https://www.scmp.com/rss/516410/feed Damien Green is a Hong Kong based financial services executive. He has served as president and CEO of Manulife Asia and before that was the CEO of Manulife Hong Kong and Macau. Damien is a Hong Kong permanent resident and is a member of the board of directors of the Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council (FSDC), the non-executive chair of Manulife Financial Asia Limited and founder of the Hong Kong creative economy social venture, StudioKT. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Damien Green Damien Green The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) as a practical tool is far outweighed by overinflated hype around it. The trending topic of AI is being driven by pundits with seemingly minute-by-minute hot takes, advice and products to sell. However, as the AI bandwagon picks up pace, there is an urgent need for a more thoughtful, independent conversation about preparing for a new reality. The Microsoft/LinkedIn 2024 Annual Work Trend Index trumpets aggressive conclusions such as “Employees want AI... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3331016/survive-ai-age-humans-must-hold-our-humanity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3331016/survive-ai-age-humans-must-hold-our-humanity?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Nov 2025 21:30:09 +0000 Damien Green Damien Green Hong Kong faces rising hospital fees, insurance premium increases, unprofitable health insurers and high out-of-pocket health spending. This developing healthcare cost crisis is expected to worsen amid the city’s ageing population. Avoiding this crisis requires a transformation in cooperation between healthcare providers, insurers and health authorities, underpinned by technology integration across the whole system. Ignoring the impact of Covid-19, healthcare costs rose by 23 per cent in the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3312966/four-steps-hong-kong-tackle-fast-rising-healthcare-costs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3312966/four-steps-hong-kong-tackle-fast-rising-healthcare-costs?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Jun 2025 01:30:09 +0000 Stronger ties between the European Union and China are being pursued by European business interests while at the same time being cooled by the European Commission. The outcome of this tension will materially shape the new global trading order in the era of US President Donald Trump and beyond. There has been a warming in EU-China relations amid the aftershocks of the Trump administration’s rejection of European interests and its imposition of aggressive trade protectionism against Europe and... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3304018/why-brussels-should-listen-europes-ceos-who-want-closer-china-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3304018/why-brussels-should-listen-europes-ceos-who-want-closer-china-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Mar 2025 08:30:07 +0000 Hong Kong’s public finances are under rare pressure but there are clear reasons to maintain long-term confidence in the city’s future prosperity. I base this view on a rational assessment of what I know and see as a long-time business leader, investor and resident in the city. My assessment framework has three lenses: risk and opportunity as well as leadership and execution. Hong Kong’s risks and opportunities relate to the nature of its external and internal environments and how these are... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3294602/why-investors-can-be-confident-hong-kongs-finances?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3294602/why-investors-can-be-confident-hong-kongs-finances?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jan 2025 08:30:09 +0000 Under what circumstances can a banana be an instrument of peace, and why should the newly minted Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Rosanna Law Shuk-pui, care about the answer to that question? A satirical artwork called Comedian comprising nothing more than a banana taped to a wall was recently auctioned for an astonishing US$6.2 million. Subsequently, its new owner brought it to Hong Kong and ate it in a publicity stunt. If its artist, Maurizio Cattelan, intended to ridicule... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3291936/what-hong-kongs-culture-officials-can-learn-banana-wall?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3291936/what-hong-kongs-culture-officials-can-learn-banana-wall?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Dec 2024 01:30:08 +0000 Australia could persuade its Anglo-American allies to take a more rational approach to Hong Kong and mainland China in the interests of global peace and stability. Instead, the Australian political elite, seemingly in thrall to the United States, continues to fuel tensions with China. This positions the remote island nation as a potential pariah in its region. Take the Aukus pact, for example, which will see Australia buy American and British nuclear naval capabilities for the first time. This... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3275053/australia-must-stand-us-and-uk-pressure-over-aukus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3275053/australia-must-stand-us-and-uk-pressure-over-aukus?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Aug 2024 21:30:09 +0000 To start winning again in tourism, Hong Kong needs to face a new normal in which lower-cost business models have the advantage in attracting leisure travellers. A heavier emphasis on business travel, as opposed to luxury travel, may yield better results for the city too. The big shift away from luxury tourism is a trend that our city’s prevailing high-cost business models are not geared to profitably harness. Specifically, luxury retail outlets in prestigious locations are simply not going to... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3267135/hong-kongs-small-colourful-businesses-can-lead-tourism-recovery?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3267135/hong-kongs-small-colourful-businesses-can-lead-tourism-recovery?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Jun 2024 21:30:09 +0000 Businesses in Hong Kong are hoping for a boost from visitors over mainland China’s Labour Day “golden week” holiday. But hope cannot be a substitute for action in this difficult environment, and it is up to us whether Hong Kong’s economy perishes under the fiery challenges or finds a transformative rebirth – like a phoenix rising from the ashes. In Chinese mythology, the phoenix represents resilience, duty, propriety and virtue. Perhaps it should be the symbol of our times: Hongkongers must take... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3259692/hong-kong-thrive-private-sector-must-rise-challenge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3259692/hong-kong-thrive-private-sector-must-rise-challenge?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Apr 2024 01:15:16 +0000 The time has come for a Hong Kong Cultural Wave, and we shouldn’t underestimate the positive impact this could have on the city’s global reputation. Cities and nations successfully exporting their own art and culture in a sustained manner tend to develop a form of soft power. That term might carry a negative connotation for some people, but it is not a bad thing if we consider the phenomenon of hallyu, or the Korean Cultural Wave. Soft power – a term popularised by American political scientist... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3251433/hong-kong-needs-cultural-wave-match-south-koreas-hallyu?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3251433/hong-kong-needs-cultural-wave-match-south-koreas-hallyu?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Feb 2024 02:00:21 +0000 “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” As it was for Mark Twain, so it is for Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre. The often-misquoted line from Twain that appeared in the New York Journal in the spring of 1897 was his way of ridiculing what was obviously not true. According to the Journal, Twain was “undecided whether to be more amused or annoyed when a Journal representative informed him today of the report in New York that he was dying in poverty in... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3244085/5-reasons-hong-kongs-financial-hub-status-secure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3244085/5-reasons-hong-kongs-financial-hub-status-secure?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Dec 2023 08:33:20 +0000 Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s planned trip to Beijing this weekend represents the latest in a series of positive steps towards getting China-Australia engagement back on track. In spite of this, the uncomfortable truth is that, unless Australia rethinks its deep lack of independence from Anglo-American interests, it will be unable to establish itself as a trusted partner to other Asia-Pacific nations, not least China. The Aukus security pact and Australia’s planned purchase of its... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3239629/us-proxy-or-asias-trusted-partner-australia-cant-be-both?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3239629/us-proxy-or-asias-trusted-partner-australia-cant-be-both?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Oct 2023 01:30:24 +0000 When it comes to the West Kowloon Cultural District and its much discussed financial travails, we may be completely missing the point. The overall creative arts ecosystem in Hong Kong needs serious enablement. While squeezing hard to find the earliest break-even point for the West Kowloon project is no doubt important from a civic perspective, realising Hong Kong’s true potential as a global hub for creative arts is surely the bigger and far more strategic issue. Thus, any knee-jerk reaction to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3235346/solving-hong-kong-arts-hub-woes-we-mustnt-miss-big-picture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3235346/solving-hong-kong-arts-hub-woes-we-mustnt-miss-big-picture?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Sep 2023 02:00:15 +0000 The 86 million people of the Greater Bay Area face a future healthcare and retirement funding problem that Hong Kong can help to fix. Running out of money in retirement and no longer being able to afford quality healthcare are grim prospects that confront rapidly ageing societies. With one of the longest life expectancies in the world, Hong Kong knows these anxieties all too well. China as a whole is entering an era of rapid ageing too, bringing similar systemic worries but on a dramatically... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3233473/ageing-hong-kong-can-be-greater-bay-areas-pensions-and-healthcare-hub?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3233473/ageing-hong-kong-can-be-greater-bay-areas-pensions-and-healthcare-hub?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Sep 2023 17:00:07 +0000 As a city synthesising Chinese cultural heritage, British historical influences and ties with the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia, characterised by a fundamental openness to international friends and travellers from near and far, Hong Kong is home to 7.5 million people speaking in a thousand voices. As we seek to embark on a new direction following the past few difficult years, arts and culture have a crucial role to play in establishing the tenor of this relaunch and we have a great deal of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3231250/hong-kong-relaunch-must-create-space-youth-art-and-culture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3231250/hong-kong-relaunch-must-create-space-youth-art-and-culture?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Aug 2023 00:15:11 +0000