SHANGHAI TANG FOUNDER David Tang Wing-cheung isn't joking when he describes himself as a late learner. It took the flamboyant businessman half a dozen attempts to pass his O-level English exam. 'Six times!' he says incredulously before snickering at the memory.
A teacher at his school in Britain told him that English would never be his forte. Tang recalls with glee meeting the man years later and asking (with the facility of someone born to the language): ''Do you remember telling me I would never speak English fluently?' He said yes, and I called him a name that is unprintable.'
Tang can afford to be smug, having not only mastered his second language but also adding a literary feather to his cap. A nascent author, as he calls himself - in English, to boot - the man behind Shanghai Tang, the China Club, Pacific Cigar, Cipriani and China Tang restaurant in London's Mayfair is so seduced by the thrill of seeing his work between covers that he promises more to come.
Tang's debut, An Apple a Week, is a collection of English-language columns written between 2004 and February this year for Chinese-language Apple Daily newspaper. 'I was asked to encourage and teach people how to improve their English,' says Tang. Every week for 18 months he wrote 800-1,000 words on a theme of his choice. 'I would always write it the night before the deadline. You must always sleep on something and look at it the following morning.'
Tang writes with as much conviction as he speaks. Touching on everything from 'the lavatorial' Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, to Hong Kong losing its Chinese identity, Disneyland (a 'plastic world of pastiche') and Albert Einstein, he mixes criticism with humour: In a column titled 'E=mc2', while bemoaning the public's lack of interest in the sciences, he offers the following explanation of the famous equation: 'If I could release all the energy in my body, I would explode with the force of 30 large hydrogen bombs. Thankfully, physics does not allow me to unlock all that energy. Otherwise, it would be quite useful when I want to make a point.'
Explosive though he may be, Tang says he has failed to sway the government on certain issues. One, which would gel with its policy of inclusion, is taking a lead in employing young adults with Down's syndrome. In the chapter 'I Will Now Stalk the Government', he segues from a Fatal Attraction-type episode with a female fan to a plea for support of people afflicted.
Stephen, an office assistant with Down's syndrome, provides the transition when Tang's meeting with the stranger ends on a threatening note. Stephen goes to the aid of his boss, wraps his arms around the crazed woman and carries her out. 'If the government were to take on just one person that would be a good example,' says Tang.
