love, love, love

RED PACKETS ARE pouring in, there are turnip cakes and puddings stacked to our shoulders, and heart-shaped chocolates and notices of Valentine’s Day menus being delivered every other day. This month’s issue is ushering in the lunar new year and the month of love and togetherness with as much colour and spirit as befits the occasion.

Kicking things off with “Rite of Spring” ( page 24), we celebrate the age-old custom of visiting friends and relatives decked in new clothes to gather and give good wishes for the year ahead – even if, in reality, we might all be Zooming one another thanks to Omicron.

We also look at love in all its forms, from romantic attachment to devotion to one’s passions. Lovebirds Louise Wong and her husband Sheldon Lo, who grace our inside cover ( page 81), talk about how they bring out the best in themselves and each other despite having divergent interests and backgrounds.

Our jewellery shoot “I wanna hold your hand” ( page 48) is a technicolour display that hopes to convey how love is love no matter the colour. And, lest we forget to love ourselves, we cover the newly opened Mindish ( page 44), a space for all of us to find room to heal, recover and grow.

We also look to M+, in an interview with Suhanya Raffel ( page 92), to see what this paean to visual culture is hoping to achieve in Hong Kong. And while we spotlight creators who are committed to their craft in every issue, fashion designer Huishan Zhang ( page 36) and children’s book author and illustrator Xiong Liang ( page 104) are two figures that are reshaping and reimagining what they produce through their craft and making more room for Chinese creators on a global stage.

For those looking for practical advice this Valentine’s Day, head to our annual gift guide ( page 60) where we’ve selected items that are guaranteed to score brownie points. As for what to do, we realise not everyone is coupled up so we’ve polled some of our #legend100, be they in a couple, families or solo, to find out what they think makes for a great V Day ( page 98).

I’ve saved the best for last. Our cover star Ruby Lin ( page 68) – a force of nature graced with the most cherubic looks – is an actress with almost three decades of work to her name. She brings such passion and determination to every endeavour from professional to personal that while debate might rage on as to whether women can have it all, she’s just out there showing us it’s completely possible.

At the end of the day, it’s about love. Love for community, for self, for a métier. And that’s what really makes the world go round.