Standing out in an entrepreneurial city is no small achievement. It is even greater success when it comes with ethnic-minority baggage. From street hawking to running a multi-national business empire, Hari Harilela, who died on Monday, aged 92, is truly an inspiring Hong Kong story.

Like some local tycoons, Harilela was born to an impoverished Indian family in the 1920s. He soon followed his parents to Canton, the present-day Guangzhou, in search of better living. As the Great Depression wiped out the family's export business, he moved to Hong Kong and hawked together with his father and brothers outside the British barracks at the age of 10. They struggled through the Japanese occupation and gained steadily with a tailoring business with the British and US armies across the region, before diversifying into hotel and real estate business. The Harilela empire now spans across Thailand, Singapore, Canada and Britain.

Like the locals, Harilela lived through some of the most testing times of the past century. His success made him the voice of the Indian community. But his relatively low profile belied his influence. He was named one of the advisers to Beijing on Hong Kong affairs before the handover, a rare recognition for non-Chinese. He was also the first ethnic-minority figure to be awarded the top honour of the Grand Bauhinia Medal. The Harilelas are also known for their strong family bonding, as evidenced by the clan living under one roof in Kowloon Tong. This resonates well in a modern society where unity and harmony are fast vanishing.