Looking beyond the obvious…

“Being in Hong Kong, where it’s the favourite pastime of many, why not see how horse racing can help reintroduce Hong Kong to the world- or even reintroduce the world to itself- and be a medium of its own?”. 

This was someone very close to me talking about today’s Hong Kong, yes, and also the “healing power” of people coming together.

I was taking in all she said, but also trying to make light of it by saying that she was sounding like Barbra Streisand singing about “people who need people being the happiest people in the world”.

Knowing that this is my way of dealing with by not addressing whatever was going on in my life, she ignored that remark with a smirk and, without meaning to sound like a flower child, mentioned how what the world needs now is love, and how a city like Hong Kong needs to find ways to be happy and never forget to thank those who came out as one and helped during and after the recent fires in Tai Po.

My friend and I had been talking about this very special “support group” comprising people of all nationalities and from all walks of life and everything they did- and to not forget the children who have been affected by the fires and losing those closest to them.

What happens to them and how do they carry on?

This is also where I thought about the HKJC perhaps giving our firefighters the red carpet treatment and with the jockeys thanking these heroes at the main event of HKIR week on Sunday at Shatin which will be streamed throughout the racing world.

This will be horse racing news that could easily become mainstream news and help the pastime and sport reach a much broader audience.

We’re coming up to 2026, and though the world is not in very good shape, there are glimpses of Hope trying to break through.

We just need to part the curtains wider and let positivity and the sun shine in.

Having written and recorded a song last week thanking those in Hong Kong for helping those in Hong Kong to heal and had this recorded in Melbourne just because I wanted to do it, why couldn’t there be a citywide “Thank You, Hong Kong” project and with many things, big and small, constantly added to a special “giving tree”?

It always comes down to being able to walk the talk. I can no longer bear to hear those born in the city talk about the recent fires, give me an update on lives lost, ask what “we” can do and then talk about some horse running in the third or fourth race. This is where I see and smell hypocrisy and also stay away from people who come across like NGO type shallow Do Gooders Anonymous.

Reading in the newspapers how the HKJC’s flagship product in the shape of the current HKIR week has seen a spike in tourism was something good to know with the creative challenge being how to build on this. 

Through the HKJC’s Charities Trust, could perhaps the courtyard of Tai Kwun be used for weekend mini concerts for Hong Kong’s children? 

Perhaps the Academy For The Performing Arts could be involved? Maybe they already are? 

Despite all these technological advances, I often wonder about simple communications, and why so much goes MIA. 

When working on the McDonald’s business with its chairman in Hong Kong and great friend Daniel Ng, and before the opening of the first Ronald McDonald House in the city, he and I had plans for these types of mini concerts for our mini friends. 

Unfortunately, Daniel passed away and much of what he and I had planned- like teaching children English through Pop Music- fell through the cracks.

These cracks are now starting to be filled and I am doing what I can as first steps.

The work of Jim Henson and everything that Sesame Street and the diversity of his muppets taught kids, including my then four year old daughter, inspired me to think how we’re all different and that this is okay.

For kids, it was a magical place where everyone were friends with each other and okay for a pig to be in love with a frog, for there to be Oscar the Grouch, a Count like Dracula who could count, and all those famous adults we knew dropping in and interacting with everyone on Sesame Street.

Sesame Street also taught some of us that it’s okay to cry listening to “Rainbow Connection”. Crying is often the best therapy in the world.

This innocence and what I call “life without filters” needs to be found again, because, if not, we’re living a lie and something like social media panders to this. 

Thankfully, the world didn’t have all this “mobility” and gadgetry when we were discovering everything about Sesame Street.

“E.T” was a reminder that imagination has no boundaries, and many of us adults might not have done a very good job of showing those younger than us the path to creativity- the type of creativity that comes from the heart and mind and not from an app.

This is not to say that children need to be taught to be creative. We can learn so much by watching and listening to what they have to say about anything. 

By showing children where this path to creativity might be, I believe that we can also learn more about ourselves, and where we can do better to help create a better world.

Easy to say, but until that first seedling is planted and starts to grow and eventually bloom, we might be too busy overthinking things and losing time that we do not have on our side.

Like my mother always reminded me, Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today. And remember how today only comes once in your life, so make good use of it everyday.

***********

PARTING SHOT

I think the racing world saw something very special at Happy Valley on Thursday night and the Longines Hong Kong International Jockeys Competition in the two winning rides of Ryan Moore- determined, strong and simply put, world class. And to think that he was just coming off an injury.

As always, he didn’t have much to say, though there are rumours from the Chinese racing media that he spoke for seven minutes. To most of us, he looked awkward and shy, he was humble and, well, Less is Moore.

Certainly should be the worthy subject of a Netflix documentary though everyone else featured will have to be doing all the talking. 

---

Born in Ceylon, Hans Ebert is an award winning advertising executive whose powerful campaign to gain the Right Of Abode in the United Kingdom for ethnic minorities in Hong Kong won Gold at the London Advertising Awards.

He also helped launch McDonald’s in Hong Kong, created the Happy Wednesday brand for the HKJC, was part of the team to launch STARTV and MTV in Asia plus ran the International divisions of Universal Music and EMI Music in Asia.

As a journalist, he has interviewed every iconic personalities from Billy Joel, legendary music producer Quincy Jones, and actor Peter Sellers to working on music for David Bowie, Robbie Williams and Gorillaz.

He also coined the term Canto Pop when writing for Billboard magazine.

He has a penchant for women who remind him of Diane Keaton.

7