How a painting of a young girl about to dive into the ocean changed the life of a Hong Kong human rights lawyer
- Patricia Ho, founder of the Hong Kong Dignity Institute, a charity serving marginalised groups, first saw Veronica Green’s The Dive at an art fair with her son
- She bought the picture, of a girl poised to dive with ‘no fear in her face’, and says it continues to empower her. She hopes it does the same for her children
New Zealand-born, Italy-based contemporary artist Veronica Green’s The Dive depicts a young girl on a diving board, about to plunge into the ocean. Patricia Ho, who helps marginalised groups such as human trafficking victims and refugees both in her role as a human rights lawyer and as the founder of NGO Hong Kong Dignity Institute, explains how it changed her life.
I grew up in a mixed culture home. My dad was (investment guru) Tony Measor. He left the UK in his early 20s, left everything behind and set off for Asia. He landed in Singapore and then later in Hong Kong.
Growing up, we never tired of the crazy stories he told about his drunken escapades in Singapore and Hong Kong. Everything seemed like an adventure. What made it equally amazing to be his daughter is that he would hug us every day and tell us how much he loved us, how wonderful we were and how we could do anything we wanted when we grew up. Hearing this every day made it very real for me.
As I started wondering about what I wanted to do with my life – concluding as soon as I left uni (at University College London) that I wanted to do everything I could to end human trafficking – the little empowering voices in my head definitely nudged me along the way.
I now have my own children, the oldest being 11. Early on in their lives, I wanted to impart to them at least a bit of what I got from my dad.
