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SCMP Reporter

Tunisian-born Khalifa, an associate professor at the Department of Information Systems at City University, arrived in Hong Kong in 1995. He has never lived anywhere else for longer than six years, but he has no plans to leave Hong Kong.

Where are you most likely to be at 10am on a Sunday? Playing soccer with my two boys, Adam and Yassine.

Where are you most likely to be at 10pm on a Friday? In the office finishing some work.

How many hours a day do you work? Eleven or 12. I often work on Saturdays and Sundays too.

Do you consider yourself to be a workaholic? I don't, but my wife probably does.

What do you do when you are bored? Play computer games.

How many hours a day do you spend front of a computer? About five. My job also requires me to spend a lot of time interacting with people. Once, when I was finishing a project at college, I spent 24 hours non-stop in front of a computer.

Is teaching different in Hong Kong than in other countries? More effort is required to encourage students here to be more interactive and more analytical.

What is your favourite saying? 'Le travail est un tresor'. It is from a French poem by La Fontaine. It means wealth is achieved through hard work.

What makes you smile? Watching my kids play.

What makes you sweat? Playing soccer with my kids.

What do you like most about your job? Helping students reach new heights.

What do you like least about your job? Having to participate in useless committee meetings. The university is a large organisation and in most large organisations there is bureaucracy.

Name one thing that Hong Kong people should be proud of. Achieving so much with so few resources.

And one thing they should be ashamed of. They have nothing to be ashamed of. I don't like the pollution here but I don't think it's something that Hong Kong people should be ashamed of.

If you could re-write one part of Hong Kong history, which part would it be and why? The opium trade. It caused a lot of suffering.

Whom would you like to be the next Chief Executive in Hong Kong? Someone with better leadership skills who is capable of leading it through the challenges it faces in the years ahead.

Do you own anything you couldn't part with? My family, although I do not own it.

Do you lose your temper easily? I come from a Mediterranean country. People from that part of the world are more expressive. So yes, by Chinese standards, I lose my temper easily.

What was the biggest cultural difference you noticed when you arrived in Hong Kong? The lack of violence. It seems to be safe to walk around the city at any time. Also, people are very self-disciplined. For example, when it's very crowded on the MTR during the rush hour no one seems to become agitated.

Give us some wisdom ... Never spend valuable energy on negative thoughts or actions.



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South China Sea

Mohamed Khalifa