"I Used to Be Funny" Movie Review

I recently joined to be a member of Toronto International Film Festival annual membership and saw the local indie dramedy "I Used to be Funny". Going in, I didn't read too much about it except to know it was under the umbrella of "Women in Action" in the now showings and a local production about a woman in comedy. Suffice to say, I had no regrets watching it, and I actually found it quite suspenseful and a pretty good balance between the comedy and drama genre (I would say the latter is heavier). 

This arts majored comedy who became an au pair in Europe comes back to Toronto to find success in comedy and her love life. As she dips her toes back into being an au pair in the GTA, she finds herself in an interesting relationship with her assigned "minor". As the story slowly but beautifully unfolds, you are on the edge of your seat, wanting to know what had happened to this protagonist. 

There's only some minor defects with it if you must press me to say something, but because that will be a bit of a spoiler alert, I'm going to stop here. But I will give it a bit higher than it's IMDB rating and give it a solid 7.5. Either you do the real math or artistic math and decide whether to watch this movie now showing at TIFF Lightbox.  

The Etymology of Thank YOUs around the world

" Thank you", one of the first words we learn in every language. Ng Guo, Duo Jie, Xie Xie, merci beau coup, muchas gracias, namaste. Why? Because human civilization values the time and effort of at least trying to do something, learn something, do a task, even if that person is by largely failing and only marginally succeeding. Thank you is a powerful motivator for human relationships to not only flourish but to also be productive. 

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the English word “thank” derived from the word “think” around 450AD. Up until this time, people would typically express their gratitude by saying: “I think of you kindly.” This evolved to become “I Thank You” which was then shortened to “Thank You” around the 14th century. That later became “thanks” and, by the 18th century, simply “ta”. Etymology modern day merci is from Middle French merci, mercy, from Old French merci, from Latin mercēdem (“wages, fee, price”). 

In Chinese, Xie Xie is used as thank you in general. In Canton, Ng Gou is used to saying thanks for the favor whilst duo jie means thanks for the gift.

The word namaste comes from Sanskrit. It’s a combination of namas (“I bow”) and te (“you”), which literally translates to I bow to you (McBroom, 2023). If the first particle sounds familiar, that’s because it is also featured in the word namaskar (e.g., Surya Namaskar), which means “greeting” or “salute. ”In terms of pronunciation, the word namaste is broken down into three syllables: nah-mas-tay, with emphasis on the first syllable. Traditionally, namaste is a non-contact way of greeting someone, expressing gratitude, or showing one’s respect. Namaste is usually accompanied by Anjali mudra, with the palms pressed together at the center of the chest, close to one’s heart. To reflect on its literal meaning, the verbal greeting is performed with a respectful bowing of the head in the direction of the person you are speaking to.

In the context of yoga, namaste is usually spoken at the beginning or at the end of the class. When it is said at the start, namaste is a way to greet each other. A teacher saying it to a student (or students) can also use namaste as a way to convey that the students are welcome and accepted. At the end of the class, namaste has a different connotation. It’s an expression of appreciation and gratitude. It is customary for the teacher to thank the students for sharing their practice and opening their mind to the wonders of yoga. The students tend to echo the sentiment with their own namaste to express gratitude to the teacher for guiding them and to fellow students for sharing their space and energy.

Culturally, thank you is the most fundamental "magic word" you can use and start teaching a child to be a polite member of the family, society, be it a small community or eventually the ever globalizing world. And this kind of manners is not just verbal and superficial lip service, but to allow children to see adults saying thanks to one another a lot, is a good practice for a healthy and warm home to be developed. And if not, there's also the other magic word "sorry". 

That's just Airlie's 2 cents into this.

xxx

Barbie Huge Spoiler Alert Review

If you have seen the movie, you know what I mean when I say "There's a lot to unpack here." After having a COVID baby, going to the theaters to watch an actual movie is a luxury and hence I try to be wise with my choices. But boy did Barbie deliver. Greta and Noah is such a writing and directing power couple. I thoroughly loved Frances Ha, Lady Bird and Little Women but the writing for Barbie is incomparable. 

We start off with the premise that Barbie (played by Robbie) is starting to have human emotions, somber ones to be specific and is beginning to age. She is told she needs to go into the real world and find her "owner" in order to bring herself back to normal. However, soon Barbie finds that the real world is so much more complex than Barbieland. Women are still being objectified and token feminism is at works. All the while Ken (played by Gosling) is discovering (in vain) what the patriarchy is and means.

All of this is done with very well paced narration and dialogue. The narration and dialogue pokes fun satirically and briskly which highlights how easily we gloss over these issues in real life. And when the story does slow down, it allows for us to take in and register those emotional moments.

Prior to the movie (thanks to the media) I already knew America Ferrera was going to have a monologue but about what I can only guess. Once again this proves to be great writing. Women, as opposed to the male counterpart have so many paradoxical stereotypes that are the products of the patriarchy. Our body types, needing to be great mothers as well as career driven, needing to be pretty but not too pretty to tempt. The laundry list goes on with vigorous urgency for change in which the movie does go onto to attempt. This for me, was the best part of the movie.

Another thing I found interesting in this story is how Ken doesn't always have to have it together. Ken is allowed to feel lost, have emotions and cry. Men in real life should be allowed to do these things, too. And I think at the end of the day that's what gender equality is, not just seeking agency for women but also how we accept men. 

I think the only issue I had about the movie was the method of how women ganged up and told lies to men to get what they needed. This all boils down to whether the ends justify the means? For me, it rendered America Ferrara's monologue useless. If men were morally questionably, we'll steep to their low? That didn't ring right to me. 

For critics that lament that Barbie and Ken didn't up being together has missed the point. There is no one single trajectory for Barbie. Barbie can choose whatever she wishes to become and who she wishes to be with, not some arranged marriage.

I very much enjoyed the visual representation of Barbieland. From the saturated, pastels and everything in between pink, to the blend of documentary styled clips and magical realism, I thoroughly enjoyed all the work put into imagining this fictitious world. The dance number was also a real treat and evidently thought-through choreography. 

I would recommend people giving this one a try!

My Debut Novel Trust Me Baby is out!

 

A contemporary fiction about a Canadian Hong Kong Woman with a Secret Past Pursuing a Change in Life 

I got some really exciting news to share with you all…which is… the novel that I have spent the past 11 years working on is finally getting published!!! (Well it is at least on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing for both E-book and printed format in many international markets including US, Canada, European markets and Japan)

This project was conceived in 2012. It took me 4 years to finish the first draft (while juggling grad school and work) and 2 years to edit. I spent the past 6 and a half years editing and pitching (again as I work), edit and pitch, rinse and repeat. I’ve encountered so many rejections from literary agents that I’ve lost count it’s (it’s probably somewhere in the two hundred range). Some might be a template rejection email,  some don't even have the time to send a rejection email, some with specific advice and surprisingly there were about a dozen agents who wanted to see the full manuscript but in the end let it go or didn’t reply at all. In 2023 already I got three asks to see the full manuscript, which is great for traditional publishing. And traditional publish ca be really great—I don’t have to bear costs like editing, cover design, marketing and printing. But with the encouragement of my dear E-commerce husband (I call Amazon pundit with bias), I realized how Amazon has made self-publishing fairly easy.  And the fact that I am still getting asked for fulls means my constant editing has maybe brought me to a place closer to good enough to being published. 

This is a book about a woman trying to grapple with her past and present, finding her true self. A story about families, friendships and romance and the places that define us, challenge us and inspire us. You can see more about the story in the link here 

Kindle E-book and Amazon Printed Paperback Book

Those who enjoy reading these would also enjoy this one (I’m not putting myself on a pedestal but rather I try to learn from their story telling) Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, Free Food For Millionaires by Min Jin Lee and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. 

Check out the two covers I have: I designed the E-book cover from Canvas and formatted it myself. The print cover and internal formatting was done by a professional. 

Ways to support this book:

• the obvious two ones are either purchasing a printed copy online and because my set marketplace is US, Canada and a bunch of European countries and Japan (the only ones allowed on Amazon so far), you can choose whatever works for you or if you are not in those regions bear a small shipping cost. Kindle is also available right now as well. (I will see how things go here first before trying to branch into Kobo, and by perhaps September I will get my poetry and short stories collection on Kindle as well so look out if you are interested)
• and if you have Kindle Unlimited, you can of course read this for free already. If that's the case, it could be a win-win situation for you, you get a free book and (if you love the writing enough) give an honest review so my book can reach those few who like my genre.
• if you are skeptical of supporting a debut author with recession money (I get it) you can still support by browsing the first few pages on Kindle (the more people do this on Kindle, I get a very very very small fraction from what is called the Kindle Select--think all the authors globally earning money just by you flipping through the first few pages-waw!)
• as of all businesses--word of mouth! You might not be an English fiction reader of contemporary times, but hey, if you know someone who does? Pop in a word for me? Buy it as a gift? 
• I will be donating copies to the Toronto Fort York Library, the Toronto St Lawrence Library, University of Waterloo Library, Kitchener Words Worth Books store and downtown Toronto BMV store. So if you are interested in popping by to save cost, do express interest as the more people ask for it, the more they are persuaded to get more copies from me.

And if in the end you are too caught up with your own life to do any of this in the short future (again I get it), thanks for simply reading this blog to the very end, because at the end of the day, writers write to resonate and connect with readers. So thank you really from the bottom of my bottomless heart. 💗Doe jei, xie xie and merci beaucoup! 

#AsianNorthAmericanliterature #CantoneseCanadianliterature #CantoneseCanadiandiaspora #contemporaryfiction #womensfiction #suspensefulromance #familysagas #books #bibliophile #literati #AirlieMariaHeung #AirlieHeung #HongKongliterature #identity #freedomofspeech

And Just Like That Twenty Years Has Passed...

2003 was a very difficult year for Hong Kong people... SARS happened. I recall having to take one of the most important public exams of my life the CE (O-level equivalent) exam. I have prepared for this since the beginning of high school because all stakes were on it, so I believed. With less in-class prep and an early release to stay-at-home self study. We took the exam with our mask on for the entire month pretty much. A not so pleasant novelty. I recall in our house we started the 1:99 ratio of bleach and water that was recommended for cleaning your floors etc and still worried you might get it. I luckily didn't live near the epicenter of the epidemic, ergo my family did not suffer the physical distress of getting it but also the decreasing cost of property there. This was all while the government was pushing to enact article 23 regarding national security laws. The focus was of course swiftly changed but not forgotten. 

And in the midst of that, on the 1st April, April fools, the news that our beloved singer and actor Leslie Cheung took his own life became a rumor that I heard over ICQ but swiftly denied due to its ironic timing, like everyone did. By the end of the day, the local news confirmed the tragic demise and the mood of the whole of Hong Kong further plummeted. We still can't ascertain what was the real cause he jumped off Mandarin Oriental. He was at the peak of his career, very much in love. His last movie was a bit of a psychological thriller that may have messed with his mind a little. The least convincing rumor was that he found out he had aids. Either way it was heart breaking no matter what the reason was. I recall weeping as the TV showed the procession of his coffin leaving the ceremony venue and made a small march around for fans to say goodbye. Melancholic and melodic songs went on loop for a while and to be honest reverberated for the next 20 years. 

That year, contrastingly and personally I did quite well, unscathed in the CE exam and went onto keep my place at the secondary school for A Levels. Not all students could. And students across the town had to have their their temperatures checked daily before entering the school premise to ensure SARs was really gone. Just as we thought it couldn't get worse, another bright super star was taken from us- Anita Mui of cervical Cancer. She was so stubborn that life without children was no way to live, and perhaps she wanted to reunite with her dear friend Leslie in their version of Heaven. Playing mahjong with the other greats. Needless to say I cried like a baby again.

The national security law seemed naturally not the government's priority and we all floated through life sans SARS almost unscathed. But life like karma, can be a bitch. In 2008 the economy crashed and we all had to figure things out other then this controversial national security law. Great we bought some time. We would regrow, Obama would help us and we will try to get out of this shit hole. But then 2014 rolled by real fast with many local issues still unsolved. Extortionary housing. Inflation that couldn't be matched by salary increase. While people started to Occupy Wallstreet, we started to occupy Central. I as a grad student on the other side of the world getting my masters thought students shouldn't give up their education which is an important part pf fighting this phenomenon. But it was good to know many political and legal academic pit tents on the road to tutor his student, The civil disobedience led to creative protest ways such as the incredibly beautiful Lennon wall. Students kept erecting signs for democracy and freedom of speech on the Lion Rock Mountain. They hiked up there and hand in had with lights portrayed their hope towards all this. And lit Astrology torches to laugh at the governments harsh sift of political dissents. They cleaned up after every protest. Little did we know a worse phase of the movement will come to haunt us. In 2016 they kidnapped bookstore owner which I recall was very irate about it. And then in 2019 they wanted to enact the extraditing law and the national security law which vaguely states how terrorism, subversion and secession can entail jail time. Countless protesters were assaulted by triads bribed by the government. The latter law is now enacted and has made residents scared of what they can say and whether the city has redeeming qualities to keep living there. 

Going back to my personal life, 1st of Aprils has always bee dedicated to the tragedy of Leslie Cheung's. But every since I got married, and that my mother in law's birthday falls on that day, I now have this new ritual of spending time with her and getting to know her more. As a mom, I no longer have a lot of time to properly mourn Leslie, but I am happy that now on this day of the year it will finally be spent in the warm company of my Canada fam bam. No matter how grim previous April Fools have been, its imperative to know we must charge on and continue the abstract yet beautiful life of Leslie Cheung, our OG, our MVP.

I'm not one to be believe in reincarnations (I am somewhat Catholic) but the day before my daughter Celeste was born, James Redford whom I have had the pleasure to work with him in on a non-profit film premiere passed away. A part of me that wants to believe someone as benevolent like him can be our daughters Celeste's guiding angel, to find the things she holds dearly to her. Twenty four hours of labor and an emergency c-section after and... this COVID baby was here. And in case you don't know, its hard having a COVID baby. The sanitation levels are incredibly high and stressing. And the economy is crap.

COVID crippled the world pandemic has once again challenged us as communities to really pact ourselves back together, carefully gauge the trend, smartly strategize and have faith and be a responsible global citizen, get vaccinated, ideally the fourth booster too and we can strengthen the herd immunity. We need to examine the overlap of the three problems of: COVID, Climate Change and Classism.

20 years reflection: No matter how hard you can try and work, there will still be relatively poor, uneducated and hence unclean people that need our help in improving things before in expands into a global pandemic. When it does happen, we need to bravely band together and achieve herd immunity through vaccinations. In the long run, we need to stop Asian hate through educational community discussion. Now matter how dedicated you are with your dream job, sometimes systemic oppression means resigning to find better work. It might take months of job searching, applying and interviewing etc, but you get to really reflect and explore yourself and ask the questions: Where do you want to be in 5 years? Or like me, ask the where do you see yourself in 10 years. A teacher? A novelist? A content writer? The sky's the limit and as long as your work aligns with your core values and our core values as a community is robust, there's so many things we can do. Michelle Yeoh won best actress! So come on everyone! Let's get motivated!

So let's get started!

And Just Like That... I'm Blogging Again.

For those who really know me or even vaguely know me would probably know that I love to write. I love to read, like a lot. But my true, true passion is writing. before I learned how to love myself, before I learnt how to love others, before I learnt to care about my community, I knew I loved to write. It's funny how TV shows can make a huge impact on some people. I have heard people in both Hong Kong and Canada that say they went from not knowing either English or Chinese, and was able to reach a level of native speaking purely through watching TV. That happened to me, too; making me know two first-languages (since you can't say native anymore, more of that in another post perhaps) English and Cantonese through Canadian TV and HK's TVB. But more importantly, TV helped me figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up.

The first TV show that got me was Ally McBeal, for an amalgamation of reasons: great opening theme song and many great songs by Vonda Shepard (many soundtracks came out because of this show, including the Christmas one), it was kinda my first taste in seeing what a lawyer can possible do in a court room, obviously not by the eponymous character who daydreams and can't keep track which side she is objecting to. But Cage, oh Cage was such a great lawyer... He was reflective, he was hard working and very articulate. I was captivated by how he does his closing remarks, usually being able to fight for his clients whether plaintiff or defendant and sometimes on the most nuanced cases. I was enraptured by his debating and public speaking skills insofar I spent quite some time doing those in high school. Oh but I hated Math, Chemistry and Physics. I just wasn't as good as my peers who literally got straight As in these and I just passed. In today's STEM world I would have completely failed. But this realization of what I'm good at or not was coincidentally the time when I started to watch this show called Boston Public, another David E. Kelley show.

This time instead of being a fancy lawyer, I got captured by the profession of being a teacher in a public marginalized school. This was the first time I got to know what a racially diverse faculty and student body looked like, what a marginalized institution looked like and how they fight their battles. In short, (because its was short in terms of seasons, not by recognition like main awards), it was a world that got me really intrigued by the profession of teaching and how one could probably teach, or lead a team. But as that chaptered ended, almost literally, another opened: Sex and the City--or for those loyal fans, And Just Like That. 

While (this might be a shocker) but I actually never read any of the books in the series by Bushnell, because why would you if you have a show as well produced by Michael Patrick King does? I have read most of her subsequent novels which are pretty good as well. But Sex and the City opened up my life. It opened up my life into romanticizing the two big Ls, as Carrie would say-Love and Labels, and of the vibrant New York City, and most importantly...the idea of being a writer. It's just so... FUN, and seemingly easy. And most certainly my love for You've Got Mail and Kathleen Kelly's emails to NY152 has helped cement my love for reading, writing and finding true love. But it was watching Carrie Bradshaw go through her glamorous but not so glamorous and treacherous quest for Love that sealed the deal for me wanting to become a writer about love.

It helped that some English youth newspapers in Hong Kong sponsored this interest of mine by publishing my short essays, book reviews and movies reviews with first a lot of book vouchers, and later actual money ($HK50 back in 2004), it felt great.  And being the last 5 finalist on an essay writing competition of why the environment is so important, really empowered me to consider this as a full time or part time job. And so I applied to both University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Baptist University's pioneering BA in English Language and Literature and BEd in English Language Teaching programs and after one round of interview at HKBU in which I babbled about Harry Potter, I got in in 2005. 

In 2012 I started writing the first draft of my novel which at first was a romance but now more like women's fiction, looking at womanhood identity and other essential stuff. That year I also started this blog. Fast forward 2016 I finished the first draft of my novel and spent 2017-18 editing it and started to pitch it. At first it was great, some said they were interested but upon reading more, no. Then it was 2.5 years of non stop rejects, edit, re-pitch, reject, re-edit rinse and repeat, from soliciting publishers and literary agents.

But as readership stayed rather stagnant here on blogspot and Adsesnses were negligible, I started a side project of LitLookOut.com which basically did book reviews and partnered (in a completely honest and unbiased way) with Amazon. Meanwhile still teaching and writing in University of Hong Kong, I started to desert Lit Look Out and finally gave up paying for the domain name. But it's Instagram account still exists if you ever wonder @litlookout.

But the reboot of Sex and the City TV series And Just Like That has helped me through resigning my post at HKU (I' don't feel like talking about this now) to become a freelance writer and educator. Like her, I feel like I was a bit lost. And I couldn't imagine losing the love of my life... it's so morbid. But like her, as time went by, I came to terms as of why I resigned and I actually am embracing and loving the liberty and time I get to say blog here. Like a phoenix rising from ashes, Carrie and I are both rising again...

My Ode to Hong Kong

2014 the umbrella movement,
I told kids to go home get an education,
But 2016 was the disappointment,
Bookstore owners gone with no justification.

2019 say what? Extradition?
The people took the streets and told where they stand,
But the government, they didn't understand.
So yea, there was an escalation,
A great confusion.
Lennon walls started appearing round the streets,
Beautiful post-its talking about peace.
But on the night of July the twenty first,
pedestrians cried because triads burst,
attacked the press,
attacked the elderly,
attacked a pregnant woman,
Where was the policemen?

I didn't think this day would come,
but living here feels like being in a prison,

The people are tired,
the people are sad,
but above all the people are mad,
Mad because once upon a time
Some of us defended the governemnt's crimes,
But today we see
very clearly,
Who is right , who is wrong,
While they try to stop us,
We will stay strong,
Seek for justice,
And this will not be the end of any of it.