Former Director of the Wheelock Group, John Hung The recently retired managing director of the Wheelock Group, John Hung, has called on Hong Kong to preserve its British legacy to remain distinct from the rest of China. Interviewed on RTHK's English language television programme, Mr. Hung, who now works as a consultant, said Hong Kong has "lost" several years since the handover in 1997. "I could be a little bit controversial here, but being of mixed parentage, I think that I'm perfectly entitled to say this", Mr. Hung went on. "I think in the past, people looked at Hong Kong and said: Well, I'd like to go to Hong Kong" … Americans: 'Goddamit! I want to see that place, because hell, I mean, I'd like to see a bit of Britishness', right, 'on the edge of China.' So they came here because it was a British place on the coast of China. Now, I don't think we have changed despite the handover per se, provided we value the British legacy, meaning things like the code of business, the rule of law, which are here. English speaking people -- greet overseas people with English rather than Cantonese. "That sort of thing ought to be preserved. And I think that we lost a few years, because people tended to say: 'We've gone back to the motherland, we've got to speak Chinese.' I don't think Beijing necessarily wants that, right? I think Beijing wants Hong Kong to thrive, and if Hong Kong were to thrive it's got to keep its own identity, and its own identity is the legacy of the British being here, East meets West, geographical location, being on the coast of China, and yet it's different from any other city in China. Mr. Hung, who retired from Wheelock and Wharf Holdings in February this year, remains active in public life. He is a member of the Tourism Commission, and Chairman of the Sports Development Board. He said he believed attitudes were beginning to change for the better in the SAR: "One wants to reassert the ownership of the place as a Chinese place. There's nothing wrong with that. Singapore now is Singaporean-run, Hong Kong is Hong Kong-run. But it does not mean to say you have got to throw away everything that was meaningful and beneficial to us, that helped in the past. And those things -- I think some of it has been lost -- not all of it. I think that right thinking people in Hong Kong are beginning to recognise that there is a need to preserve. I mean, when I say preservation of the past, I don't mean preservation of anything that is British. I mean preservation of anything that is old. Hong Kong ought to preserve all the temples, all the old, really landmarks, maybe create a maritime museum. Because Hong Kong after all was built on naval power." "I think there's got to be more than people's … visitors' awareness should be more than just Hong Kong is a place for shopping, bright lights. There is a lot more. And I think the Tourism Board and the Tourism Commission, of which I'm a part, they are fully aware of it. But you know, we are starting perhaps a little late and maybe still not enough has been done. To say that it's a World City is an aspiration -- I think it's a good idea to call it a World City. But a World City needs a hell of a lot more than what we've got today. "We ought to compare ourselves with Paris, London, New York, Tokyo. And those places have repeat visitors, because you know, you've got the Broadways, the West Ends, you've got fashion shows all year round. We here must stage something, but it's not continuous, and you can't say that you go back to Hong Kong to see Barnum at any given time, because, you know, it only runs for two months. The major reason for that is that I don't think we've got the venues for sports and arts that … could pay." Mr. Hung said Hong Kong urgently needed a new sports stadium: "A stadium is a terribly important thing. Unfortunately our stadium has got this very big under-usage because of the noise factor. We've got to find another stadium. I believe plans are ahead and I hope there's not going to be one of those things that is going to be debated upon for years to come. I hope when it comes to the appropriation of cash, Legislative Council is not going to sit on it for three days to the extent that the talk-shop time is longer than the construction time, because we need these things fairly desperately. "I think East Kowloon has been designated. Maybe we ought to move along to that. It's got to be multi-usage and it cannot be only for rugby. It's got to be a stadium that's got retractable size capacity for different types of sports. Get maximum usage out of it -- out of 365 days a the year, the ideal situation -- to use is 300. "You cannot have world-class international events with Mickey Mouse facilities. Now, the stadium is not Mickey Mouse, but it hasn't got a running track. So when you do have a running track, you go down to Wan Chai next to the Tunnel, but it has not enough capacity. There are loads of other sports with the same thing. Where is the ice hockey rink? Where is a world class this or that? I mean we just don't have it. Mr. Tung also called on the Government to promote more positive news, and the media to focus less on the negative: "We've now seen for a number of years in Hong Kong since, well, the economic crisis started in 1997, that people look terribly grim and gloomy. There is absolutely not much talk about positive things. Hong Kong has become a society of moaners. Every day you look at the news, and the newspaper, you hear bankruptcy rate rising, you know, unemployment, jobless. But that's not by any means the only news there is. Surely you know, people can choose to write about, or speak about, better things." "Now you talk about Hong Kong's economy being poor, but I think we're a damn site better than really most of these other places. And yet when you visit Singapore, Malaysia, well, Kula Lumpur, Bangkok, any of these places, you see ladies dressed in all sorts of colours -- big smile on their faces. And they seem to be protected from that sort of bad press." "I think that of course most of these places have got pretty well controlled, planned, administration. And I think that, well, maybe there is a certain degree of censorship, but in this particular case, that type of censorship might not be a bad idea. Because free press is great if it speaks on your behalf. But all we're doing is destroy ourselves, and the government mechanism in Singapore, for instance, keeps on telling great stories. It seems to be too much swing on the other side, but on the other hand, I think that it's our own making really. And I think the government, you know, PR machinery has got to take a lead in this. You must bring back a feel-good factor. The feel-good factor is partly reality, partly, PR. And we all know that, we say, what do we say in the PR world, you know: "A good spin is almost truer than substance." "And if you believe it, people feel happy about Hong Kong. They feel a certain degree of certainty about the future, that the government is more certain about their policy, fewer flips, fewer U-turns. People will invest. It's only through investment that jobs are created, and unemployment then comes down." He added that Hong Kong has become more competitive, but cautioned against placing too much emphasis on lowering costs: "I think the pessimistic view about this is over-played. Hong Kong doesn't need to be that cheap. I mean you know, we can't compete with other cities around, because their cost base is lower. We should compete against the New York's, the Tokyo's and the London's, which is not about cheapness. I visit these places all the time -- they are damn expensive. But they give you value. Hong Kong's success came from value-adding, not from being cheap. Of course you can't be too expensive, but I think we've equated that more than adequately now. "View from the Top" will be aired every Friday evening at 6:55pm on ATV World Channel. If you miss the programme that evening, you could always revisit the programme on our website at www.rthk.org.hk after 8:30pm. Highlights of the programme to be broadcast the day after (Sat) at RTHK Radio 3 "Hong Kong Today" at 7:00am-8:00am

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