I Love Hong Kong

or

A Tale of Two Cities

March 31, 2004

Four days in Hong Kong is the perfect antidote to two and a half weeks in India. We were originally only going to fly through Hong Kong on the way to Japan from Bangalore. But as the various family frustrations piled-up in Bangalore, I knew that Hong Kong would provide a welcome respite so we bailed out of Bangalore four days early. I know that it is not a fair comparison. Although they are not too dissimilar in population, Bangalore has only arisen as a high-tech center for India within the last decade whereas Hong Kong has been a world-class city for more than half a century. But if one is thinking of investing in or doing business in either location, a side-by-side comparison is in order, especially since the western press tends to lump India and China together as emerging economic powers (although Hong Kong is very different from mainland China). It illustrates the benefit of Hong Kong's capital investment and infrastructure and the lack thereof in India. Moreover, the comparison illustrates how welcome a salve Hong Kong was for our wounds from Bangalore.

Trip to the Airport. Both require about 20 to 30 minutes of travel. In Bangalore one does this in whatever vehicle one can obtain and then experiences the joys of a wild, smoggy, horn-filled trip through weaving cars, motorcycles and tuk-tuks, none of whom act like lanes exist. In Hong Kong, one is whisked through about three times the distance in a modern, high-speed rail link from downtown to the airport.

The Airport. Tom Friedman described the Bangalore airport as a glorified bus station and he was being generous. One presents travel documents to not fewer than 5 different individuals (not counting the ticket counter and the gate). We made the mistake of missing one of these five steps and had to proceed directly back to the start. Everyone was nice about it but the bureaucracy is oppressive. Moreover, the airport has one waiting room and ONE gate. The waiting room was so infested by mosquitoes that swarms followed the passengers onto the plane. It was hilarious watching a planeful of passengers doing the "funky chicken" as they swatted mosquitoes. Hong Kong's airport, opened in 1998, has been voted by travelers the best in the world the last two years. Customs is speedy, efficient, and one only has to pass through one step. No mosquitoes were to be found.

Commercial District. Hong Kong is, of course, one of the finest locations to purchase anything anywhere. We first tried to buy a replacement for Valerie's lost camera in Bangalore. We won't mention who lost it (*cough*Catherine*cough*). After looking at prices for the same model we figured either we were being ripped off, we couldn't convert the currency properly, or something else was wrong so we demurred. We found out that the something else was a 45% tariff applied to cameras. Like many, many other products in India, protectionism limits the availability of products to those made in India. In Hong Kong, as you would expect, there was a multitude of offerings and we found the next better category for Valerie's camera at a price less than what we paid for the original in Seattle.

The City. I'm one of those odd ducks that is absolutely enthralled by the environment of a city like Hong Kong. I find the skyscraping architecture, the beautiful green setting, the 24 hour pace, and the bustling harbor uplifting and inspirational. By contrast, Bangalore at the time of our visit was dirty, dry (it's not their fault but they haven't had an adequate monsoon in three years), and beaten down. Bangalore is known as India's "garden city".

Democracy. India's one advantage, such as it is. Although I have been in Hong Kong many times, this was my first trip since the handover from the British to the People's Republic of China and I have to admit that it was a little strange to see the flag of the PRC flying over Hong Kong. But the business climate continues strong, land prices continue upward, and I get the impression that the Chinese government is pragmatic enough not to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. While we were there, though, controversy broke out about the Chinese government's unilateral interpretations of some key elements of Hong Kong's Basic Law - the constitution that govern's their one country-two systems approach. Many people were counting on (hoping for?) universal suffrage to be applied by the time Hong Kong's next election of a chief executive in 2007. It is not likely to happen and some people are upset but many others are unconcerned about it. We heard a saying in Hong Kong that compares and contrasts the four major Chinese business communities.

Hong Kong: You can do anything you want as long as the government doesn't say that you can't.

Singapore: You can't do anything unless the government says that you can.

Mainland China: You can't do anything even if the government says that you can.

Taiwan: You can do anything, even if the government says that you can't.

The best part of our four days in Hong Kong was our fellowship with some very special people. York Liao, a fellow Caltech alumn and trustee, generously shared his Sunday afternoon with us by taking us hiking in the hills outside Hong Kong alongside Clearwater Bay. Paul Jen, close friend and business colleague, shared dinners with us along with his wife Peggy and infant son, Lucas. With people like Paul, Peggy, and York leading Hong Kong into its future, Lucas has a bright future to look forward to.