Cartoon by Harry Harrison, 2014.
Harry Harrison is a Hong Kong-based British political cartoonist and children's book illustrator. Since 2001, he has been the house cartoonist of the South China Morning Post newspaper, which circulates in Hong Kong. He has drawn political cartoons about Hong Kong, Chinese and international events, often making use of two recurring characters, Mr. Wong and Mr. Lee. Harry Harrison should not be confused with U.S. science fiction novelist Harry Harrison (1925-2012), who was also once active as a comic artist.
Early life
Harry Harrison was born in 1961 in England. His father was active in the Royal Air Force and so the boy travelled around a lot, visiting Libya and Singapore. At age 16, Harrison left high school and made his money in a supermarket. He had all kinds of jobs over the years, including shop sign maker. From a young age, Harrison had enjoyed drawing, but he had no clue that one could actually make a living as a cartoonist. Some friends at an interior design company were impressed with his graphic skills and gave him additional training. His main graphic influences are Carl Giles and Ronald Searle.
At one point, Harrison was tired of doing regular jobs. Since his girlfriend had left him, he decided to start backpacking, travelling through Australia, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Eventually, with barely 30 pounds sterling left, he reached Hong Kong. Harrison decided to work as an advertising illustrator and taught English in the Mong Kok district. Having earned enough money, he went back to England, but since he met a new partner in Hong Kong, he eventually returned to the city for good in 1994, living on Lamma Island.
2010 cartoon by Harry Harrison, commenting on North Korea's launch of a nuclear missile, with the artwork parodying 'Alice in Wonderland'. President of the Hong Kong Legislative Council Andrew Leung is the Red Queen. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il is the Mad Hatter, Iranian Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the March Hare and U.S. President Barack Obama Alice. The Dodo is cast in the role of peace dove.
Harry's View cartoons
In 1997, the same year the United Kingdom returned Hong Kong to China, Harrison drew his first cover cartoon for The South China Morning Post. Since 2001, his political cartoons have appeared six times a week in this newspaper, under the title 'Harry's View'. Since Hong Kong had been a British dominion, the city is different from the rest of mainland China, which is under Communist influence. Hong Kong is basically a huge city run like a town. Local politicians do listen to the Chinese government during crucial matters, but otherwise Harrison described the Hong Kong political climate as a "non-political scene", adding: "I'm pro-democracy, but I find the democracy movement here quite disappointing, so I'm not averse to having a go at it. The only platform the democrats have is democracy. After that they don't have anything else – any policies."
'Mr. Wong and Mr. Lee'.
In his cartoons, Harrison often makes use of two recurring characters, Mr. Wong and Mr. Lee, who represent average Hong Kong citizens. Mr. Wong is a brawny bald man wearing a vest, and Mr. Lee a thinner bald man with glasses. They typically discuss current events, with in the background a caged bird, that offers some extra visual comedy regarding their conversations. The cartoonist based the characters on two people he used to know. Wong was actually a Hong Kong watchman, with whom Harrison often went to eat dim sum. Harrison gave the fictional version of Wong a pet bird in a cage. In reality, he didn't own a bird, but caged birds were often seen in the restaurants where they went to dine. Mr. Lee was based on an old man Harrison often encountered on Lamma Island. He would stop and have a talk with him, to practice his English. Other characters in Harrison's cartoons represent different people from Chinese society, but are nameless. Among them are two chubby police officers, a bespectacled headmaster and two business executives who are drawn like anthropomorphic cats.
In 2021, a compilation of Harrison's cartoons was published: 'Add Ink: Cartoon Chronicles Of Life in Hong Kong' (South China Morning Post, 2021). His cartoons have also run in Asian Street Journal, Far Eastern Economic Review, The Guardian, International Finance Review and Time.
Cartoon by Harry Harrison, depicting how nothing changes in Macau's casino-driven economy, except for the people running the business.
Children's books
Harrison has illustrated several children's books by Sarah Brennan, including 'A Dirty Story' (2004) and 'An Even Dirtier Story' (2005), as well as a series of tales based on animals from The Chinese Calendar: 'The Tale of Chester Choi' (2007), 'The Tale of Run Rat Run' (2010), 'The Tale of Oswald Ox' (2010), 'The Tale of Temujin' (2011), 'The Tale of Rhonda Rabbit' (2011), 'The Tale of Pin Yin Panda' (2012), 'The Tale of Sybil Snake' (2013), 'The Tale of Rodney Ram' (2012), 'The Tale of Dark Horse' (2013) and 'The Tale of Ming Kee Monkey' (2015) and 'The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster' (2016).
Recognition
On 17 April 2010, Harry Harrison received a special prize for his work during the Hong Kong 14th Human Rights Press Awards. During the Asia Editorial Awards of 2012, Harrison won "Best Editorial Cartoon", on behalf of the Society of Publishers.
Other activities
In Hong Kong, Harry Harrison has played in a local country band, The Yung Shue Wan Curs. At one point, he shared an office space with photographer Richard Jones.
Book cover of Harry Harrison's 'Add Ink', depicting a self-portrait in color.