Hong Kong writer explores trauma and the immigrant experience in new memoir – YP

“The girl who dreamed is a love letter sent from my heart,” she said. “It’s my love song for the marginalized, the wounded souls and everyone who cares.”

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Life as an outsider

Leung came to Hong Kong in 1986 when she was twelve. Her family left their hometown of Na’an in Fujian province and moved to a “small slum shack (in) Diamond Hill” in hopes of finding greater financial and social mobility. .

Her quality of life changed dramatically when she arrived in Hong Kong; While her family had a large house before the move, they now shared their living space.

“The other half (of the house) belonged to another family, so our toilet and kitchen were under someone else’s stairs,” she recalls.

Leung also had difficulty adjusting to her new school. Lacking a foundation in Cantonese or English, she was demoted from Primary Six to Primary Four.

Sonia Leung’s memoir includes her experiences moving to Hong Kong as a child. Photo: Blacksmith Books

During roll call on her first day of school, Leung could not recognize her name in English and did not answer. When asked to write her name on the board in Cantonese, she stood there as “the class erupted with laughter.”

Leung worked hard and made rapid progress. The following year, her English skills placed her in the top five of the class. Yet the bullying continued.

“(I was a) total outsider…when you get singled out, you just feel like you don’t belong,” Leung said. “I always felt inferior in Hong Kong.”

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Flight to Taiwan

Leung finally found a sense of community when she started playing table tennis, first in her neighborhood and later at a youth center near her school with about nine other children. The group was so talented that the center looked for a coach for them. She participated in several competitions and hoped to apply for the newly opened Jockey Club Ti-l College, where she could live in a dormitory and lighten the burden on her parents.

But when Leung was 14, her coach raped her. The incident took her to a dark place and she was unable to openly speak out about the attack, an issue she says is still prevalent in Hong Kong.

“Telling us to face it (doesn’t work),” Leung said, explaining that victims should not have to hide their pain. “Being able to come out and tell (your struggles) to people you trust makes a difference.”

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After her abuse, she found solace in books by Taiwanese authors, such as those by Chiung Yao Outside the window. Leung felt like she became friends with these characters and could “talk to them, at least in my head.”

Moreover, “I heard this song called ‘Olive Tree’ by a Taiwanese singer. It is about seeking freedom,” she said. “I felt Taiwan had to call me.”

With the money she had saved from her job at McDonald’s, Leung left for Taipei in 1990 without telling anyone. New friends helped her find shelter at National Taiwan University, where she listened to lectures, worked at a nearby cafe, and “traveled all over Taiwan for two years” while attending different schools. She eventually returned to Hong Kong after her friends encouraged her to apply to university.

Leung talks about her life in her latest book. Photo: Jonathan Wong

More than 30 years later, Leung is an award-winning author whose work has been published worldwide. In 2020, she released her first book, a poetry collection Don’t cry, Phoenix. She is currently working on her next book, a collection of essays and short stories about the lives of Chinese women.

The memoir is not only an achievement for her career, it also helped Leung cope with her trauma.

“Writing those scenes in detail helped me put the pieces back together,” Leung said. “The book made me feel complete again.”

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, help is available. You can call RainLily’s support hotline at 2375-5322.

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