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Eden Woon. Photo: May Tse

It's time to step out of our comfort zone so Hong Kong can progress, says educator

Veteran educator Eden Woon says we have to overcome our lack of confidence and obsession with politics so that Hong Kong can progress

Q: How should young people in Hong Kong equip themselves to stay competitive?

A: They should embrace everything instead of withdrawing. Go to China to work for a few years!

From a teaching job with the United States Air Force to a top university post in Hong Kong, Dr Eden Woon Yi-teng has done it all. His portfolio in the intervening years includes working as a diplomat to bargain with Beijing, heading Hong Kong's biggest business chamber, and even selling coffee and toys in Shanghai.

Now a vice-president at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Woon, 68, has always managed to fit seamlessly into each new role, meeting challenges with enthusiasm. Looking back, he recalls how he jumped at every opportunity, abandoning his comfort zone each time.

This is the kind of enterprising spirit he urges Hong Kong people to pursue if they want to see the city heal old wounds and recapture its dynamism. Hong Kong's famous "can-do" spirit has become a thing of the past and must be revived, he says.

Woon recalls how he was stunned to learn that a multinational company had difficulties assigning its Hong Kong staff to other countries because they did not want to leave the city.

"I found that shocking. It's a great opportunity. To me, it's a lack of confidence," he says, calling on Hongkongers, especially young people, to step out of their comfort zone.

"I encourage them to look ahead and try to discover that the best opportunity happens when you equip yourself.

"Don't turn away opportunities. Take the challenge. If there's a chance to go away for a few years to further yourself, why not? You should!

"You'll learn things that you'll never learn just sitting at home."

Woon identifies two main obstacles that are hindering Hong Kong from moving forward - people's obsession with politics these days to the detriment of the city's economic and international development, and their resistance to acknowledging they are now a part of China.

With more than 30 years of experience in dealing with mainland authorities in his various capacities, including as China adviser to the US secretary of defence, Woon is in a position to bemoan the lack of national pride in Hong Kong.

He is concerned that Hongkongers are so consumed with politics that they risk losing the city's unique international identity with their inward-looking habits.

"Politics should not consume everything. This is what people have to realise," Woon says.

But the man who led the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the city's oldest and biggest business chamber, from 1997 to 2006, is not putting profit above everything.

He clarifies that he is not suggesting people should concentrate only on business and abandon politics altogether, because it is only natural that local citizens would like to have "some say in how to run their own place" after the handover from British colonial rule to Chinese sovereignty.

"But you have to have a balanced view of how the Special Administrative Region or the society moves forward," Woon says, stressing that one should be aware of Hong Kong's very "local" politics in contrast to its very "international" local economy.

"So if you focus too much on politics, it has the effect of making the society inward-looking, and therefore losing the international characteristics of Hong Kong, and that affects its economy."

Woon reminds Hong Kong people not to forget or underestimate the importance of international trade partners and tourists, along with English and Putonghua language skills - all of which are essential for the city to develop further.

"Too much politics also affects the policies that Hong Kong needs to be competitive, and they're not being made. And that is bad," he laments.

Woon cites the Legislative Council's failure to endorse the government's planned innovation and technology bureau as a typical example. The plan has been blocked by filibustering pan-democrat lawmakers who are refusing to cooperate with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to protest against his electoral reform proposals based on Beijing's restrictive framework.

As for tensions between Hong Kong and the mainland over politics and tourism, Woon attributes it to Hongkongers' resistance to the fact that the city is already a part of China.

"I don't blame them. The last 150 years of Hong Kong's history was totally different from that of China's history," he says.

"So when Hong Kong people are told all of a sudden, 'Oh, you're now part of the People's Republic of China', I think it's difficult for them to accept, even though their skin colour and looks are alike and they also share the same ancestors."

Woon calls for concerted efforts and mutual understanding on both sides of the border to change this mindset.

"Beijing also needs to appreciate that Hong Kong people are not going to become loyal citizens of China overnight," he says.

Woon believes the Hong Kong government should have been the bridge across the divide, but says he has so far not seen anyone he considers capable of achieving this.

"The Hong Kong government today is very unpopular. I am worried because I don't see anyone able to be a bridge and to assist in this mutual understanding, and holding to one extreme position is not going to work," he says.

"In negotiations, it's okay to ask for the moon, but you have to realise that if you don't get that, you'll have to take the middle ground. It's not the best deal, but it's a good deal. It's better than no deal."

Despite the pessimistic outlook, Woon is still holding out hope that Hong Kong will capitalise on its advantages - being international and distinct from the mainland system.

"Hong Kong is an international city with free flow of information and minimal monetary controls … This 'one country, two systems' is meaningful. This is a different system," he says.

"I think people should realise and cherish that this is a 'different' system, and be more self-confident."

Woon notes that some big Chinese technology firms are moving to Hong Kong to set up research laboratories because they are counting on the city's international characteristics to attract talent from around the world.

He calls for the development of a new pillar of innovation and technology in the city, backed by policies and incentives to facilitate this. If Hong Kong is to become China's "Silicon Valley", he says, the government needs to look at synergy and a "business eco-system" for tech companies to flourish here.

The first thing, Woon suggests, is to attract big international companies to set up shop in Hong Kong, which will become a magnet for smaller enterprises to proliferate and for talent to surface.

He believes a unified policy with incentives such as more funding and tax concessions for start-ups will be key to nurturing technology in the city.

The laissez-faire approach that the government has adhered to for many decades is "old school" and should be ditched, says Woon. Positive non-intervention is all well and good, but it is now time to be proactive, he says.

"We need government policies to really give it a boost. Big companies are not only good for providing jobs … but also good for entrepreneurship, for small business start-ups, and then you can sell them to big companies.

"You need the whole atmosphere to be one where you announce to the world that Hong Kong is welcoming to technology personnel and we have policies to attract you to come here."

Investors are bound to follow, he adds.

Woon hopes the government's new Advisory Committee on Innovation and Technology will carry out the mission originally assigned to the blocked innovation and technology bureau. But the government should also identify the kinds of technology suitable for Hong Kong to develop and pursue, he says.

He stresses the need to follow the "one country" concept, and for the government to think outside the box by looking at the whole technology hub as a part of the Pearl River Delta, rather than being just confined to Hong Kong alone.

This will also be against the backdrop of serious competition from Shenzhen, which is forging ahead as a tech hub as well and hiring plenty of talent from Hong Kong.

Shenzhen has for the first time in a decade unseated Hong Kong as the most competitive city in China, and its focus on innovation has been credited for the achievement. Hong Kong, in contrast, is seen as having relied too much on its core industries of finance, shipping, tourism and professional services.

"There are a lot of things Hong Kong and Shenzhen can complement each other on," says Woon. "So I'm against thinking of Hong Kong as just Hong Kong … If it's going to be some talk of being a Silicon Valley in the future, it's not Hong Kong, it's the Pearl River Delta."

The government really needs to designate someone who is capable of engaging in higher-level discussions with mainland authorities on cross-border cooperation, Woon says.

"Now it's just [Chief Executive] C. Y. Leung talking to himself," he says. "That's not good enough. You need people to put things in action!"

 

Negotiating life through the eyes of Eden Woon

Woon moved to Hong Kong with his family at the age of two and lived here for 10 years before relocating to the United States.

After graduating in mathematics from the University of Iowa and receiving a PhD from the University of Washington, he embarked on a teaching career with the US Air Force until he retired as a colonel in 1993.

While with the air force, he was assigned to the US Embassy in Beijing for two years from 1983 to 1985. He then worked on China policy and became China adviser to the US Secretary of Defence from 1989 to 1994, during which he was involved in US negotiations with Beijing.

"I lived through the good times and I was at the golden age of US-China relations in the 1980s … But I saw that the US-China relationship has always been difficult," he says.

In 1994, Woon left the job and settled in Seattle where he headed a small business organisation promoting trade between Washington state and China from 1994 to 1997. He made a name for himself in the annual lobbying effort to renew China's most-favoured-nation status. In 1995, he met a delegation led by the late Lu Ping , former director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, who oversaw the city's return to Chinese sovereignty.

"They talked about Hong Kong and the handover, and they got me excited," he says.

It was a turning point for Woon. He moved back to the city soon after, and became CEO of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce from 1997 to 2006.

"The assessment I made was that Hong Kong was going to be fine after 1997," he says. "The other thing is that I always welcome challenges, and coming to Hong Kong was a big challenge."

During his nine years with the chamber, the body succeeded in lobbying Beijing to approve the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, a bilateral trade agreement offering incentives for Hong Kong entrepreneurs and professionals to do business on the mainland.

Another opportunity came up from Shanghai and Woon became vice-president of American coffee chain Starbucks from 2006 to 2007. He switched to the business of selling toys as managing director (China) of Toys LiFung from 2007 to 2009, developing the Toys 'R' Us brand in China.

Before he became Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's first vice-president for institutional advancement in late 2010, he was managing director of Li & Fung Group's China corporate office. He now looks after the university's public affairs and fundraising, forging relations with other renowned academic institutions.

Despite his varied career trajectory, he regards himself as merely a negotiator.

"Life is a series of negotiations. You need to know where people are coming from. To succeed, you try to understand them."

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: It's time to step out of our comfort zone
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