Li Li is a forty-something Hong Kong woman who preferred to have her name changed for this story. She is sharp, confident, diplomatic, and makes her point clearly.
There are good reasons why Li Li wants to remain anonymous, even though over the past six years the sex worker has been an outspoken activist for prostitutes' rights.
At her age, Li Li believes she is no longer marketable in the city's already highly competitive sex industry which attracts women from as far away as Thailand, Taiwan, Eastern Europe and South America.
It is not easy for her to secure clients, perhaps less so when mainland women are flocking to Hong Kong, willing to offer the same services for less money. Li Li estimates the current ratio of mainland sex workers to their Hong Kong counterparts is 7 to 3.
So after a decade working on Hong Kong Island earning on average HK$10,000 a month, Li Li has decided it's time to move on. She wants another career and, if she's lucky, to find a husband. She remains hopeful.
"But I have no regrets ... I myself chose to be a sex worker," she says, raising her voice for emphasis.
Li Li's story will be featured together with five others of Hong Kong and mainland prostitutes in the film Sisters and Ziteng which will close the city's first film festival on sex workers. Opening this Friday and running until Sunday, the three-day festival aims to present a positive image of women working in the sex industry and the struggles they encounter in trying to earn a livelihood.
"I wanted to let people know by telling this story in a truthful way that we are also good women in this society," says Li Li. "Our service is based on mutual consent. We work hard to earn a living. No easy money. We don't steal, we don't rob. Don't misunderstand us!"
But their quest for better understanding of their trade has generated some concern. Zi Teng, a local sex worker support group which organised the festival, has been told by a youth concern group to keep the subject matter in context.
Education Convergence vice-president Ho Hon-kuen has warned that some festival-goers might be misled about the films' messages and that some youngsters attending "might not have a strong enough foundation to tell wrong from right".
But Elaine Lam Yee-ling from Zi Teng says the festival is a good opportunity for Hong Kong people, including youngsters, to look beyond stereotypes and any moral unease that may create. "Many people have a phobia about sex workers. They think that it [the festival] may be illegal or harmful to young people. This strong discrimination makes them reject all the issues related to sex and sex work," she said. "It is why we think it is necessary to have the sex-worker [film] festival in Hong Kong. All of us will have more space and the chance to discuss sex and sex-work issues after the movies."
Yau Ching, who is the curator of the event and an independent filmmaker herself, sees the raising of concerns as a positive sign that Hong Kong people are moving forward.
"It shows that people really care and that they are actually interested ... it's a really good thing," she said. "And we are actually doing what these people have suggested."
The festival will not only feature films, it will provide literature on medical and legal advice for sex workers, information which is available at Zi Teng's activity centre in Prince Edward where the festival will be staged. Discussion sessions featuring academics from Hong Kong and the mainland will also be held after the screenings. "The context is educational," says Ms Yau.
The festival will also screen three works on Carol Leigh, known in the United States for her political activism as her alter ego Scarlot Harlot since the 1970s. Ms Leigh is credited with coining the phrase "sex workers" and founded the San Francisco Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival in 1999 which has served as the model for the one in Hong Kong.
"The sex workers in San Francisco are part of the communities and many in the audience are sex workers as well as students and young people who are curious or who support the rights of women and men to provide sexual services," said Ms Leigh.
She says the San Francisco festival has garnered positive media attention. "People working in the sex entertainment field have many connections to the arts, have been artists and are part of the arts community. The public begins to see sex workers as part of the community rather than criminals, deviants or victims. They realise we are people."
Ms Leigh is hopeful that locals who have worked in the sex industry will feel more positive about themselves when they hear about the festival.
Ms Yau believes a lot of Hong Kong people - youngsters and students in particular - have progressive attitudes towards sex workers and the sex industry.
Zi Teng has already received a strong response to the festival through e-mails, phone calls and visits to their activity centre. "But the conservative forces are the people who speak aloud and they tend to be very organised," she said.
The films featured in the festival are mostly based on sex workers' true stories, telling what they think about their work, and their views on their bodies and themselves.
Seven movies from Southeast Asia will be screened. A Taiwanese sex workers' group will present a highly political film telling how prostitutes on the island protested for over a year to force President Chen Shui-bian to postpone a law banning prostitution.
Li Li says it has been a long struggle for sex workers to break down the barriers which often alienate them from the rest of society. "It's time society accepted sex workers and respected their work," she says.
Caption: Festival curator Yau Ching (above) has responded to concerns raised by a youth group by saying the event will also be educational. Education Convergence's Ho Hon-kuen (above right) has warned that young people may not be mature enough to deal with the issues. The festival will feature three works on renowned US sex-worker advocate Carol Leigh (right).
Photographer: Dustin Shum, Edward Wong, Dickson Lee
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