After six weeks, I am leaving Hong Kong as planned. Since five months the city is in the grip of mass ignorance, incompetence and is terrorised by a small number of violent rioters. Daily life is ruled by avoiding disruptions, adjusting to event cancellations and rescheduling. On the campus of The University of Hong Kong, students go on their nightly spray of "F-words" with no content, but just brainless anger. Since a student of HKUST suffered a fatal brain injury by falling down a parking deck, there is beside the mourning, another round of black-dressed mob rampaging streets, vandalising shops and more and more also performing racist violence against mainland Chinese citizens. Even the tragical death of the student is misused for blaming the police. But if anyone is to blame for this accident, then it is those who fuel these rampages by agitation and misinformation; domestically and from abroad. Overall, many people have probably forgotten why they went to the streets in the first place. It's a circus.

Being struck by significant economic losses, soon people will lose their jobs in large numbers. Frustrations will mount, living conditions will deteriorate, and the brain drain is already setting in. People who speak out reasonably are silenced. Democratic candidates for the local council elections are threatened or even attacked, just by those people who claim they want more democracy. There are all kinds of fractions now, of which the ridiculous one also asks Donald Trump to send troops. People who can do so leave. Companies rethink their Hong Kong exposure and start pulling out, partly because of uncertainty coming from the recent amendment of the US 1992 Hong Kong act. Should the decline continue, some economists believe the pegging of the Hong Kong Dollar against the US Dollar may not sustain. Others think a potential capital outflow could be curbed by rising interest rates. This would have devastating effects on the economy again and let the housing crisis spiral down further. Last but not least, Hong Kong is turning for China from being an asset to a liability. Obviously, there will be soon alternatives to the functions Hong Kong has for China. And as soon as these become available, Hong Kong may sink like a stone in a pool of ignorance, arrogance and self-pity.

During my stay, I had two escapes to Malaysia from Hong Kong. One to Kotakina Balu (for a rest), the other one to Kuala Lumpur. Both I enjoyed, and especially Kuala Lumpur seems a viable alternative to Hong Kong for businesses which operate in South East Asia. The other, even more, an obvious one, is Singapore. I still hear often that Hong Kong would be a "gateway to China". Perhaps it makes sense to adjust this claim to the realities of the 21st century. I lived and worked for many years since 2003 in Shanghai and Beijing. If you want to go to China, go to China. And if Hong Kong does not see itself as a part of that, then that's Hong Kong's problem.

I regret, I could not meet even some of my best friends in Hong Kong this time. And many planned glasses of something cheerful stayed untouchched. But I hope we will have the chance to catch up again soon, may it be in the fallen city or anywhere else on the planet. Keep well. I will be back.

This year I stayed again in the Robert Black College Guest House on the campus of The University of Hong Kong. It is a rustique but quiet place, secluded from the Buzz of Hong Kong.

Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the KLCC. The city appears to be a viable alternative to Hong Kong when it comes to having a South East Asia headquarter. And it is much less cramped also.

Oyster farming in the mangroves close to Kotakina Balu.

Kuala Lumpur was a frontier city which emerged in the 1850s from exploitation of tin resources and Chinese gangsters fighting each other to control production. Only as the gang’s warfare crippled the production, the British, who ruled the Federation of malaya at that time, “elected” the more favorable of the Chinese warlords to take control of the city. Diseases, floods, fires, economic turbulence, communist insurgents, Japanese occupation, ethnic conflicts and corrupted governing clans shaped Kuala Lumpur, like many other South East Asian cities, that constantly had to fight the odds. After independence from Britain in 1957 Kuala Lumpur remained the capital of Malaysia and gained the status of a “city” in 1972. Still you meet adventurous exporters of palm oil to West Africa here and beside the modern scenes and shopping malls it hosts guests which appear to be only made for this flair of dubious shades, like the haute volée of modern terrorism which undertook part of its planning of the September 11 attacks here in the year 2000.

Kuala Lumpur is not a beauty, but its blend of colonial and modern architecture together with the lively streets and the mix of Muslim and Hindu cultural influences gives it an interesting character. The city is not designed to be walkable, but still it is possible and interesting to take a day and explore the diversity by foot: from the little streets, the old train station (see above), Chinatown up to the Islamic Art Museum and the National Mosque.

A few hours by public bus to the North from Kuala Lumpur you reach Georgetown, which is a very charming city with a lot of remaining colonial architecture and became the first full municipality outside Singapore in 1857. It was founded in 1786 as the base for the British East India Company in the Malay States. Today the city centre is a UNESCO cultural world heritage site and with its cultural offerings it is a place to come back and explore more.