5 Hong Kong men open up about men’s health this Movember

Nima King, founder of Mindful Wing Chun

After an adventurous upbringing in Iran and Australia, Nima King moved to Hong Kong at the age of 21 and established full-time kung fu school, Mindful Wing Chun in 2008. 

“I’ve been teaching wing chun for 20 years and practice it daily. When I first came to Hong Kong I practiced over six hours a day with my master,” says King. 

The kung fu practice is said to have been created by the legend of Ng Mui, an abbess who taught it to her student Yim Wing-chun as a means to defend herself against unwanted advances. But for King, the benefits are significantly more. 

“Beyond the obvious physical benefits of the sport, our particular method of kung fu improves the quality of life in deeper physical aspects such as postural correction, pain relief through deep relaxation and realignment,” says King. 

With Hong Kong’s long working hours and social weekends, King believes the practice’s mindful approach can lead to mental and emotional transformation and a happier life. “The self-defence aspect of this particular method of kung fu is merely a branch on the tree of its benefits,” he says.

Growing up amidst the Iran and Iraq war with an extremely violent father, King suppressed many of his emotions, but upon finding the discipline of wing chun kung fu he began to break through the internal walls and experience true happiness. 

“As men, we are often expected to man up, hide our emotions and push through the difficulties of life. But there can be no true happiness without inner peace and balance,” says King.

Opening up about his experiences, he admits that wing chun has not only transformed his life, but saved it. “It helped me overcome external and internal violence and possibly saved me from being locked-up or buried six-feet underground.”

Nathaniel Leung, city sports team leader at Decathlon

Since the age of 11, Nathaniel Leung has involved in sports in one way or another. As a youngster, he was deeply involved in football programs with the Yuen Long district team and went on to play football with the Hong Kong C Team. 

But Leung’s journey to success was far from a fairy tale. Overcoming physical and mental challenges has been among his biggest obstacles.

“When I was young, I wasn’t as eager to excel and be the best,” he admits. “My attitude was worse than others. I was just the kid brought to football training by his dad. Nothing special.” 

Now as the city sports team leader at Decathlon, Leung says his sportsman attitude didn’t develop until he was nearly 20-years-old. “I was lucky to be brought under the wings of coach Lai,” Leung reminisces about trainer and teacher, Lai Sun Cheung. “After my first injury, I spent my recovery days training one-on-one with coach Lai. It was the first time I’ve ever felt so trusted by a coach and my first time ever being complimented like that.”

Read more: How Sherie Kong became Hong Kong’s first female jockey

As an athlete, Leung thinks the essence of sportsmanship is to weather the storm and keep going, no matter what you’re going through. From 10 to 30-years-old, the once young and budding footballer has matured into the man he is today. 

“I’d say to be a man is to be responsible and keep up a can-do spirit,” he says. “Start gradually and don’t go too hard on yourself. The easiest way is to start by doing something light and be persistent.”

Aaron Stadlin-Robbie, co-founder of Talking Mental and ambassador for Movember Hong Kong

Growing up in Hong Kong with his family, Aaron Stadlin-Robbie began experiencing anxiety and panic attacks some seven years ago. During the first year he was in and out of the hospital, after being misdiagnosed with a vitamin B12 deficiency. After finally meeting a psychiatrist, his true diagnosis was revealed.

“It was kind of a relief for me, because I had been dealing with a problem on my own and not really knowing what it really was,” says Stadlin-Robbie.

After a few years and learning more about anxiety and how to deal with it, Stadlin-Robbie decided to talk publicly about his experience, so created his own platform, Talking Mental.

“I realised that talking about it really benefited me and getting help in Hong Kong is not easy or affordable. This was an opportunity for me to speak to a lot of these people and also help myself to get better.”

Read more: Where to find mental health resources in Hong Kong

Talking Mental is a digital content platform which aims to offer resources to those experiencing  mental health difficulties. From working with corporate companies creating engaging material for employees to organising campaigns to raise awareness in the community, Talking Mental aims to create relatable content to raise awareness and increase education around mental health.

“I am proud to be working closely with the Movember campaign, which is also raising awareness around the issues of men’s mental health. I feel as men, we always want to feel like we are in control. And because of that, we have trouble talking about a subject where we can be perceived as losing control.”

Stadlin-Robbie believes Hong Kong needs to change the narrative on how mental health is perceived. “With physical health, men talk about their injuries all the time as there is a certain strength to battling through an injury while performing. Once we see mental health in the same light, we’ll see men talk about it just as much.” 

A new “Speak Easy” campaign inspired by Movember, to help push this idea along is also in the works. “We want to introduce the idea of a ‘Speak Easy’ to encourage men to gather in a room (or a bar) to casually get people to start opening up. It gives men a strong network and helps them to demonstrate that they certainly aren’t alone.”

Dr Conrad Lee, a cancer specialist

Taking responsibility for their health and wellbeing is not something that guys have been very good at doing. But Dr Conrad Lee is on a mission to change that long-held and, let’s face it, unnecessary tradition. 

“It’s important for men to take responsibility for their health,” says Dr Lee. “Early intervention for all cancers and most diseases makes a huge difference to improving the outcome.”

With dual qualifications in medical and clinical oncology, Dr Lee specialised in cancer and currently works from his clinic on Hong Kong Island, offering a range of services, including the all-important screening men from all different age groups.

The most common health concerns for men include, he says, are cardiovascular disease, colon, lung and prostate cancers. Chances of serious medical problems and their associated risk factors increase with age.

But while blokes are generally aware of these diseases, many feel uncomfortable seeking medical attention. 

He says men should go for routine check-ups every one to three years depending on risk, family history and age, in order to prevent cardiovascular disease. 

Screenings for colon cancer should be done with yearly occult stool-blood tests and endoscopy every five years for those aged 50 or above. 

Screening for prostate or lung cancer is an important yet controversial topic in Hong Kong,” he says. 

“Prostate cancer has risen by a staggering three-fold in Hong Kong over the past three decades. The current local lifetime risk is one in 26 people living up to 75-years-old, but up to 12 percent in the USA,” he adds. 

Dr Lee says that by promoting better public awareness, education and health literacy, more men will seek medical attention earlier and can make the appropriate lifestyle modifications to reduce the risk of these diseases. 

Sound advice that men of all ages should take heed.