Where Is My Home Where Is My Next Home? | By Janas Lau

{Book Information} Title: Where Is My Next Home? Author: Liu Peipei, Janas Lau Category: graphic stories, Hong Kong original picture books Price: HK$108 Book width: 148 mm (h) x 210 mm (w) Binding: paperback Content pages: 96 pages ISBN: 978-988-79669-6-8 Publisher: Lattice Box Studio {brief introduction} Home Is Where The Heart Is. Where the heart is, where the home is. The author Janas Lau uses delicate watercolor paintings and simple story text to describe the experience of an eight-year-old boy Ming Tsai who lives in Hong Kong (forced) to move again and again; let readers think deeply about the definition of "home", Also examine and reflect on the current housing issues in Hong Kong; think together──Where is my home? *** Eight-year-old Mingzai lives in a cramped subdivided room with his family. This small place is Ming Tsai's most important "home". However, a fire destroyed Mingzai's home. Unable to afford the expensive rent in the urban area, the Ming Tsai family had to move to a metal house in the New Territories. Surviving adversity, the Ming Tsai family not only adapted to rural life, but also integrated into the community and groups in the village, falling in love with farming and the beautiful nature. I thought I had a new home, a new life, and new hopes, but the good times are still fleeting... Mingzai's family was forced to relocate again! Where is the safest home in Hong Kong today? {About the Author} Liu Peipei Janas Lau was born and raised in Hong Kong. After graduating from the Japanese Studies Department of the University of Hong Kong, he went to Tokyo, Japan to study photography. He lived in Japan for two years. Influenced by ukiyo-e works, he began to paint and devoted himself to the exquisite and meticulous style of painting. After returning to Hong Kong, he has been engaged in advertising production for more than ten years. In 2017, he went to London, England to study a master's course in children's picture books and graphic novels, and became an illustrator. The English version of "Where Is My Next Home" picture book story Where Is My Next Home? has won the following international illustration awards: ・Shortlist for the 2019 Cheltenham Illustration Award ・Shortlisted for the 2018/19 Clairvoyants International Illustration Competition Outstanding Works List {preface} "Where is My Home" was created when I was studying children's picture books and graphic novels at Middlesex University in London, UK. Living outside, I feel homesick. Therefore, during my studies, I wanted to write a story about Hong Kong and Hong Kong people, a story that resonates with everyone. Thinking and watching, I chose the theme of subdivided housing as a blueprint and wrote a story about the housing problem in Hong Kong. The story of the main character, Ming Tsai, has the shadow of my life when I was a child. I was born and raised in Hong Kong, and my family of nine used to live together in a house of only 300 feet. In the 1980s, the disparity between the rich and the poor in Hong Kong was not as serious as it is now, and people seldom judge others based on the size of the place they live in. Although the home is small, it is full of human feelings and very warm. In those years, there were quite a few families like Xiao Ming. Regrettably, over the past 30 years, the living conditions of some Hong Kong people have become worse and more difficult than before. A solid job may not lead to a peaceful life. Every day, every month, I rush to plan and plan for the rising rent. It is difficult to be calm on the surface. I hope that through the story of "Where is My Home", I will share the life fragments that I and many Hong Kong people have experienced, and express my complaint against the deteriorating housing environment in Hong Kong. When I wrote the preface, it was the summer of 2019. Although the environment was turbulent and the future was uncertain, I felt that Hong Kong people had an unwavering affection for their home in Hong Kong. Perhaps, like Ming Tsai, he still doesn’t know where to move in the end, but the old saying is still true: Home Is Where The Heart Is. Where the heart is, where the home is. In the future, I hope that we can all live with dignity in Hong Kong, and at the same time, be able to coexist and coexist with the most precious nature in Hong Kong.