The View | Why Hong Kong was at its best in the late 1980s
The final years of the booming decade represented the height of wealth creation and opportunity, but also a period which was culturally unique
This is my Fire Monkey year. In the next week, I hit 60. What has Hong Kong has taught me about business in the last six decades?
Hong Kong started as a byword for product and service - doing a good job for people. Good business people are not always flashy, or loud, or even smart. Luck and timing play huge part. Like successful business people, locations like Hong Kong also need luck and timing as well as, of course, hard work.
I learned a lesson that to make things happen, you have to hustle
As a teenager I remember that it was possible to drive down to Central and park free around a tree-lined Statue Square. Now only the billionaire’s chauffeurs can do that. Life was slower than today but for as long as I can remember, the “doors close” button on the elevators have been worn out. It was then that I absorbed Hong Kong’s values of hope combined with hard work and ambition. There’s a feeling that no one owes you a favour, so you had better get on with it. It comes from the urgency of being a refugee society and the need to make a living. I learned a lesson that to make things happen, you have to hustle.
Time is money so things had to be done yesterday. I started working in the city in the 1970’s, which was a decade of enormous energy as the government poured investment into housing, bridges, highways, hospitals, and water supply. The Hong Kong spirit of urgency and impatience was combined with a spirit of efficiency. Corners were cut but in a professional manner, within the rules; not illegally. This Hong Kong taught me ambition – a sense that no one could stop you succeeding.
Back in London, I found a boss who illustrated the difference. He thought I was a cowboy and I thought he was a hidebound old fuddy-duddy, incapable of decision-making. In Hong Kong, bureaucracy was light and there was no blame culture. Projects came in under budget and within time. Getting the job done was paramount – the details could be winged later. If they did trip up the project, people were confident and experienced enough to find a quick solution.