I Was Born into the Church. We Went to the Old Apostolic Church Five Days a Week and Twice on Sundays. Women Were Expected to Wear Hats, Stockings and Dresses and Men Had to Be in Suits. Women Were Seen as Lesser Than Men and My Mum Had a Lifelong Struggle with the Church.

For a Year and a Half, I Stayed in a Big, Old Farmhouse in the Bush with 25 Volunteers and Five Workers Who Oversaw Us. Everything Was off the Grid – We Had Generator Power for Three Hours a Day and Even Dug the Septic Tank. Some Days We Didn’t Have Water Because the Elephants Had Dug up the Water Pipes.

My First Job in Hong Kong Was at a Kindergarten, and I Commuted to Yuen Long. but I Didn’t Enjoy Being in the City, It Made My Anxiety Worse. I Wanted to Go to a Place Where There Were Fewer People and I Could See the Sky, So the Three of Us Moved to Lamma (A Sleepy Island Southwest of Hong Kong Island) and My Quality of Life Got Better.

Although I’d Bought My First Pair of Roller Skates in 2016, I Was Too Scared and Nervous to Join a Team. in 2017, I Finally Plucked up the Courage to Go to a Roller Derby in Victoria Park (In Causeway Bay) and It Was at My First Practice That I Met Snooky [Wong]. I Joined the Six-Week Course Where You Learn How to Skate, and the Bug Just Bit Me.

Laura and I Got Married in 2018. She Recently Left to Go Back to the United States. I’m Hoping to Get My Green Card in a Few Months and Then I’ll Go and Join Her.

Roller Skating Entrepreneur Talks About Finding Her Tribe in Hong Kong, After Growing up in South Africa and Being a Safari Guide

By Robert Thorne

• Oct 8, 2026 • 7 min read

Roller Skating Entrepreneur Talks About Finding Her Tribe in Hong Kong, After Growing up in South Africa and Being a Safari Guide

Direct Answer • Key Takeaway

I Was Born in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1988. My Family Is Afrikaans. My Dad Was a Mechanic in the Army and My Brother, Stephen, Is Two Year's Older Than Me. We Moved to a Small Town Outside Johannesburg, Called Stilfontein, When I Was Two. It Was a Very White Town and When Apartheid Ended, in 1994, I Remember the First Day a Black Kid Walked into the Classroom.

Robert Thorne

Automotive & Future Transportation Editor

Robert Thorne covers electric vehicle innovations, autonomous driving systems, global mobility trends, and automotive engineering developments.

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