Having a professional sports career, either as a player or in the media in Hong Kong, is a challenge though it is still possible if a person is willing to work hard and make sacrifices. One such person who turned their passion into their career is Atom Cheung. On a daily basis, Cheung is up at the crack of dawn at 4 am to report on both global and local sports news on the radio and he really cannot think of doing anything else as a career as he loves his work.
Covering Liverpool from the press box at HK Stadium
In an exclusive interview, Cheung discusses his love of the medium of radio.
“I’ve always liked listening to radio and ever since I was a kid, I was always interested in those late-night music programs where people call in to request a song and where the DJ would sometimes read little stories and those shows really had a sort of really chill atmosphere.”
Cheung with Jari Litmanen at the HK Soccer Sevens
Cheung always wanted to be a late-night radio DJ, but he ended up doing the early morning shows as he was assigned the job of reporting all the latest sporting headlines.
“I always fancied myself doing one of those shows but I never thought I would get into sports and I never thought I would get into the news,” he continued. “I never thought I would work so early in the morning and be on the air so early in the morning!”
Photo: Court side with a Toronto Raptors Super fan! “We the north? Are we actually that north?”
Cheung has always preferred radio over television as he likes to let his imagination run wild.
“For me, the dream was always about doing a late-night music program and I’m not a very visual person as I don’t watch TV at all,” he said, explaining his preferred medium. “And I’ve always been very auditory in nature. I am very much into radio because I think radio is a theatre for the imagination.”
“In terms of radio being an important medium, I think our society is saturated with visual stimulation and content. I think radio allows us to consume information without the visual distractions so we are able to think about what we’re listening to.”
Television is of course important though TV can, of course, be sometimes too much and bombard our senses.
Photo: In Toronto during the NBA finals ‘We the North? Are we actually that north?”
Like everyone of a certain generation, radio played a huge part in his life and Cheung loves sports radio commentaries. He enjoys the descriptive nature of the medium.
“Everything is broadcast live on TV. I find that radio allows you to imagine the pictures, as you’re listening, such as play-by-play commentary in sports. This enjoyment also has to do with my own radio experience and as a kid, I used to love listening to live baseball and ice hockey broadcasts on the radio. I love radio commentary and I love imagining the pictures and the play-by-play commentary.”
Cheung went on to describe how he got his opportunity to work on the airwaves. His ex-girlfriend encouraged him to apply for an opening at RTHK in 2011; just 2 years upon returning to Hong Kong from Toronto.
Cheung with former Australian Cricket captain, Michael Clarke. “Michael, why is it an over and not an innings? Why is it a six and not a home run? Why didn’t you play for the Toronto Bluejays?”
“I never imagined I would actually one day be able to work in RTHK. The funny thing is when I came to Hong Kong, I came with the intention of researching a Hong Kong indie music program and returning to Toronto to do that in Canada.”
Photo: Atom Cheung was there for the Raptors historical NBA finals Win: “Hey Everyone..I am so happy the Raptors Won…but are we actually that North?”
Cheung dabbled with an independent Radio Station in Toronto first and intended to do some research in Hong Kong for a new show idea but just ended up staying and he has not looked back. Like everyone who is looking for a break, Cheung did not have much experience on the airwaves though he was keen and willing to learn and that is all you need sometimes!
Cheung with the Asian Games Mascot in Jakarta in Indonesia
“I remember during the interview, as I had no sports reporting experience, my sales pitch was just my enthusiasm. I wanted to show them that I cared about sports and I watched a lot of sports as I’m a huge fan. I didn’t have a lot of technical things to show them. The funny thing is, the summer before I interviewed for the job, I was with my then-girlfriend and we were in New York and we went to watch baseball and saw both the Mets and the Yankees.”
The New York Mets helped to Launch Cheung’s Radio Career
He recalled his passion for sports at a young age.
“I went to see both the Mets and the Yankees and we were sitting right in front of the ESPN booth and in between innings, they paid tribute to one of the ESPN announcers, Orel Hershiser, who was the 1988 World Series MVP for the Dodgers. He was my favourite player because when I was a kid, I had a glove with an autograph of Orel Hershiser on the glove. During the game, he stood up and waved to the crowd and I told my then-girlfriend to take a picture of me with Hershiser.”
The Los Angeles Dodgers Open Some Doors
Sometimes, when looking for a job or needing a new career break, it is important to build rapport. Cheung is a huge baseball fan and talking about the New York Mets and the LA Dodgers helped him edge towards his new career.
Video: Is this heaven? No…it’s Causeway Bay
“The boss of RTHK English programming at the time was from LA, and I didn’t know then but he was a big Dodgers fan so we got on really well. We had a great rapport in the interview and he liked me so he hired me. For the first year, I was doing freelance and I didn’t become part-time until the next year in 2012. I think it’s pretty amazing because they ended up choosing the more influential reporter first but then when he wanted to switch back to doing Hong Kong news so they just gave me the sports job. Basically, I just got the job with no journalism experience whatsoever other than my little indie radio gig back in Toronto and I have been doing it now for ten years!”
He firmly believed that the shared interest and the rapport he built with his then-boss helped with his experience at RTHK.
All the News On the Wire
Cheung went on to describe how he gets the information for his reports.
“Well, I get the sports news through the wires so I go through the AFP and it’s on the web and we have a special website for that so I can find the relevant stories. We also have a partnership with other media companies so we can use their audio player interviews for player and manager interviews. Thus, when it comes to football or anything English or even North American sports news, I get it online.”
Cheung also covers the Hong Kong sports scene and has been a fixture at all the major Hong Kong sports events.
“For local HK sports, either I look through the local Chinese websites or I just pay attention to other local sports media outlets. I’ll have to translate the news into English but sometimes I go out to report actual stories or games and interview players, especially at the big events like the Soccer 7s, Cycling, Rugby 7s and the HK marathon.”
Photo: Cheung with the Stanley Cup in Shenzhen
Cheung also gave some advice to young aspiring sports journalists on how to break into the industry; you just need to keep plugging away come rain or shine.
“To be honest, I think nowadays there are so many more media avenues and so much going on online with podcasting and on YouTube. There are so many channels that you can totally DIY the project and it’s not like you have to work for a media company as you can actually do it yourself. So I guess my advice would be, first, you need to have the passion and if you don’t have the passion then forget it.”
Cheung with Russian handball players at the 2016 Olympics in Rio
Sports tends to take a back seat in Hong Kong unfortunately though there is still a sports scene so Cheung says to go out there and meet those within the community trying to make a difference.
“I guess do something locally and start writing and start getting to know the sports community around you. Do some simple interviews to get yourself acquainted. I find that there are always interesting sporting events locally that are happening that get underreported.”
The East Asian Games – A Great Memory
Cheung has been fortunate to witness a treasure chest of sports events and cites the East Asian Games final as one of his favourite personal memories.
“I was there when Hong Kong won the gold medal when they beat Japan at Hong Kong stadium. That was my first time watching a live competitive Hong Kong football match. It was like ‘wow, I felt like I’m in Hong Kong finally!’ As a fan, I was thrilled. In fact, I actually still kept that newspaper clipping of when they won in 2009 and I still have that in my shoe box. From a fan perspective, that was huge and I never, never would have imagined that two years later that I will be working as a sports reporter.”
When Cheung first arrived in Hong Kong, he was watching the players and then, once he made it to the airwaves, he was chatting to them on the field.
“I have chatted to players like Chan Siu Ki and Yapp Hung Fai as a reporter and I never would have imagined that.”
The Best Moment as a Sports Journalist – China Versus Hong Kong in World Cup Qualifying
Cheung also shared this favourite memory as a sports journalist and it was Hong Kong’s draw in Shenzhen against China in 2015 in a now-famous world cup qualifier.
“My best Hong Kong sports memory as a journalist was when Hong Kong pulled off a 0-0 draw against China in Shenzhen in World Cup qualifying in 2015. It was just how confident China was going into the match and how Hong Kong almost won that game had they not shot over the bar late in the game. I remember fearing for my life had HK won and thinking ‘How am I going to get out of the stadium alive!”
Sports journalists can build great relationships with athletes and Cheung was able to celebrate with the Hong Kong players in the tunnel in Shenzhen after the final whistle.
“The most vivid memory was waiting for the HK players to come through the tunnel and we were giving each other high fives! I remember interviewing Festus and giving him a hug and just being so happy!”
The seismic repercussions of that 0-0 draw were huge and then Hong Kong Manager, Kim Pan Gon was beaming with happiness and joy after making history.
“So I had that moment with Festus and then we went into the post match press conference and the way Kim Pan Gon walked into that room with an expression in his eyes that said “I told you and we did it!’ and that kind of confidence he had. Kim was always very modest, but I felt like his expression was like ‘Yeah, we did it!”
No one had given Hong Kong a chance away in Shenzhen, but grit and persistence and the woodwork paved the way for a famous result.
“The coach of China back then said that his team is going to beat Hong Kong 3- or 4-0 but Kim’s team played really well, and just the way he walked into that press conference and looking at the media with the confidence and vindication in his eyes, is something I always remember.”
Stars in Their Eyes
Cheung has met many celebrities but has he ever been starstruck?
“Oh, I met a lot of famous people but I’ll tell you the time when I felt starstruck. I don’t get that feeling a lot and also I try to be professional when I’m interviewing people though as a sports fan, sometimes you do come across athletes that you’ve been following since you’re a kid or are idols to you. The time I’ve been really starstruck would be meeting John Barnes, the Liverpool legend. The same time I also met you!”
Meeting John Barnes
Everyone has celebrities growing up and Cheung was ecstatic to meet England and Liverpool legend, John Barnes.
“I didn’t ask for autographs normally but at that time I went and prepared and printed a little John Barnes poster and took a photo of him with him and had him sign an autograph for me. I have it framed in my room so I was definitely starstruck.”
Being a sports journalist can lead to even more opportunities beyond the job description and meeting all types of people.
Atom Cheung during the NBA finals “If I Jump….then I might be north-er!”
“Other times, but there’s another funny one that I’ll just put mentioned, it’s kind of funny so I used to live in Toronto and am a huge hockey fan and huge maple leafs fan, but the funny thing is, all the years I’ve lived in Toronto, I’ve actually only gone to one Maple Leafs game ever and I rarely meet Leaf’s players in person. In 2013, I managed to meet with two former Maple Leaf players in Hong Kong at Mega Ice. After the interview, I took pictures and I had them sign hockey pucks.”
The love of sports can lead to a whole host of opportunities and this includes waking up at the crack of dawn and taking to the airwaves. If a person loves doing their job, then it shouldn’t really be a problem at all.
