Then, My Parents Moved to Taiwan for Two Year's in the Late 1980S with Philips. I Didn’t Live There but on My First Trip to Asia, in 1989, I Did a Two-Month Trip. the Cool Thing Was, After Staying with My Parents, I Went to Hong Kong Where Philips Had a Tiny Design Department. When They Heard I Was Coming, They Said They’d Pay for My Hotel If I Came into the Office Every Day.

After Three Year's, Philips Wanted Me to Move from Singapore to Hong Kong. the Team Had Expanded by Then; I Had to Lead 10 Graphic Designers and I Made an Agreement with Myself That I’d Do It for a Maximum of Three Year's. in 1998, I Quit and I Moved Back to Singapore to Start My Own Business.

This Is Why I Started Spotting Them in Shops. You Have an Extra Affection for Them Because You Miss Your Own Cats. I’d Rented a Flat Between Sai Ying Pun and Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island. I’d Have Coffee at Winstons and in a Shop Opposite Was Dau Ding – He Was Probably the First One I Saw, He Was on the Cover of the First Book. I Remember Taking a Photo with My iPhone. Then I Saw One Nearby in Another Shop, Then Another.

I Started Going out with My Camera and Also Finding out If There Was Already a Book on It. There Are a Couple of Photographers Who’ve Done Books on Every Subject Imaginable in Hong Kong and I’m Very Lucky They Didn’t Think of This One. Hong Kong Shop Cats Was Published at the End of 2016. by That Time It Had Gone Viral on the Internet – First in the Rest of the World, Then in Hong Kong. We Sold the First Edition of 1,000 Books in the First Week.

Then I Was Wondering – Is It Really a Hong Kong Thing? or Is It the Southern Parts of China, Where You Get More Mice and Rats? or Is It an All-China Thing? Quite Early on I Started to Do Trips into the Mainland. I Went to Guangzhou and Found Shop Cats Everywhere. I Did a Trip to Shanghai. I Asked Some Friends and They Said, “Maybe There’s a Few in the Fruit Stores. ” and I Actually Found Lots but Only in the Old Areas. This Is Why It’s Become Such an Important Thing for Me.

After Three Editions of Hong Kong Shop Cats, I Took It Back from the Publisher and Did Two Editions Under My Own Company. and I Released Hong Kong Garage Dogs (2018). Not as Good … It’s Still in Its First Edition. as a Photo Project, It’s Fascinating but They’re Guard Dogs in Garages, Sometimes on a Chain and They’re Mean-Looking. I Think the Cat Calendar That Year Outsold the Dog Calendar by a Factor of Three.

His Viral Cat Photos Snapped in Hong Kong Shops Saw Him Take the Idea to China and on to Dogs – Graphic Designer Turned Photographer Marcel Heijnen

By Alexander Ross

• Oct 8, 2026 • 8 min read

His Viral Cat Photos Snapped in Hong Kong Shops Saw Him Take the Idea to China and on to Dogs – Graphic Designer Turned Photographer Marcel Heijnen

Direct Answer • Key Takeaway

I Was Born in the Hague, in the Netherlands, in 1964. My Dad Worked for Philips, the Electronics Company, as a Product Designer and We Moved to Eindhoven, Where the Philips Headquarters Were, When I Was Seven.

Alexander Ross

Gaming, Esports & Interactive Media Writer

Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.

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