We’re all different people and thanks to whoever for that. When deciding to start what one calls a column, it’s really a personal diary of mental notes to myself in between writing as honestly as I can a book about my life and what I have learned along the way, those I have met and the mistakes I have made, especially to the only woman I will ever love, and the different types of politics I have encountered. I met Christopher Hitchens a few times, I have watched him give spee

Who we would like to see named in the Epstein Files: Wini, Pete and toy boy Dennis frolicking together by the whirlpool. Pauline Hanson Bazball  Kash Patel *********** Perhaps it’s not as good as when Hong Kong was producing award winning advertising, but all credit to McDonald’s for showing the city good, strategic creative work. For people like Philip Tse and myself who were there from the beginning to help launch McDonald’s in Hong Kong under the brilliantly unorthodox yet

This isn’t “Cocoon”, no one can reverse the aging process and those in, let’s say, their fifties aren’t exactly stepping up because either they don’t have the leadership skills to turn things around or there’s some kind of old girls and old boys clubs hoarding who does what, meaning that very possibly some very good talent with ideas are shut out. Also shut out is the Hong Kong I love and remember when it was positioned as “Asia’s World City” and really did attract the world

To those who just woke up to the idea of having an international mahjong championship in Hong Kong and how mahjong could even be an Olympic sport, do please bear in mind, children, that we suggested this over two years ago and using the drawing star power of Actress and mahjong aficionado Julia Roberts…   ********************* A tad disconcerting to hear from a girl who decided to take up transcendental meditation and how her first hour of solace and deep diving into her inne

Of course, it was expected: The hoopla on Sunday at Shatin surrounding a couple of Hong Kong’s and the world’s best racehorses in the form of the absolute Kong from the Hong in Kai Ying Rising and the return of the amazing Romantic Warrior. Kai Ying Rising is in a different league and his amazing win brought back recent memories of Travis Head tearing apart whatever “Bazballs” England might have thrown his way in the first of five Ashes Test matches between the two countries.

The only person who I knew and could read the tea leaves and really understood the China market was my friend and client Daniel Ng, the former NASA engineer, someone with a PhD in engineering and somehow ended up opening the first McDonald’s in Hong Kong by owning the McDonald’s franchise in the city. Despite the naysayers who warned that Chinese people only ate rice and mentioned the Burger King losing its crown and relevance in Hong Kong, Daniel sailed past them guided by a

I don’t know much about the gentleman, but having watched him interview Andre Agassi, one of my all-time favourite tennis players who brought so much colour and personality to the game including tie dyed cut-off jeans and a certain Rock’N Roll spirit to centre court, came the realisation that the interviewer was Anil Wadhwani, the 53 year old CEO of Prudential plc. What Prudential is doing for Hong Kong and Asia and the generations to come- read on to understand the insurance

In its own weird and controversial way, the HarbourFest event held in Hong Kong in 2003 was far more entertaining and intriguing than what it set out to be- and I was there for the first briefing session. That was enough. When it comes to entertainment in Hong Kong, one cannot help thinking back to that time and the ambitious event to attract international tourists back to Hong Kong after the crippling SARS crisis. “WE’RE GOING BACK IN TIME, MARTY! “Guided” by the Hong Kong g

The more pertinent question is whether despite the good intentions and solid leadership of chief executive John Lee to keep the city safe and secure, the Hong Kong government and the city’s other organisations have the necessary talent who truly know marketing, have made the time to understand that people make a city, and how only this type of navigation skills lead to success and Happily Ever Afters? There’s not going to be any change for the good with an oversupply of the s

Apart from the strategy of the Prudential NextGen Aces that is built around tennis and other racquet ball sports like the very much family oriented pickleball, the corporation’s corporate ethos appears to be about inspiring and developing new thinkers who have the vision and inspirational skills to be leaders for a new generation often lost in space. Prudential achieved this with visits to the city this month by former Champion tennis player Andre Agassi and World Number One

Remember the saying about “United We Stand, Divided We Fall”? I most certainly do and need to bring some closure to a subject that needs clearing up in that thick jungle of confusion and clutter and, well, horrendous music marketing.  Of course, those involved in the “United” 6-7 project will deny it- and the denial mentioned here has nothing to do with the river in Egypt- but the marketing and promotion in Hong Kong of the international group Now United has fallen well short

The interest in the pastime had been waning for some time, and when I woke up on Sunday afternoon after being back in Hong Kong for a few days and seeing how the rest of the world lives and not just survives, the usual weekend horse races were on. I wasn’t the least bit interested in who was riding what and even thinking of having a bet. All it did was make me wonder if gambling on horse racing is the most exciting consumer product the city has and where it rates with young H

Let’s maybe start with a little pimple therapy and build from here to things more multi dimensional and actually relevant to life, especially in Hong Kong where I have lived for over fifty years- important things like the costs of living with happiness instead of surviving with worry and fear because this city is STILL struggling with a locked down mindset… I’ve been asked about why turnover at the Hong Kong races last Wednesday night was down by over 13 percent. Think I care

He’s chilled and strong willed  with the determination to win  He doesn’t settle for  being second best  Some even call him King  He just smiles and looks  and takes it all in He doesn’t ever forget  About where he came from  And all the places he’s been  Heavy is the head that wears the mighty crown There are always those who want to see him slide and on the way down But Zac is hip to the game He’s seen it all before He’s not gonna let his guard down He’s busy keeping score

Some of us have very fond memories of Sir David Tang despite the various rumours about the “health of his wealth” and also some of those who were attracted to his amazing generosity though he was very probably keeping up pretences amongst the hoi polloi and which can be a full time job. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/londoners-diary-tributes-pour-in-as-sir-david-tang-dies-at-63-a3622751.html With many clamouring for the details of the Epstein files and the re

It’s not only about  standing in the spotlight  and always  taking the applause  It’s about knowing how to  turn things around  when the lights go out  And charting a new course  Don’t keep playing the tiresome blame game  when fingers are  pointing your way  As history has taught  many of us  Even the big dog  always has his day Karma is a strange beast  Bridges should  never be burned  Friendship is a very  fragile thing  It cannot accept  serial lies  And deflections  at e

Just love her and this version of the Burt Bacharach-Hal David song. Though nothing compares to the version by Dionne Warwick, here’s something that is so different in that it is chilled and has a warmth to it like hot chocolate on a rainy night and kissing the the nape of her neck as she gently teases your throbbing horn. The British born artist is no newcomer having been signed to Warner in around 2010 with one of her biggest supporters being Prince who performed ‘live’ in

Though knowing the ins and outs of horse racing pretty well without disappearing into the deep end of the karaoke carpool, I can’t help wondering if we have seen the end of an era and, if so, how the next era is going to start. The 2025 Lexus Melbourne Cup had it all and the racing writers have said it all with those in the main roles being galloper Half Yours with his positive attitude, two extremely likeable trainers Calvin and Tony McEvoy and the irrepressible and such a t

When the stars align, magic happens and which is what happened after, and maybe even before, the running of the Melbourne Cup at Flemington. This was when Half Yours, trained to perfection by Tony and Calvin McEvoy, and so confidently cuddled and ridden by Jamie Melham said Yup to the Cup and took out The Race That Stops A Nation. After exactly a decade since Michelle Payne became the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup, Jamie Melham became the first female rider to

Part of what might be called HKJC Entertainment, those same unknown girls some have seen wandering around Hong Kong in white gym outfits for the past few months, are back in a- quelle horreurs- music video. This time dressed like dominatrixes and with one rather odd boy flouncing and dancing and singing in foreign tongues and going all old school Gangham style with horsey moves has not gone down too well with those who have seen it. Filmed in an empty and spooky looking Happy