DEBBIE
YONG
China Watcher.
Food Writer.
Media consultant.
Editor and Translator.

I am a widely travelled writer, editor and translator with both breadth and depth of experience writing for print and digital media. Born in Singapore, educated in the US, UK and China, and now based in Hong Kong, I maintain parallel interests in reporting on Chinese geopolitical and business news and writing about luxury hospitality trends across Asia as a seasoned lifestyle journalist.
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News journalist and China watcher
I write about Chinese geopolitics, public policy and consumer news for a handful of current affairs titles. As a contributor to BBC Monitoring, a specialist arm of the BBC, I produce reports and analyses of Chinese geopolitical and socio-cultural news trends via daily monitoring of vernacular media sources in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. I also translate key news articles from Chinese to English.
Before going freelance in mid-2018, I was a full-time Assignment Editor at Time Inc.'s Hong Kong bureau, where I edited a weekly newsletter for Fortune magazine on Chinese tech and economy news. I also coordinated between the editorial and marketing teams to produce print, digital and video content for the magazine's 2017 Fortune Global Forum and Fortune Brainstorm Tech conferences in Guangzhou, China and Brainstorm Tech in Singapore.
I started my career as a journalist with Singapore's national broadsheet The Straits Times and financial daily The Business Times.
Lifestyle writer and dining specialist
As a dining and luxury hospitality writer, my bylines have appeared in publications such as Forbes, Monocle and CNN Travel.
I was the founding digital editor of the Michelin Guide when the French restaurant guide launched their inaugural Singapore and Hong Kong/Macau editorial websites. I rejoined the company in 2019 to lead the Asia editorial and digital content team, and now manage a team of writers, translators and video producers across the region. Prior to this, I spent several years on the lifestyle team of The Business Times, before moving to the newspaper's main business desk.
My black book includes the who's who of the hospitality industry in Asia and I frequently speak, moderate and judge on restaurant industry panels, such as the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants '50 Best Talks', the Michelin Guide trade seminars and press conferences, Makansutra's Hawker Training Programme, and at the Culinary Institute of America in Singapore.
I also selectively provide copywriting and content consulting services and local fixer assistance for global media and luxury brands.
I have a Bachelors degree in Literature from the University of Pennsylvania in the US, and completed my Masters in Global Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Shanghai's Fudan University.
In Singapore, I was part of the Gifted Education Programme, a tailored public education scheme for academically advanced 9 to 16 year olds.
Outside of work, I scratch my entrepreneurial itch as a co-founder and creative director of boutique tea company, Pin Tea, and previously ran Batch, an e-commerce and online content platform incubated under a now-defunct new media accelerator programme run by the Singapore Press Holdings, Singapore's largest publisher.
Work Experience
2019 - Present
Editorial Director
Michelin Guide Asia
Hong Kong / Singapore
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Oversee production digital content for online and social media platforms of the Michelin Guide in Asia
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Build and manage a regional team of content producers
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Set content strategy and editorial budget
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Work with government and corporate partners on content marketing campaigns
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Localise and execute global brand guidelines for Asia and act as spokesperson for the brand at events in the region
2018 - 2019
Freelance Journalist
Hong Kong
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China media specialist and translator for BBC Monitoring
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Contributor to Fortune magazine and Week in China
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Contributor to Monocle, Forbes and luxury lifestyle titles
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Copywriter and content strategy consultant
2017 - 2018
Assignment Editor
Fortune magazine, Time Inc.
Hong Kong
2016 - 2017
Digital Editor
Michelin Guide Singapore and Hong Kong/Macau
Singapore
2011 - 2015
Journalist
The Business Times
Singapore
2010 - 2011
Freelance Writer and Translator
Shanghai/London
2007 - 2009
Journalist
The Straits Times
Singapore
Education
2009 - 2011
London School of Economics, UK
Fudan University, China
MSc in Global Media and Communications (dual degree)
2004 - 2007
University of Pennsylvania, US
BA in English Literature
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Graduated magna cum laude within three years
2006 - 2007
St Peters College, Oxford University
Visiting Student Programme
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Completed a full academic year in Oxford as part of Penn Abroad
2002 - 2003
Raffles Junior College
Humanities Scholar
1998 - 2001
Raffles Girls School
Gifted Education Programme
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Distinction for Masters thesis on censorship in Singapore state media at LSE
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Distinction for Masters thesis on the use of Weibo among Chinese youth at Fudan
Contact Me
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
hello [at] debbieyong [dot] com
Linkedin: debbieyong
Twitter: @debyong
Wechat: @yongandhungry