Tedx speaker and all that

It’s been a whirlwind since I got home from the States last Nov. We’ve had a number of things going on in our personal lives and I was quickly plunged into the TedxHong Kong intensity right after, so the first half of 2026 has been a series of intense bouts to say the least.

Receiving the call/ invitation to understand my interest in being a Tedx speaker was intimidating. It morphed from excitement to nervousness quickly because what POV do I have to warrant time on the red dot!?

Being submerged in preparing for the talk is almost like writing an essay back in school - lots of contemplating, research, thinking about what my point of view is, which of it is worth spreading? Has this been talked about? How I can keep this simple - when the idea is so complex (poverty! why? how have we failed the seniors as a city?) - when there is so much more that I want to say than 13 mins allow?

It was a 3 month process for most of the speakers this 2026 TedxHong Kong. I did spend a good number of hours on it every week, there were many re-writes with the help of the curation team - fact-checking, discussions if certain topics were sensitive, if certain ideas will stick or fly over everyone’s heads; if a certain word made sense at this juncture, or if any word is being repeated too many times?

The team was really supportive in sending help my way whenever I needed it, and though the writing and re-writing was quite tedious, the 3 months went by really quickly. The next thing I knew, I was on stage with my 13-min talk, with friends and family in the audience (whom I had bribed to clap loudly if I were to forget all of my lines).

Find your own pathway

I shed light on what being poor looks like for an older person in HK. I think that most of us know that poverty exists, but what is it really? Why and how did I get into baking - and how does baking and sharing a part of the proceeds with these grandparents help spread the word? What is my philosophy behind each business decision?

Though at the end, I narrowed it to 1 thing really - I don’t think that it really matters if you’d like to join me in my work in alleviating senior poverty or in advocating for an easier pathway for vulnerable seniors in HK. It is very close to my heart, of course. But what I genuinely hope that folks will take away from it all is that you need to run after what you believe in. Kickstart something, fail at it and try again. Try something else. Join a program just to understand it - hate it, love it. Then create something of your own if you can’t find what you are looking for.

On finding my own

I found inspiration through my grandparent’s philosophy in raising me - be free, do whatever you want, thrive, experiment - find your own pathway. My grandparents were fearless (my grandma in particular), and that’s all that I aspire to be.

And I did try, and do try (I think, haha)- though in all honesty, it is a long road. Through the most of it I feel lost like a wild child, never conforming, always being thought of as different, and I don’t mean in a good way by the extended family.

But I want to highlight that I mention this “extended family” in particular because 1. I was taught from the get-go that their views of me are important; and 2. how wrong this is, and how unimportant their views are in reality. We never - and I mean never need approval from anyone.

You won’t be alone

Over the years I’ve felt less alone because I learnt to find my own kind of people - and there are more than I realise out there.

Friends who are so ready to tell the world that I’ve started a bakery that does good. Fellow entrepreneurs who are just as lost, but thriving, who are just as messy but have taken their businesses to heights never imagined.

I now have a mentor who has an amazing career and is ready to enlighten me on the many questions that I have about businesses any time. I’ve become friends with a lot of my customers too because they also believe that there can be an easier pathway for the seniors in our city and are delighted to share the word about what I’m doing.

Even finding affinity with organisations like Resolve Foundation in HK - I was their 2024 fellow; and National Committee on U.S.-China Relations - who had sponsored a 6-week long placement in New York last year.

Hence if an ordinary girl who just felt out of place mostly have found her path, why not you? Go for it :)) Your people will come, you will find your way.

The path is long, winding, weird, lonely, and even if people say nay - you will still be most fulfilled, free, and liberated, because you are being true to yourself. You will get there, and if not there, then at least a whole lot closer than not trying.

As for me, I still see a messy path ahead of me, I am not sure that the search ever ends, and I try not to let that intimidate me.

Through all this searching I now understand myself a lot better. I suffer from procrastination (knee jerk reaction from being taught that failure = YOU ARE DOOMED FOR LIFE). I am inspired by the thousands of possibilities yet I am also paralysed by them. I have seasons, I know my weaknesses well, but now also understand better what it takes to pull myself out of slumps, when to push myself harder, and also when to give myself rest (though this is something I still struggle with).

I try to sit with these thoughts often. I sometimes weave through my life so quickly that I forget the many important lessons that are being laid out before me.

Wait, it’s already August?! Let’s get cracking then :))