Then & Now | Hong Kong, where socialite is a job description

In few places besides Hong Kong – Dallas and Los Angeles are possible exceptions – is “socialite” an acceptable job description (of sorts) and not a term of amused contempt. And so it has been for generations. From its 19th-century begin­nings, Hong Kong has always had plenty of individuals who would enthusiastically show up to the opening of a gilt-edged envelope, just so long as a ready supply of champagne, elaborate canapés and a smug sense of exclusivity accompanied the paper-slitting ceremony.

Much as today, the same faces reappeared at similar, mostly marketing-driven “society” events. With a pre-war population of about a million – most of whom were very poor – Hong Kong’s ball-, dance- and charity-event-attending demographic was tiny.

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Until not long ago, affluent women were expected, after a dynastically calculated “love” mar­riage had been safely arranged, to sit around, like accumulated pieces of status-conferring, occasionally used equipment, and respect­ably fill in the endless, idle hours between pregnancies. Doing something that looked and felt worthwhile – organising charity balls, for example – even if the eventual out­comes were probably better served by simply writing a cheque for the relevant cause in the first place, was one way to feel relevant.

Blissful lack of any self- or broader societal awareness is part of the local socialite’s intellectual package; one favourite anecdote from the 1990s involved a well-known Hong Kong socialite attending an animal-rights fundraising event wearing – what else? – a luxurious fur stole. The sullen, pout-faced incomprehension displayed when the outfit’s utter unsuitability for the occasion was brought home to her still chimes vividly in the memory.

Extravagant party thrown by a luxury brand is reminiscent of Hong Kong’s past glory

While women historically dominated Hong Kong’s socialite scene, attention-seeking men have also hogged the limelight, camera flashes and social pages, working the local party circuit for all it was worth. Part of the motivation for Hong Kong’s professional socialites is, of course, the commercial benefits that develop from constant exposure to glamorous, media-thronged occasions.