the street of Lhasa, and they rarely visit the only lesbian bar in town. But if they do, they always park the car few blocks away in case anyone sees them, as it might bring troubles to the state-run bank that they both work for.

64

“No sex for me. Altitude sickness.”

The gay culture is quite barren here, said Little B. The city of Lhasa is like the city of hook-ups – for both locals and tourists.

Wander lister+ Where are you from? What brought you to Hong Kong?

I was born in Manila, and I moved to Hong Kong 8 years ago to pursue a career in Architectural Design and Interiors.

What propelled you to start your blog? What motivates you to keep it going?

Wanderlister.com began as a way for me to collate my travel itineraries and places I like on one website. I didn’t know it was going to be such a project, and get as large a following as it has received. It’s a nice hobby, one that takes a lot of time to maintain, but rewarding at the same.

As an architect, interior designer, and style blogger, how would you define your personal aesthetic?

I like things classic yet with a contemporary and modern twist. I’m not a fan of things overly avant garde. There’s a reason why architects like Renzo Piano and Tadao Ando work with pure classic forms, its because they last and they’re strong. In fashion I go towards Ralph Lauren or Tom Ford over Alexander Wang for example. I enjoy things with a certain sense of history and heritage.

66

What do you think Hong Kong does for your creative process? How does it inspire you?

Hong Kong is so small and so entrepreneurial that you can take advantage of networks and connections to help catapult any of your creative project ideas. This is what I’ve discovered in my 8 years here and it’s benefitted me so much as a designer and style blogger.

How would you sum up the eight years you’ve spent in Hong Kong? Would you say you have seen the creative community develop?

Totally. The creative community here is so vibrant with so much energy. Everyone is feeding off of each other in the art, fashion, and design worlds. Social media is making quite an impact here as well as a product of everyone’s creative ventures. Individuals here are really using Internet as a creative and marketing tool to help promote their work. It’s fantastic.

66

The creative community here is so vibrant with so much energy. Everyone is feeding off of each other in the art, fashion, and design worlds.

Where do you go in the city to people watch? Any particular places you consider the most stylish?

To people watc h I like sitting in front of Unar Cof fee in Tai Hang and watc h ver y well dressed people pass by. We’re not talking well dressed as in Sunday Churc h well dressed, we’re talking about people from all over t he world, not just Hong Kong, who are styled well independently and have a curiosity to explore small

design

neighborhoods

neighborhoods draw

a

ver y

like

Tai

nic he

Hang.

crowd.

These They’re

t he ones who could care less about Louis Vuitton and Dragon-I for example. I love it.

What’s a style trend you wouldn’t mind seeing left behind in 2013?

Miley Cyrus and Fluorescent Orange.

What are you excited about heading into 2014?

More rights in the world for our GLBT community. It ’s really fascinating how people are warming up to an individual’s right to love other individuals who choose that union with full mutual consent. HK is embracing it more this year. It ’s interesting.

Anything you’d like to plug?

If you’d like travel, fashion, and design, check out my lists of all things cool in Asia on Wanderlister.com!

Photo source: www.wanderlister.com

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65

FASHION

M O R T A L

IMMORTALITY C RED ITS - D esigne r - Haze Ng / P hotographe r - Phoebe Yeung Mo dels - D av id Munoz and Viat ches lav / M ake -u p - Walt er Ma Ed itorial Assistant - CCk Derek

71

HUSH HUSH Here are your anonymous secrets.

Thanks for sharing.

It drives me wild masturbating by the window, just thought of someone watching makes me so horny.

I play truth or dare with random men on online webcam chat rooms.

Every time I get very drunk I have the urge of sleeping around, even though I have a boyfriend that I love and I don’t want to cheat on him.

My fantasy is to be tied up and gagged and orally raped by someone who is not my boyfriend.

I think 1/2 my friends are frenemies.

I’ll be 30 soon and I’m still a virgin.

I hate gay pride.

I am gay no one knows, the only reason it is still a secret is bc I would be left in the dust I don’t care who u tell none of my friends know about tumbler.

I like to watch my partner in the shower.

Do you serve roast koala on rice?

I’m attracted to “taxi driver” kinds of guys, even though I have a PhD. Do you think there is any chance that I can actually have a relationship with someone who can barely speak

My boyfriend doesn’t know about my bicurious past.

English? They are so sexy to me, where intellectuals do nothing for me.

Is there hope?

My girlfriend cried into a tissue while I comforted her. I kept that tissue for 2 weeks.

I don’t sleep because I have FOMO - fear of missing out.

I imagine having superpower like Jean Gray/ Dark Phoenix from XMEN to manipulate people and objects.

I am addicted to hentai.

I bleach my vagina.

I want to marry my boyfriend and spend the rest of my life with him.

EVENTS

FEATURED RESOURCES

Les Peches 8th Anniversary Party

Trisha Brown Dance Company

AIDS Concern

Bisous, 3rd December 2013

Lyric Theatre, HKAPA

852 2394 6677

Les Peches Lounge

22nd/23rd February 2014, 8:00pm

Yau Ma Tei Health Service Clinic

Propaganda, 7th January 2014

Tickets available: www.hk.artsfestival.org

Unit 602, 6/F King Centre

The lovely ladies at Les Peches will be

Trisha Brown has choreographed over 100

23-29 Dundas Street, Yau Ma Tei

celebrating their 8th year in advocating and

works over the past fifty years and the two

AIDS Concern offers free HIV and syphilis

celebrating rights for lesbians, bisexual and

shows at the Lyric Theatre, which are part

antibody rapid tests, alongside gonorrhea

queer women and their friends. And what

of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, will profile

and chlamydia testing.

better way to do it than throwing one of their

some of her major works from her repertoire.

infamous parties. You can also dance the

The works range from smaller pieces to full

Les Peches

night away at Les Peches Lounge on the 7th

length performances from the acclaimed

www.facebook.com/groups/lespeches

January at Propaganda too. Check out their

choreographic genius, who has collaborated

Organisation founded by Abby and Betty.

Facebook group more more details. www.

with some of the art world elite, including

Hong Kong’s premier events for lesbians,

facebook.com/groups/lespeches/

Laurie Anderson and Robert Rauschenberg. If

bi/queer women and their friends.

it’s not sold out already, go get your tickets!

Your Mum presents: PHOENIX Asia World - Expo Hall 10 19th Jan 2014, 7:00pm

CONTACT US

Phoenix will be performing hits from their

content@plug-magazine.com

extensive back catalogue and latest album

Let us know if you have any events

‘Bankrupt!.

you’d like to plug or resources

This

is

a

not-to-be

missed

opportunity to catch this riveting indie-French act, truly at the top of their game. After their headlining sets at Coachella, Primavera and Lollapalooza this year, the band continue to carry on their world-wind tour and are luckily flying into Hong Kong. Thanks Mum! Avril Lavigne Live in Hong Kong Asia World Expo Arena 13th Feb 2013, 8:00pm.

Tickets available on www.hkticketing.com On the eve of Valentine’s Day, international punk pop queen, Avril Lavigne will be gracing us with her presence at the World Expo Arena.

Celebrating the release of her fifth studio album, her Hong Kong LGBT fans can expect one of her signature rock-out shows. Get your eyeliner out ladies and gents, it’s time to channel your inner rock god(dess).

78

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Dear artists, designers writers photographers models interns handsome gay types straight guys that drink gangsters with boats party people lovers and whiskey,

LET’S COLLABORATE. We are always looking for fresh talent. If you are interested in contributing, collaborating, or being featured in PLUG Magazine, we like you already.

Introduce yourself by sending a message to content@plug-magazine.com

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