Gentle Voices, Bold Strides: A Memoir

Fanny M. Cheung

Oct 2025 · The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press

About this ebook

In Gentle Voices, Bold Strides, Professor Fanny Cheung shares her inspiring journey as a psychologist, academic leader, and champion of gender equality. Growing up in a traditional Hong Kong family, she recognized early injustices against women and dedicated her life to change.Pioneering gender studies in Asia and leading the Equal Opportunities Commission, she fought discrimination, domestic violence, and gender bias in policy and research. Her leadership reshaped academia and public policy through consensus-building and quiet determination, leaving a legacy of empowerment.

By blending personal narratives with social history, this memoir serves as a testament to the power of advocacy and the quiet strength of those who strive to make a difference.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gentle Voices, Bold Strides: A Memoir chronicles the life of an extraordinary woman growing up with traditional Chinese values during the rise of feminism. She lived the seismic shift from colonial Hong Kong to Special Administrative Region of China. With this background, Dr. Cheung became a gentle and effective champion for women’s rights, mental health, justice, fairness, and kindness. This will surely become one of the best books of the year.

—Diane F. Halpern

Former president, American Psychological Association

Fanny has made tremendous contributions in not just her own field of psychology, but in education, diversity, and critical thinking. She is a beloved teacher, colleague, and scholar. Reading her memoir brings back a lot of fond memories for me working with Fanny. She has always been a sincere friend, a scholarly advocate, instead of a “superwoman.”

 —Joseph Sung, Dean, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

I feel privileged to know Fanny Cheung and to have worked with her over the years. Her gentle but determined art of persuasion has placed her at the centre of improving the status of women in Hong Kong over the last half century. Her memoir reminds me of my own outrage in the 1960s when I received only 75% of the pay of a male doctor. This autobiography is unique; no other publication has documented the history of women’s issues — from the personal to the political — in Hong Kong with such detail.

 —Judith Mackay

Director, Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control

This book narrates an inspiring journey of how a born-with-silver-spoon girl had by choice metamorphosed into an exemplary champion for empathy, equality, and justice. She played a pivotal role in bringing down the “high wall” of gender stereotyping and inequality in this city and beyond, while leading a rewarding academic career. “For me, my life had been time well spent.” For readers of this remarkable book, your time would be well spent too.

 —Woon Kwong Lam, GBS, JP

Former Convenor of the Non-Official Members of the Executive Council of the HKSAR

While tracing her epic fight against tradition and bureaucracy, Fanny is able to entertain the reader with snippets of old-fashioned cultural practices at home or in society. These will certainly resonate with peers like myself. But they will also inform and inspire readers of any age who are interested in learning how resilient women like Fanny could drive change, and challenge authority to make a difference.

 —Shelley Lee, GBS, OBE, JP

Former Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs of the HKSAR

About the author

Fanny M. Cheung is recognized as a pioneer in Chinese psychology and gender equality in Asia, with a distinguished career at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), where she served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor/Vice-President for Research, the Choh-Ming Li Professor of Psychology, and Co-Director of the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies. She is currently Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Honorary Senior Advisor to the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at CUHK.

Professor Cheung established the first Gender Research Centre in Hong Kong and Greater China in 1985, followed by the Gender Studies Programme at CUHK in 1997. Her research expertise encompasses cross-cultural personality assessment, Chinese psychopathology, gender equality, and women’s leadership. She has received awards for her international advancement of psychology from the American Psychological Association and from the International Association of Applied Psychology, and for her research and services that benefit women in the world from the International Council of Psychologists.

She served as the Founding Chairperson of the Equal Opportunities Commission in Hong Kong, from 1996 to 1999. Her leadership and contributions to the Hong Kong community were recognized through honorary appointments as Justice of the Peace in 1988 and Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1997, as well as the Silver Bauhinia Star Award in 2016.