Interview with Joanne Leung

Monika: Today I have invited an inspirational woman. Joanne Leung is a transgender activist from Hong Kong where she became the first openly transgender politician. Joanne is the former chairwoman of Pink Alliance and the founder and chairwoman of Transgender Resource Center (TGR), both non-governmental organizations that aim to service the LGBT community and promote LGBT equality. Hello Joanne!

Joanne: Hey Monika!

Monika: I am so happy to talk to one of the icons of the Hong-Kong transgender community! How are you doing in these crazy pandemic times?

Joanne: I am now doing a Master’s degree in Taiwan in Gender Studies and being locked down means I can be more focused on my studies. After more than 11 years servicing the trans community, I found that research data is so important in providing a better environment for transgender people, especially there were much less empirical data in the area of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. That’s why I planned to step down in 2019 for my ongoing learning path. Yet the new chairman after a year of service has got a studying offer and decided to resign.

Interview with Beatrice Wong Suet-ling

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Beatrice Wong Suet-ling, an inspirational woman from Hong Kong, a 36-years-old out and proud transgender IT support staff, and amateur filmmaker from Hong Kong. Hello Beatrice!

Beatrice: Hello Monika, I’m so honored to be interviewed by such an international platform, never thought I could have global appeal!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Beatrice: I’m a simple transwoman from Hong Kong. I’ve appeared in news media a few times (thus the discovery by Monika) but I do not consider myself a representative or an activist. I do not believe I am well versed in academic speak or inspirational speak, I’m just simply available to talk about my experiences. A lot of transgenders hide from the limelight because no matter how society has progressed, there is always some form of social stigmatization in some corner.

But I’m not afraid to stand out into the limelight because I believe the world is a big place and if one corner doesn’t accept me, there’s always some other corner for me to exist in. I also made a documentary about my transition which has been shown in a few festivals. (I will share my documentary with your blog once the screenings are finished. I’ve submitted it to a few other festivals and pending results so it will be a few months before I can publicly share my video).