'Life was Like a Box of Chocolates...'
By Bo Lou

There is a line in the movie of "Forrest Gump", "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." Inky Leong might be the best example of this saying.

Leong may not have the most dramatic life in the world, but his life is definitely meant to be extraordinary. Leong, who is now only 24, is already the Head of the Women's Wear Department of Herm鋊 and also one of the writers of the Macao Magazine Soda. But what has made him so special is that he is a person who only had primary school education. 

Leong learnt the lesson of life that was full of surprises when he was only 15 years old. His mother suddenly made a decision to leave her only son and went to London alone. And in the following morning, Leong found himself waking up in an empty house. "That period of time was the most depressing moment in my life. I thought the world had abandoned me," Leong said.

And misfortunes never come singly. During the darkest moment of Leong, he found himself no longer wanting to continue his study at school, so he stopped his school life when he was only a Form 2 student. He was so lost during that period of time and he even started to take drugs.

Luckily the turning point of his life happened when he was 17; he found a job in a financial company. In the company, he started to meet a lot of friends who were much older than him. Everyday these seniors would tell him a great deal of life experiences and taught him how to face difficulties. Leong said that at that time when he went to work every day, it was like going to a life school. He loved his job and the colleagues. And he once again found hope in his life.

When everything seemed finally going on smoothly, the financial crisis hit the world without a warning and Leong lost his job as his company went bankrupt.    
After being unemployed, he decided to use up all his saving to go to Europe for a long trip. "When I was far away from my hometown, I looked up to the sky; I began to think this was really a big world and I thought I could be a better person," Leong said.

After the European trip, Leong made a big u-turn. He went back to Macao and found a job immediately in a completely different field, fashion. He once again created a miracle because he became the youngest Store Manager of Vivien Westwood when he was only 20 years old.

Not for long, another surprise came. As he continued working in the field of fashion, he discovered that he had a talent in that. So he started to build up his own blog on the Internet, and in a short period of time, several Hong Kong fashion blogs started to invite him to write for them. And his popularity grew unexpectedly. Later, his friends introduced him to the chief editor of Soda, who invited Leong to be a permanent writer of the magazine.

Being a successful man now, Leong wants to thank his mother and everyone he has met because all those life episodes have made him grow into a mature man. "I think nobody ever thought that I could be so accomplished right now, even I did not see that coming, but who knows what will happen tomorrow, you know, my life likes to surprise me!" Leong said with a big smile.