As a proud Hong Konger, are we failing our parents?

It always comes with a bittersweet feeling whenever I see Korean or Singaporean companies doing something in Central Asia.

“Where are the HK companies…?” seems like a reasonable question to ask.

Forty years ago, China opened its market and offered massive opportunities for the generation of our parents. But this came with a price tag. It was risky, very risky. It only seemed reasonable now when we look back. But for those who were not deterred by the risk, they ultimately monetized from it by making the right bet. It’s a fair trade-off.

Going to China or investing in China is much less risky now. But the period of making quick and easy money out of the Chinese market is over as well. If you were born in the 90s, grew up in HK, to be honest, you PROBABLY don’t have much to offer to the Chinese market now unless you spend years relearning their rules (keyword being “probably”).

What’s our value-add?

By now, we probably have lost the high growth Southeast Asian market already to Singapore, although we really shouldn’t have.

Hong Kong has long been part of the Southeast Asian economic zone. We even received so many Vietnamese refugees as a result of the Vietnam War in the 1970s. Most people of my age were also likely brought up by our domestic helpers from the Southeast Asian countries. We really shouldn’t have lost the market to Singapore, but we did, and we should move on.

We should now think hard where the next emerging markets are and, most importantly, how we can better position ourselves to bring in our value in order to tap into the growth potential offered by these new markets.

Leaving HK for the West shouldn’t be just confined to North America or Western Europe. Vacationing spots shouldn’t be just limited to Japan, Korea, or Taiwan. That’s what our parents did. The world we live in now is, fortunately, bigger than that. Let’s not be complacent with what our parents built. Let’s take the risk like our parents did to enter the “next China”.

I know it’s always easier than done, and it’s always easy to ask the obvious question.

But we should always be open-minded to explore the world and to pursue our interests even if that doesn’t help you make any money. Life is more than owning the expensive (but tiny) apartment in HK where things are too comfortable and “easy”.

Food for thoughts.