Hong Kong ballet legend, actress and fashion designer Flora Zeta Cheong-Leen attends the Straight Talk show on TVB, May 23, 2023. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Hong Kong’s ballet legend, fashion designer and former actress Flora Zeta Cheong-Leen is on our show this week.

She talks about her father, the late Hilton Cheong-Leen, and his influence on her life. She also talks about the role of dance in her life and her dream to grow this area on the mainland.

Check out the full transcript of TVB’s Straight Talk host Dr Eugene Chan’s interview with Dr Flora Zeta Cheong-Leen:

Chan: Good evening! Thank you for joining us on Straight Talk. I'm sure many Hong Kong people will recognize our guest, Dr Flora Zeta Cheong Leen. Flora is an accomplished ballerina, and was the leading actress in 10 full-length movies before becoming a fashion designer. Flora received the World Outstanding Chinese Business and Art Award in 2007, and Hong Kong 10 Outstanding Young Persons Award in 1990. She has created several fashion labels, and is a dedicated philanthropist using her skills and resources to promote various charitable causes. Tonight, we have asked Flora to share with us her life journey as a dancer and a fashion entrepreneur. Welcome, Flora!

Cheong-Leen: Hello, doc!

Chan: Right. So, it has been a long time that we have seen you in Hong Kong, and I'm sure many people in Hong Kong have missed you. And I understand part of the reason that you're back in Hong Kong this time is to hold a memorial service for your late father, Hilton Cheong-Leen, who passed away in January last year at the age of 99. And my deepest condolences to you and your family.

Cheong-Leen: Thank you.

Chan: Your late father, Hilton was the longest uninterrupted serving elected office holder in Hong Kong’s history, of the Urban Council from 1957 to 1991, some 34 years. Knowing that you will be on the show, a lot of people have shared with me that he was a dear mentor to many and known for his love for Hong Kong. He will be missed sorely. So, Flora, can you tell us a bit more about your father, especially when he was a councilor how he stood up firmly, especially when he was a minority at that time?

Cheong-Leen: I think because he's from South America. He's used to being a minority and he fights for everything he believes in. And he was very ... at an early age, he went to Harvard to study politics under Henry Kissinger. So, he built his strength from strength. And in Hong Kong at the time, he was the first Chinese elected properly government person, and who can speak very good English. His Chinese wasn't very good. But he, I think, he believed in saving, helping and merging all the general people and to build education, because he had very international education from South America, he went to Beijing first and learned Chinese Mandarin, and then came to Hong Kong. He felt, wow, this is a fantastic melting pot, can build pluralistic and very cross over styles. He always felt we are from the earth, we have no racial issues, we must become all international. So, he built his life under the Civic Association. And then that's to do with helping education, and also the hawkers, the general people.

Chan: Well, Flora, your father was truly a legend in Hong Kong. And he was a key player in the transformation of Hong Kong to become an international financial center. I believe that he was known as the mayor of Hong Kong, when he was elected in 1981. As the first Chinese chairman of the Urban Council, he has left a great legacy. But on a personal note, how has he influenced your life, and also on your choice of your actual career?

Cheong-Leen: I think right from the start is just all about how he groomed us that we live from one crisis to another that will never end. So, that's normality. It's not that I groom you to have a perfect life and become a ballerina. No. Life is about building from scratch every day with calamities with all sorts of crises. So, when he wrote in 1962, in his first little pamphlet book, he said that Hong Kong people are going through from one crisis to another, and we just have to use individual strengths and group together a lot of other people's strengths, from all walks of life to overcome, things will pass. So, he actually groomed me with this mantra. So, I have used that in every career I've done. It's not easy in any career as a lady, as a woman at that time, or as a young girl.

Chan: Right. You know, you have done many things. You were a ballerina. You had movies and a fashion entrepreneur, now you're doing your philanthropy. So, what has he said to you over all these years? Because he's all been around, hasn't he?

Cheong-Leen: Yes, he actually believes change must be current, you must be progressive, you must be relevant. So, if you change your career, he always says, you have to know what's coming next not to repeat what's past. So, what's coming next, you have to be original, you have got to have something that you have that nobody has. So, then you are able to fight in the market, because it is a difficult place for everybody because things are ... the weather, the current structure, the future is changing. And you have to know how to predict. You have to know all the north, south, east, west from all of the world, what is happening to this world. So, he always told me, you have to know about politics, you have to know about the business, you have to know about all sorts of people, how people can work. So, my mother’s from Beijing. So, I wanted to experiment more. The different structure of people. Hong Kong people are lucky, I feel because it's only Kowloon, Hong Kong, you know, it's quite a fantastic place for the last 20 years for me, 30 years. But China, to me, it has a lot of … 1,000 levels of different types of people, just the ethnics groups, and it gave me much more education, to use this mantra to go and experiment and learn from so, I have to put different ethnic groups together in a united piece to film or to do the fashion or to … it's absolutely exciting.

Chan: Flora, your father was known for strongly believing that traditional Chinese values were applicable in the modern world in Hong Kong, and he strove hard to prove East-West compatibility. So, how have you continued to validate this in your own life and business? This is East-West sort of issue?

Cheong-Leen: Well, because I was lucky enough to have gone to the Royal Ballet. So, I was very rightfully English for a while. But because Hong Kong people thought we were all English people. But then when dad started being the mayor of Hong Kong, I felt very proud to be the first Chinese to be in England, then brought everything to Hong Kong. And I joined Hong Kong ballet because he was on the board. He was on the Hong Kong Ballet Board as Urban Council, grooming arts and culture. And therefore I kind of feel, I must continue this English then it was English to Hong Kong. It was that crossover. But now Hong Kong became the bridge. So, it's even more we can play with its extreme western and extreme Chinese to China. So, I love to do things that are full of these crossover ideas.

Chan: Right. You just mentioned you are the first kind of person of Asian descent to study at the Royal Academy of Ballet. How old were you then? I mean, did you face any actual discrimination at that particular time?

Cheong-Leen: Okay, I must tell you the difference between the Royal Ballet and the Royal Academy. The Royal Academy is an academic examination board. So, anyone can do it all over the world is the Commonwealth thing. All the Commonwealth countries can examine. Royal Ballet is the professional dance school. So, I went to a professional dance school. And that really groomed me … that was tough because I was the only Chinese.

Chan: Did you face any discrimination at that particular time?

Cheong-Leen: Of course, of course.

Chan: How old were you then?

Cheong-Leen: Nine.

Chan: Wow.

Cheong-Leen: They just come up and go touch me. Oh, she's an alien. They think I'm an alien, because all the girls are perfectly white. And I was the first Chinese but they treated me well because it was boarding school. So, I actually felt like … if you see the same people every day, I forgot I was Chinese. They forgot I was Chinese. We just became one. And we grew up together.

Chan: So, it takes time to get used to…

Cheong-Leen: Yes, yes. But I used to cry behind the curtains. And I couldn't tell people, you're crying because that means you're weak.

Chan: So, what does it take to become a good ballerina, in short?

Cheong-Leen: Mental, physical, emotional, social and spiritual. The five elements, you don't have it, you're out. You have a perfect physique, but you're weak. No. Emotionally, you are like turmoil. No. If you're not spiritually strong that you can endure all challenges, fight. Fever. Just keep on going. You really have to suffer.

Chan: Did you ever have ... did you ever need a mentor in Hong Kong? Do you have a teacher?

Cheong-Leen: Jane Wong, Jane Wong is my mentor and she's just absolutely disciplined. The minute you enter, your shoes are not in the right place. Put it away. You know, she's absolutely … groom you are a charismatic, young person, very disciplined.

Chan: Right, you also... apart from your experience, you also were involved in the development of ballet in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Ballet for the last 35 years. So, why is it so important to promote ballet from your point of view? And how is it going to change Hong Kong?

Cheong-Leen: I think Hong Kong became very strong as a male and female, equal city, it’s because all the ladies had arts and culture, grooming. It started many years ago, more than 50 years ago, this Hong Kong Ballet group. It was all these teachers who got together and built students. So, they discipline a lady's breathing, how you talk, how you speak, how elegant from inside out, then came Hong Kong Ballet as a professional dance company. So, they are like the advertisement for ballerinas, they're professional. So, under these two, I was with both, I'm still with both and we feel all the ladies … one lady can kind of like vibrations, gives out the signal that you have to sit stronger or taller, talk better, always say good things, always be positive, always give love and people will reciprocate.

Therefore, I think, due to … I have to say this, all the Hong Kong ballet teachers are saints because they actually help to groom the standard of refinement in young ladies.

Chan: Before we go to the break. One quick question is, I know that you love ballet. But why do you go to the Chinese mainland to help with more ballet?

Cheong-Leen: I feel England, everyone is so well-mannered. And Hong Kong is just absolutely better. Hong Kong ladies are even more refined, I think in so many ways. But the mainland right now, they really need female grooming and breeding in international standards.

Chan: Right Flora, let's take a short break now. And viewers, we will be right back.

Straight Talk presenter Eugene Chan (left) interviews Flora Zeta Cheong-Leen, May 23, 2023. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Chan: Thank you for staying with us. We have the pleasure of having Flora Zeta Cheong-Leen on our show this evening, and we have been talking about her father, the legendary Hilton Cheong-Leen, and his influence on her life. She has also been telling us about the role of dance in her life and her dream to grow this area on the mainland. So, Zeta, just before the break, we had briefly touched on the area of the mainland, and you said earlier in Hong Kong, ballet actually helped our ladies to be better groomed and be real lady-like. So how is your experience in mainland? Are we any different?

Cheong-Leen: I think so. I think I have been in China for many many years, I can’t tell you, I think it is probably more than 20-30 years, because mom is from Beijing.

Chan: Right.

Cheong-Leen: And my mother came from a very well-bred family because they play instruments, they are well educated at the time, pre-war, they were all university graduates. So, they were skating, they were horse riding, they were driving cars, it was just normal. But I think there was a period where things changed and didn’t move. So, therefore now to bring the whole awareness, we have to bring back the contemporary culture to keep current. And the ladies, I can say they have this command style from their parents, like “you stand, you sit, you do this, you do that”, otherwise it is not … you are not filial. So, I think now they are now beginning to voice out their opinions, because Chairman Mao said “half the sky is men, half the sky is women”. But actually, for you to come out just like a man, it is incorrect. So, we cannot be this bossy command, there are many ways, negotiations how do we bring up our children, how do we eat, how do we talk, how do we give space for others to give their opinion.

Chan: Have you seen our ladies in the mainland actually improve with their way of living through ballet?

Cheong-Leen: I think they have improved through financial, they look good.

Chan: Right.

Cheong-Leen: But the minute they start talking or they start yelling or they start doing things like flaunting, it is a little bit abrupt to us, where we are a little bit more respectful towards each other, let’s say that. They don’t really understand that, they just think …

Chan: Is it changing though?

Cheong-Leen: It is changing. Through ballet, yes. Because I make my students very disciplined, don’t speak loudly, think before you speak. If you have nothing good to say, keep your mouth, lips smiling.

Chan: Right.

Cheong-Leen: And then just keep it in your heart, and maybe discuss it, don’t gossip. Success comes from giving love and kindness. Otherwise it becomes fighting.

Chan: Right. So, Flora, I am sure the viewers until now we feel your passion on education and your love for other people. And I know that you have set up a Tian Art Foundation that you help to promote dance for the underprivileged and for the orphans. So, how has that changed their lives?

Cheong-Leen: Actually dad. We did this 13 years ago, he is the chairman, and all my brothers and sisters, we are all in the committee. We built it because we felt that education … my father gave free education to secondary in Hong Kong. He promoted it and it was successful. So, I want to give free … actually it is not just dance, it is performing arts.

Chan: Right.

Cheong-Leen: So, we want to give scholarships to the underprivileged, the orphans, the autistic children, and poverty, poor children, and extra-talented children. From there, you go ground up, young people groom, they start grooming the older people. And it becomes a little bit more longer, but because I have opened the school and our philanthropy for over 13 years now, but it is very important … oh, the charity foundation in Hong Kong is 19 years.

Chan: Right.

Cheong-Leen: But my school is, my schools are like 12-13 years. And I put them together. So, the actual paying students work with non-paying students, the well-to-do with non-well-to-do, they cross culture, groom each other. And that will bring up from all levels, it’s the thousand levels, not just rich and poor, it is just so many grey areas in China.

Chan: Right.

Cheong-Leen: But I think it is working, this model is working because not only teachers can influence, students watch each other. If I am eating a 5-star lunch and you are having rice and just a bit of pickles, they share. And it helps. It gives a child and enable them to be philanthropic as well. So, I am trying to build a much more important breeding house of self-grooming, helping each other, instead of just command and demand, you just do ballet. So, this foundation builds the entire structure. We have boys too. So, the boys have to learn from administration, to stage production, to do arts and crafts for doing a little stage craft, make costumes, makeup, so that they are all well-groomed in the theatre arena, not just on stage and not just a star.

Chan: Flora, from dance, you starred as a lead actress in several Chinese movies as we stated earlier. And then you actually moved onto fashion designing. You have made a name for yourself, and you had developed a few, several clothing lines. How do you get interested in fashion? As you said earlier, you want to be trying different things. And how are … do you have a message in the fashion that you are actually doing?

Cheong-Leen: Well, let’s go back to two things. I never intended to become an actress or become a designer. The fashion really is that someone bumped into me in the street and said, “You look good. Be a model.” Okay, model. And from model, “Oh, you do this.” And then I started designing. Acting was just an accident. They saw me, I was at Miss Hong Kong because Siu Fong could not … Josephine Fong, got pregnant and cannot do it overnight. I did something on TVB and that was it. It was a contract offer, because that came back from the Royal Ballet. An accident. And then fashion, it was because my sister fell in love with a Frenchman, and she started a fashion house. And she goes “but I love this guy, fashion or …”, I said, “Go, go, go, I help you stand in.” So, overnight she goes “the budget is this, cost at this percent of the rent, and then that’s the cost of the …  sell it like this … go to your cabin and get some clothing and just make it”. So, I did costume design, so said, “Okay, I will just help you.” Help, help, help, she never came back. So, I became this fashion designer. As accident, but I helped my family, yet then I became successful because I think I studied along the way continuously. So, I feel like this brand is successful at the time because I used very western ways, like cheap Hawaii, I used to make it backless, and use leather with embroidery, or use … now I am using very natural vegetable, fruit dyes, and use reused fabric to remake vintage clothes. And I make ballerina leotards and tutus. So, I actually work with everybody, from India, from Japan. The poorest place in China, they do this wax dyeing. So, I go everywhere to make this, but my motto is really to save the world, I do not want to use real dye, just vegetable dye.

Chan: Right. Flora, thank you for sharing of your feelings about fashion. But what advice would you give to young aspiring Hong Kong people who want to get into the fashion design business? Because it seems very glamorous, I mean you look nice today. I am sure your people, your clients would be very happy to have your clothes. What would you advise the young persons?

Cheong-Leen: I think be current, feel what is happening. Everyone is going IT crazy and going AI crazy. So, maybe use the new technology and use new ways, find new ways of making your shapes. And you have to think of the future and not now. If you repeat another collection, that is just going to open a boutique and sit there and wait for people, I think better not do it. I think better just get into marketing or doing merchandizing, help big houses because they have the infrastructure. Like everything is nobody, cars are running without people, the machines have no-one there, and the clothes is like you can make it with machines. But yet, what design patterns, is it done by your hand? Designs now are all electronically done. So, maybe think of something original.

Chan: Right.

Cheong-Leen: Otherwise it is just going to sit there as a waste.

Chan: Right. Flora, we have also been talking about from your dancing, your fashion design, and a bit of acting. We talked about arts and culture that you have great passion for. How do you, in your opinion, what role does art and culture will help shape the identity of Hong Kong, that I think we really need a strong identity. How can we use to leverage to promote social and political change in our lives in your opinion?

Cheong-Leen: I think from a dance point of view, Hong Kong is a very progressive place. We have to keep that going. Like Hong Kong Ballet, we do not just want to be the Royal Ballet or just another company doing Swan Lake and Giselle. Our director is fantastic, he crossovers film to like vogue fashion to new stories. We just did Coco Chanel, we did Hong Kong style Romeo and Juliet about two families. I think it is about how we bring forward our essence and images.

Chan: Right. Flora, time goes very fast.

Cheong-Leen: Sorry.

Chan: Sorry, we want to ask you a last question. You have been in the mainland for 20-30 years, and you know there will be more and more integration needed between Hong Kong and the mainland. What tips would you give to Hong Kong people, so that they can quickly and happily integrate into the life of mainland?

Cheong-Leen: I think it is not integrate. If you look at it that way, it is too slow. We must get involved, the whole buffet must include the bigger world and don’t just talk about mainland. Mainland is very international now, honestly, everyone is in there. So, let’s just go into the melting pot and groom ourselves as earthling, everything goes, Chinese and western, same story, yin and yang. And if it goes faster, it will turn brilliantly energized, energy needs that.

Chan: Right. Flora, I am afraid that is all the time we have.

Cheong-Leen: That’s perfect.

Chan: I wish we have a longer interview. We appreciate your time with us, Flora. And I am sure your passion for ballet and fashion design has inspired many in Hong Kong and on the mainland. Your father must be proud that his legacy and can-do spirit lives on in you. Thank you viewers for tuning in, and we will see you next time.