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Take it
Take it

SLOWLY
SLOWLY

Reviving pen pal experience

By Sarah Ryou

hen was the last time you “In a very fast-paced city like Hong munity is still growing. Wong believes
bought stamps or wrote a Kong, we lack the patience to wait,” the charm of the app is that everyone
Wpen pal letter? When did says Wong, who finds the beauty in can become friends: “There are users
you last write a letter to a friend? Most waiting. SLOWLY encourages us- as young as 16 and as old as 60, and
people stay in touch or make new ers to compose long and meaningful they have actually become friends by
friends by posting messages on social messages. He notices that messages common interests.” He is now devel-
media platforms instead of writing as long as 10,000 words are sent every oping a desktop version of the app.
letters nowadays. SLOWLY is a mo- now and then. Want to slow down your pace, start
bile app that brings back the experi- A main feature of SLOWLY is that some meaningful conversations, and
ence of pen palling. users can stay anonymous. A user experience the pleasure of sending
In SLOWLY, you can connect with only needs to create a nickname and and receiving letters? Join SLOWLY
strangers around the world by writing an avatar to start matching with pen today and download it for free from
and sending them letters sealed with a pals who share common interests. The Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
stamp of your choice. As its name sug- anonymity, Wong believes, frees us-
gests, SLOWLY encourages users to ers from privacy concerns and allows
slow down and wait. And the delivery them to express themselves freely.
time varies with the distance between Though he had difficult times de-
a sender and a recipient. veloping the app, Wong says positive
Kevin Wong Ho-yin, the founder feedback from users brings him pleas-
of SLOWLY, says the app was inspired ure and satisfaction. One user who
by his experience of writing to pen suffers from depression finds emo- Edited by Valerie Wan
pals when he was young. He has for- tional relief and gains motivation from
gotten what he wrote in letters, but he his pen friend by using SLOWLY. The
still recalls the excitement of waiting duo thanked Wong for creating the
for a reply. Therefore, he wishes to re- app and the unique experience.
introduce the pen pal experience to Until now, SLOWLY already has
the young generation. over one million users and the com-

Graphics created by Kevin Wong Ho-yin