I dropped by RTHK Radio 3 for a bipolar expresso (not to be confused with an espresso martini, which I also asked for) with rockstar producer Rachel Liu this World Bipolar Day! Thanks RTHK for making this happen at short notice and making me feel so welcome!
https://www.rthk.hk/radio/radio3/programme/brunch/episode/1088957
If any of this resonates with you, please join Bipolar Hong Kong, the SAR’s bipolar support group. Wishing all bipolar bears a World Bipolar Day that is juuuuuuuust right!
What a blast and a huge honour to have been invited to speak to students at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts as an ambassador for Mind HK about mental health, film and the arts alongside the amazing Kate Sullivan! Kate’s short film about mental health was screened at the event – check it out here! The event was moderated by the lovely Tiff! Thanks to everyone who made it happen!
This was my second event for Mind HK in the past month. I also had the joy of contributing as a panelist and an ambassador to Mind HK’s summer exhibition Listen to the Beat along with all these lovely people! 🥰
I discovered I’d been nominated for a GHP Mental Health Award a few weeks ago for my contribution via Mental Ideas and Bipolar Hong Kong. Well, apparently I’ve won ‘Most Dedicated Mental Health Advocate 2025’ (Hong Kong)! 😂 🙏🏼
Thanks to everyone who’s given me a platform to rant and muse about mental health, especially Mind HK and RTHK. It’s a lovely way to celebrate the 10th birthday of Bipolar Hong Kong! 🇭🇰 🩷
My piece suggesting strategies for alleviating the mental health impact of climate change was published a couple of weeks ago! Thanks to editor Jessica Chen. 🙏
Thanks to the South China Morning Post for publishing my ‘Rant‘ in last Sunday’s Post Magazine! I press buttons and rant the case for a new psychiatric term for ‘bipolar’. Your suggestions are welcome! Topping my shortlist is ‘Swingers’. It also has a double meaning, but at least it’s sexier than the spectre of nuclear attack…
There’s nothing I enjoy more in life than having a good rant! So thanks to the South China Morning Post for giving me an opportunity to have a cheeky ‘Bipolar Word’ in the ‘RANT’ section of Post Mag May 1st! This is the first opportunity the SCMP have given me to be anything other than a clown. I’m not suggesting ranting is bonafide journalism but it’s almost certainly the closest I’ll get to it.
Aiya – I have just heard from the editor that my rant has been bumped from May 1st for something more “time sensitive” (it better not be another u-turn on lifting Covid restrictions by Carrie Lam!!!) He’s promised me my rant will be published “very soon”, so hopefully the following Sunday, or the Sunday after that, or definitely before the end of 2047. Sorry!!
In the meantime, here are a couple of my old bipolar rants in SCMP articles I did not write myself…
Is it my bipolar mind playing tricks on me or are there now more awareness days than unawareness days? What about an Unawareness Awareness Day? Has anybody had the awareness or unawareness to think of that? If there is an Unawareness Awareness Day, I am unaware of it.
NoooooooOOOOOOO! I missed Bipolar Awareness Day March 30! But I wish you all a happy Bipolar Unawareness Day today. To mark the un-occasion, I did some digging and found my elusive, best ever screenshot of Bipolar Express in Dropbox. You don’t get much more educaitonal than THIS!
Sadly, it was swiftly amended by somebody who doesn’t enjoy an amusing typo as much as I do. I just didn’t see the point of subscribing after that…
Of course EVERY day is Bipolar Awareness Day if you have bipolar or care for somebody who does. And you shouldn’t have to face it alone!
Bipolar Hong Kong 躁鬱香港 started out as my humble blog in a some might say losing battle to try and keep myself sane. Over the past 7 years it has evolved into a leaderless movement of likeminded souls searching for enlightenment, empowerment and a platform to connect.
The group offers free, monthly support groups in Central and (since 2020) on Zoom for Hongkongers affected by bipolar disorder, their friends and families, including peer mentoring, the odd socially distanced social, and access to creative opportunities via Mental Ideas. If you’re looking for peer support, a chance to vent and share ideas, join us!
Everybody welcome!
Thanks to South China Morning Post journo Anthea Rowan for featuring me in her article exploring the stormy creative highs and lows of bipolar disorder in Monday’s SCMP!
Thanks also to SCMP photographer Antony Dickson for an hilarious impromptu photoshoot on my roof, where for no particular reason (other than the weather was nice) we decided to recreate classic scenes from two of my favorite movies with my new poo Mojo Hobo Kaye!
Can’t believe I’m writing this… RIP Reuben M Tuck! Truly one of the funniest, whip smart, joyous, down to earth (while never quite of this earth) and loveliest people on the planet. The undisputed star of my 2015 Bipolar Express doc and someone I had known since I was 18 (and he led me astray – or it might have been the other way round). He died peacefully at home in Thailand but was only 58. Absolutely heartbroken for his wife Normandy, his family and all those who loved him. FU 2020. RIP Rueb
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You can hear Reuben talking about his bipolar with his trademark charisma, candor, humor and wisdom here:
https://www.rthk.hk/radio/radio3/programme/bipolar_express
One type of podcast guest that’s proved easy to secure in the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic is grounded airline cabin crew. Bipolar is a condition that’s often been associated with mad creative geniuses, like Van Gough, Beethoven, Mozart, Theresa May and Carrie Lam. But what if you work as a first class bathroom assistant for a living and don’t have a creative bone in your body? The Agitated Air Stewardess is a harrowing tale of triumph in the face of absurdity. Florence Wong ROCKS!!!
The Mental Ideas Podcast is back on RTHK Radio 3 this Thursday (April 23) @ 2.30 HKT, where I’m talking psychopaths in The Psychopathic Actor with French actor Philippe Joly who isn’t one (allegedly). Don’t miss it!!!
