Sammy Leung

Famous Programme Host and Emcee

"Don’t be afraid, things will be better when you're older!"

As a professional radio host and emcee, people often see me as a strong public speaker and someone who can improvise quickly. What they don't know is that I have had ADHD since I was young and that it's still extremely hard for me to memorise long passages.

When I was in primary school, I found it so difficult to concentrate in class and memorisation was even harder. Although I tried hard to focus, I found that my mind would wander and that I couldn't retain any of the information covered. At that time, society didn't know much about ADHD, so my behaviour was written off as "lazy" or "not trying hard enough". In Primary 3, I started to feel even more pressure. I was constantly worrying that I wasn't good enough, that I would get in trouble with my teachers and parents. I had no confidence in myself.

I finally found a way to help me study in secondary school. In school, we were supposed to stay in our seats during class, but my mind would often wander. One day, I came up with the idea of "drawing" my homework. By drawing simple shapes like circles and coloring them in, I was able to slow my mind down and make sense of complex homework problems. The more I drew, the more magic happened. Because of this, my grades improved significantly.

Although I have been a master of ceremonies for many years now, I still feel anxious about it, because I struggle to remember long scripts. After understanding my disorder, I have learned to calm myself by meditation. I also share openly with those around me that I have ADHD so that they can help me. One time when I hosted a major programme, the production staff knew my situation, so they pre-recorded key parts of the program so that I could relax and focus on being present for parts that required improvisation.