Some years ago, I joked about Hong Kong, that it would not be a city but a vertical storage and logistic system for live human bodies. The whole purpose of Hong Kong is to move human bodies efficiently between boxes to produce GDP. I just spent two weeks of quarantine in Wanchai and was impressively demonstrated by my view on the cemetery that the final box of this process is the tiniest one and does not have windows. I am joking again. Of course, there are other things you can do professionally in Hong Kong. For example, build the boxes. Or think in boxes.
Don't get me wrong, I have fond memories of this city, as I lived on Lamma Island for five years. Some of the best of my life, I may say. I love the South China Sea, the outer islands, the hiking trails, the black kites, the Bauhinia trees, and some places where there is still a character of hard work against all the odds and succeeding. It was not long ago that people swam into Hong Kong for freedom and prosperity. And these people worked incredibly hard, and you can still find this culture of resilience in some quarters. If you want to learn something about entrepreneurship, then close the textbook and get a plane ticket.
In the end, Hong Kong is a historical anomaly. It would not exist hadn't the British violently forced open the Chinese market and occupying this "rock" for a hundred years before returning it to its homeland. Later as a colony and ruled by appointed governours to serve British interests, it became a loosely regulated financial centre - with all the consequences this entails.
Also, some local tycoons made their fortune, often by getting government concessions and licenses or by smuggling and drug trade and diversifying into Casinos in Macao. There is a fixed term for some British bankers who came here during the wild days: "FILTH" (Failed In London, Try Hong Kong). Recently, the pendulum is coming back, though. Let's call it FIHKRL; even it's hard to pronounce. So now London builds an amalgamation of FILTH and FIHKRL. It's probably a good choice that a comedian now governs the UK as a Prime Minister. At least in a democracy, people get what they deserve.
At 00:01 a.m., my quarantine ends, and I will go out into "the wild" again. I am looking forward to it, getting a first hand impressing and catching up with friends. On Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. I will start with teaching an 8 hour MBA block class. This is always a pleasure, and I hope I won't act too funny in front of the first real humans I see after two weeks. Forgive me if I do.