A Happy Wednesday full of Hope…

Race meeting 88- a lucky number in Chinese superstition- brought the beaded curtain down on another horse racing season.

At least to myself and friends who are not knee deep in what is said to be Hong Kong’s most popular pastime, we were celebrating a special occasion of our own at Grissini’s in the Grand Hyatt.

As a night out, this Wednesday night at Happy Valley was, from what we were told by some who were there, and joined us for a nightcap, had it all- exciting and competitive horse racing, memorabilia, crowds made up of happy people out to have a good time in a city, where these days, there’s a paucity of night vibes and that joie de vivre.

This type of night could also be seen as Hope.

When given the reins by the CEO of the HKJC- Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges- to create what became the successful- and perhaps, hopeful- Happy Wednesday brand, the girl I was living with thought it was hypocritical of me, an animal lover, taking on this role. She left and returned to Denmark.

The Great Dane failed to understand that EMI Music had been sold to private equity firm Terra Firm.

My Chairman and Co-Chairman came into their offices on Monday only to find that they had been locked out and EMI was looking like Every Mistake Imaginable.

I needed to jump off the Titanic.

Creating Happy Wednesday was fun and continued being fun for around ten years until the fun ran out, Covid and lockdowns moved in, and the tight relationship formed between Winfried and myself unraveled over a lunch.

I would like to think that the friendship was only taking a break.

Building Happy Wednesday had been an interesting and edutaining twelve years of learning and understanding things like wagering, management and corporate survival.

During our dinner on Wednesday when someone showed a video of Winfried in the throes of his trademark Octopus Dance and laughter started up, I felt protective towards Winfried.

I respect him immensely as a professional, and someone who, other than horse racing, has a deep love, knowledge and appreciation for the arts- films, music and everything in between.

Last year, I introduced Winfried to Simon Fuller, the man who created the Idol franchise, and someone I knew from my days in the music industry. This was when he was trying to launch a project for the China market called Pop Princess.

Maybe this project still has legs, but the main reason for the introduction had to do with a pop group called Now United who Simon manages, and how I felt they might enhance the entertainment value of December’s Hong Kong International Races.

Whatever comes out of this introduction is between Winfried and Simon.

Do I see how this relationship can benefit the brand personality of Hong Kong- and give the city Hope?

Of course, I can.

Through the wagering on horse racing, football, the extremely popular Mark Six lottery and its Charities and Trust organisation, the Hong Kong Jockey Club has done much for the city. 

Is this appreciated or taken for granted? 

It’s an important question to ponder here in 2025, and which is around twenty years since the days when Hong Kong was “Asia’s World City” and the good times seemed as if they would last forever. 

Nothing and no one lasts forever, and we’re now living in a social media driven world where the online world appears to have created a subdivision within the ranks. 

The wealth gap is becoming wider and wider and, as Gordon Gekko once preached, “Greed Is Good”

This is a mantra that Hong Kong doesn’t need.

If horse racing makes people happy, that’s fine. If a percentage of betting on the races goes towards helping the community, brilliant.

What’s needed, however, is a balance.

We’re all very different people with very different priorities.

I had to grow up fast when arriving in Hong Kong with my penniless parents at the age of nine from what was then known as Ceylon and is now known as Sri Lanka.

I accept still being shoved into the “ethnic minority” shoebox and have worked damn hard to become the person I am- imperfect, intuitive, difficult, passionate and with a great love for all animals, especially cats.

I choose those I consider to be friends very carefully and have reached a point in my life where I feel that I have to repay the city that has become my home.

This is where I think Hong Kong is something of a one trick pony and with nothing much to keep the city inspired and productive and doing things to improve lives without being asked.

These days- and it might seem daft to some- I am totally dedicated to bringing Hope to Hong Kong with the key ideas coming from the heart and mind- and not starting with the On switch that leads to technological driven solutions.

Being hugely inspired by filmmakers like David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, the kindness and creativity of Jim Henson plus the musical magic of the Beatles, Motown and the writers from Tin Pan Alley- creative talent who made the impossible happen without mobile phones-these are the inspIrations who have given me the baby steps to bring Hope into our consciousness.

With one of the trees in this garden of Hope being a story I am halfway through writing about a horse and his teenage friend and rider named Emma, I see these magical drops of inspiration leading me to where I want to go on my terms and on my dime.

Like butterflies, ideas are free.

So is teamwork, because it’s about somehow coming together to create something that the world needs: Hope.

It would be a beautiful thing if this idea can fly high through three extremely different people, each with something special to offer, and making Hope something sustainable and which comes out of Hong Kong.

Even an octopus dancing needs more than one hand to make great and happy things happen- and give the world Hope by weeding out what’s hopeless.

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