One night when Kwok Mang-ho was five years old—around the time his father was dying from tuberculosis—he set himself a reckless challenge. “I was on the street somewhere in the Times Square area, near Happy Valley,” he recalls. “Us children used to play with soda drink bottle caps. But that night I had a firecracker. I was thinking, ‘If I don’t throw it, what will happen?’ I felt a huge sound, a huge explosion. I didn’t feel pain. I just felt all my fingers bleeding. I was sent to hospital.”
Kwok, now better known as his artist alter ego Frog King, can’t quite explain why he didn’t let go of the lit firecracker. Nor can he remember why, a year or so later, he ran away from his mother on a day trip to the island of Cheung Chau, jumped into a sampan with some friendly fishermen, then, once they were out of the shallows, flung himself overboard. “I didn’t really know how to swim; I was drinking lots of seawater” he says. Luckily, the tide was in his favour—the waves tossed the six-year-old Kwok retching and exhausted on to the shore. “I wanted a challenge,” he says, almost laughing at the memory. “I wanted to do something where I didn’t know the result. I was very brave and enthusiastic to just do it, right?”
Kwok Mang-ho and his alter ego Frog King
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 2020-Ausgabe von Tatler Hong Kong.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 2020-Ausgabe von Tatler Hong Kong.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
THE LAST WORD
Every issue, we ask our cover star a round of quickfire questions that give us a little more insight into their personalities. This month: Gulf Kanawut lays it bare
WOMEN AT THE WICKET
Asia's women's cricket teams from outside the Indian subcontinent have been rapidly rising up through the ranks, creating opportunities, breaking barriers and changing the game as they go
TIME TURNER
A 2024 Turner Prize nominee, British Filipino artist Pio Abad talks to Tatler about carrying on family legacy, unearthing historical connections and why the Philippines is always at the core of his work
ROYAL RICHES
Ahead of the opening of Prince and the Peacock, Black Sheep Restaurants' latest establishment, Tatler joins the hospitality group on a culinary pilgrimage to India
MAKING HER POINT
Foil fencer Daphne Chan is happy to see the rising interest in her sport since Cheung Ka-long's historic win, and is headed to the Games with impressive wins behind her. But she's not allowing the pressure to get to her, and is most excited about who she might meet in Paris
IN IT TO WIN IT
Hong Kong freestyle swimmer Ian Ho, whose Instagram handle @Amphlb_ian playfully alludes to his aquatic prowess, competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and won silver in the men's 50 metres freestyle at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou. This month, he will represent Hong Kong at the Paris Olympics. He talks to Tatler about making Hong Kong proud, life as a student and professional athlete-and why relaxing is the way forward
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Two-time Olympic swimmer Camille Cheng thought Tokyo 2020 would be her last Games, but competing in Paris was too big a draw for the French Chinese athlete
INTRIGUE AND INTRICACIES
Parisian artist Ugo Gattoni takes us through his elaborately designed poster for the Olympics and Paralympics in his home city this month
Crafting a New Legacy
Nicholas Lieou, creative director of high jewellery at Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, is reimagining jewellery, as the brand celebrates its 95th anniversary
A Lasting Legacy
Tatler explores Cartier's latest Watches and Wonders novelties with the maison's image, style and heritage director, who explains how the luxury house continues to create designs that are relevant today, yet rooted in legacy