To view the video above, just click on the image above, or click the following link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2609330420492758713
To see a larger version of the image above, just click on the image above, or click the following link: "Thursday, July 13, 2006 Daily News Article"
To see a larger version of the image above, just click on the image above, or click the following link: "East Coast Chinese Newspaper (ECCN) October 2006 Article" English-Language Translation of East Coast Chinese Newspaper (ECCN) October 2006 Article Above: Wong Wah Kin — I want to be the Hero of Destiny
Kevin Wong is born in Halifax, a young person of Chinese descent. His scintillating passion and creativity penetrates the fantasy realm through his book published this year: Heroes of Destiny. In his book, one may see his rich imagination and the destined life and world he believes can be achieved. This newspaper interview involves him, his family, as well as his work, and after reading the interview, the reader may understand the different life experiences of Kevin through these dialogues. ECCN: Please introduce yourself first. Kevin Wong: My name is Wong Wah Kin. My English name is Kevin Wong. I am 25 years old, and I was born in 1980 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. I am a Monkey in Chinese astrology, and with that said, I have a very curious, clever, and energetic personality, and I also love to try my best and find great success in all things — hopefully to the point of one day becoming wealthy and famous. I am a physically active and fit person, being a fan and player of sports, and having studied martial arts for over five years growing up. In addition to being a professional author, I am also an information technology (IT) industry professional, having worked in the IT industry for over the past three years. My hobbies include singing, playing guitar, playing video games, watching movies, and reading books. I don't have a girlfriend, and I am humbly keeping my eyes and heart open to find one. ECCN: Where and what are you studying? Kevin Wong: I studied and subsequently graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Computer Science (BCSc) Degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Prior to attending Dalhousie, I attended and subsequently graduated from Halifax West High School. During the course of my education, I often won many academic awards and distinctions — such as Dean's List awards in university and Principal's List awards in junior high school and high school with average grades of 90 percent and above. ECCN: Can you tell us about your book Heroes of Destiny? Kevin Wong: My book name is called Heroes of Destiny. My book is a fantasy-adventure book, and it is akin to The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and The Chronicles of Narnia. It is difficult to summarize my book in a short space, but essentially my book contains a tragic, yet beautiful, good versus evil story. The book's leading character is named Kevin. The story occurs in a middle-ages type setting, with a brave warrior and his friends defending oneself and his homeland, all told in a diligent story. Very many people ask me why I named the leading character's name "Kevin", which is the same name as my name. I did this because this story directly reflects my emotions and my views on the world and on life, and I needed and wanted people to know all of these cognizant and personal feelings. ECCN: When did you start to write it, and when did you finish it? Kevin Wong: I started in 2002 to write Heroes of Destiny, and I completed it officially in 2006. Regarding how I started writing my Heroes of Destiny story in the first place, it happened one night in 2002. In the middle of the night, at around 4 a.m., I woke up from my sleep, and in my mind continually appeared some words. I did not want to forget or lose these words, and so I turned on my computer, and recorded down these words. And then, on the computer screen before me appeared the words, "Before the world began, Gods and Demons ruled the heavens, the hells, the purgatories, and the earths..." And a few minutes later after that, I completed writing the entire book prologue. Starting from that evening, I then started composing Heroes of Destiny. And now, in 2006, I have completed the first of three books in my Heroes of Destiny trilogy of books. ECCN: Why did you want to write your book? Kevin Wong: I just had to write it. I don't know how to explain the reason. It was and is as if this is my mission in life. Or, it's like asking Michelangelo why he had to make the Sistine Chapel; he just had to make it. I had to make my book too. I am really unable to imagine, if I did not compose this book, how I could be happy. I don't think I could have lived my life without having brought my Heroes of Destiny books into the world. I wouldn't be happy, I wouldn't be complete, and I wouldn't be me if I didn't write my Heroes of Destiny books. Now, I hope more people will support me and my books, and thus support the heroes who I write about in my books. I always hoped my books would be extremely successful, and if this occurs, in addition to my dreams of writing my books coming true, my dreams of my books becoming successful will come true, too! ECCN: What is the most unforgettable thing that has happened while you were writing? Kevin Wong: I can answer this question in two ways: during the time writing my book, and after writing my book. During the time writing my book, whenever I got inspirations from out of nowhere is what was memorable to me. Often while I was writing my book, words would suddenly come out of my fingertips and after having written them on the computer, these speeches all mysteriously had an exact logic and exact order, and appeared in a specific manner. I would sometimes wonder how — or perhaps from who — these words appeared? Were they from me? Were they from God? I don't know. Perhaps the answer is they came from both. After writing my book, the most unforgettable thing that happened to me is when I received my very first fan letter. That really is an extremely inconceivable matter to me, that I have really received my fan's letter! I wanted that feeling to last forever. At that time it just felt so good and right to read a letter written by someone — I saw my fan telling me that they loved reading my book! I felt so very good! This let me feel repayment, and also it had proven to me, that all of my efforts and struggle in bringing my book to fruition was all worthwhile. I wrote this book to achieve the true goal of wishing and transmitting to everybody this matter: I hoped Heroes of Destiny might give many people joy, and even help them to obtain the good life. ECCN: Until now, how many books have you sold? Kevin Wong: In the short time that my books have been available, I have sold over 100 books. Although this is a small number, I find the people who have bought my books to be more important than how many books I have sold. Most people who bought my books are complete strangers — they are not friends or family members. This is important because to have someone who has no reason other than wanting to buy my book, to buy my book, is the most gratified and most joyful feeling I can receive. Along with how many books people have bought from me, is the unbelievable diversity of the people who have bought my books. There is the child, the old person, the young girl, the mature gentleman, people coming from different countries around the world, and the local people. These factors are extremely important to me, because I wrote my book explicitly to not point to or appeal to anyone in particular; I wrote my book to appeal to everyone. Finally, if anybody is interested in my work, please visit or pay attention to my official website: www.kevinwong.ca . Everybody may send messages to me or gain more information about me on my website, and I will be glad to share myself with everybody! ECCN: Can you tell us about your family? Kevin Wong: My dad's name is Philip Wong. He was born in Hong Kong, and he is a nuclear pharmacist. My mom's name is Christina Chui. She was born in Macau, and she was a chief chemist (now retired), and she is now a professional Chinese-English interpreter. Both my father and mother immigrated to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada when they were in their early twenties, and they both finished university here respectively. That is how they met, and then they got married and had a family — me; and my older brother, Jason, who is a physiotherapist. About my relatives, they are all around the world, including other parts of Canada, the United States, Hong Kong, Macau, and China. My mom's father, my grandfather, was a famous doctor in Macau, and my dad's father, also my grandfather, was a famous engineer / businessman in Hong Kong. I have many relatives who are doctors, I have an uncle who is a dentist, and I have an uncle who is a priest. My relatives are all-around very well educated and are all professionals. I myself also wanted to become a doctor while I was growing up; however, I realized that creativity was my number-one talent. And akin to my Heroes of Destiny books, I hope through my creativity — and help, support, and kindness from others — I will become a human who might realize my dreams. If this really occurs, then perhaps my family entrusted me with such abilities by originating them in me. ECCN: What do you think about China and Canada? Kevin Wong: I love the country and people of Canada. Canada is a wonderful, multi-cultural country, and Canadian people are very kind-hearted, unique, and evolutionary. Canada truly is a beautiful place in which for anyone to grow up, live, and / or raise a family; I am very proud and fortunate to have been born and raised in Canada, and to be Canadian — in addition to being Chinese. And because of Canada's welcoming nature, many Chinese people are welcome to immigrate to Canada — just like my parents did so many years ago. My ancestors are from China, the province of Canton (Guangdong), therefore my family has very many cultures and their and my traditions also originate from this. ECCN: Do you have any plan of your future? Kevin Wong: (Laughing) A better question might be what plans do I NOT have for the future! This will be difficult to sum up in one sentence, but in the future, I plan to become rich, famous, successful, powerful, and influential, by becoming and being an actor, video game designer, and anything else I want to become and be, including a philanthropist. If I am able to and allowed to by this point, one day far into the future I plan to become the President of the United States of America. To the few people I have openly mentioned this last dream / future plan of mine, I am often asked: 'Why do I want to be the President of the USA? Why not be the Prime Minister of Canada?' And my reply is: Only by being the President of the United States can I truly affect the world in a pronounced way; if I hold the post of this position, I hope I can truly affect the entire world through the explicit policy and the positive manner. Beyond these dreams of mine though, my most important plans of all in life are to find and marry my future wife, and then to have many beautiful children with her; and then, together, we will have and raise our beautiful family. And then, they can carry on our family lines, and pass on everything that was just and good about our families and lives to their children. All of what I have stated here are my plans — my dreams — in life. And so, to anyone who finds my life's dreams unbelievable or unachievable, that is your right to think those doubtful and hurtful thoughts; however, it is my right to have these dreams, and to believe wholeheartedly that — if I work hard and stay true to myself — one beautiful day my life's dreams may very well come true. Yin Zhang (Writer) : Hope Liang (Editor)
To see a larger version of the image above, just click on the image above, or click the following link: "Friday, August 11, 2006 Weekly News Article"
To see a larger version of the image above, just click on the image above, or click the following link: "Kevin Wong Community Action on Homelessness (CAH) Poster"
To see a larger version of the image above, just click on the image above, or click the following link: "Tuesday, October 17, 2006 Chronicle Herald Article" The website below contains a list of the "Best Books of All Time" as compiled by the Halifax Public Libraries organization and its staff. My Heroes of Destiny Episode I: Eternal Knights book, and hence my Heroes of Destiny series of books, was chosen to be on the list. It is listed next to the Harry Potter series of books written by J.K. Rowling, under the Fantasy section of the list: The website below contains a wonderfully-written and overwhelmingly-positive review of my Heroes of Destiny, Episode I: Eternal Knights book. I was truly shocked to read that my book had such a dramatic impact on this reader, but my shock probably stems from my inherent humbleness, rather than my book not being able to impact readers dramatically. If you needed an outside opinion as to whether to purchase my Heroes of Destiny books, the review contained via the link below is definitely what you want and need to see: http://www.everything2.com/?node_id=1833306 The following is excerpted from my Wednesday, August 30, 2006 news entry: This is crazy! :-) I was just browsing the Internet doing some research for my Heroes of Destiny book two (and also book three) writing, and to my complete surprise, according to the website below apparently I am one of the top most-searched-for searches when people are searching for the word "hero". Right now I'm # 267, but to find where I am at any given time, just do a Find on "Kevin Wong". I thought it was pretty interesting! The website I just found is located here: http://www.globalecono.com/Herm-to-Hook/hero.php Anyways, with great luck and support, hopefully I'll be # 1 on this page someday - which means that I will be the top most-searched-for search - the top most-searched-for person - when people are seeking a hero.
Your friend,
Did you write on a website / do you know of a website that has news, reviews, and / or coverage regarding me and my Heroes of Destiny books? If so, please send me an e-mail at business@kevinwong.ca letting me know the website's address. Thank you so much in advance! I truly appreciate it!
Your friend,
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