TEXT_Kiki Bai
PHOTOS_Kiki Bai
On April 23, IC held the 2023 “4•23 Reading in the City” together with the “Talks on Reading — Short Talk and Sharing Session”, in which Hong Kong’s famous host Janis Chan and Macao’s football player Leong Ka Hang, as well as the well-known Macao designer Au Chon Hin, were invited, who talked with readers about their insights brought about by reading, thereby leading them to find answers on the journey of life.
In 2023, the organizer of the “4•23 Reading in the City” presented three guests with the book “Wandering across the Landscape: Collection of the Macao Museum of Art” published by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC).
Hong Kong’s host Janis Chan
Journey refers to footprints on the road, and it is also a process of healing the soul and broadening the horizon. As an artist, Janis Chan always travels back and forth between different cities. While walking “ten thousand miles”, she also “reads ten thousand books” in her free time, such as the time on a flight or a car or before going to bed. On the day of the sharing session, she introduced Master Hsing Yun’s Two Kinds of Love in A Pond of Fallen Flower, which helped cleansing and purifying her mind, and to be kind to her body during her journey. She indicated that the world contained in the book is diverse and vibrant, and readers can not only resonate with the author through words but also often need to personally verify the information brought by the books. Through the flowers, plants, and trees they have seen, readers can rebuild the inner connection between the books and themselves, transforming it into a treasure trove of knowledge.
As for her, books have accompanied her growth since childhood, playing the role of a “good friend” every day, especially during the previous pandemic. Spiritual books also reminded her to cherish everything and seize the day. “At that time, I read Happiness project: or, why I spent a year trying to sing in the morning, clean my closets, fight right, read aristotle, and generally have more fun, which gave me the strength to move forward and insights into the philosophy of happiness in life... In fact, reading led readers to detach from reality and travel to different times and spaces, which is also a way of stress relief”, she claimed.
Macao designer Au Chon Hin
Designing books diverges one’s thinking logic, and reading continuously helps one absorb creative inspiration. Au Chon Hin, a well-known designer in Macao, is keen on cultivating divergent thinking through reading. In this sharing session, he recommended a magazine on design Design360°to the audience, with a theme of cross-cultures, market trends and spatial regions, through which the creative inspiration of global designers can be explored. In addition, he often pays attention to the questions and answers between various well-known designers and enquirers on the “Knowledge Planet” APP, so as to further grasp the trends and perspectives in the field of design. He, who is not happy without books, said with a smile that he had tried to buy more than 20 kilograms of books at the airport and “carry” them home, and he had also tried to be advised to “stop” by his family. The reason why he is so persistent in reading is that he believes that, “In the era of information explosion, there is a lot of easily-assessable information, but there is not enough content that requires ideological precipitation. Books are giving me space to absorb knowledge and time to relax my mind.”
Macao's football player Leong Ka Hang
Reading nourishes every moment of people’s lives, accompanying them even when encountering highs and lows. Leong Ka Hang, a famous football player from Macao who is associated with sports, was influenced by his coach during team training and began reading books related to sports such as training, spirituality, and nutrition. “Football training has a certain complexity, and reading helps to enhance the specificity of sports, thereby improving our overall level”, he claimed. Derrick Rose’s book I’ll Show You recommended by Leong Ka Hang in the sharing session enabled him to experience the belief of never giving up through the author’s career in sports. He is convinced that the autobiography of the athlete not only reminds himself that the lows he has gone through are negligible and supports him to move forward, but could also encourage students to improve their virtue through knowledge. He said, “I often tell them that being an athlete is one of the journeys in life, and what really accompanies you is reading and knowledge”.”
The three guests talked about their insights of reading.
