https://www.scmp.com/rss/520928/feed Dr Ken Ip is an assistant professor specialising in business innovation and entrepreneurship at Saint Francis University, Hong Kong. He is a strategic adviser with expertise in Web3, AI, tech, branding and digital economy, and is the chairman of the Asia MarTech Society. en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Ken Ip Ken Ip For decades, the rules of career success seemed straightforward. Work hard, impress your boss, get promoted and earn more. A bigger title was proof of progress, while turning down a promotion was often seen as a lack of ambition. But a younger generation is beginning to question this formula. What if getting promoted makes your working life worse? A growing trend in Western workplaces, known as “job dropping”, describes employees voluntarily stepping away from management positions, declining... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3373564/hong-kong-and-beyond-employers-need-rethink-career-ladder https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3373564/hong-kong-and-beyond-employers-need-rethink-career-ladder Tue, 10 Nov 2026 01:30:07 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip When Hong Kong’s first chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, announced his housing plan in 1997, the ambition was extraordinary. The government would produce at least 85,000 flats a year across the public and private sectors, and raise the home ownership rate to 70 per cent. The idea was simple. Build more homes, make housing more affordable and allow more families to own a piece of Hong Kong. Then history intervened. The Asian financial crisis struck. Property prices collapsed. The economy weakened.... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3368422/how-hong-kong-trying-new-solution-its-land-value-problem https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3368422/how-hong-kong-trying-new-solution-its-land-value-problem Mon, 28 Sep 2026 01:30:09 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip Hong Kong has always had a simple answer to what young people should do with their lives: study hard, get a job, work harder, buy a flat and eventually complain about the next generation. That formula is becoming harder to sell. A whole lexicon has grown up around Generation Z’s uneasy relationship with work. In mainland China, there are “full-time children”, young adults who stay home and receive an allowance from their parents in return for doing household chores and running errands.... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3365271/gen-z-turning-filial-piety-career-path https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3365271/gen-z-turning-filial-piety-career-path Sat, 05 Sep 2026 21:30:06 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip The internet cafe was supposed to become obsolete. Instead, it has become indispensable. Across East Asia, these businesses are quietly evolving into temporary homes, budget hotels, co-working spaces and, for some, an unofficial social safety net. The debate in Hong Kong over overnight internet cafes is simply the newest chapter in a much bigger regional story. Hong Kong authorities have stepped up inspections after some internet cafes began offering overnight packages, private booths, showers... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3362285/how-east-asias-internet-cafes-became-cheap-urban-refuge https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3362285/how-east-asias-internet-cafes-became-cheap-urban-refuge Tue, 04 Aug 2026 08:30:08 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip For much of the 20th century, the “American dream” was perhaps the most successful export in human history. It reached far beyond American borders. Millions of people around the world, including generations of Chinese families, believed in its promise. Study hard. Work hard. Build a career. Buy a home. Raise a family. Create a better life than the previous generation. The dream was never about becoming rich. It was about becoming comfortably middle class. For decades, that vision helped define... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3358511/chinese-dream-replacing-american-dream https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3358511/chinese-dream-replacing-american-dream Mon, 29 Jun 2026 12:30:06 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip Few things age faster than a business plan built for a world that no longer exists. That may be the most important lesson from the saga of 11 Skies, the vast retail, entertainment and commercial complex beside Hong Kong International Airport that now appears destined for a dramatic reset. Reports that the Airport Authority could take majority control of the project from its private developer have triggered debate over who should bear the cost and who made the wrong bets. The real story of 11... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3355715/real-story-11-skies-not-about-failed-shopping-centre https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3355715/real-story-11-skies-not-about-failed-shopping-centre Fri, 05 Jun 2026 01:30:07 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip The numbers tell a revealing story. The city’s eight publicly funded universities, once primarily judged by academic output and global rankings, are now generating record income from knowledge transfer. Patents, licensing deals, industry partnerships. These are not side activities. They are becoming core business lines. Universities are no longer just custodians of knowledge. They are active market participants, packaging and monetising it. Around them, an ecosystem is forming. Student hostels... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3350074/hong-kongs-education-hub-cannot-be-one-market-wonder https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3350074/hong-kongs-education-hub-cannot-be-one-market-wonder Thu, 23 Apr 2026 01:30:08 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip In China this month, people have been lining up on streets to install an AI programme on their computers. Some had travelled from other cities. Others had waited for hours for engineers to set it up for them. There were even “birth certificates” given out upon installation. The programme is OpenClaw. Its logo is a red lobster. Chinese internet users quickly coined a phrase for the phenomenon: raising lobsters. The scene looks quirky, even amusing. But beneath the spectacle lies a revealing... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3346562/frenzy-over-ai-agent-openclaw-shows-lobster-has-escaped-pot https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3346562/frenzy-over-ai-agent-openclaw-shows-lobster-has-escaped-pot Tue, 17 Mar 2026 21:30:08 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip There are few assets on earth as strategically sensitive as the ports flanking the Panama Canal. They sit at the hinge of global trade, where container ships glide between oceans and geopolitics moves just beneath the surface. That is why Panama’s seizure of two major port terminals operated by CK Hutchison, the Hong Kong conglomerate built by Li Ka-shing, deserves more than a passing headline. It is not simply a contractual dispute dressed up as constitutional housekeeping. It is a stress test... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3344483/true-cost-panamas-port-seizure-lies-lost-predictability https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3344483/true-cost-panamas-port-seizure-lies-lost-predictability Thu, 26 Feb 2026 01:30:09 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip For generations of Hong Kong investors, Hang Seng Bank was never just a stock. It was a companion through decades of economic ascent, market turbulence and personal milestones. This is why the bank’s delisting on Tuesday after 53 years on the exchange has stirred something deeper than a routine corporate transaction would. It feels like the end of an era not because the numbers no longer add up but because the memories still do. Consider the irony of this moment. The Hang Seng Index, the city’s... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3341427/hang-seng-banks-delisting-index-it-created-signals-shift https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3341427/hang-seng-banks-delisting-index-it-created-signals-shift Thu, 29 Jan 2026 01:30:08 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip A city’s character is not tested on a good day, but in the quiet hours after a disaster, when the smoke settles, sirens fade and residents look at the charred outline of a home that used to anchor an entire life. The Tai Po fire, which engulfed several blocks of subsidised government housing and left families displaced overnight, has forced Hong Kong into a rare moment of civic introspection. A tragedy on this scale is a stress test of our assumptions about urban planning, insurance, finance and... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3336801/hong-kongs-fire-victims-need-empathy-clarity-and-plan https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3336801/hong-kongs-fire-victims-need-empathy-clarity-and-plan Mon, 22 Dec 2025 01:30:09 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip There was a time when Hong Kong’s retail landlords looked untouchable. If you wanted a dependable income, you would buy shares in the city’s leading real estate investment trusts (Reits), the steady dividend machines of a service economy built on foot traffic, routine and the long-held assumption that Hongkongers would always shop. These companies were the unshakeable pillars of everyday commerce. They prospered not because the economy was roaring, but because consumers kept showing up. That era... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3333967/why-not-just-another-retail-downturn-hong-kong https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3333967/why-not-just-another-retail-downturn-hong-kong Wed, 26 Nov 2025 08:30:08 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip Recently a video went viral of a plain clothes Hong Kong police officer aboard a minibus counting how many passengers had not fastened their seat belts. The police said summons would be issued to commuters who had been found to be not wearing seat belts. Social media lit up with surprise, amusement and debate. Some wondered if undercover policing could soon spread to buses or taxis. The law itself is hardly new. Minibus passengers have been required to buckle up for more than 20 years. What... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3331480/hong-kongs-road-safety-laws-must-be-enforced-clarity-and-care https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3331480/hong-kongs-road-safety-laws-must-be-enforced-clarity-and-care Wed, 05 Nov 2025 08:34:22 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip Is Hong Kong running out of land, or are we just running out of imagination? Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s latest policy address highlighted efforts to boost housing supply, from expedited approvals for “spade-ready” sites to ambitious projects such as the Northern Metropolis. The government promises faster land release and smarter use of existing plots, yet while more homes are being built, a deeper question remains: are we using the land we have as efficiently as possible? When it comes... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3327418/help-elderly-hongkongers-free-prime-housing-younger-generations https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3327418/help-elderly-hongkongers-free-prime-housing-younger-generations Fri, 03 Oct 2025 21:30:08 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip Is Hong Kong’s most ambitious cultural project becoming its most expensive liability? More than a decade and nearly HK$50 billion (US$6.4 billion) later, the West Kowloon Cultural District finds itself in a precarious position. The government’s flagship arts and culture hub, which was meant to catapult the city into the ranks of global cultural capitals, now risks being remembered less for its creative breakthroughs than for its governance and financial headaches. The numbers alone tell a... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3325028/time-hong-kongs-us64-billion-cultural-gamble-pay https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3325028/time-hong-kongs-us64-billion-cultural-gamble-pay Sun, 14 Sep 2025 01:30:07 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip In recent years, Hongkongers have developed a new habit: going north for their medical check-ups. A 2024 survey found nearly one in three residents had sought medical care in mainland China. The reasons are as predictable as they are troubling: shorter queues, cheaper drugs and upfront prices. If this trend sounds like a temporary release valve for a stressed system, think again. What we’re seeing isn’t a convenient side option; it’s an unofficial outsourcing of healthcare. Left unchecked, it... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3322178/hong-kong-cant-afford-outsource-its-healthcare-mainland-china https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3322178/hong-kong-cant-afford-outsource-its-healthcare-mainland-china Tue, 19 Aug 2025 01:30:09 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip Imagine a 500lbs man. Eighty per cent body fat. His arteries are clogged, his heart is on the blink. A doctor tells him to do 100 burpees a day to save his life. It’s not bad advice – burpees are great for losing weight – but let’s be honest. The man can’t even kneel, let alone jump. The method isn’t wrong. It’s just impossible. That man is the US economy. And the debt – all US$36.65 trillion of it – is the fat. Let’s cut through the noise. Recent headlines have been about the supposed feud... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3319137/debt-bloated-us-stablecoin-new-financial-weapon-making https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3319137/debt-bloated-us-stablecoin-new-financial-weapon-making Wed, 23 Jul 2025 08:30:08 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip What do you get when you mix outdated regulation, asset bubbles and an on-demand economy? In Hong Kong’s case, a taxi system on life support – clinging to the hope of million-dollar medallions (taxi licences) while app-based ride-hailing services quietly reshape the market. The government has finally committed to regulating these ride-hailing platforms, promising a legal framework within the year. It has also launched a premium taxi fleet scheme, granting permission for a handful of operators to... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3314170/no-way-should-hong-kong-bail-out-taxi-licence-holders https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3314170/no-way-should-hong-kong-bail-out-taxi-licence-holders Sun, 15 Jun 2025 06:30:09 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip When a tragedy happens, we look up from our phones, shake our heads and wonder how it came to this. Then, often too quickly, we scroll on. However, some events refuse to be dismissed so easily. The recent incident in which a teacher died after falling from the rooftop at a primary school in Sai Kung has sent a wave of sorrow and discomfort through Hong Kong’s education community. It’s a wake-up call we can’t afford to ignore. Teaching has always been more than a job. It’s the unseen engine of... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3310804/hong-kong-must-care-its-teachers-its-too-late https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3310804/hong-kong-must-care-its-teachers-its-too-late Tue, 20 May 2025 01:30:08 +0000 Ken Ip Ken Ip For the better part of the last decade, China’s economic narrative has been defined by one central doctrine: “supply-side reform”. Since President Xi Jinping introduced the concept in 2015, Beijing has been laser-focused on boosting productivity, eliminating excess capacity and cultivating new technologies. The results have been striking. China now leads the world in the production of electric vehicles and solar energy, and has made significant strides in artificial intelligence, particularly in... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3309116/china-knows-how-produce-next-test-whether-it-can-consume https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3309116/china-knows-how-produce-next-test-whether-it-can-consume Tue, 06 May 2025 08:30:08 +0000 Few things worry ordinary citizens as much as a surge in healthcare costs. On March 25, the Hong Kong government announced a sweeping overhaul of public healthcare fees, with increases that cannot be ignored. The price of a visit to the accident and emergency department will more than double to HK$400 (US$51.45) from HK$180, specialist outpatient fees will jump to HK$250 from HK$80 and hospital inpatient charges will go up to HK$300 a day from HK$120. For a city already grappling with rising... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3304431/struggling-hongkongers-rise-healthcare-fees-just-adds-hardship https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3304431/struggling-hongkongers-rise-healthcare-fees-just-adds-hardship Wed, 02 Apr 2025 01:30:09 +0000 It’s not often that a business turnaround stuns the public, but the recent announcement from Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is nothing short of extraordinary. After nearly a decade of losses, the theme park has reported a record net profit and all-time high visitor numbers. How did it turn its fortunes around? What seems magical was a carefully crafted strategy of investing in Disney’s intellectual property (IP) – such as with the launch of World of Frozen – and a bold move towards higher pricing.... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3300416/what-hong-kong-tourism-can-learn-disneylands-magical-turnaround https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3300416/what-hong-kong-tourism-can-learn-disneylands-magical-turnaround Sat, 01 Mar 2025 21:30:08 +0000