Ian Perkin, chief economist of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, was on the panel at a Chamber event yesterday - 'Keeping Hong Kong Competitive: 2003 and Beyond'.
Moderator Eden Woon, the Chamber's chief executive, asked panelists to describe Hong Kong's most memorable event. Mr Perkin immediately said: 'James Tien [the Chamber's Legco representative]', then more seriously recounted the 48-hour party held during the 1997 handover of sovereignty at the Regent Hotel.
'That was definitely my most memorable event,' Mr Perkin recalled. 'The first 24 hours had an English theme, and the second 24 hours was Chinese. But I can only remember the first 24 hours.'
Mr Perkin, whose first job in Hong Kong was business editor of this paper, tells us he is moving back to Australia at the end of the month, specifically to Buderim, a town on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.
'I will be thinking about the future,' he told us when we asked about his immediate plans. 'I think I will spend quite a long while thinking about the future.'
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