It’s been just under three weeks since I left Hong Kong, and I’m still in withdrawal. So this week I read Robert Wang’s rags to riches memoir, Walking the Tycoons’ Rope: How Ambition Drove a Poor Boy From Ningbo to Compete with the Richest Men of Hong Kong and Singapore (Blacksmith Books, 2012).
Wang’s book isn’t just the story of how he left China for Hong Kong at a young age and rose out of poverty to become the most successful attorney in Hong Kong. It’s also a history of modern Hong Kong.
Like most Chinese families from that era (circa WWII), Wang, his mother, and sister barely made it out of China to the British colony of Hong Kong. His father had already moved to Hong Kong before he sent for his family. But once the family was reunited, they never had enough to eat and had to share a cramped apartment with other families (one was the brother of the Young Marshal, Zhang Xueliang, which I thought was super cool).
In school, young Robert met Bruce Lee on their boxing team. According to Wang, Bruce was moody and a loner, and couldn’t keep up with the rigorous expectations of their school, so switched to another. But Bruce was always kind to Wang. After Bruce Lee rose to international stardom, Wang ran into him near the Star Ferry in the early 70s. It was a bittersweet reunion, what with Lee’s impending death.
As most of his classmates prepared to leave Hong Kong to study abroad, Wang applied to study in London. His living conditions didn’t improve in London and sometimes he couldn’t afford to eat a cooked meal for two weeks in a row. But once his luck changed, he found better living conditions and no longer went hungry. He also started dating a French woman who came from a family that didn’t approve of inter-cultural dating.
Back in Hong Kong, alone and with a law degree, Wang met Elaine Kwan, who became his devoted wife. He then embarked on a legal career so prosperous it would have been unfathomable to young Wang back in the 1950s. As Wang’s career took off so did Hong Kong. Gone were the days of the turbulent Cultural Revolution (which seeped into Hong Kong in the late 60s) and in came the steadfast years of Hong Kong’s manufacturing heyday.
Wang found himself rubbing shoulders with Hong Kong’s heaviest hitters, like Li Ka-shing and Sir Run Run Shaw. In the 1990s, he traveled to Singapore and single-handedly secured permanent residency for Hong Kong’s tycoons, just in case things turned sour after the 1997 handover.
As history would show, the only instability that hit Hong Kong at the handover was the Asian financial crisis. Wang fell on hard times, both at his law firm and in his relationships with the Hong Kong and Singapore tycoons. But like a phoenix rising from the flames, he bounced back once again and found joy in his family and philanthropies.
Walking the Tycoons’ Rope is a quick read at 379 pages. There’s never a lull in the story because Wang’s story is so fascinating. It’s also a testament to the amazing people of Hong Kong who have reinvented themselves over the decades to adjust to the changing times.
Singapore English-writing authors have the same problem because their local market is too small. Outside Singapore, they have no brand.
The Hong Kong University Press publish a number of books on Hong Kong. Not all of them are of solely academic interest. The university can afford to lose money if those books don’t sell. In fact, not many of those books have a market outside Hong Kong. I was told books about Singapore even do not as good as Hong Kong in overseas sales.
Robeert Wang is a classic Central Districter who writes with a strong sense of Hongkongcentrism. He represents a certain type of Hong Kong elite living and prospering in the 1970s and 1980s Hong Kong. An actor in a borrowed time and borrowed place. His knowledge was useful and marketable to the H K tycoons of that time and place but not eleswhere or at a different time. If you want to have an objective barometer of how Hong Kong changes, look at the list of companies which constituted the Hang Seng Index in 1990 and those of to-day. The world won’t stand still for Robert Wang nor the tycoons.
with all due respect, the first generation H K real estate tycoons are not highly educated intelligentsia. To your surprise, all of them got doctorates and are called Dr. X and Dr. Y. In the academic circle, only those studied and EARNED a doctorate are called Dr. Bill Clinton has many honorary degrees, nobody calls him Dr. In H K, most honorary doctors are miscalled Drs. If I were one of them were wrongly called Dr. I would be embarrassed.
I am sure Robert Wang would only write this when he is 68 and retired. Certainly not when he was 48. I know the H K and singapore mentality like the back of my hand. I know the landscapes and their collective mentality. H K and Singapore is called a tale of two cities. I don’t think Robert Wang’s book would arouse a lot of interest. After 1997, very few people take any interest in the transfer of sovereignty saga. Hong Kong people try to forget it too, not just foreigners.
It would be interesting to ask these H K tycoons what they think about Robert Wang in private? If their views are known and published, which I don’t think it is possible, that will be a better book.
Thanks for your comment! In his book, Robert Wang did show how he fell out with the tycoons, especially when they were in Singapore around the time of the handover. Sir Run Run Shaw was the only tycoon who stuck by his side all that time, but eventually even Li Ka-shing came around again. Of course, it would be great to get their views, too!
I was living in H K for a long time. I know all these characters personally or by reputation. Robert Wang is congratulated to give an insider’s view which is very very rare and exceptional. I enjoyed reading his book and recommended it to many friends and libraries. However, if you live among Chinese, modern or ancient, there is a saying : no sound is better than sound. I know the Singaporean mentality. Singaporeans call Hong Kong folks, hongkers, with disdain.
Wow, that’s very cool you knew many of the people in the book. I can imagine it took a lot of courage for him to write his story. It’s interesting what you said about Singaporeans’ views toward Hong Kong people. That came across in Wang’s book, that’s for sure!
There is a lot he did not tell too.
I was told by my good friends in the book retail business, after 1997, English language books have not been selling as many as during the colonial days. I am wondering whether H K will retain a strong English-speaking place under China.
By the way, you mispelt the word on your home page. It is tycoons and not rycoons.
Thank you, sir! I just made the correction. Much appreciated. 🙂
Wow, sounds like Blacksmith Books are really banging out some great reads lately!
Some people have all the luck….
I love all their books! What’s really great about them is that they give voice to Hong Kong Chinese who might not normally have a presence in English-language literature. Many English presses in Asia cater exclusively to expats, but not Blacksmith.