Globalisation probably has as many detractors as supporters. Not only does it spread financial contagion and other economic woes far and in real time, critics say, but it also compresses the life cycles of ideas, lexicon and labels. Not so long ago, journalists and local officials were crowing about Hong Kong's arrival as part of 'Nylonkong' - the pantheon of world financial centres New York, London and Hong Kong, which exemplify globalisation at its best.
With the global financial system now teetering under the weight of excessive debt, 'Nylonkong' has become the byword for a sorry tale of three cities in misery. How could experienced journalists have got it so wrong?
At its zenith, 'Nylonkong' evokes phenomenal wealth, power and glamour. Our propagandists never tire of citing 'Nylonkong' as testimony to our financial strength. Yet, if you look more objectively at our achievements as a financial centre - by consulting the City of London's Global Financial Centres Index - you will notice that Hong Kong has yet to earn its title as a global financial centre.
This honour is reserved for those which 'have sufficient critical mass of financial services institutions to dispense with intermediaries and to connect international, national and regional financial services participants directly'.
Thanks to its large volume of cross-border transactions and involvement in a significant proportion of Asian financial transactions, Hong Kong is comfortably classified as an international and national financial centre. Experts will tell you, however, that claims of being a global financial centre remain quite wide of the mark.
Hong Kong follows the leaders in more ways than one. Apart from critical mass and connectivity, it definitely trails New York and London in innovation. Two prominent examples testify to Hong Kong's laggard position and the pernicious consequences of being a copycat. Take, for example, The Link Reit, one of the world's largest real estate investment trusts, which was spun off from Hong Kong's Housing Authority in November 2005. When the initial public offer was derailed by the judicial review application of a public housing tenant - who argued that it would deprive tenants of public amenities and that The Link Reit would raise rents without considering the public good - keen investors were so furious that condemnations of the application flew thick and fast. Hong Kong was 40 years behind the US in introducing reits, but the relentless ways in which The Link Reit has squeezed out the small guys and increased rents have vindicated those opposed to the IPO.