Monita Rajpal
CNN anchor and correspondent Monita Rajpal has been working at the network since 2001. A native Hongkonger, she moved back to the city last year, where she hosts CNN Asia’s “NewsCenter” and “Talk Asia” programs. She sits down with Andrea Lo to share her childhood memories of Hong Kong, her experiences covering breaking news and what it’s like to be recognized by Tom Ford.
Growing up here, it was a really safe city to be a kid in. I was taking public transportation by myself from 8 years old. You never think twice about it. That’s what I remember the most.
I never felt anything other than the fact that this was my city. This is where I was born and this is where I belong. I never felt like an outsider.
Something that always comes back to me is a feeling: as kids, my parents took my brother and me to Ocean Park, and I felt this breeze that came off the water. There’s sweetness to the air in this city—back then, at least.
One of my fondest memories was here in Hong Kong, when my mother made us read the front page of the newspaper out loud to her before we went to bed. It was purely for her to teach us how to speak English articulately and to be very clear; to enunciate. I guess that was my first exposure to news. It wasn’t something that I ever thought about consciously.
Coming back as an adult, it’s surreal. I keep looking around with this look of wonder everywhere I go.
In my second year of university [in Canada], I started interning at a local television station. I worked for free for a bit, and then I got a job as a telephone receptionist. I also gave tours of the building—in the newsroom and all of that. I got to know the operations and the people pretty well.
When I graduated, I continued working at the station, but in different departments. In my free time after my shift, I went out with the camera crews. When they went to get footage of certain events I would go and watch, and then saw how they edited it and put everything together.
I was never anxiously pushing to be on camera. It was the process that I enjoyed. I always loved finding out more about the subject that we were reporting on. It just so happened that that process led me to an opportunity to try out for a job as a reporter and anchor, and I got it.
