biz.hk Dec 2013

20 13 ’s

PR E AN MIU D M PR SE OD RV UC IC TS ES

Journal of The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

www.amcham.org.hk

December 2013

THE ENDURANCE BOOM: ARE YOU READY?

COVER SPONSOR

December 2013

Contents

Vol 45 No 12 Richard R Vuylsteke

Editor-in-Chief Daniel Kwan

Managing Editor Kenny Lau

Advertising Sales Manager

18

08

Publisher

28

22

COVER STORY

ENERGY

ICT

HUMAN CAPITAL

Endurance sports are becoming increasingly popular in Hong Kong.

Every weekend somewhere, someone is organizing a race. What drives the super-fits to get up before daybreak and train till night falls? What motivates them to tough it out to the finish line? And what are the roadblocks standing in the way for endurance sports to become even bigger in Hong Kong?

The opening of ASB Biodiesel at Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate in October has turned a new chapter in the development of the recycling industry in Hong Kong

A behind-the-scene look at how Bloomberg news anchor Angie Lau gets through the day and what makes her feel so passionate about her work in a studio here in Hong Kong

With the unprecedented economic growth in Asia and movement of businesses from West to East, there is an increasing need to have Asian leaders who can lead not only in Asia but also globally

Regina Leung

biz.hk is a monthly magazine of news and views for management executives and members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

Its contents are independent and do not necessarily reflect the views of officers, governors or members of the Chamber.

Advertising office 1904 Bank of America Tower 12 Harcourt Rd, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2530 6900 Fax: (852) 2537 1682 Email: amcham@amcham.org.hk Website: www.amcham.org.hk Printed by Ease Max Ltd 2A Sum Lung Industrial Building 11 Sun Yip St, Chai Wan, Hong Kong (Green Production Overseas Group) Designed by Overa Creative Tel: (852) 3596 8466 Email: ray.chau@overa.com.hk Website: www.overacreative.com ©The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, 2013 Library of Congress: LC 98-645652 For comments, please send to biz.hk@amcham.org.hk Single copy price HK$50 Annual subscription HK$600/US$90

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AMCHAM NEWS AND VIEWS 04 Editorial Why do we care about parking fines? No, we are not worried about its impact on government’s coffers. We care because such fines are culprit behind our chronic air quality problem, which directly affects Hong Kong’s competitiveness

16 The Kenzai Way to Fit and Fab Patrick Reynolds, CEO and founder of Kenzai Body, talks about ways to be slim and fit as long as we pay attention to what we eat and how we exercise

ENERGY 18 Hong Kong Gets a Boost in Biodiesel Production

07 New Business Contacts 28 executives joined AmCham’s business network last month

45 Mark Your Calendar

COVER STORY 08 The Endurance Boom: Are You Ready?

Endurance sports are becoming increasingly popular in Hong Kong.

Every weekend somewhere, someone is organizing a race. What are the roadblocks standing in the way for endurance sports to become even bigger in Hong Kong?

12 A Splashy Clean Half of Hong Kong Doug Woodring, a long-time AmCham member and a swimmer, tells of why and how he started “Clean Half” to attract swimmers from around the world after participating in the Maui Channel race in Hawaii 8 years ago

14 Power of Belief Chris Lieto, a 3-time Ironman Champion and founder of MORE Than Sport, a foundation partnering with professional athletes and businesses to raise money for charity, shares with an AmCham audience about winning and – more importantly – losing

biz.hk 12 • 2013

The opening of ASB Biodiesel at Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate in October has turned a new chapter in the development of the recycling industry in Hong Kong and can be a major boost in Hong Kong’s better for cleaner air

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY 22 Bloomberg at Close Range A behind-the-scene look at how Bloomberg news anchor Angie Lau gets through the day and what makes her feel so passionate about her work in a studio here in Hong Kong

26 Building on Success

HUMAN RIGHTS 34 The Bangkok Rules: Gender-Specific Treatment for Women in Prison The Dui Hua Foundation meets with senior Chinese officials in Beijing where Executive Director John Kamm highlights the issues of incarcerated women and juvenile justice in a continuous dialogue

AMERICAN TOPICS 36 AmCham’s Annual Thanksgiving Luncheon A crowd of 200 Chamber members and guest gather for a gala holiday banquet at the Renaissance Harbour View Hotel in Wanchai in a celebration of the American holiday with traditional food of the season

AMCHAM PUBLICATIONS 40 2013 Index of Articles A guide to articles on business issues published in biz.hk

Amid a celebration of Bloomberg’s 20th anniversary in Hong Kong, Mark Flatman, Head of Sales for Asia Pacific, talks about the company’s commitment to Hong Kong and its future strategy

HUMAN CAPITAL 28 22nd Annual AmCham Human Capital Conference With the unprecedented economic growth in Asia and movement of businesses from West to East, there is an increasing need to have Asian leaders who can lead not only in Asia but also globally

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COVER SPONSOR

biz.hk Editorial

Board of Governors Chairman James Sun Vice Chairman Peter Levesque Treasurer Tom Burns Executive Committee Evan Auyang, Janet De Silva, Anita Leung Philip Leung, Belinda Lui, Alan Turley Richard Weisman Governors Sara Yang Bosco, Brian Brenner, Ewan Copeland Walter Dias, Rob Glucksman, Toby Marion Thomas Nelson, Catherine Simmons Colin Tam, Elizabeth L Thomson Frank Wong, Eden Woon Ex-Officio Governor President

Robert Chipman Richard R Vuylsteke

Chamber Committees AmCham Ball Apparel & Footwear China Business Communications & Marketing

Rex Engelking Colin Browne Seth Peterson Lili Zheng Roxana Daver

Corporate Social Responsibility

Robert Grieves

Energy Entrepreneurs/SME Environment

Rick Truscott Donald Austin Courtney Davies Corey Franklin Brock Wilson Veronica Sze Damien Lee Peter Liu

Financial Services Food & Beverage Hospitality & Tourism Human Capital Information & Communications Technology Insurance & Healthcare

Rex Engelking

Owen Belman Hanif Kanji Intellectual Property Gabriela Kennedy Amy Lee Law Clara Ingen-Housz Pharmaceutical Stephen Leung Real Estate Neil Anderson Alan Seigrist Senior Financial Forum Alvin Miyasato Senior HR Forum Jacqueline Algar Sports & Entertainment Ian Stirling Taxation David Weisner Trade & Investment Patrick Wu Transportation & Logistics Jared Zerbe Women of Influence Anne-Marie Balfe Anna-Marie C Slot Young Professionals Alison Carroll

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A GOOD DEAL FOR SOME, BAD ONE FOR ALL

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f the price of a service or product has not changed for 20 years, and the providers don’t seem to have any interest in adjusting the price, it has to be a particularly good deal for consumers – right? Well, this is the case for those who park illegally in Hong Kong. It’s been a good deal for a couple of decades.

Why should anyone care about parking fines? Fines are not going to have a major impact on the government’s coffers. Rather, people should care because such fines are one of the culprits behind our chronic air quality problem (which AmCham has not been shy to talk about).

A fact: Hong Kong has one of the lowest parking fines of any comparable international metropolis. At present, a parking ticket costs the driver HK$320 – the last increase of the penalty was in 1994. In the Big Apple, illegal parking fines range from US$60 to US$515.

Sydney has an even pricier parking ticket, reaching A$607 (US$546). The City of London charges violators from £80 to £130 (US$131 to US$213).

Although there is no evidence to show that Hong Kong’s low illegal parking fines has any impact on car

ownership, it is a fact that there is a substantial increase in private vehicles on Hong Kong roads compared with a decade ago. The result, of course, is greater congestion. According to Transport Department’s data, private car ownership per 1,000 people rose to 63.4 cars in 2012, up 25 percent from 2002.

Congestion is greater, which makes illegal parking an even greater issue. When it takes longer for vehicles – cars, trucks, buses – to move to their destinations, the result is more fuel burned and more pollution in the atmosphere. Arguments that Hong Kong lacks parking space and hence drivers deserve given greater “flexibility” of where to park are just bad excuses. Moreover, handling illegal parking takes up a big chunk of traffic police time – a staggering 60 percent.

This is one area of workload for police officers that could be reduced by a significant increase in fines – and would free them for other, more important work.

More important than police time, however, is that illegal parking has increasingly become a key factor behind Hong Kong’s clogged roads. This congestion wastes time, thereby reducing efficiency, and products more bad air.

biz.hk 12 • 2013

Illegal parking is also not a “rich man” problem. Double-parked or even triple-parked vehicles are everywhere and the problem in Central is just as bad as in Shum Shui Po. It is also a daily problem, not just on weekdays. Anyone who goes shopping in Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui or Stanley market on weekends (read tourists) can testify how bad the problem has become.

There are those who might object to any increase of illegal parking fines on the grounds that it would hurt businesses – small delivery companies, for example. This may be remedied in part by changing delivery times and having flexibility during certain hours for short-term parking. But frankly, bad parking behavior is becoming detrimental to public good and it should be more actively discouraged.

Early in January, the Transport and Housing Bureau published its policy initiative in response to the Chief Executive’s Policy Address. The 18-page document covers many good ideas and proposals to improve transportation in Hong Kong. Increasing illegal parking fines – a low hanging fruit, it seems – however was not included. It’s time to consider that proposal as well.

biz.hk 12 • 2013

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AMCHAM AMCHAM Means Means Business Business

Members Directory

New

Business Contacts

w w w. a m c h a m . o r g . h k www.amcham.org.hk

w w w. a m c h a m . o r g . h k

The following people are new AmCham members: The American Club

Energizer Asia Pacific Inc

NRDC

Philippe Langlois Director of Food and Beverage

Michelle Leung Regional HR Director - South Asia, Africa & Middle East

Barbara Finamore Asia Director

Architex Interiors Ltd

H & BA Asia Advisory Services Ltd.

Peter Ching Key Account Manager

Karl Davies Managing Director

Arkadin Global Collaboration Services

Hong Kong University of Science & Technology

Alexis Cornu Thenard CFO

Karen Ma Head, HKUST-NYU Stern MS in Global Finance

Over 500 500 pages pages in in three three major major sections, sections, including including aa complete complete guide guide to to chamber chamber services, services, Over corporate sponsors sponsors and AmCham Charitable 1,700 corporate Charitable Foundation.

Foundation.This Thisdirectory directorylists listsabout over 1,800 members from from over about700 700companies companiesand andorganizations. organizations. members ISBN 978-962-7422-18-1 ISBN 978-962-7422-20-4

LC 98-645651 LC 98-645651 NON-MEMBER PRICE Local Delivery HK$1500 Overseas Delivery US$195 Shipping costs: Local HK$45 (per copy) US/International HK$50 (per copy)

MEMBER PRICE HK$800 HK$104

Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia Lydia Guett Project Manager

Hub Hong Kong, The Peter Keller Director of Business Development

Sennheiser Hong Kong Limited Agnes Lariguet Product Manager

Luc Moulin Managing Director

State of Missouri Hong Kong Office Institute of International Education

Conrad Chan Director

Maria Luk Acting Director IIE-HK

Tommy Bahama Group Limited

BNY Mellon Charles Long, Jr Head of Greater China, Wealth Management

John Bruno Chief Financial Officer, Asia Pacific

simpleshow Asia Limited

Asia Pacific Properties Ltd Natalie Tong Corporate Account Manager

PPG Coatings (Hong Kong) Co Ltd

Don Lau Director of Sales & Marketing

Sarria Lee Senior Manager, Human Resources Brian Pearce Managing Director Asia-Pacific

Lusk & Associates Limited

VF Asia Ltd

Island Shangri-La Hong Kong

Buel Pty Ltd Stephen Ashworth Managing Director

Davis Lusk Director

Elaine Cheung Chief Financial Officer, Asia Sourcing, Finance

Datawords Hong Kong Marius Chow Project Management Coordinator Christophe Jourdain Organization and Asia Development Director

Emerson Electric Asia-Pacific Lieny Jang Business Planning Manager

Modern Terminals Limited Erick Wong General Manager, Customer Service Delivery

White & Case Jennifer Parks COO, Asia

Mother's Choice Alia Eyres CEO

View our other members at:

http://www.amcham.org.hk/index.php/AmChamMembers.html

biz.hk 12 • 2013

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COVER STORY

THE ENDURANCE BOOM: ARE YOU READY? Endurance sports are becoming increasingly popular in Hong Kong. Every weekend somewhere, someone is organizing a race. What drives the super-fit to get up before day break and train till night falls? What motivates them to tough it out to the finish line? And what are the roadblocks standing in the way for endurance sports to become even bigger in Hong Kong? Raymond Ma talks to the super-fit and event organizers to find out

Photos courtesy: ChopsticksDiary Photography

Participants set off at the start of an aquathon race held at Hong Kong Gold Coast.

Cover Photo courtesy: Mike Pickles/The Power of Sports Image/The Clean Half

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The Hong Kong ITU Triathlon Asian Cup.

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t was 2009, and Hercules Wong lived the life, partying hard – eating, drinking and smoking with wild abandon.

Then one day, he visited his doctor for his annual body-check, and it changed his life. “When the doctor took the blood samples, you could see little granules of fat in the syringe with your naked eye. It was that serious,” says Wong, a 40-something year old senior executive at an international risk and wealth management company in Hong Kong.

“I was told that if I didn’t change my lifestyle, I would have to be put immediately on permanent medication. There was also an imminent risk of stroke because all the fat content in my blood was clogging up my arteries,” he recalls. That same month, he saw on TV an advertisement for Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, decided to apply for the 10K race, and has never looked back. “That’s when I got addicted,” he says.

This year, he’s participated in over 20 races across Hong Kong, including two duathlons (bike and run), eight aquathons (swim and run), four 5-km running races, four triathlons, two open water races, as well as the Victoria-to-

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Peak Challenge and the Standard Chartered Marathon. He placed second in his age group twice – at a sprintdistance aquathon race and at an open water swim race – not bad for a guy who a few years ago wouldn’t have been able to run or swim fast enough if his life depended on it.

“I suppose when I started this it was about health,” says Wong, who participates in triathlon races as a member of the South China Athletic Association Triathlon Team, one of many local triathlon clubs which has sprung up in recent years. “But once you catch the bug it becomes about how to achieve and maintain yourself at your personal best. I don’t enjoy it when I am doing it.

It’s what happens after, the adrenaline rush you get and the sense of achievement from accomplishing and conquering the distance and the terrain.”

Increasing popularity Wong is one of many people in Hong Kong who recent years has taken on the challenge that endurance sports – whether that be in distance running races such as marathons and trail

running, open water swimming competitions, in cycling, or a combination of all three through triathlons – offers. As a barometer of how popular endurance sports has become in Hong Kong, one needs to look no further than Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, which has been organized for 18 years consecutively by the Hong Kong Amateur Athletics Association (HKAAA) and sponsored by the bank the event is named after. The event has seen the number of participants mushroom from 1,000 people when it was first held in 1996, to over 73,000 runners in February this year.

Despite the large quota, each year applications fill up within hours of becoming available online.

Kwan Kee, chairman of the Hong Kong Amateur Athletics Association, attributes the increasing popularity of endurance sports to two things. Firstly, rising living standards in Hong Kong mean that people have more free time and they are concerned about their well-being and health. “We’ve also seen a lot of improvements in exercise facilities in Hong Kong, especially in country parks where there’s a lot of work done by

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the government in providing trails and roads where people can go jogging and running,” he says.

To that, Amy Ha Sau-ching, chairperson of Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Department of Sports Science and Physical Education, adds that education and the efforts of the mass media have also played a key role. Endurance sports such as running and swimming appeal to Hong Kong people because they are easy to pick up. Anyone can run without extensive training, and swimming requires minimal investment in equipment, she says.

Among the sporting population, she notes that there’s been significant growth among white collar professionals, who – besides being more aware about the health benefits of exercise – seek to balance their relatively sedentary working hours with an active lifestyle. Retirees, looking to prolong their golden years, are also increasingly getting active, as are middle-aged women, she notes. While men still dominate at the competitive level, Professor Ha says that women in Hong Kong are increasingly participating in sports of various endurance levels – be it for reasons related to health or beauty.

More races every year Besides the Standard Chartered Marathon, there are also a range of other distance running races, including the Gammon Construction China Coast Marathon and Half-Marathon organized by the Athletic Veterans of Hong Kong (AVOHK) since 1981, the Mizuno Hong Kong Half Marathon Championships which is also organized by the HKAAA, as well as a range of other events such as those organized by Action Asia and held throughout the year during the weekends, but particularly during November to April when temperatures are lower.

When summer comes, the swimmers hit the beaches. In 2011, the Hong Kong Amateur Swimming Association revived the iconic Cross Harbour Race, an event first held in 1906 but suspended in 1978 because of pollution.

Nowadays, around 1,000 swimmers cross the 1.8km distance between the Victoria Habour against a dramatic backdrop of the city’s skyscrapers.

Other notable open water swim events include the Cross-Tolo Harbour Open Race organized by the Tai Po Sports Association, an event with over 40 years

of history, and the Shek O Challenge, a 2.2 km swim nine years in the running which finishes with a party at Shek O’s back beach.

New swim races are also cropping up.

The Clean Half, a 15-km extreme marathon swim race held from Stanley to Deepwater Bay since 2010, was joined in 2013 by the Cold Half – which takes a similar distance and route except swimmers partake in the event in relatively chillier 20 to 21oC water temperatures.

(See sidebar) In cycling, the Hong Kong Cycling Association holds a series of road, track, mountain bike, and BMX races throughout the year. Meanwhile, there were at least two Olympic distance (1.5 km swim, 40 km bike and 10 km run) or longer triathlon races in 2013, as well as Hong Kong first ever urban triathlon not to mention shorter aquathons and duathlons. There’s also a range of adventure races and hiking events organized throughout the year, such as the North Face 100 and Oxfam Trailwalker.

The challenges David Smith, a member of AVOHK and organizer of the Gammon Construction

Hercules Wong

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China Coast Marathon and Half Marathon as well as Round the Island races, says one of the biggest challenges race organizers in Hong Kong face is finding a suitable venue for events – especially for distance running.

“For road races, you’re generally restricted to either Shatin or Bride’s Pool Road [in Tai Po],” he says. “When you’ve got several thousand people participating in a race, you need to close the road for safety reasons, and Bride’s Pool Road doesn’t go anywhere and there’s no through traffic, so it is one of the only few places where the police doesn’t mind closing for a few hours.”

“Road closure is a procedure which needs to be gazetted and it’s quite formal, so that’s why small clubs like mine just aren’t into doing things like that,” says Smith.

HKAAA’s Kwan agrees that it is Hong Kong’s roads – both their surface area and the amount of closure time – that limit the scale of distance running events. He says that every year the association liaises with the government to request for longer road closure periods, so that the race can be further expanded.

Going forward, he says the association is lobbying the government for space in the on-going Kai Tak redevelopment projects to be set aside that could be used for the start and finish areas for the annual Hong Kong marathon, so that more people can participate.

If the government agrees to this, the marathon would also be held mostly in Kowloon and the New Territories, cutting down the effect of road closure on Hong Kong Island under the current route. However, such a plan, even if it goes ahead, will not materialize until 2017 at the earliest, he notes.

Meanwhile, AVOHK’s Smith adds that organizers of races in country parks face a slightly different problem. While there’s no shortage of suitable trails for running, the Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department (AFCD) forbids corporate sponsorship logos within country park confines, something that race organizers must work around.

For example, the Gammon Construction China Coast Marathon is held each year in country parks around Sai Kung, but

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Diary of Events January 1

Cheung Chau New Year Run (5/10K)

January 5

Mizuno Hong Kong Half Marathon Championships

January 12

The Clearwater Bay Chase (10K)

January 12

Vita Green Cycling for Health Marathon Challenge, Central

January 18

Hong Kong 100 (100K)

January 19

Gammon China Coast Marathon and Half Marathon, Sai Kung

Feburary 15

Cold Half 15K Open Water Swim, Stanley

Feburary 16

Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon

March 1

MSIG 50K Series, Sai Kung

March 15

Translantau (50K/100K)

the start and finish lines are located outside country park areas so that sponsors can be acknowledged, he says.

In other sports, organizers of road races involving cycling – such as road bike and triathlon events – face a similar shortage of venue, with races typically limited to either Bride’s Pool Road, Cheung Tung Road in Lantau, or the Hong Kong Science Park.

Money is also a major issue. While corporations are eager to hand out cash sponsorship for established events such as the Standard Chartered Marathon and the New World Harbour Race which attract sufficient media exposure, the same could not be said for smaller, less well-known events.

“Everyone in town wants to sponsor you with goods or discount vouchers.

Getting cash is very difficult,” says Smith. “As a race organizer, the only type of sponsorship I want is cash. Discount vouchers are good for companies because it encourages people to go to the shops and make purchases, and for them it doesn’t cost anything. On the other hand, sponsoring products for prizes are okay but if I organize a race, I need my sponsorship to go to the field and not just to the winners. Then I can make the race better for everyone.”

A Splashy Clean Half of Hong Kong

Photo courtesy: The Clean Half

Doug Woodring, a long-time AmCham member, is also an avid swimmer. After participating in the Maui Channel race in Hawaii eight years ago, he wonders why Asia doesn’t have its equivalent. He created “Clean Half” a few years ago and it has begun to attract swimmers from around the world. He tells biz.hk about how he started Clean Half and why you may like it once you’ve tried it biz.hk: How does open water swimming compare with indoor swimming or at the beach?

Woodring: First of all there are no lines on the bottom, and you can’t see too far ahead of you. This spooks some people, but others love the adventure of being out in the waves, with no defined boundaries, chasing others through the water (or leading them). In order to see where you are going, you have to look above the waterline to check for the marker buoys, the coastline, or sometimes in Hong Kong, a piece of trash. The water here has improved a lot though and we only organize swims when the trash factor is low (based on the winds). biz.hk: Where do you get the idea of Clean Half?

Woodring: I swam in the Maui Channel race in Hawaii eight years ago, and thought “why doesn’t Asia have one of these?” So the next year

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Doug Woodring

I created it, and called it the ‘Clean Half’ for obvious reasons – because it is the “clean half” of the island. I went onto Google Earth and scoped out a route that was about the same distance as the Maui Channel (Stanley to Deep Water Bay), and the first year we already had over 30 teams competing. Who would have thought! People love this event because it is a social/team swim, not a solo event.

There are five people on a team and people “leap-frog” each other after a certain defined time period. So they “sprint” their leg, and then get out to rest and to cheer for their friends. biz.hk: When will be the next Clean Half in Hong Kong? Who should consider joining?

Woodring: Our eighth annual Clean Half swim, now ranked the top ocean swim in Asia, will be on the 11th of October. We have all types of teams, young and old, fast and slower. This is truly an extreme swim. We had Trent Grimsey, the World Record Holder of the

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English Channel at our last event. Many who compete in this swim have never seen the scenery, cliffs, coastline and water that Hong Kong has to offer, and love it because of this exposure. There are often some pretty interesting conditions during the race (wind and waves), but actually it is easier than a normal solo swim, as the maximum time you swim is only 20 minutes in one leg. biz.hk: How do you prepare for open water swimming?

Woodring: Well, just like running or biking for distance, you need to train a bit. Most people will train in a pool, as it is easier to access, except for the public pools in Hong Kong which are very poorly run for those who really want to train due to the way they manage the lanes. In reality, this is a big issue for most people who are not on a team that has proper pool time. Hong Kong has more 50-meter pools than England, yet most are un-useable for training because of the way they manage them. There are

also groups who swim on Saturdays and Sundays in Repulse Bay which anyone can join. biz.hk: Why do you think sports/events like Clean Half is getting more popular in Hong Kong?

Woodring: As I always say, Hong Kong is like New York and Hawaii put together, in Asia. It is just that most people don’t know or see the “Hawaii.” It has great islands, coastlines, mountains that come out of the sea, and great water. Those who get it, get it, and tell their friends.

This is a workaholic city, but people like to play hard too, and there are not many big cities, with warm water, where you can drive just 15-20 minutes (or less), and swim in the sea. With the 10-km swim as an Olympic sport now, it has pulled some of the normal pool swimmers out to the ocean, and grown the visibility and cool-factor of swimming in the open water. Try it. You might not go back to a public pool in Hong Kong once you do.

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championships in Hawaii that year as an amateur but more importantly propelled him, three years later, to turn professional. Since then he has kept on relentlessly chasing his dream.

Dream big

Chris Lieto

Power of Belief Three-time Ironman Champion Chris Lieto visited Hong Kong recently. He shares with an AmCham audience about winning and - more importantly - losing

By Raymond Ma

C

hris Lieto is a poster boy for the power of belief.

As a professional triathlete, the three-time Ironman champion has endured time and time again the rigors of one of the most challenging endurance sports in the world – and succeeded. For the uninitiated, an Ironman race consists of a 3.9-km swim, a 180.25-km bike ride, and a 42.2-km run – something that takes professionals around eight hours to complete, and closer to 13 hours for average people. Very fit and welltrained amateurs die during races each year (there were at least two fatalities

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in 2013, including a Hong Kong policeman), and it tests the endurance limits of even top professional athletes.

It is in this sport that Lieto in 1997, with no relevant experience whatsoever except an earlier university career in water polo, decided he would become world champion after watching on TV the Ironman World Championships held in Kailua-Kona in Hawaii.

As a man who doesn’t like doing things in half measures, he went out – without knowing much about cycling at the time – and bought the most expensive triathlon bicycle he could afford.

He also wanted to become the world

champion quickly, so he decided his first ever triathlon race was not going to be the shorter sprint or Olympic distances, but a Half Ironman (1.9km swim / 90km bike / 21.1km run). And before he did that, the longest he had ever run was around 13 km. His friends thought he was crazy, but he did all this because he had the unshakable belief that he was destined to become the world champion.

So its stands as a testament to the power of belief that, despite his inexperience and lack of preparation, he won his age group division as well as a place in the overall top 11. This result qualified him to compete in the world

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“I am a strong believer in dreaming big. If you cast a big enough dream, sometimes you may not reach it but the pull of it is so great that you can accomplish great things along the way,” says Lieto, winner of Ironman Japan 2006, Ironman Canada 2005, and Ironman Wisconsin 2002 – along with a host of titles in other elite triathlon events around the world.

“If you set a goal for yourself to accomplish something average, then you’re going to take action that’s going to associate with your belief in that,” he says, adding that this typically leads to poor results and a downward spiral of belief in evenlower potential. On the other hand, setting goals high leads to actions which produce above-average rules, which further reinforces positive self-belief, he says.

For Lieto, his plan of action for wining at Kailua-Kona meant a training regimen that lasted 32 hours each week, consisting of four to five days of swimming, biking and running each week, and one day of rest. Each day was different, with training taking anywhere from two hours to more than eight. It wasn’t unusual for him to start off the mornings with a swim before breakfast, then stretching to prepare for a long bike ride doing intervals (short bursts of speed interspersed with rest) and climbing hills, before doing a run later and then going to bed at night, and then waking up to do it all over again the next day.

Despite a professional athletic career spanning more than a decade, today Lieto continues to chase his dream. He came close but didn’t quite make it in 2009 when he finished second at Kona, but the painful experience further educated him in the power of belief. Coming off the

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bike leg of the race, Lieto – a cycling specialist – was in front with a 12-minute lead over rival Craig Alexander, who is considered the fastest runner in the sport. It was a huge lead and if he played his cards right, Lieto was to be the new world champion.

He recalls how Alexander closed in fast and eventually caught up with him at around the 34 km mark – with less than 10 km to go (more than 95 percent of the race was already behind him). Not ready to give up, Lieto ran side-by-side with his rival for another 3 km before a momentary lapse of belief cost him his dream.

“I heard a voice in my head that said how can I beat the fastest runner in the sport? And within seconds of that moment when I doubted myself, [Alexander] started running away from me,” he vividly recalls. He finished that day in second place, but it also forced him to re-evaluate the reasons why he wanted to be the world champion.

“What I was really after was to have a platform to be vocal, to inspire people, and to make a difference in the world.

“By finishing second that day, it gave me a whole new level of respect from my athletic peers, from sponsors and from people who watched it on TV. If I had won, I would have made more money, but what I’ve done with my life based on that experience that I can share, it’s been more fulfilling,” he says.

Not ready to retire That said, he’s not quite yet ready to give up. This year Lieto turned 41.

Because of an Achilles injury, he hasn’t raced in the second half of the year.

Despite the fact that in the world of professional triathlon even the best typically retire between the ages of 35 and 40, he doesn’t seem like he is quite ready to hang up his tri-suit for good yet.

In the meantime, he keeps himself busy running his foundation MORE Than Sport, which partners with professional athletes and businesses to raise money for charity. The foundation recently opened its regional headquarters in Hong Kong to leverage off growth in Asia. Lieto has also founded - and now runs - BASE Performance, a provider of dietary supplements for endurance athletes.

“The World Championships are still a year away, so anything can happen between now and then,” he says. “I’ve already been there. I know what it takes, the challenges, and the commitment for the whole year to be prepared for that. It depends on what happens in the next few months, if I am going to go down that road to do that, or if I am going to use my time at MORE Than Sport and doing other things with other athletes. As far as seeking the top of the sport, I would still participate and stay involved.”

CHR

IS LIETO • Set a high goal, because this leads to actions that ’S typically lead to above average results and reinforce a positive spiral of self-belief TO SUC • Believe in your ability to accomplish your goals CEED • Decide and commit to your goal regardless of what challenges lay ahead • Find out the true purpose of your goals – be it in sports, at work or personal, because the emotional attachment will carry you through difficulties and challenges • Vocalize your goals, be it to family, friends, colleagues or team mates – making it harder to back out later • Seek out others who have accomplished what you set out to do, whether it be in person or through reading about them through books, the mass media, or the Internet – so that you can learn from their mistakes

TIPS

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Sustained wellness Despite the strict dietary requirements, Kenzai has become increasingly popular – especially among Hong Kong’s health conscious professional crowd. The program – named in Japanese meaning “sustained wellness” (it was formerly called the Peak Condition Project but the unfortunate PCP acronym had to be dropped because it was being confused with the recreational drug) – has trained more than 1,000 people around the world since it was launched five years ago, with over a third of them hailing from Hong Kong. It boasts a 90 percent-plus completion rate, and those who finish it lose typically between 6 to 10 percent of body fat.

The thing about Kenzai is that from a distance it doesn’t look much different from other health and fitness programs, and neither does it teach anything that is revolutionary or new.

People who sign up get access online to a personal trainer who draws up a dieting plan which changes each week depending on progress. It’s strict especially in the beginning few weeks to get people adjusted to a quantity of food commensurate with how many calories they actually burn, but it typically eases off later.

At the same time, there’s also a daily routine of simple exercises requiring just 60 minutes a day and using minimal equipment – variations on staples like push-ups, sit-ups and other resistance exercises using an elastic band.

Patrick Reynolds

The Kenzai Way to Fit and Fab Getting into shape can be a challenge to many of us. Staying healthy seems to be the only goal we can embrace. Patrick Reynolds, CEO and founder of Kenzai Body, believes there are ways to be slim and fit as long as we pay attention to what we eat and how we exercise

By Raymond Ma

“I

f you’re the type of guy who goes to the gym four or five hours a day, and you have no life, and no one invites you to parties, but you’re in great shape – who cares? You’re still a loser.”

These are big words, considering it came from Patrick Reynolds, CEO and Founder of Kenzai Body which is known as much for the strict diets it enforces upon program candidates, and the result of weight loss experienced by its graduates.

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To get a taste of just how lean participants of Kenzai Body – a 90-day health and fitness program which blends a strict diet with regular exercise, and community support through its own social network – are expected to eat, we can consider how Reynolds first put together his own original fitness plan on which it was based. The inaugural diet looked a little like the following.

For breakfast and lunch, he was to have altogether the equivalent of a bowl of rice, three pieces of vegetables, an

apple, a medium-sized piece of fish or some shrimp. Dinner was even more meager, consisting of three hardboiled egg whites blended together in a smoothie with an apple and a banana and some low fat milk.

That’s it for the whole day – there’s no vanilla ice-cream with fudge, no cupcakes with frosting, and no potato chips. Coffee (provided you don’t go nuts with things like hazelnut syrup or whipped cream) is great.

But as for alcohol – don’t even think about it.

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Social networking But probably one of the biggest reasons it has been successful is its social networking aspect. Everyone who signs up is required to blog about their experiences every 10 days, and those who fail to do so are kicked out.

Reynolds says the benefit of this is two-fold. Not only does accountability keep people on the straight and narrow, but other program candidates who have been there as well as alumni are typically quick to chime in to help

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to lift flagging spirits – something which helps explain the high completion rate and results, he says.

In sharp contrast to its central message that people nowadays eat on auto-pilot and consume many more calories than they actually burn, Reynolds emphasizes that indulgence in moderation is good.

“We try to educate people that mental health is just as important. So if you go to a social event like a wedding or a birthday party, you should have the nice big meal and enjoy the human fellowship. But if you are home alone watching YouTube in front of the computer, that’s when you have the small meal. You have to be smart,” he says. That’s also why during the initial 90-day program, candidates are allowed to have three chances – spread out at days 25, 45, and 65 – to have a slightly less healthy meal.

“If you follow these five rules then I guarantee you’ll lose between 5 to 10 kilos without doing a thing.”

Another message that Reynolds tries to get across is that life and the human body follow cycles, so it’s natural for people to commit to getting in shape, see results from hard work, and then let off steam. The opposite – maintaining the body at peak condition indefinitely – is both unsustainable and dangerous, he adds.

Five simple rules For those who are interested in what makes Kenzai tick but unready to commit, Reynolds recommends what he calls the five rules to lose five kilos within five weeks. The first is to never eat anything from a factory. The calorific density of processed food is unnatural, and what’s more – they are engineered as a satisfying delivery system, making you crave it and come back for more.

Second, stop drinking calories – be it in the form of soft drinks, frappacinos, protein shakes, alcohol, or even juices. When you eat food, chewing and swallowing actions trigger feedback to your brain causing you to feel satisfied.

Drinking high-caloric drinks causes your body to absorb the energy, without the satisfaction of eating real food, and making it all the more easier to gain weight.

Next, contrary to the popular media, carbohydrates are not evil, but it is important to be careful how much you eat. Carbohydrates are cheap to make, easy to serve and delicious to eat. “The thing is you need to vastly re-evaluate what a serving of carbs should look like. Never eat a serving of carbs that is bigger than your fist. You need to think kids’ meal sizes,” says Reynolds, adding that special attention should be paid in the evenings, when people are less likely to engage in physical activity.

Less salt The fourth rule concerns salt.

Sodium is vital – it serves to conduct electrical signals in the body, but too much causes the body to absorb extra water to maintain homeostasis, leading to looking and feeling bloated, he says. A safer daily limit is around 1,000 mg (half the US recommended intake) – 500 mg from a healthy diet of whole and natural foods supplemented with a treat like a cookie or a chip every couple of days.

This leads to the final rule, which is to eat whole and natural foods that are processed as little as possible. Fruits and vegetables are 85 percent water, but the process of chewing and eating makes it more fulfilling and the body can also benefit from its nutrients.

Natural foods are also less likely to make you fat – an apple has around 50 calories, versus more than 250 for a typical candy bar.

“If you follow these five rules then I guarantee you’ll lose between 5 to 10 kilos without doing a thing,” he says.

“If you follow it only half way then it will be less, but at least you know what’s going wrong.”

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ENERGY

Hong Kong Gets a Boost in Biodiesel Production

At the opening ceremony: (from left) ASB Biodiesel Chairman Abdulla Saif, Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang and ASB Biodiesel Chief Executive Anthony Dixon

Photos courtesy: ASB Biodiesel

By Daniel Kwan

T

he opening of ASB Biodiesel at Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate in October has turned a new chapter in the development of the recycling industry in Hong Kong.

With the government’s support, the new plant which turns used cooking oil into environmentallyfriendly biodiesel can be a major boost in Hong Kong’s battle for cleaner air and greenhouse gas emission.

Anthony Dixon, ASB Biodiesel Chief executive, said in the opening ceremony of the factory: “ASB Biodiesel is now ready to play a key role in helping to address Hong Kong’s air quality, greenhouse gas and wastedisposal problems.”

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New force ASB Biodiesel is 75 percent owned

by Bahrain-based Al Salam Bank and other Middle Eastern investors. Its state-of-the-art facility at Tseung Kwan O costs US$165 million to build.

ASB Biodiesel is Hong Kong’s third biodiesel producer. The addition of its facility in October has more than doubled the local biodiesel production capacity. This means Hong Kong now has enough supply locally to run every diesel-powered vehicle in the city if local drivers choose to make the switch – voluntarily or to comply with future legal requirements.

Unlike a decade ago, the advantages of biodiesel as a green energy source are now more commonly recognized. The Environment Protection Department of the Government says on its Website that biodiesel is comparable to Euro IV diesel.

“The wider use of biodiesel in lieu of fossil diesel, which is non-renewable, is therefore conducive to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and arresting global climate changes due to the rising greenhouse gas level. In respect of the potential to improve roadside air quality, Euro V diesel and biodiesel are similar,” the department acknowledges.

ASB Biodiesel’s 18,000-squarefoot facility can produce 100,000 tonnes or 110 million liters of biodiesel

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a year. It is capable of processing really difficult waste such as grease trap oil into biodiesel. Grease traps are plumbing devices that catch grease before kitchen waste water is discharged into the sewage system.

The new plant – if run at capacity – can offset 257,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, or 3.6 percent of Hong Kong’s emissions annually.

Collection of waste oil Every day, ASB Biodiesel collects used cooking oil and grease waste from local restaurants and fast food outlets such as Maxim’s and Cafe De Coral to be used as raw material. In addition, it

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also imports waste oil from markets like Singapore as input. Initially, local supply will account for about 20 percent of its input and it hopes to raise the share to 45 percent within a few years.

How waste cooking oil is collected (and sold) or disposed of in Hong Kong actually plays a key part in the Government’s consideration about whether to regulate (or legislate) the recycling and use of used cooking oil and hence what policies to support the biodiesel industry. Because used cooking oil is not hazardous waste, its collection, sales, import and export are not subject to regulatory or legislative controls in Hong Kong. However, it is known that legitimate recyclers in Hong Kong face competition from illicit vendors who are willing to pay high prices for the used cooking oil

from local restaurants and resell the waste oil to operators in China to be re-used for cooking.

“This is not just a clean air issue; it’s also a public health issue, a food and hygiene issue,” one government source says. “Our policies need to take all these issues into account.” (For more on the collection of used cooking oil, see box)

Mandatory blending Hong Kong also lags behind in the area of mandatory blending. Unlike other major cities around the world, Hong Kong does not have mandatory blending requirement for biodiesel fuel. This means the local market for biodiesel as vehicle fuel is limited since there is little financial incentive for car drivers to use more biodiesel which is marginally more expensive than ordinary diesel. ASB Biodiesel now sells its Hong Kong-produced biodiesel mainly to Europe but it hopes to expand sales locally.

Dixon urges the Government to follow the lead of other cities around

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Anthony Dixon

“Gutter” oil the world and make the use of biofuel blend mandatory and accelerate the adoption of biodiesel in its own fleet to set an example.

“We call upon the government to take advantage of this opportunity by requiring biodiesel use in all government fleets by June 2014 and by introducing mandatory blending of biodiesel in Hong Kong by December 2015,” he said in his opening ceremony speech.

“That may sound unreasonable to some, but that is the stuff of progress,” he added.

According to a Progress Report released by the Government in March, first phase of a pilot scheme to use B5 biodiesel (diesel containing 5 percent of biodiesel) has produced positive results. As a result, it has extended the scheme to seven government departments with an estimated total consumption of about 8 million liters in two years.

Reasonable demands Dixon acknowledges that the Government is doing a lot of the right

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Citing government’s statistics, legislator Paul Tse Wai-chun said in March that a significant amount of the used cooking oil in Hong Kong has been exported – or smuggled – to Mainland China to be used for the production of so-called recycled “gutter” oil, which is known to contain cancercausing substances.

It has been widely reported that “gutter” oil is used by unscrupulous restaurant owners in China to save costs.

Despite repeated crackdowns by health inspectors, the malpractice cannot be eradicated.

In Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) under Food and Environmental Hygiene Department launched an investigation early this year following a media report alleging an oil company in Kwai Chung had used gutter oil in the production of its cooking oil and supplied to local restaurants.

The investigation results showed no evidence that “gutter” oil was used. So far, the CFS has not found the use of “gutter” oil in any local restaurants or food producers.

things to curb air pollution and reduce greenhouse gas emission but he urges an acceleration of the use of biodiesel and regulatory changes.

“When you make biodiesel from waste, there is an enormous green house gas saving,” Dixon says. “Everybody in Europe has introduced mandatory blending because of that reason.”

“There are a lot of things on the

government’s plate and they are doing a lot of positive things. This initiative to take the old diesel vehicles off the road is timely and we fully support it.

But that’s going to take time. In the meantime, offering something that – although it’s not a silver bullet and it does not completely solve the problem – can make a difference should be a good idea,” Dixon believes.

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INFORMATION & COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

Angie Lau

Bloomberg at Close Range A behind-the-scene look at how news anchor Angie Lau of Bloomberg gets through the day and what makes her feel so passionate about her work

By Blessing Waung Photos: Brian Production Ltd

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I

t’s 5:14 am, and the sun has yet to rise over Victoria Harbour.

Yet on the 27th floor of the Bloomberg offices in Cheung Kong Center, anchorwoman Angie Lau is already at her terminal, analyzing the global markets.

On an average day, Lau wakes up naturally around 4am, cabs to the office, grabs a breakfast of fruit and tea, and starts prepping for the day’s stories. For Lau, going on air means no substantial breakfast until after it’s over. She then sits down with her colleagues for the daily 5:30am editorial meeting, where charts and sound bites are thrown around as the show is plotted out and finalized.

Lau is the new face of Bloomberg’s early morning ‘First Up’ program, positioned at the forefront of Bloomberg’s extensive Asia coverage. In recent months, Lau’s image is plastered onto the buses running through the arteries of Central, alongside morning show colleagues Zeb Eckert and Mia Saini. Here, a large audience of fund managers-cum-fitness friends at PURE Fitness or the American Club have their eyes glued to “First Up.” “The role of the anchor is really to facilitate the conversation between what’s going on in the world and the viewer,” Lau says. “But at the same time, you have reporters, interviews, analysts and CEOs who come onto the show to share their part of the story.

You really need to know your stuff.

That takes a lot of reading, a lot of time, and a lot of Bloomberg functions.” Lau refers to the news organization as ‘one of the critical pillars’ of the company. “It moves markets,” she says. “News moves markets, but news in context. Fast, accurate – that is what viewers, readers, terminal users, investors and financial professionals depend on.

We’ve got to be right, because millions of dollars depend on us being right.

That is a responsibility we take very, very much to heart.”

Currently, the network is available in 310 million homes worldwide and Bloomberg TV streams on its TV+ iPad app.

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the clients, the customers, the viewers, the readers.”

One of Lau’s most memorable stories with was with Wang Dafu, the Chinese billionaire, who invited her to speak with him on his yacht on a Sunday night.

“This man really personified China’s growth. He grew up during the Cultural Revolution. He made his first dollars when Shenzhen opened up as a special economic zone. He built [up] Hainan, Sanya when [Chinese paramount leader] Deng Xiaoping broke down the property ownership and opened up development in China. And now he’s a billionaire, talking about spreading globally. And yet, that interview was just as important to me as the interview I had with the dock worker who was on strike here in Hong Kong.

And in fact, that probably resonated more with me, because that was real.”

“There are a lot of billionaires in China, but this social disparity in Asia is, I think, a critical story as well.” At 6:58 am, Lau and her colleagues start shouting fact checks, a jumble of numbers and last-minute market intel.

Sixty seconds later, all is quiet.

6:31am While in makeup, Lau watches her San Francisco-based colleague Emily Chang on Bloomberg West in the green room mirror and pores over her own scripts. Today, Chang is interviewing Baidu CEO Robin Li, who will also be speaking on ‘First Up’. Maria Choi, an in-house Bloomberg TV makeup artist, has been with the company for nine years. During that time, she has touched up billionaires

and an abundance of CEOs. About Lau, she says, “She is not the one who is very concerned about her appearance. She concentrates on her script first.” Still, by the time she’s done, Lau looks camera-perfect in her bright blue tailored dress and 5-inch heels, especially bright-eyed next to the camera crew clad in khakis and Adidas trainers. Bloomberg first opened its TV operations in 1999, and has since expanded to 500 people in the Hong Kong newsroom. The Hong Kong news bureau alone has expanded by 50

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percent in the past two years. And it’s growing, similar to its 146 bureau counterparts scattered across the globe.

Though the company has expanded its newsroom and television operations worldwide, its core business lies in providing financial information on its ubiquitous Bloomberg terminals, a subscription to which costs US$20,000 per year. Sales of said terminals have slackened in the past few years, though, particularly in the mainland with competition from local copycats. But appetite for Asian market

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coverage has not slowed at all. (See next story) “This is the epicenter, the brain behind the 20 years that we’ve been here,” Lau says. “You see the extraordinary growth of Hong Kong, and [back then] there was a lot of uncertainty, as there is today. A lot of ups, but certainly a lot of downs as well, with the Asian financial crisis and with SARS. And yet, Bloomberg remained by Hong Kong’s side, in Hong Kong, as a part of Hong Kong. Sharing and reporting on the story, and being value-add and loyal to

Lau opens the show, her broadcast voice a half-octave lower than her real-life voice, more measured and dulcet. She’s quick, energetic, and flawless. Transition from IPO to stock analyses to worker strikes, she doesn’t miss a measure.

“Asia is the place to be,” Lau says.

“After the financial crisis, where was everything happening? Everything was happening in Asia. You have got to go where the story is. It’s a dream for a journalist.” Lau was born in Hong Kong and raised here, but left for Canada as a two-year-old girl. She spoke Cantonese at home growing up, can converse fluidly with her local colleagues in the dialect, and in her words, ‘can get from A to B in a cab.’

Because her parents left, she says, she was able to pursue her own direction, which might have been different had she stayed all along.

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Building on Success

Bloomberg Celebrates 20th Anniversary in Hong Kong

“Paradigms were shattered about what girls were supposed to be.” But Hong Kong was never the end goal, though she always dreamt of being a foreign correspondent. “I never envisioned this was a possibility,” Lau says. “It was always somewhere in the back of my mind.” Lau started at Bloomberg in the Chicago newsroom back in 2008, coinciding with the global financial crisis, and before that was an award-winning investigative reporter for WEWS-TV in Cleveland, Ohio, working under a news director who was once the executive producer for Peter Jennings.

While there, she broke stories of sub-prime mortgages foisted upon the masses, people being swindled by mortgage brokers. She cites this experience and connecting the dots as the time she learned business journalism firsthand. “It’s the seed under every story,” Lau says. “Business journalism is the last bastion.”

8:04am During commercial breaks, Lau takes careful sips of water from her bright orange water carafe, emblazoned with a classic Bloomberg-ism: “Play hard, work harder.” A few touch-ups here and there while b-roll is on the TV, then back on air.

In her not-so-spare time, Lau is a correspondent governor at the Foreign Correspondents Club and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association. She logs her appointments in both a FCC-emblazoned traditional black book, pockmarked with Post-its and highlights, as well as on her Smartphone.

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At the FCC Clubhouse on Ice House Street, Lau is somewhat of a celebrity. She can hardly go for 10 minutes without someone stopping by to say hello or talk about one of her recent stories – a queen holding court at the corner table in the Quiet Room.

8:59am Off the air. After the show is over, the mood in the newsroom visibly relaxes, takes a breath. For about five minutes. Since Lau reports for a viewership in Asia, including India and Mongolia, as well as Europe and the US, her day doesn’t end ever, really.

There are five hours of programming coming out of Asia, running until noon, when the TV team has another editorial meeting to discuss stories and what’s ahead. Sarni Ocampo, cameraman and editor with the company for six years, says she’s one of the most thorough yet efficient reporters he’s ever worked with. “I tease her because when she does stand-ups, she does it in one take,” Ocampo laughs. “I call her the one-take wonder.”

“This industry is one that’s everchanging, ever-contracting, evermoving,” Lau says. “While a lot of people shy away from it, I think it’s exciting. We are all adrenaline junkies in the news business. This is why most of us do this. When it’s about the news, and there’s constant change, that’s what we thrive upon. Within chaos comes opportunity, is the old Chinese saying. I’ve experienced that in every part of career from day one.”

Last month, Bloomberg celebrated its 20th anniversary in Hong Kong. The company, now the largest provider of financial data to the Hong Kong market, has great plans for the future. Mark Flatman who is the head of sales for Asia Pacific talks about the company’s commitment to Hong Kong and its future strategy

By Blessing Waung

T

his year marked the 20th anniversary of Bloomberg’s presence in Hong Kong, a landmark capped by a celebration dinner last month attended by some of Hong Kong’s movers and shakers in the business community.

In his speech at the celebration dinner, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury KC Chan remarked, “Indeed, if the number of employees is a measure of a company’s profitability, Bloomberg Hong Kong has hugely outperformed the Hang Seng Index.” In 1993, there were just 30 employees at the company’s official opening; now there are more than 500.

To date, Bloomberg is the largest provider of exchange data to the Hong Kong market, since it first started providing live trading data for stocks and futures in 1996.

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Asia focus, Hong Kong’s role

Mark Flatman, a 14-year veteran at the company, is an example of both the office’s organic growth as well as its commitment to product innovation. He arrived on the ground half a year ago as head of Asia Pacific sales for Bloomberg’s financial products. Before, he managed sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa from London.

According to him, the Asia business is significantly different from Europe largely due to the diversity and growth prospects of the region, and he has been traveling much more extensively since taking over the APAC role.

“This role is to look after all of our business throughout the whole of Asia Pacific, and I’ve chosen to run that business from Hong Kong,” Flatman says. “Previously, we’ve run that business from Singapore and from Tokyo.”

“Hong Kong’s always been important in terms of the size of the business, but it’s becoming increasingly important beyond just the Hong Kong region. The onshore, offshore situation, and of course, what’s going on with Mainland China.

“We see a lot of the businesses that are headquartered in Hong Kong doing more [business] throughout Asia as well.

It gives us the right place, the right geography to leverage much more.”

Top innovator Flatman says Bloomberg is a leader in localizing products according to the level of development of specific markets, such as creating a specific China bond platform for price discovery that required engineering an entirely new screen.

Another first was innovated in Bloomberg Industries, where a dedicated China investment dashboard pairing China industry data with research was created. A dynamic real-time platform covering over 125 industries globally, Bloomberg Industries’ Asia specific data benefits a global investor base – whether

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Mark Flatman

in London, New York, or elsewhere. This year, Bloomberg also created the ASEAN bond platform together with five leading banks, which Flatman says could evolve into a trading platform beyond price discovery.

As with its competitors, Bloomberg is eager to capture the voracious appetite of mainland Chinese investors as well, though the company has no shortage of challenges and imitators in the mainland.

Their greatest asset, Flatman maintains, is that Bloomberg is ‘truly cross-asset and global.’ He referred to good-quality imitators in every major market, including spinoffs from established companies, but says the more than 315,000 global subscribers to Bloomberg Professional service depended on their accuracy, speed and customer service.

The fundamentals “There are certain fundamentals that don’t change. We try and position ourselves at the heart of the business community. We are uniquely placed because of that. We’re neutral territory, and we believe in trying to bring transparency to markets, whether that be business in Asia, Europe, or on a global scale.” In addition to the Bloomberg Professional service and its daily, 24-hour live customer support, the company has beefed up its mobile operations, enabling subscribers to access the service from

any Internet-connected desktop, as well as on Smartphones and tablet devices.

They estimate that more than 320 million instant messages are sent globally per day via its communication platform.

“We are intrinsically connected to the trading community due to our unique position in the market where we don’t take trading positions but serve as a facilitator, innovator and partner.

When we connect the buy-side to the sell-side, and work closely with industry and market participants, we start to assume a position as a positive enabler of market transparency.”

“Thousands of clients approach our customer service representatives every day to ask questions about how they can access information and analyze the markets. What’s imperative is how insightful, accurate information can help drive smart investment decisions, and how that is shared within the community.” For now, Flatman hopes to continue serving the market in Hong Kong by staying at the forefront of the data and analytics service market, in order to help clients manage their costs and risks.

“We’re a technology company at heart, and there are things we can do on the product to really serve the community.

It’s my job to make sure that we continue to innovate in Asia not just for this region but also for the global business and investment community.”

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HUMAN CAPITAL

Kate Bravery of Mercer

W

ith the unprecedented economic growth in Asia and movement of businesses from West to East as well as Asia-based enterprises looking to expand into other parts of the world, there is an increasing need to have Asian leaders who can lead not only in Asia but also globally.

Developing Asian talent for global impact is now a proposition among HR practitioners in the region, a main topic at the 22nd Annual AmCham Human Capital Conference held earlier here in Hong Kong where a number of HR professionals and business executives who operate in Asia shared their insights in a stimulating discussion.

“The development of Asian talent is mission critical,” says Clare Allum, EYU Leader & Tax Talent Leader at EY (formerly Ernst & Young) and HC Conference chair. “If we look at the demographic of the world at the moment, our future talent pool is increasingly going to come from Asia.”

This is, however, a real challenge as Asian talents are reaching what’s now termed the “bamboo ceiling” in MNCs and are not getting through to leadership levels for a number of reasons, Allum points out.

“The question we are looking at today is: How can we not only identify and hire Asian talent but also support the development of Asian talent in our markets not only here in Asia Pacific but also globally,

22nd Annual AmCham Human Capital Conference: Developing Asian Talent for Global Impact

By Kenny Lau

AmCham Human Capital Conference chair Clare Allum

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and how can we leverage the experience, wisdom as well as cultural capital they bring to the table?”

The challenge With a growing middle class, an aging demographic and a young consumer market, Asia as a region has two key challenges in delivering growth in Asia, notes Janet De Silva, Dean of Ivey Asia, Ivey Business School. The first lies in cultural and economic diversity as Asia has 49 economies of different sizes at different stages of development. Secondly, Asia has a human capital challenge for a scarcity of leadership and middle management talent with the international competency and local navigation skills.

The “huge” deficit of talent will largely be in the middle and senior leadership, and not so much for entrylevel roles as automation continues to increase productivity, Kate Bravery, Leadership & Talent Solution Leader for Mercer, observes. “We will have a real deficit of leaders who can run huge P&Ls and operate smoothly and fluently across regional and cultural boundaries. We will struggle to have enough leaders to take on global roles.”

In a survey last year among 660 HR professionals across the region on their localization strategies, 29 percent of the companies reported that they had more than 30 percent of expats in their top leadership roles, and only 20 percent of organizations had an all-local leadership

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Concurrent Breakout Sessions Recruiting Future Asian Leaders Antonia Cowdry Managing Director & Regional Head of HR, Asia Pacific, Deutsche Bank AG Dr Christine Lai Regional Director, APAC People Team, Pearson Asia Pacific Nick Marsh Managing Director, Harvey Nash Executive Search Asia Pacific Michael Wong Greater China Talent Leader, EY Moderator: Linda Garrett Managing Director, Garrett Global The Future of Executive Coaching in Asia – Coaching Local Talent for Global Business

CEO Panel: (from left) Chris Meyrick, Ken Madrid, Douglas Henck, Colin Browne and Janet De Silva

strategy, Bravery points out. “What we saw was that we really haven’t moved the dial.”

“Having expats in roles is valuable and gives us an opportunity to bring up Asian talent.” She adds. “But for whatever reason, we are not seeing the impact that we thought they would have in terms of development of local leaders, despite Asian talent has grown up in an environment of constant change and shifting demands from the workplace, and has a real ability to be resilient with a ‘can-do’ attitude.”

In another survey among 1,200 companies across 65 countries, 60 percent will increase spending on talent development in the next five years focusing on Asia and Latin America, while 87 percent of those with a presence in Asia have “a plan” for managing their workforce. However, only 16 percent are looking beyond five years.

“Most shocking is that only 20 percent of HR practitioners in Asia Pacific felt their plan would have a high impact in solving the talent problem,” Bravery says of the survey. “If we are to have impact, we need to change the game. We can’t keep doing the same things and expect different results.”

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“We need to start thinking more about critical experiences and moving away from traditional learning and development, or to bring the two together to have an effect, and we need to translate it into practice in areas such as international assignment, multicultural teaming, helping people broaden their network, encouraging self insight and reflection as well as coaching and mentoring.”

Leadership Leadership in an HR context is about engaging teams and more importantly about taking your teams along the journey, says Colin Browne, VP and Managing Director of Asia Sourcing, VF Asia.

“Teams are a big part of what we consider as leadership, and managing broader relationship is a key part in how you bridge stakeholders in a supply chain.”

“The challenges we face with teams in Asia are fundamentally not that different than anywhere else,” he says. “A leader is ultimately somebody who is interested in people and individuals. Having an understanding of cultural differences is an important part. Don’t assume that people will

"Recruiting Future Asian Leaders": (from left) Antonia Cowdry, Christine Lai, Michael Wong, Linda Garrett, and Nick Marsh

naturally understand you. You have to go the extra mile to make sure people understand your mission.”

“And you need to push and be demanding in an aggressive but not offensive way in order to be successful, sometimes by providing a safety net to encourage people to step out of their comfort zone,” Browne adds.

“In Asia, you need to be developing leaders who can learn from the Western markets and are able to do a cultural translation to achieve success in the region,” says Doug Henck, Chairman & CEO, AEGON Asia.

“Leaders also need to be able to see longer-term trends and issues from a perspective of where they will be in five years.”

“There is a willingness to know what you don’t know, which is probably the greatest skill a leader can have,” he adds.

“What I see in leaders is that they bring the most out of their people with an ability to work collaboratively and to be a catalyst for collaboration,” Henck points out. “Things that bring people together tend to be good; things that divide people tend to be bad. We see that at a family, government or business level.”

biz.hk 12 • 2013

Taisuke Nakanishi Managing Director, Sony Corporation of HK Ltd Facilitator: Yoshiyuki Suzuki President, COACH A Co, Ltd Engaging and Developing Future Asian Leaders Alvin Miyasato Regional Program Director, Finance Learning & Leadership Development, Intel Semiconductor (US) Ltd

"The Future of Executive Coaching in Asia": Taisuke Nakanishi, left, and Yoshiyuki Suzuki

Mitya New Managing Director, Leading Organisations Manpreet Ratia Managing Director & Region Head HR, Citi Transaction Services & Private Bank, Citi Asia Pacific Alexandra Richardson Senior HR Director, PepsiCo Asia Pacific Region Gerald Tapper Regional Managing Director, Asia, rogenSi Ltd Prof Denis Wang Director, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, Chinese University of Hong Kong Moderator: Clare Allum EYU Leader & Tax Pacific, EY

biz.hk 12 • 2013

Talent Leader, Asia

"Engaging and Developing Future Asian Leaders": (from left) Clare Allum, Denis Wang, Manpreet Ratia, Alvin Miyasato, Alexandra Richardson, Gerald Tapper and Mitya New

31

One of the best attributes in successful managers is an entrepreneurial spirit, with which they run a business as his own but understand it is not, notes Ken Madrid, Group CFO and CEO Asia Pacific, Crown Worldwide. “At the end of day, we want people with creativity in the right areas and cultural awareness. We want people who can lead our teams in the right direction.”

The dimensions on leadership from a business perspective are: creating the future beyond the excellence of today; adding value for customers; bringing people together; and delivering results, notes Chris Meyrick, VP, Human Resources Asia Pacific, American Express International Inc. “Leaders do the right things.

Managers do things right,” says Tom Mehrmann, Chief Executive, Ocean Park Hong Kong. “It is important to seek first to understand before being understood.”

Tom Mehrmann of Ocean Park

Engagement In an organization, employees can be categorized in a spectrum of performance. On one end, there are those doing only the bare minimum with negative or counter-productive behavior. In the middle are performers doing a decent job and influenced by those above and below them. On the other end are those who are highly motivated and connected to the brand as they “live and breathe the culture.”

The idea is to push the curve and shift the level of engagement further to the right towards high performance, says Rob Morton, Asia Pacific Site Leader, Disney Institute. “When you get closer to the right, you’ll also have a more apparent demonstration of your values and culture. It’ll also become a pool or source of future leaders in your company.”

“What we need is a culture that supports the right behavior, a spirit of creativity and innovation which together form a foundation for continuous improvement,” he adds.

“You cannot do things the way you always have but need to constantly

32

Rob Morton of Disney Institute

evaluate what works well and what doesn’t.”

Over-management to a certain extent is a key aspect in driving results.

“When we talk about over-managing, we are not talking about micromanaging or trying to control every aspects of a decision want but about being in control of the process,” Morton explains. “The actions are deliberate to avoid improvisation which can result in an inconsistent experience for your customer.”

“The fundamentals in Human Resources is about selecting talent who could fit in your corporate culture and setting them up for success through training and a connection at an emotional level to drive a commitment to your brand,” he suggests.

“When your employees are connected emotionally and cognitively, they’ll have a better understanding of your core values, and in most cases they’ll do it not because they have to but because they want to.”

biz.hk 12 • 2013

HUMAN RIGHTS

as a large percentage of them are children of migrants.”

“It has been a long-running problem how to deal with a sharp increase in the number of juveniles committing crimes in China, and for that we’ve made some recommendations,” he adds. “Virtually all of them have been incorporated in the latest reforms. And we are starting to see results. The percentage of arrested youths who are given custodial punishment has dropped.”

The Bangkok Rules: Gender-Specific Treatment for Women in Prison

Women in prison

The Dui Hua Foundation meets with senior Chinese officials in Beijing where Executive Director John Kamm, a highly accomplished business executiveturned-human rights activist, highlights the issues of incarcerated women and juvenile justice in a continuous dialogue

By Kenny Lau John Kamm

F

ollowing China’s announcement of reforms in relation to the domestic rights of its people – including abolition of reeducation through labor, relaxation of the one-child policy, and reform of the household registration system – John Kamm, Executive Director of the Dui Hua Foundation, a San Francisco-based advocacy group, has engaged in a dialogue with senior Chinese officials in Beijing for an exchange of views on the issue of human rights.

In a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Vice Minister Li Baodong, who praised Kamm’s “important contribution to the promotion of US-China relations” by taking on the

34

most sensitive issue at the most difficult time for China in the early 1990s, topics discussed were reforms announced at the Third Plenum, United Nations’ latest Universal Periodic Review of China’s human rights record and China’s election to the UN Human Rights Council.

Additionally, Kamm reviewed the progress of China’s implementation of reform in criminal procedure law with officials at the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and Supreme People’s Court (SPC), where Senior Judge Ma Dong highlighted Dui Hua’s work in juvenile justice reform for the country.

An important focus in their discussion was Dui Hua’s upcoming symposium in Hong Kong on “Women in Prison” and “The Bangkok Rules.”

“There are much to talk about between the US and China on the issues of juvenile justice and women in prison,” Kamm says in an interview with biz.hk. “Our recent trip to Beijing wasn’t about what I did 20 years ago but more about what we are doing now. I’ve been trying very hard to get the two countries to talk about issues in the field of human rights, which are of concern to both governments.”

Until the newly amended criminal procedure law, China had minimal legislation on juvenile justice, Kamm points out. “There has been a big increase in the number of juveniles arrested, to the extent that the government is quite alarmed by this upsurge, which can be tied back to the economic reform and [rural-to-urban] migration

biz.hk 12 • 2013

Together with the University of Hong Kong, Penal Reform International (PRI) and Renmin University of China Law School, Dui Hua will host in February an invitation-only international symposium in Hong Kong to promote the Bangkok Rules and to make recommendations at the institutional and governmental level regarding women’s correctional facilities worldwide, an area in need of much transformation to accommodate gender-specific needs with a higher level of support services.

“In China as elsewhere, women make up the fastest growing segment of the prisoner demographic. In the 20 years or so I have been working in China, their percentage has more than doubled,” Kamm notes. “There are a number of associated issues that have been ignored for a long time; hence we have taken a lead role in introducing the Bangkok Rules.”

Women are estimated to account for 2 – 10 percent of prison populations in countries worldwide and are the fastest growing prisoner demographic. The number of incarcerated women in the US has grown at twice the rate of men in the last three decades, while the number of women in prisons across China between 1997 and 2002 increased at an average annual rate of 13 percent (although declining somewhat since 2002 it remains higher than that of men).

By 2011, the number of incarcerated women in China doubled from a decade earlier to exceed 93,000, according to official statistics. It made up more than

biz.hk 12 • 2013

5 percent of the inmate population in prisons run by the Ministry of Justice.

In most provinces, there is at least one women’s prison but women-only detention centers are lacking, hence the problem of gender segregation in some facilities when women are confined along with men.

“Women are in prisons that were basically built by men, for men, and are managed by men. The rules are maleoriented,” Kamm explains. “Women very often have to face issues that aren’t addressed in a correctional facility. Women, for instance, give birth to children and men don’t. Incarcerated women are also much more likely to be victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence.”

The Bangkok Rules Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol of Thailand, who once served as UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, began advocating for incarcerated women and their children as she learned of their adversities and a lack of support while in prison and following their release. She subsequently started the “Enhancing Lives of Female Inmates” project in Thailand and expanded the initiative through the development of the Bangkok Rules.

The Bangkok Rules, formally known as the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders, were adopted in December 2010 following a resolution submitted by the Thai government in 2009. These rules call for more progressive gender-specific treatment for incarcerated women through a more “gender-sensitive, trauma-informed” approach.

Measures as mandated in the rules include higher standards for healthcare, safety, and sanitation of women in prison and in the treatment of their children, in addition to basic legal protection and non-custodial measures for minor offenses. More importantly, institutional personnel are encouraged to adopt a culture in which policies are set to promote respect for women during imprisonment.

In China Amendments to China’s Criminal Procedure Law (CPL) effective January 1, 2013 have since provided more safeguards for women, juveniles, and those facing the death penalty.

Pregnant or breastfeeding women are now given greater access to non-custodial measures and may be released on bail or placed under residential surveillance, in line with certain aspects of the Bangkok Rules.

However, this is only a beginning as more issues, including those of survivors of abuse and domestic violence, need to be taken into account. One area in need of reform is China’s Prison Law, which does little to address the “physiological and psychological characteristics” of women prisoners. It has been proposed that the Prison Law be amended to include “a chapter on the rehabilitation of incarcerated women.”

“I always say that human rights in China by virtue of civil and political rights move forward and backward at the same time in different places and at different paces,” Kamm says. “You can have, for instance, greater freedom of religious practices in one part of China but not in another part. That’s why I always try hard not to generalize.”

“There are some areas where we are seeing improvement, and there are areas where we are not,” he adds. “In terms of the rights of women and juveniles in the criminal justice system, China is making progress, while the introduction of non-residential residential surveillance is step backward.”

“I think we will continue to see a reduction in death penalty and execution but will not see it through necessarily a reform in the criminal procedure law,” Kamm believes.

“Although we will see less, there is no sign that it will stop completely.

China only speaks about that as a long-term goal. I suspect we will continue to see a decline but maybe not at the rate we’ve been seeing it in terms of percentage.”

35

AMERICAN TOPICS

AMCHAM’S ANNUAL THANKSGIVING LUNCHEON

“T

hanksgiving is a time for families – and family friends – to get together to enjoy traditional food of the season and great conversation,” said AmCham President Richard Vuylsteke during his welcoming remarks to a crowd of 200 Chamber members and guests who gathered for a gala holiday banquet at the Renaissance Harbour View Hotel in Wanchai.

“Instead of worrying about what sort of gifts to give, as at Christmas, the usual worry about this American holiday is excessive eating and drinking – and maybe too much football on TV!” he said. “We don’t have the football today, but we do have great food and drink and a very special group of invited friends.” The menu included roast turkey with all the trimmings, as well as four excellent wines.

For four years, AmCham has invited HK officials from many different departments to attend in thanks for their past interaction with Chamber members at events, roundtable discussions, or committee meetings.

“Our government guests have taken time to work with the Chamber, so it’s fitting and appropriate to ask them to our Thanksgiving celebration – after all, we are thanking them for being such constructive interlocutors,” Vuylsteke said.

“The many great sponsors who helped make this a truly successful event also demonstrated how much companies appreciate our guests’ good work.”

This year more almost 50 HK officials were invited, and more than half were able to fit the celebration in their schedules. “Many of those unable to attend this year asked to be included next year, which indicates how much this tradition is appreciated,” Vuylsteke said.

“I think the officials like attending an event where they can relax and have a chance to chat informally with our members,” Vuylsteke said. “This has become one of our best annual events – each year an even larger number of people attend, and everyone has a truly enjoyable time. The friendly, family tone is super special and firmly in the tradition of an American Thanksgiving celebration.”

PRESENTED BY WINE SPONSOR

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LUCKY DRAW PRIZE SPONSORS A presentation at the luncheon: AmCham Charitable Foundation chairman Rob Chipman, left, and Ira Dan Kaye Community Service Award winner Jeremy Greenberg

36

biz.hk 12 • 2013

biz.hk 12 • 2013

Photos: Ian Alexander

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39

HONG KONG biz.hk 2013 INDEX OF ARTICLES

CATEGORY

SECTION

ADVOCACY

AIR QUALITY

AMCHAM EDITORIAL

AMERICAN CHAMBER

ARTS & CULTURE

In

Journal of The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

www.amcham.org.hk

ARTICLE

ISSUE

PAGE

ISSUE

PAGE

Annual Survey

Annual Survey Shows Cautious Outook for 2013

January

18

18

Trade & Investment

Keeping Hong Kong on the Map

April

20

October

22

Cover Story

What Role for Hong Kong in China's Next Round of Reform?

May

8

Focus on "FDE"

October

23

Financial Services

Charting the Future Course for Hong Kong

May

13

Environment

Chamber Lobbies for Clean Air Measures

February

20

Trade & Investment

Hong Kong's Competitiveness According to a Seasoned Observer

October

28

Cover Story

Changes in the Air

April

8

Environment

And Ships Sail On…with Cleaner Fuel

April

12

Trade & Investment

Will Chinese Investment in the US Continue to Grow?

January

26

Environment

A Fine Example

April

15

China Business

Survey of China's M&A Market in 2013

February

28

Environment

Air Quality at a Glance

November

20

China Business

Knowing the Unknowable China

March

34

China Business

A Kaleidoscopic View

March

38

Cover Story

China Spreading, Not Rising

July

8

China Business

Sunnylands Meeting - What was Achieved?

July

20

China Business

A Silicones Pioneer in China

July

28

Cover Story

Growing Influence of the Chinese Middle-class Consumer

August

8

Washington Doorknock

Knocking on the Doors in Washington DC

July

12

Beijing Doorknock

Pre-Plenum Doorknock

October

Beijing Doorknock

Forging Closer Ties

Beijing Doorknock

CATEGORY

SECTION

BUSINESS OUTLOOK

CHINA MARKETS

ARTICLE

Editorial

Model Trader

January

4

Editorial

Ten Years Past

February

4

Editorial

Awesome Possibilities

March

4

Editorial

Do the Right Thing

April

4

Editorial

On the Radar

May

4

China Business

Sichuan - The Land of Opportunity

September

22

Editorial

Twin Issues

June

4

China Business

Chongqing - A City Marvel

September

26

Editorial

Being Young

July

4

Editorial

A Taxing Issue

August

4

COMMERCIAL

Real Estate

Riding the Asian Property Wave - Staying Ahead of the Curve

January

30

Editorial

Is Hong Kong on a Slippery Slope?

September

4

PROPERTY

Real Estate

Bucking the Trend

February

40

Editorial

Education for All

October

4

Real Estate

Adding China Properties to Your Shopping Cart

August

20

Editorial

The Season of Giving

November

4

Editorial

A Good Deal for Some, Bad One for All

December

4

Education

There Simply Aren't Enough

February

18

Supplement

The Best of Both Worlds

April

2 5

EDUCATION

Cover Story

a Clear Vision in Changing Times

January

8

Supplement

The Joy of Learning Music at Yew Chung

April

State of the Chamber

From Strength To Greater Strength

January

14

April

8

May

23

Proactive Learning at a Young Age

AmCham Ball (Supplement)

Gala Night at Sea

Supplement

Charitable Foundation

2012/13 AmCham Charitable Foundation Awards

July

32

Education

At the Cutting Edge

May

20

American Topics

AmCham Celebrates "Fourth of July"

July

34

Cover Story

The Deficit of Special Education in Hong Kong

October

8

Networking

AmCham Monthly Networking Drinks

August

40

Education

"It Takes Two to Tango"

October

14

Networking

AmCham Monthly Networking Drinks

September

44

Supplement

A Nursery School Better Than Home

December

12

Charitable Foundation

A Joyful Evening

October

36

Sports & Entertainment

8th Annual AmCham Golf Open

November

40

Supplement

CUHK EMBA: A Renowned Program in Asia Pacific

November

1

American Topics

AmCham's Annual Thanksgiving Luncheon

December

36

Supplement

Nothing's Impossible

November

4

Supplement

Quality Education for the Busy Professional

November

6

Supplement

Looking Abroad for Growth and Lessons

November

8

Energy

Marching Towards a Sustainable Future

April

16

Beyond Power Generation

April

19

Hong Kong Gets a Boost in Biodiesel Production

December

18

Arts & Culture

An Art Hub in the Making

April

38

Culture

Through My Lenses

July

36

Fashion

The Hub - Hong Kong's New Fashion Show

September

32

EMBA/MBA PROGRAMS

ENERGY

Fashion

Understanding the China Market

September

34

Energy

Sports & Entertainment

In Love with the Dragon

September

36

Energy

20 13

20 FinGuide 13 e D to inin g

W Com ho ’s mun W ho icat ions

January 2013

Journal of The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

www.amcham.org.hk

February 2013

www.amcham.org.hk

20 13

20 13

In tern G atio uide na to l Sc ho ols

Hot G els uide an to dR esor ts

Journal of The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

March 2013

Journal of The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

www.amcham.org.hk

Journal of The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

April 2013

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May 2013

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HONG KONG biz.hk 2013 INDEX OF ARTICLES

CATEGORY ENTREPRENEURS/SME

FINANCE

SECTION Cover Story

ARTICLE Is Hong Kong Ready to Become a Startup Hub?

ISSUE February

PAGE 8

Cover Story

A Big Hand

February

11

Cover Story

"Nest" Do It

February

13

Entrepreneurs/SME

My Entrepreneurship Journey

February

16

Entrepreneurs/SME

Serving Public Interest?

April

32

Entrepreneurs/SME

Path to Success

May

26

Entrepreneurs/SME

The World a Smaller Place Through Human Touch

September

28

Entrepreneurs/SME

Google Launches Program to Help Young Entrepreneurs in Hong Kong

November

14

Financial Services

Structured Products: The Good, The Ugly & The Reality

June

34

Supplement

Best of Both Worlds

June

2

Supplement

Your Best Investment Strategy in Times of Zero Interest Rates

June

4

Business Management

Understanding Restructuring and Turnarounds in Asia

June

32

ISSUE

PAGE

Grasp the Opportunity: Public Consultation for a New Harborfront

November

8

INTERNATIONAL

Trade & Investment

Lifting the Veil on Myanmar

February

24

COMMERCE

Trade & Investment

Myanmar: Memoir of a Journey

February

27

Trade & Investment

Myanmar - Gold Rush Fever

March

12

Trade & Investment

What You Must Know about Investing in Myanmar

March

18

Trade & Investment

Call for Financial Institutions to Act Swiftly

March

20

Trade & Investment

Clear & Simple: 'We Are Open for Business'

May

16

Trade & Investment

ASEAN Economic Architecture in Flux

July

24

Trade & Investment

TPP a Reality by Year-end?

August

28

Trade & Investment

Wither Vietnam?

September

14

Trade & Investment

City Sketches

September

18

Trade & Investment

"Building, Powering, Moving & Curing" the World

October

24

Hong Kong - The Point Guard for Asia

January

22

RELATIONS

Foreign Affairs

Mission-Critical Dialogue On Sino-US Relations

February

22

INTERNATIONAL

Cover Story

The Shortage of International School Places

June

8

China Business

Huai'an City Kicks Off Mayer-Series Luncheons

August

18

SCHOOLS

Education

"Fought the Good Fight"

June

12

US Politics

Congressman Charles Rangel on Tax and Politics

August

24

Education

Success in Securing a Promising Future

June

16

Cover Story

Setting the Record Straight

September

8

Education

Permanent Premises Granted

June

20

Education

Nord Anglia Education - The British Offering

June

22

Talk-to-Author

Daddy's Logic: Live a Full and Complete Life

May

38

Supplement

Learning about Montessori

September

8

Healthy Living

Being Mindful

August

32

Supplement

Finding a School Place in the Right School

September

10

Insurance & Healthcare

Share the Healthy Secrets

August

36

Supplement

Feeling Great at Work

October

1

Supplement

The Need for Sleep

October

4

Supplement

From Strength To Strength - SPRG's Success Story

January

6

Supplement

Good Health is in Your Hands, Literally

October

6

Supplement

Trends Defining Communication

February

3

Cover Story

The Endurance Boom: Are You Ready?

December

8

Communications & Marketing

Growing Business the Brand Building Way

May

28

Cover Story

A Splashy clean Half of Hong Kong

December

12

Communications & Marketing

The Digitally-Powered, Incredible Human

July

36

Cover Story

Power of Belief

December

14

Communications & Marketing

The Pursuit of Perfect Sound

May

30

Cover Story

The Kenzai Way to Fit and Fab

December

16

ICT

A Global Brand with Chinese Heritage: Lenovo

August

14

Human Capital

Plugging the Employment Contract Law Loopholes

March

30

RELOCATION &

CSR

Moving Sustainability

June

30

Business Management

Boosting Your Company's Leadership

May

34

MOVING

Supplement

Tracking Trends

September

1

December

28

Supplement

Moving Ahead on the Global Arena

September

4

Supplement

In Crown We Trust

December

4 2

Human Capital

22nd annual HC Conference: Developing Asian Talent for Global Impact

MARKETING

INFORMATION

Supplement

Going Digital

January

TECHNOLOGY

Supplement

Communications & The Age of Real-Time Marketing

January

4

Supplement

Heavenly Living

July

Information & Technology

Cyberport: A Very Good Deal Indeed

April

24

Supplement

The Masterpiece

July

6

Information & Technology

Success Story: Aftership

April

26

Supplement

Effortless Luxury

July

10

ICT

Bloomberg at Close Range

December

22

Supplement

For the Discerning Few

July

14

ICT

Building on Success: Bloomberg Celebrates 20th Anniversary in Hong Kong

December

26

Supplement

High End Living with an At-Home Feel

December

8

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NC GU PR IA IDE OV L SE TO ID RV ER IC S

ES

Journal of The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

Chinese Culture

ARTICLE

Cover Story

Government Relations

HUMAN RESOURCES

Interim Schools

SECTION

INFRASTRUCTURE

GOVERNMENT

HEALTHY LIVING

Chinese Culture

CATEGORY

English Schools Foundation

biz.hk 12 • 2013

biz.hk 12 • 2013

43

Mark Your Calendar HONG KONG biz.hk 2013 INDEX OF ARTICLES

CATEGORY

SECTION

TAX & LEGAL

TOURISM

TRANSPORTATION

WINE & DINE

WOI

ARTICLE

Jan

ISSUE

PAGE

Law

US Unfair-Competition Law Applied Against Thai Manufacturer

January

34

Taxation

Is the Fiscal Cliff Over?

March

22

Law

Against the Tide

April

28

Law

A Possible Solution to China's Maritime Disputes: UNCLOS

June

26

Taxation

An Update on China's VAT Reform

October

32

Taxation

The US Tax Form You Cannot Afford to Miss

November

18

Cover Story

The US as a Travel Destination of "Awesome Possibilities"

March

8

Cover Story

Committee to Support Tourism Initiatives

March

10

Supplement

Spectacular View from a Perfect Location

March

2

Supplement

Pampered, Enlightened and Satiated in Style

March

4

Aviation

Flying "Above and Beyond" Hong Kong

February

32

Transportation

Turning Over a New LEAF

February

36

Supplement

Flying High, Delta

December

1

Supplement

Classic Grandeur and Sensational Cuisine

February

2

Supplement

A Bite of the Big Apple at Easter

February

4

Supplement

Indulgence on a Grand Scale

February

6

Supplement

A Fine Feast for Disney Fans

February

8

Supplement

Fishy Fun in a Holiday Haven

February

10

Food & Beverage

Poppin' Fresh

March

40

Supplement

Moving Forward by Looking to the Past

August

1

Supplement

Visual Feast, Palate's Delight

August

4

Supplement

Charm of the Moon

August

6

Supplement

Al fresco Delights in the Heart of Tsim Sha Tsui

August

9

Supplement

Comfort Food, American Style

August

12

Supplement

A Chef for All Seasons

December

17

Women of Influence

Women of Influence: A Decade of Recognition

November

25

Women of Influence

A Journey of a Thousand Miles

November

26

Women of Influence

Never Give Up

November

28

Women of Influence

Panel Discussion

November

30

WOI Awards

Best Company for Women

November

33

WOI Awards

Champion for the Advancement of Women

November

34

WOI Awards

Entrepreneur of the Year

November

35

WOI Awards

Leading Woman on Boards

November

36

WOI Awards

Master in Charity

November

37

WOI Awards

Professional of the Year

November

38

10

20 13 ’s

Journal of The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

www.amcham.org.hk

”

November 2013

GUIDE TO

ADVANCED EDUCATION

2013

COVER SPONSOR

44

biz.hk 12 • 2013

Stephen Green, Head of Greater China Research, Standard Chartered Bank Dr Willy Lam, Adjunct Professor, History Department and the Center for China Studies, CUHK Moderator: Thomas Gorman, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Fortune China and AmCham Past Chairman On November 12th, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee (known as the Third Plenum) approved a decision on "Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reforms" at the close of their four-day meeting. Please join us for a panel discussion on reforms announced at the Third Plenum.

Stephen Green is Head of Greater China research at Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong. His articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Far Eastern Economic Review, as well as China Business News, New Fortune, The Economic Observer and Global Entrepreneur magazines. He speaks regularly on Bloomberg, CBN, CNBC and the BBC and is regularly quoted in China's media.

Dr Willy Lam is an Adjunct Professor at the History Dept and the Center for China Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is a Senior Fellow of Jamestown Foundation, a foreign-policy think tank in Washington DC. Dr Lam has written extensively about Chinese politics, economic and political reform, and China’s foreign policy. He is the author of Chinese Politics in the Hu Jintao Era (M E Sharpe, 2006) and five other books on Chinese politics and policy-making.

Tom Gorman has written and spoken extensively on doing business in China and has been a consultant on China business strategy to various Fortune 500 companies. In 2004, his book, “Magazine Publishing in China,” was published by American Business Media. In 2012, he wrote a chapter in “My First Trip to China,” a collection of 30 essays by leading China hands recalling their first visits, published by Muse.

Jan

17

What Business Are You In Today?

Bob Evans, Chief Communications Officer, Oracle Corporation But in today's consumer-driven global economy, revenue models, business plans, product lineups, and go-to-market strategies are changing in profound ways that are forcing companies to evolve and change more rapidly than ever before. As a result, traditional industry boundaries are crumbling as new technologies - including cloud, mobile, social, Big Data, and analytics - are enabling huge changes in both the buyer/consumer world, and the seller/corporate world.

This talk will analyze some eye-opening case studies of companies and strategies that show why every CEO and other high-level executive should be asking this question relentlessly: “What business am I in today?”

Bob Evans joined Oracle in mid-2012 as senior vice-president, and in 2013 became the company's first Chief Communications Officer. In that role, Evans helps Oracle articulate its vision, strategy, and the business value that Oracle products and technology generate for the company's 400,000 customers around the world. He writes a regular column for Forbes.com and frequently speaks at events and conferences about global business and strategy, evolving models of customer engagement, and the impact of the global consumer-driven economy on business models.

AmCham 2014 Chairman Inaugural Luncheon & Jan Annual Appreciation for US Consulate

17 “AD VA GU NC ED IDE ED TO UC AT IO N

Observations on the Third Plenum

Peter J Levesque, Chief Commercial Officer, Modern Terminals Limited, Hong Kong As the American Chamber celebrates its 45th Anniversary in Hong Kong, incoming Chairman Peter Levesque will outline the Chamber’s priorities for the important year ahead highlight the pressing issues facing the international business community in Hong Kong, and the need for a renewed sense of urgency in resolving the roadblocks to Hong Kong’s regional competitiveness.

Peter Levesque has over 25 years of international transportation and logistics experience and has been working in the Asia Pacific Region since 1996. Prior to joining Modern Terminals, Mr Levesque served as Senior Vice President and Global Head of the CEVA Logistics Supply Chain Group and as Regional Vice President for DHL International Supply Chain Asia Pacific. In 2000 he co-founded V-Logic Limited, a niche third party logistics company based in Hong Kong, and prior to V-Logic he held several management positions with American President Lines, including Managing Director of APL Logistics (ACS) for North Asia.

NOTE: As our Special Guests at this luncheon, AmCham will host Consul General Clifford A. Hart, Jr. and more than 20 other Foreign Service Officers serving at the US Consulate in Hong Kong to thank them for another year of close cooperation with the Chamber’s Board, Committees, and members on their priority issues plus a wide range of other programmatic and advocacy activities.

For information, see website: www.amcham.org.hk

Tel: (852) 2530 6900

Fax: (852) 2810 1289

2014 Jan Venue: Club Lusitano 27/F,16 Ice House St Central, Hong Kong

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Time: 12:00 - 2:00pm

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Fee(s): Member: HK$580 Non-member: HK$680 Corporate table: HK$7,000

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Time: 12:00 - 2:00pm (Lunch included) Fee(s): Member: HK$450 Non-member: HK$550 Corporate table: HK$5,700

Venue: The American Club 48-49/F Two Exchange Square 8 Connaught Place Central, Hong Kong Time: 8:00 - 9:30am (Continental Breakfast included) Fee(s): Member: HK$280 Non-member: HK$390 Corporate table: HK$4,200 Open to Media

Venue: Conrad Hong Kong Harcourt Room (Lower Lobby) Pacific Place 88 Queensway Admiralty, Hong Kong

Open to Media

Email: kalau@amcham.org.hk