I still wake up with nightmares about school in the 1980s and it's usually to do with examinations. As a child I found it difficult to focus on schoolwork.
I knew then that what I wanted to learn lay outside the classroom so one refuge I found was the playground. I now know something else: I have an 18-month-old son and I don't need him to be intelligent and at the top of the class. We live in the New Territories and I want him to go to a neighbourhood school and if he wants to be a ballet dancer that's fine by me. Studying textbooks wasn't for me. I related more to images and people around me - and that made me hungry to learn when I later went out to work.
My family had a seafood restaurant in Lei Yue Mun on Kowloon side next to my primary school. What I liked about those times was hiking into the countryside behind the village and playing games. It's such a shame that kids living in the city can't do that. It gave me a sense of freedom and of being creative.
I was lucky that my family was comfortably off and being the youngest there was no pressure to do well. I went on to St John's Co-educational College, which later became the Delia School of Canada, in Taikoo Shing. I didn't enjoy it - the uniform was nice though I didn't want to wear it - but it was a chance to get involved in activities such as running though I can't say I was good at it.
I do remember one teacher called Mr Yip who taught English. He wasn't the least bit traditional, unlike many of his colleagues; I liked his open mind and found him inspirational.
I remember thinking that one day I wanted to be like him as he made me see the world as a panorama. It made me think that maybe I needed to make some western friends who might share the same outlook on life.
I left school after Form Seven and turned my hand to deejaying. The parents of a friend from Australia wanted to open a club in Hong Kong and were hiring DJs for the place they set up which was called Nova. I jumped at the chance. Those were good times for clubbing because the music scene was buzzing and the atmosphere was energetic and happy.