When the going gets tough, entrepreneur and author Stephen Vines warms to opportunity
FUTURE GENERATIONS OF Hong Kong residents are likely to recall 2003 for many reasons. Disease, depression and government bungling resulted in half a million people taking to the streets in protest and - to their great surprise - actually getting what they wanted.
The aftermath saw the birth of a new political culture that for a brief moment offered the prospect of radical change. Even cocooned expatriates, long used to maintaining only passing interest in local political life, were engaged.
Against this backdrop, journalist/entrepreneur Stephen Vines launched a British-style satirical journal for a newly minted chattering class that he hoped would lap up edgy commentary, good reads and spiteful gossip over coffee and bagels.
Yet, within nine months, the magazine (loosely modelled on Private Eye and The Spectator) had folded, but not before 33 issues secured a footnote in Hong Kong publishing history, tearing strips off the establishment and scandalising higher-ups in the English-language news media set.
Whatever you thought of Spike's often incongruous mix of nihilistic derision and earnest political comment, its rapid demise reinforces the belief that niche English-language publishing is best left to those with a penchant for losing money.