Cheerful Claudia teaches in jail

Former lawmaker Claudia Mo Man-ching is not wasting her time in jail - she's been "annoyingly cheerful" and teaching English to other prisoners at Lo Wu Correctional Institution.

Her friend Shiu Ka-chun posted a letter from Mo on his Facebook page to share her feelings after being remanded for half a year.

Mo said she has been teaching inmates English with phrases such as "tell me about it" and "thought better of it." She also says she has been taking up French again, 30 years after she left Agence France-Press in 1991.

She thanked Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun for frequently visiting her, and said Christianity has helped her a lot. "To those English speaking visitors: I may be stumbling but not falling," she added.

She cited her family as saying: "She's been staying annoyingly cheerful."

Mo called hygiene in the institution satisfactory but said the interior is gray. She has lost three kilograms. "Besides black and white, I used to love wearing gray as it seems elegant. But I have to think twice now." Mo is one of 47 people arrested over the pro-democracy primaries. She was denied bail. Her next court hearing is due on September 23.