Emma-Lee Moss, who makes music as Emmy the Great, on life, new motherhood and her divided birthplace<\/p>\n
It feels as if the entire world\u2019s press is there, standing on the pavement outside the Foreign Correspondents\u2019 Club. They\u2019re in Hong Kong to cover the protests, but tonight, the Friday before National Day, they\u2019re off duty. From the bottom of the hill, the bars of Lan Kwai Fong thrum reliably. There is an uneasy peace in the air, as though we all know that, three days from now, the long-running citywide demonstrations will reach a violent new apex.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve walked this route hundreds of times, and been a parade of different selves. I\u2019ve been a teenager trying to score 7-11 beer on the spot where Chungking Express was filmed. I\u2019ve been a visiting writer ordering drinks at the FCC bar. But now I am the mother and primary carer of a nine-month-old, and my time out has been negotiated. Quite frankly, I am dazzled by the world after 7pm. As I shuffle past the media crowd, I feel a pull, a yearning. In another life, I\u2019d be there with them. When I moved back to Hong Kong in 2018, it was in search of stories about the strange, convoluted city I was born in.<\/p>\n