Hong Kong lawyer turned producer takes a musical slant on workers' rights
Lawyer turned producer releases an album featuring songs about the plight of HK workers
Dim sum maker Lo Tang-king remembers clearly that morning, 12 years ago, before she left home to start her first job in Hong Kong, working a gruelling 15-hour shift in a restaurant.
"I told my daughter that Mummy needed to leave home for work. She said, 'Mummy, but I wanted you to walk me back home after school.' She started crying and I started crying too," said Lo, 45, who came to the city from the mainland more than a decade ago, after getting married to a Hong Kong man.
Lo's story is featured in a new compilation album of songs called WildFires, produced by Adrian Chow Pok-yin. Chow, who is best known for founding Ban Ban Music - which manages Canto-pop star Kay Tse On-kei - has called the album the "continuation of the umbrella movement".
For 12 years, Lo has been working six-day weeks and long hours to make money for the family in Hong Kong. The long working hours mean she has little time for her family, including her two young children.
The job eventually cost her her marriage. She is divorced.
"I have been in Hong Kong for more than 10 years. I have asked myself, what have I done? My marriage has failed and I have missed seeing my children grow up because I have been too busy working," Lo said.
The album, which will be released in music stores this month, contains 12 songs about the plight of Hong Kong workers, including overworked security guards, underpaid flight attendants and a song about how Lo missed out on her children's growth because she was too busy working.