Novels have captured the imagination of readers for centuries. Fantasy, horror, science fiction (a.k.a. sci-fi), and mysteries are just a few popular genres, but now a new one is emerging: climate fiction, or “cli-fi” for short. 

The rise of this new genre coincides with increasing awareness of climate change across the world. Just in February, Climate Copernicus – the European Union climate monitor – reported that the average worldwide temperature over the past 12 months was 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.5 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than at the dawn of the Industrial Age.

While activists and non-profit organizations can certainly spread awareness, authors of the latest addition to the cli-fi literary canon argue that fictional characters and scenarios can be more effective in motivating people to take action.

“Nobody reads a boring report,” said Steve Willis, co-author of Fairhaven – A Novel of Climate Optimism. “A story is far more engaging than that.”

Willis, along with his co-author Genevieve Hilton, spoke at an FCC Club Lunch on the day of their book’s debut. Moderating the talk was FCC Correspondent Board Member Karen Koh.

Willis is the Director of Herculean Climate Solutions, an environmental consulting agency based in Malaysia, while Hilton is a full-time sustainability activist and writer under the pen name Jan Lee. The duo initially connected on LinkedIn and brainstormed their ideas for Fairhaven and continued to meet and discuss online while crafting their novel. Their recent trip to Hong Kong for their book launch was the first time they had met in person.

Hilton also shared her thoughts on why she as an activist figured a novel might be a better approach to the message she wants to share.

“There’s a whole ‘scared straight’ phenomenon. If I give you all the evidence and show you how horrible it could be, you will do something about it [climate change],” Hilton said.

Fairhaven is set in 2036 in Penang, Malaysia. The main character, Grace Chan, is about to take office as President of the newly-formed Ocean Independent State, yet crashes into a dyke and begins reviewing the life she has lived as the tide rises.

Despite being fiction, the novel roots itself into the environmental history of Malaysia – and the world – and proposes two solutions: restoring ocean ecosystems and refreezing the Arctic. Both of these solutions, while not currently being worked on by any organization, are possible, say the authors. But, it would take the right people to step forward and make it happen.

“It feels absolutely hopeless, but when you actually have your hand on something and you think, ‘This would actually work – we just need to keep pushing,’ you’re determined to make it otherwise,” said Willis.

Thinking about a climate change solution that doesn’t currently exist – but could – is what Hilton also finds to be instrumental in inspiring climate action.

“You can’t work towards something if you don’t know what it looks like,” she said.

Watch the full talk on our YouTube channel below:

The People’s Liberation Army, China’s massive yet untested military force since the Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979, is prepared but will not take rush actions despite heightened tension along China’s borders, according to a renowned China observer.

Professor Jean-Pierre Cabestan, author of the new book Facing China: The Prospect for War and Peace shared his insights with nearly 100 FCC members during his lunch talk at the club, digging into China’s military strategies in the past decade. The talk was moderated by William Zheng, an FCC Professional Committee member who works full-time as a Senior Correspondent on SCMP’s China desk.

The talk came just days after mainland China and Taiwan’s government representatives traded accusations over the death of two mainland fishermen, causing a new round of tension on the world’s most dangerous waters.

Besides Taiwan, the East and South China Seas, the Sino-Indian border, and the Taiwan strait are the main forefronts where China’s military stands. Across the world, diplomats, generals, scholars, and journalists analyze China’s military strategies and attempt to predict how the country would fare in these potential conflicts.

“Nuclear powers have to think twice about starting a military confrontation,” Cabestan said early on.

China, as well as 8 other countries, have nuclear capabilities. In order to avoid nuclear warfare (or any kind of warfare), Cabestan explained that China’s military strategy consists of “grey zone” tactics — movements and operations that stay under the threshold of official combat. According to him, these grey zone tactics are fueled by China’s growing military capabilities and nationalist passion.

“China’s become more assertive, more risk-taking than before, but up to a point,” he said, noting how each of China’s moves are carefully calculated.

The focus of the discussion, as well as Cabestan’s new book, was on China’s potential conflict with Taiwan.

China views Taiwan as a “renegade province” that must be reunited with the mainland — by force if necessary. After the Chinese Civil War in 1949 in which the Communist Party succeeded in gaining control over the mainland, the Kuomintang Party relocated to Taiwan and established a de-facto state with their own currency, political system, military, and infrastructure.

The rest of the world now must follow the One-China Policy and establish official ties with either the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the mainland or the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. As of 2024, the ROC has only 11 diplomatic allies.

“The clear admission in Taiwan that Taiwan may be part of China for some, but it’s not part of the Communist Party. It’s not controlled by the Communist Party,” Cabestan said.

Cabestan clarified that while a war between China and Taiwan would result in devastating consequences for Asia and the rest of the globe, he remains optimistic that such a conflict is unlikely to happen. Even more unworried about the risk of conflict are the people in Taiwan themselves.

A trip to Taiwan, Cabestan says, can show that the average person in Taiwan isn’t deterred by the threat of war and can still go about their daily life in peace.

“If you go to Taiwan… there’s no sense of panic or fear,” he said. “It [war] is still far away from affecting the morale of the Taiwanese.”

Still, countries including Japan, South Korea, Australia, and the US are committed to defending Taiwan if the PRC were to launch an attack on the island. The US, while establishing ties with the PRC in 1979, simultaneously passed the Taiwan Relations Act which solidifies the US’ commitment to helping defend Taiwan should the PRC attack.

The US, like China, has nuclear capabilities, yet this fact is precisely why Cabestan predicts peace for the region — instead of war.

“We have to bear in mind that we have two nuclear powers here [the US and China] which are involved in the security of Taiwan — the future of Taiwan. I think the Chinese will think twice before starting a war against Taiwan,” Cabestan concluded.

Watch the full talk on our YouTube channel below:

Following up on his vow to pass Article 23 of the Basic Law, Chief Executive John Lee and the HKSAR government announced a four-week public consultation period for the bill in late January. Article 23, originally shelved in 2003 after mass protests against it, enables the city to enact laws prohibiting seven offenses – including treason, espionage, and theft of state secrets.

The government claims that Article 23 will “plug the gaps” that aren’t covered by the National Security Law that Beijing imposed on the city in June 2020. Various sectors have urged the government to clarify terms like “national security” and “state secrets”, as well as to lengthen the public consultation period, which ends on February 28.

On February 19, the FCC held a Club Lunch moderated by President Lee Williamson in which a panel of government, journalism, and legal experts shared their thoughts on the bill.

“I think the proposals are actually less broad or ‘sweeping’ than a lot of the similar proposals introduced by other common law jurisdictions,” said Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, Convenor of the Executive Council.

Ip was the Secretary for Security in 2003 when Article 23 was originally proposed. She stepped down after mass protests caused the HKSAR government to shelve the bill, but eventually returned to the government in 2008 when she was elected as a member of the Legislative Council.

Sitting alongside Ip was Ronson Chan, Chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA). When asked about Article 23’s impact on journalism, Chan referenced a recent HKJA survey in which 75% of respondents indicated that the law would negatively affect their work.

“It is very easy for journalists to feel [in danger] in their work and I think that it may affect the atmosphere for the freedom of press. So that’s why we are highly concerned about the legislation,” Chan said.

Chan also emphasised the need for the government to clarify what are state secrets, otherwise journalists may inadvertently violate Article 23 while waiting for the government’s official response for a story.

“It still has to be a secret,” said Professor Simon Young, the Ian Davies Professor of Ethics at The University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Law, who also sat on the panel. “I would think it is something you would reasonably expect to be confidential.”

Young further elaborated that the acquisition, possession, and disclosure of a state secret all need to meet the same mens rea – knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe it is a state secret and intending to endanger national security by sharing it.

“It’s not just any kind of knowledge or disclosure. You have to show that that person really intended to endanger national security. If they’re doing legitimate journalism business, then it’s unlikely that they would have that intention,” Young concluded.

Ip, on the other hand, didn’t believe Article 23 would harm the work of Hong Kong’s journalists.

“I don’t think the media really needs to worry,” she said early on in the discussion, but later emphasized that there is “no absolute freedom of speech” when asked if people in Hong Kong should worry about Article 23 criminalizing free speech.

Chan agreed with Ip that there is no absolute freedom of speech, but that efforts should still be made in order to clarify what free speech means in Hong Kong.

“The red line is floating and moving,” he said. “I think we need to distinguish the differences [of free speech] from Hong Kong and the outside world.”

Watch the full talk on our YouTube channel below:

The Great Wall of China is one of the country’s most famous tourist attractions. It stretches across several cities and provinces, but only a handful of sections are easily accessible and have since become the popular visiting locations of both Chinese and foreign tourists.

William Lindesay, while already fascinated by the Great Wall, is even more fascinated by the sections that are found deep in the wilderness and he has built a life dedicated to the education and preservation of the Great Wall.

Lindesay spoke about his life’s work at an FCC Club Lunch on November 21st. Sitting alongside him was FCC Journalist Board Member Joe Pan, as well as copies of his latest book Wild Wall. The new two-volume series documents Lindesay’s life from his first trip to China in 1986 to his most recent endeavors.

He began the talk by explaining how he first became interested in the Great Wall back when he was a schoolboy. His headmaster said that all his students should have a Bible, a prayer book, and an atlas at their bedside. Lindesay loved his copy of the Oxford Atlas, and when he saw the geographic symbols representing the Great Wall, he instantly knew what he wanted to do when he grew up.

“As soon as I saw that symbol on the Wall, I could see my future,” he said.

Lindesay talked to his headmaster about his idea of studying geography at university and then traveling to China to explore the Great Wall. It was 1967 at the time, and the headmaster was supportive, but gave the young Lindesay honest advice.

“That’s a marvelous idea, William,” his headmaster began. “But you know, I don’t know anyone who’s ever been to China. But maybe in your lifetime, the situation will change.”

Lindesay ended up studying geography at the University of Liverpool, but didn’t make his first trip to China until he was 28 years old. His plan was to become the first foreigner to make a journey across the Great Wall, which resulted in him being stopped 9 times by police for trespassing.

He pressed on. His actions earned him the self-described reputation as China’s first ever “serial foreign trespasser” with many of the tickets and fines he paid being the very first of their kind. He was also arrested twice before eventually being deported from the country.

Hong Kong played a special part in his deportation in that he was able to come to the city and get a new passport to re-enter the mainland and continue his journey. Lindesay expressed his gratitude for Hong Kong playing a crucial part in his life.

In total, Lindesay traveled nearly 2,500 kilometers along the Great Wall by foot — an easy task for the experienced marathon runner. Along the way he received much praise and recognition from both the British and Chinese governments. The highest of his awards include the Friendship Award, China’s highest award for foreign experts, and being knighted as an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II. 

During this journey was also when Lindesay met his wife Wu Qi who he has been married to for the past 35 years. Their sons, Jimmy and Tommy, also share their father’s fascination with the Great Wall, and they went so far as to — quite literally — follow their father’s footsteps along the Wall in 2022 while China was still under heavy restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

But they were determined to outdo their father by traveling a total of 3,800 kilometers, starting in Jiayuguan and traveling to “Old Dragon’s Head,” the most eastern part of the Great Wall that ends at the Bohai Sea. 

“We’re a family of wall-nuts,” Lindesay said with a chuckle.

In the talk, Lindesay also shared stories about how he and his wife bought a farmhouse near Jiankou, how he began his Great Wall conservation efforts, becoming a full-time tour guide, and China’s improving policies towards preserving the Great Wall.

Watch the full talk on our YouTube channel below:

FCC members, whether they are journalists, correspondents, or associates, have a wide variety of interests. Some play guitar, others paint and write poetry, but in the case of Richard Winter, adventure sailing is his passion. While other investment bankers might also captain their own boats around Hong Kong, Winter sails far beyond his peers, exploring hidden gems across Southeast Asia.

Sitting alongside fellow Professional Committee member Philip Bowring, Winter described how he became a “part-time sea gypsy” to FCC members at a Club Lunch on November 14th.

In 2017, Winter and his two business partners sold their company. Their goal was to rebalance their lives, which in Winter’s case led to extended stays aboard his sailing yacht Soko which he bought in 1999.

Winter and his wife Isabel soon after bid farewell to their beloved pooch Muggins and set sail out of Hong Kong — through the Philippines and to Micronesia where they spent periods of the two following years with their crew. 

“It’s interesting when you’re adventure cruising,” Winter began. “It’s a mistake to think too far ahead. When you get to the next destination, people always talk to you and they say, ‘Why don’t you go here? Why don’t you do that?’ So we purposely didn’t commit to a rigid sailing plan.”

A consistent recommendation he received while cruising around the islands of Micronesia was Raja Ampat, an archipelago in eastern Indonesia.

Initially, Indonesia wasn’t on Winter’s schedule at all. Pirates, corrupt bureaucrats, petty theft and other sailors’ various cautions kept him from considering the territory at all, yet the crew began a new leg of their journey in 2019 and experienced the exact opposite of what they feared.

“The people are remarkably friendly, and they really want to help you. You can’t get lost there, you can’t be short of anything. They take it like a personal responsibility to be helpful,” Winter said when reflecting on his interactions with the locals around Indonesia. 

Then the Covid-19 pandemic struck. With the world descending into chaos and travel restrictions being quickly enforced, Winter and his wife left Indonesia, leaving their boat in the care of an Australian sailor who arranged to motor her on a Visa Run to East Timor while the couple returned to Hong Kong.

For the next two years, Winter split his time between Hong Kong and Indonesia. The only problem was the condition of his ship, which over two years of neglect, a rat attack and bee invasion began to deteriorate quickly.

Once travel restrictions eased, Winter and his crew were able to return to Indonesia  and spent 5 days restoring their ship. Their accomplishment filled them with pride as they sailed out of Sorong with growing confidence to explore more Indonesian territories.

But Winter shared his own caution to anyone who wishes to go adventure sailing: Don’t be too cocky or confident.

His advice comes from a rude awakening after a night in a beach resort. At around 5am, Isabel woke him up, claiming that their ship was gone. At first he didn’t believe it, yet when he got up and checked where the ship was moored, it really was gone.

“It’s every sailor’s worst nightmare, absolute worst nightmare when that happens,” he said.

The resort owner couldn’t believe it either, yet on the horizon, a small mast was just visible.

“That must be your boat,” the resort owner said.

Sure enough, it was. Winter, borrowing a fast boat from the resort, managed to retrieve his yacht with nearly everything intact. Nothing had been stolen, there was no damage. Soko had carefully weaved her way through the hazardous reefs and sand banks and the only thing out of order was the anchor chain neatly laid out on deck and a burned out anchor winch. To this day, no one has ever explained or claimed responsibility for what happened.

“It was absolutely weird,” Winter said. 

Throughout the talk, Winter also shared creative tips for surviving at sea, as well as more stories about crossing the equator, retracing the steps of Alfred Russel Wallace who discovered the Wallace Line and origins of species before Darwin, the historical importance of nutmeg on the Spice Islands and close counters with Komodo dragons.

Watch the full talk on our YouTube channel below:

It’s safe to say that Tony Parsons has had a life that can’t be replicated.

From humble beginnings as the only child of working-class parents to covering the rise of punk rock and writing George Michael’s biography — and so much more — he’s seen a career trajectory that was unheard of in his heyday, and even more so now.

After four years of unprecedented travel rearrangements due to Covid, Parsons was finally able to sit down with FCC Second Vice President Tim Huxley over a glass of wine and talk about his life. Along with him at this one-of-a-kind Club Dinner — an unorthodox yet successful event — were copies of his latest novel Who She Was.

Parsons first talked about why he became a writer. As a young child, he took boxing lessons from his “tough guy” father and read Rupert the Bear stories with his mother. 

“I just fell in love with stories, I just fell in love with the possibility of stories,” he said.

Parsons’ love for literature resulted in him publishing his first novel The Kids at the ripe-old age of 21. Although he admitted that as his earliest work, it wasn’t that good, but the book’s mere existence put him above his peers and led to his first true journalism gig at the New Musical Express (NME).

Punk rock was all the rage, and it was Parsons’ job to cover bands like The Sex Pistols, young guys who could have easily been his schoolmates. Occasionally he’d write stories about The Rolling Stones, fatherly figures in the rock n’ roll world who still found themselves behind bars every now and then after substance-fueled nights.

With concerts, parties, girls, music, and whatever writing he could fit in between all that mayhem, Parsons learned quickly that his new career wasn’t for the weak. He didn’t even receive any kind of formal training, he was immediately thrown out on the road without a lick of advice.

Instead of his editor or a senior journalist, it was Thin Lizzy’s lead singer Phil Lynott who sat Parsons down for a proper briefing before heading out on tour.

“Listen, it’s going to be quite rough the next few days,” Lynott began. “You’re going to be burned out really, really fast.”

Lynott also reminded Parsons that since they’re drinking vodka at breakfast, they’ve got to have it with orange juice for vitamin C, which will prevent them from getting sick. 

Parsons, who just turned 70 during his week-long visit to Hong Kong, reflected on the wild antics of his early 20s and noted that it’s not sustainable if one wants to live a long life. 

“I think they’re [drugs] always a dead end. If you’re going to do them, it’s got to be over by the time you’re 25. It’s not something you can do at a later age,” he said. 

Ironically, Parsons left NME at age 25. He began freelancing, not simply for the freedom and breath of fresh air it provided, but also because his former employer wasn’t as well-connected to the rest of the UK’s journalism landscape — despite the fame and notoriety.

“As soon as you stepped outside of that world, nobody knew who you were. Nobody cared. Even the best of us were just kind of unwanted and unknown in this little, wild rock n’ roll world for as long as it lasted,” he said.

Eventually his freelancing paid off when he was offered the chance to write George Michael’s biography — by George Michael himself.

The offer came from Michael’s suspicion that there were at least seven or eight biographies already being written about him. He was just 25 years old at the time, and Parsons was a full decade older.

Parsons offered to do it later on when he had accomplished more in his music career, but Michael insisted they do it now and kill all the other “unauthorized” books. They struck a deal and shook hands on splitting the profit 50/50.

Michael’s lawyers didn’t like the deal. When Parsons brought up the issue, the singer-songwriter simply told him not to worry or even think about it anymore. Once the biography was released, Parsons received the biggest payday he ever had up until that point in his life.

“I saw the power of someone that knows what I’m worth,” Parsons said.

Despite remaining close to Michael for many years after the biography, Parsons eventually had a falling out with the celebrity after publishing an interview in The Daily Mirror. The piece was edited by none other than Piers Morgan, and Michael didn’t want his words to be filtered through such a divisive figure. Parsons maintained that Morgan was a fantastic editor, and although he and George Michael parted ways, he looks back at the singer with “enormous affection.”

Parsons’ freelancing days also birthed his first ever trip to Hong Kong. 

While one of Parsons’ first Hong Kong experiences resulted in spending nearly all of his hard-earned cash on a night out in Wan Chai, the city’s toll on his wallet didn’t deter the writer from returning on and on throughout the years. The lights, action, beauty — and most importantly — his friends who stayed in Hong Kong for a lifetime are all what have enabled Parsons to say, “I’m on my 40th stay at the Mandarin.” To him, Hong Kong has a welcoming society that’s unmatched in other places.

“At any major city in the world, you turn up and everybody says ‘Who cares?’ You come to Hong Kong and people say ‘Join us.’ And I think that doesn’t get enough credit. I think that doesn’t get celebrated enough,” he said.

A handful of Parsons’ novels feature characters who have lived in Hong Kong and other parts of Asia, and even not being able to travel to Hong Kong during the Covid-19 pandemic also inspired his most recent work Who She Was, a psychological thriller set in Cornwall.

But regardless of whether it’s a novel or his weekly column in The Sun, or if it’s on the road or at home, the bottom line is that Parsons is writing. And while it may seem that being a journalist and an author with two opposing writing styles may be difficult, he finds that they actually complement each other — especially if one doesn’t work out.

“I always felt that I couldn’t rely on just one,” he said and further added that he wished he could see other talented journalists take a stab at writing their own novels.

When asked about advice for the new generation of journalists, Parsons gave a surprising answer.

“I’d avoid journalism,” he said. “Being a journalist is like saying ‘I want to work for the British Empire.’ Well, you know, you’re 100 years too late.”

Still, Parsons added that modern-day social media and other new tools can pioneer the budding careers of young journalists. What transcends from his generation to the next, however, is the love and enthusiasm for writing.

But, his advice comes with the final warning that times have indeed changed, and there’s no way that the rock n’ roll debauchery that dominated the early days of his reporting career could ever be cloned.

“You have to find a way to make it [journalism] work for yourself and in your own time. Good writing will always be valued. If you want to do it, great. But you’re not going to be taking drugs with Debbie Harry, ok? Forget about it,” he said.

Watch the full talk on our YouTube channel below: