Chamber director reflects on road from refugee to the Great Hall

AS THE DIRECTOR of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce, Eden Woon has demonstrated an unflinching determination to face challenges. Taking on his position during the relative prosperity of early 1997, Mr Woon soon found the going getting tough as the Asian financial crisis rocked the region.

Since then, Mr Woon has had his work cut out representing the SAR's business community while the economy attempts to find its footing. The task may be difficult but one senses that Mr Woon would not have it any other way.

'Never be complacent and always look forward to new challenges,' said Mr Woon when asked for his motto in life.

This eagerness to expand his horizons has been a recurring theme during Mr Woon's career. A former United States Air Force officer, Mr Woon also served as China policy adviser to then US Defence Secretary Dick Cheney, the present US vice-president elect, during the Bush Senior administration.

Mr Woon left Shanghai, where he was born, for Hong Kong at the age of two, in the mass exodus that accompanied the Communist victory. He lived here for 10 years, and credits the time for helping him become fluent in Cantonese.

'We were probably one of the poorest Shanghainese families in Hong Kong,' quipped Mr Woon.

Eventually his family emigrated to the US, where his father took up a post as a professor of Chinese literature in the University of Iowa. Iowa City was a very far cry from Hong Kong, but Mr Woon had few problems assimilating in a new culture, apart from the obvious language problems.