Diplomat from down under looks towards life after Hong Kong

Australian Consul General Paul Tighe left Hong Kong this week after his five-year tenure. The 60-year-old diplomat, who was accompanied by his wife Diane during the posting, enjoyed golf, hiking and sailing around Po Toi island when he was not overseeing the development of his home country’s ties with Hong Kong. He spoke to the Post about the challenges he faced during his time in Hong Kong before heading back to Canberra for a sabbatical. The Australian government is yet to announce his replacement.

If you had an Australian friend visiting Hong Kong, what would you recommend to them?

I’d tell them to get out of the central part of the city and see some of the rest of Hong Kong. Most Australians’ image of Hong Kong is the skyline of Central and Admiralty, which is fantastic and there is a lot of life and dynamism to it, but they don’t realise you can go down to the south side of the island where all the nice beaches are, and the hiking you can do in areas such as Sai Kung. We were very fortunate to live in Deep Water Bay, so our visitors had a little taste of that other side. We always encouraged people to do something a little bit further away like on Po Toi island – one of our favourite destinations – to do a bit of sailing and eat fresh seafood. It’s a world away from the hubbub of the city. Po Toi is an island I’ll miss. I used to go there often on a Sunday for lunch. It was an escape for my wife and I. If you want to wind down, that’s a place I’ll remember for that.

What will you miss most about Hong Kong?

I think the general civility of the place. Not to say it’s not a very busy and crowded place, especially by Australian standards. The people are just flawlessly polite and courteous. I haven’t encountered rudeness in Hong Kong. People are purposeful, which is good, and it makes it efficient. I never thought of that as a gruffness or anything impolite. It was just people being direct and honest. It’s really just the general dynamism and vibe of the place. As Australians we tend to be pretty transparent so I think we relate to the Hongkongers very easily. I think I’ll miss the vibrancy of the food scene here. You have every type of restaurant from Michelin starred places to noodle stalls.