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able to retain that which might otherwise be lost. Hence, the book deals thematically with how we keep our memories. Teoh explained that when the articles were arranged, she could see fragments of memories from throughout her life. As I read “On Hennessy Road”, my heart seemed to skip a beat. The first paragraph unfolded in slow-motion like a scene from a Wong Kar-wai film: images of “walking on Hennessy Road, where the old and new meet”; “hearing the chiming sounds approaching from a distance every so often”; “and then the tram passes by slowly, the old electric tram certainly a sight unique to Hennessy Road to travellers like me”. Having worked for four years in Wan Chai and Hennessy Road, many places mentioned were familiar to me, including Honolulu Café, Lockhart Road, Jaffe Road, Gloucester Road, and the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. These locations evoked memories, collecting the fragmented remembrances that I had left scattered deep in my mind. Low Pooi Fong’s The Lost Woodpecker The cover of Low Pooi Fong’s The Lost Woodpecker was created by the author. Noticing the continually changing colour of tree bark, she photographed this phenomenon with her mobile phone. She had also illustrated a woodpecker she had seen for use on the cover. Low and Teoh were colleagues both working together in Lianhe Zaobao. She has won several literary awards while being a columnist for the paper. Low spent her younger days living next to a nature reserve and often heard the noise made by woodpeckers in the distance, much like a lullaby. Framed by her love of nature, The Lost Woodpecker describes a nostalgia for lost nature. One time, she encountered a red-crowned white-bellied woodpecker in the woods. Connecting this to the theme of memory, her writing reminds readers that there are many beautiful things in life that we can only encounter by chance. Her early experience as a war correspondent helped to shape Low’s clarity of perspective, concise writing, and nimble use of language, demonstrated fully in this new book. I am especially fond of pieces such as “Putting Patriotism on the Faces”, “Fighting an Unwinnable War”, and “Between Hope and Disappointment”, which were a joy to read. Low left me with the impression of being passionate and unconstrained. Hiking in the mountains all year round, she gave especial attention to wildlife conservation and topics of nature. When she sees wildlife such as wild boars and otters appearing in residential areas, she regards this as a consequence of humans invading the habitats of the animals first. In this technological age, the sincerity and purity of her passion for nature is truly a rare thing. Soon Ailing’s Slow Walk Like her two friends, Soon Ailing is also a columnist for Lianhe Zaobao and has also received numerous awards. She is an educator with years of experience, and the only frequent traveller among them, bouncing between Singapore and Hong Kong all year round. As a Singaporean overseas, her affection, nostalgia, and love for these two cities is clearly expressed in her new book Slow Walk. Like her writing, Soon is lively and witty in person, often teasing herself as she calmly talked about her life experiences. One of the most engaging parts of the event was when Soon spoke about the 135 popularnews - 43