Turning the tables: how 3 Hong Kong mothers are spinning trauma into hope as DJs
Bonding over struggles of single parenthood, three DJs are hoping to turn their music into a business with help from a social enterprise After suffering an abusive marriage and the exhaustion of a decade of childcare, Lee will spend Mother’s Day on Sunday with renewed hope. The 28-year-old is set to perform for a private event at The Peninsula Hong Kong hotel and ultimately hopes to make a living from it. Such an opportunity was once unimaginable for the full-time mother, who said she had mostly spent her prime years caring for her children, now aged 10, eight and six. “At that time, I felt so trapped in the reality that I had three children, and that I had to bear the full responsibility for them and make them my priority no matter what,” said Lee, who is recovering from a long history of borderline personality disorder. Relying on a cocktail of medication to manage her emotions for 14 years until 2024, she recounted a dark episode during her first pregnancy – when she was 19 years old – that turned her life around and made her commit to caring for a life she brought into the world. “That was the first time I wanted to commit suicide. I already went up to the roof. But then, I felt the baby kicking in my womb,” she said.
