Celebrating Transitions

As Jenny mentioned, last week we celebrated the 4th of July by having our own little BBQ on the 7th of July. However, much of Hong Kong had been celebrating (or protesting) several days earlier on the 1st of July which marked the 10th year since the handover of Hong Kong from the UK to China. Due to the rain and just plan ol’ laziness we missed most of the fireworks, parades and protest marches.

The occassion was marked by quite a few programs and articles reflecting on Hong Kong’s past and predicting Hong Kong’s future. Time Magazine published a dedicated feature and The Economist wrote up a special report. I’m sure there were plenty of others that I missed.

Several people have asked me, “Why Hong Kong? Why not Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei… ?” The question makes sense particularly when one considers that I speak Mandarin rather than Cantonese (the Chinese dialect in Hong Kong) and the cost of living. In fact, for a time there we had actually decided to live in mainland China, or at least make an attempt. In the end, Jenny’s job falling through tipped the balance, but it was only the last of many reasons.

Hong Kong has a lot of advantages. It’s a beautiful, modern city that, despite being very dense in some locations, offers lots of green, open spaces. Unfortunately, the grand views of Hong Kong are often spoiled by poor air quality, but it’s certainly nothing worse (in fact, often much better) than what we found in any other Chinese city. Oddly enough, even with a power plant next door, our little island of Lamma seems to fair better in terms of pollution. Combined with the conveniences of a world city, Hong Kong has a lot to offer when it comes to living conditions.

But the business environment was probably the most important factor. While much of the action is certainly within mainland China proper, Hong Kong is much friendlier when it comes to setting up operations. For 13 years straight, Hong Kong has been ranked the freest economy in the world. In fact, business interests around here tend to trump just about everything else, including efforts at establishing a proper democracy or encouraging a free press. That aside, it would be virtually impossible for a small startup like JadeTower to setup an office in mainland China without first securing significant investment. Even with the cash, the process can take months. Compare that to the two weeks and less than $3,000 USD that it took us to setup JadeTower East, Limited. And from Hong Kong, it’s still possible to get access to the mainland Chinese market, as well as that of SE Asia.

Hong Kong isn’t perfect. Jenny and I have often commented on how there isn’t a single perfect place for us here in China or Asia. But HK has a lot going for it and it’ll need all the advantages it can muster over the next decade. The region faces a lot of challenges as the rest of China modernizes and Hong Kong stuggles to find its place and purpose. And let’s not forget Singapore. It’ll be interesting to see what happen with Hong Kong over the next ten years. I’m happy will be able to see at least some of it first hand.