Thomas Crampton » Hong Kong

Fabulous Facebook Event

thomascrampton — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:34:10 +0000

A great Facebook event next Monday for anyone who will be in Hong Kong. There will be experts in from Facebook’s Palo Alto headquarters who rarely ever visit the region.

Click on the invitation to request a seat! (or go to bit.ly/advancedfacebook)

Doobie Brothers in Hong Kong!

thomascrampton — Thu, 12 May 2011 00:16:25 +0000

This year, the ball that I co-chair features the Doobie Brothers. It is our 10th anniversary, so we are taking over the largest hall of the Convention Center. (The room where Britain handed sovereignty over to China.) The response to the band has been incredible, with a huge portion of tickets sold already! Not only is the party great – our sponsors include some great wines, tequila and incredible donations of prizes – but those we support could not be more worthy. Just take a look at our FCC scholarship winners.

Why Hong Kong has more phones than people.

thomascrampton — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 02:50:58 +0000

One of the most striking statistics about Hong Kong is how there are far more phones than people in the territory.

Many people have 2 phones – an iPhone and a Blackberry – but this cabbie has 6 phones.

He uses them to take calls like a one-man cab driver-cum-dispatcher. For several of them he uses the “walkie-talkie” function with a custom-built hands free system. These multiple phones do not make one feel wildly safe while driving along the cliff hugging bends on Hong Kong’s south side.

It has actually surprised me how cabs still take calls manually in Hong Kong. An automated system with GPS linking cabs to clients would increase efficiency and quickly eliminate the need for so many phones.

Someone please write an app so that this guy can have just one phone and concentrate more on driving!

Endorsement that matters: Po Leung Kuk graduates

thomascrampton — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 13:57:16 +0000

Apologies for this non social media posting, but I wanted to share a great moment from Saturday when the alumni of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club Scholarship Fund gathered together for our annual lunch. I am co-chair and co-founder of the fund and the event that supports it, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club Charity Ball. For this year’s ball we have the Doobie Brothers flying to Hong Kong in October.

On Saturday, it was great to see so many familiar and new faces. This photo features the newly elected officers of the Alumni Association, while I posted a full set of photos on Flickr. (Would have used Facebook, but there is no bulk uploader!).

Now in our tenth year, the scholarship part of our work helps roughly a dozen students from the Po Leung Kuk each year with a university scholarship and mentoring. Handing out a check would be too easy and have too little impact, so we find the students internships, offer guidance and support their internal mentoring program. At Saturday’s lunch, for example, a senior executive from Macquarie Bank offered her advice on how to build a career. Previous years included workshops on how to dress for interviews and prepare a CV. This kind of knowledge is something that many of us get from our homes and take for granted.

At Saturday’s event we try to keep the ball organizers involvement as low key as possible. We are happy to finance their activities (usually barbecues or hikes), but the real power comes from these students, some of whom come from extremely difficult backgrounds, helping each other. There are some things that we can help with, such as access to internships or opening horizons, but the recent graduates of the alumni association can offer a stronger and more credible take on day-to-day issues affecting those newly entering the program. The world is tough when you are not sure where to turn for advice.

We were very fortunate in our early years to choose superstars scholarship winners, many of whom remain stalwart supporters more than a decade after they received their scholarships. To me, their continued involvement is the greatest endorsement that our program could ever have. They finished the program yet turn up year after year and volunteer their time. The endorsement of our graduates is the greatest compliment that could ever be paid to the FCC/PLK Scholarship Fund. Thank you! Your endorsement through continued involvement is the greatest source of optimism about what we are doing.

Traditional Hong Kong Dai Pai Dong, RIP

thomascrampton — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 10:34:52 +0000

Dai Pai Dong from Tem Hansen on Vimeo.

A video tribute to one of the last Dai Pai Dongs to fall victim to Hong Kong’s gentrification. It was knocked down three weeks ago. Hong Kong’s Dai Pai Dong are traditional, open-air food stall and an integral part of Hong Kong culture. The video was shot by Tem Hansen, a member of our Social Media team.

Gadget Heaven in Hong Kong

thomascrampton — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:53:21 +0000

Wanchai Computer Centre is Hong Kong’s gadget heaven. Not only do you get a wide range of amazing gadgets, but they are cheap, due to Hong Kong’s tax-free status.

Similar in spirit to Tokyo’s Akihabara or Thailand’s Pantip Plaza, Wanchai computer center is one of those unique Asia tech bazaars. (Sadly Taipei recently moved their computer center from old bomb shelters to a new building)

This video was done by Tem Hansen and Andrea Fenn to welcome members of Ogilvy’s regional Digital Influence team to Hong Kong for our regional Social Media summit.

It is an internal only meeting, but we plan a Hong Kong Foursquare swarm. Let me know if you want to join!

FCC Charity Ball: Creedence Clearwater Revisited

thomascrampton — Tue, 11 May 2010 02:35:09 +0000

Tickets are now going on sale for the 9th annual Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club Charity Ball, taking place on October 9. (Disclosure: I am a co-chair of this event that raises money for the children of the Po Leung Kuk Orphanage)

This year we have a New Orleans theme with great tunes coming from Creedence Clearwater Revisited. It will be a great night!

To book tickets, click here.

Formed in 1995 by former Creedence Clearwater Revival founders Stu Cook (bass) and Doug “Cosmo” Clifford (drums), Creedence Clearwater Revisited continues to play the band’s timeless music to its loyal fans.
“We never really had any intention of playing for the public,” says Stu. “But a friend wanted to promote a couple of concerts. We got talked into it, but didn’t know how it would go over.”

Since then, the reaction to Creedence Clearwater Revisited’s concerts has been astounding as they regale the crowd with CCR classics like “Proud Mary”, “Susie Q”, “Lodi”, “Down on the Corner”, “Fortunate Son” and “Who’ll Stop the Rain”, songs that are staples of radio, tv and movie soundtracks. The concerts have also introduced their classic hits to new generations of rock fans.

Aside from Stu and Cosmo, Creedence Clearwater Revisited is composed of lead singer/ rhythm guitar player John Tistao, lead guitarist Tal Morris and multi-instrumentalist Steve Gunner who plays keyboard, acoustic guitar, percussion, harmonica and sings the high harmonies. The band has knocked out audiences with sold out concerts in North America, South America, New Zealand, Europe and Asia and released their double-live CD “Recollection” that was certified platinum in 2008.

Smoking Sanctions: Cuban Cigars and the US Navy Pacific Fleet

thomascrampton — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:22:06 +0000

The USS Nimitz visit to Hong Kong this week reminds me of an item I wrote in 2002 for my regional column in the International Herald Tribune. At the time, I found it highly ironic that Tony Wong and others were selling the same cigars to sailors in the Pacific Fleet that the US Atlantic fleet blockades. The biggest customers of Cuban cigars, Tony said at the time, were Congressional delegations!

SCUTTLED SANCTIONS: While the U.S. Navy’s second fleet patrols Atlantic waters to monitor Cuba — whose cigars are banned from the United States — sailors in the Pacific fleet freely purchase and puff on Cuban stogies at a U.S. government-managed facility in Hong Kong. The cigars are sold at the pier-side Fleet Arcade, a short stumble from Club Hot Lips and other bars in the Wanchai red-light district. A servicemen’s commissary that also serves as the embarkation point for boats out to visiting navy ships, the Fleet Arcade’s shops pay rent to the U.S. government at well below market rates. Numerous sailors on leave in Hong Kong from the USS Kitty Hawk battle group have stocked up on Cohibas and Romeo Y Julieta cigars. Some probably brought them back on board, a violation of American law. Nonetheless, the battle group’s commander, Rear Admiral Steve Kunkle, said the navy had more urgent concerns than conducting a body search of more than 7,000 personnel for smuggled smokes. The admiral’s effective establishment of a “don’t ask, don’t tell” cigar policy for the navy’s Seventh Fleet certainly pleased Tony Wong, the biggest seller of Cuban cigars in the Fleet Arcade. But, Wong added, sales don’t just spike for the navy. China’s frequent cancellations of naval visits have forced him to rely heavily on the ever-eager buyers among delegations from the U.S. Congress. Link to original article here.

PS: If you want to buy cigars from Tony, here is his website, complete with a page of compliments from the US Navy and Airforce personnel.

PPS: Lest there be any misunderstanding, I fully support allowing our hard-working men (and women) in uniform to freely smoke cigars and agree with many of the sentiments expressed by Thomas Friedman’s draft Nobel acceptance speech for Obama:

“Let me begin by thanking the Nobel committee for awarding me this prize, the highest award to which any statesman can aspire. As I said on the day it was announced, ‘I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize.’ Therefore, upon reflection, I cannot accept this award on my behalf at all.

“But I will accept it on behalf of the most important peacekeepers in the world for the last century — the men and women of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

“I will accept this award on behalf of the American soldiers who landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, to liberate Europe from the grip of Nazi fascism. I will accept this award on behalf of the American soldiers and sailors who fought on the high seas and forlorn islands in the Pacific to free East Asia from Japanese tyranny in the Second World War.

“I will accept this award on behalf of the American airmen who in June 1948 broke the Soviet blockade of Berlin with an airlift of food and fuel so that West Berliners could continue to live free. I will accept this award on behalf of the tens of thousands of American soldiers who protected Europe from Communist dictatorship throughout the 50 years of the cold war.

“I will accept this award on behalf of the American soldiers who stand guard today at outposts in the mountains and deserts of Afghanistan to give that country, and particularly its women and girls, a chance to live a decent life free from the Taliban’s religious totalitarianism.

“I will accept this award on behalf of the American men and women who are still on patrol today in Iraq, helping to protect Baghdad’s fledgling government as it tries to organize the rarest of things in that country and that region — another free and fair election.

“I will accept this award on behalf of the thousands of American soldiers who today help protect a free and Democratic South Korea from an unfree and Communist North Korea.

“I will accept this award on behalf of all the American men and women soldiers who have gone on repeated humanitarian rescue missions after earthquakes and floods from the mountains of Pakistan to the coasts of Indonesia. I will accept this award on behalf of American soldiers who serve in the peacekeeping force in the Sinai desert that has kept relations between Egypt and Israel stable ever since the Camp David treaty was signed.

“I will accept this award on behalf of all the American airmen and sailors today who keep the sea lanes open and free in the Pacific and Atlantic so world trade can flow unhindered between nations.

“Finally, I will accept this award on behalf of my grandfather, Stanley Dunham, who arrived at Normandy six weeks after D-Day, and on behalf of my great-uncle, Charlie Payne, who was among those soldiers who liberated part of the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald.

“Members of the Nobel committee, I accept this award on behalf of all these American men and women soldiers, past and present, because I know — and I want you to know — that there is no peace without peacekeepers.

“Until the words of Isaiah are made true and lasting — and nations never again lift up swords against nations and never learn war anymore — we will need peacekeepers. Lord knows, ours are not perfect, and I have already moved to remedy inexcusable excesses we’ve perpetrated in the war on terrorism.

“But have no doubt, those are the exception. If you want to see the true essence of America, visit any U.S. military outpost in Iraq or Afghanistan. You will meet young men and women of every race and religion who work together as one, far from their families, motivated chiefly by their mission to keep the peace and expand the borders of freedom.

“So for all these reasons — and so you understand that I will never hesitate to call on American soldiers where necessary to take the field against the enemies of peace, tolerance and liberty — I accept this peace prize on behalf of the men and women of the U.S. military: the world’s most important peacekeepers.”

Hong Kong and India Like Luxury Goods New and With Logo

thomascrampton — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:24:51 +0000

This may not be shocking news to those of us living in Asia, but it is interesting to see research validation of what you can see on the sidewalks.

A recent survey by Synovate on global Luxury Brands conducted across 11 markets with more than 8,100 urban respondents found India and Hong Kong topping the taste for luxury.

As you can see from the below charts, both markets topped out on showing a strong preference for luxury items that are purchased new and luxury items that have a logo.

On the reverse side of this luxury obsession, it looks like the Netherlands is not a good place to sell certain types of luxury goods! They do not favor logos and the Dutch are apparently more open to buying used luxury items.

Hiking Backpacks Hong Kong

thomascrampton — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:33:00 +0000

Ongoing research in search of a decent backpack last updated in January 2011. Please leave your findings in the comments below!

Possible shops: RC Outfitters, Pro-Trek, Chamonix, Mountain Equipment, Re:echo, Overlander

Most recommended, so far, from friends:

Re:Echo
Shop 303, 3/F., Windsor House, 311 Gloucester Road,
Causeway Bay, HK
(852) 2367 1131

Overlander
Shop 101, Causeway Bay Plaza I, No.489, Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay.
Tel: (852) 2573-2210
Opening Hours: 11:30am-10:00pm

On TV: RTHK and Al Jazeera

thomascrampton — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 07:16:34 +0000

Last weeks of the year busy with TV appearances, first with Steve Vines on The Pulse in Hong Kong to discuss the impact of Social Media on traditional media. Interesting discussion with Chris Kyme from Eight Partnership and Masato Kajimoto from the Department of Journalism at Baptist University.

Contrary to what these images seem to portray, I do not think the death of traditional media has been accelerated as a result of my departure from newspapers!

I do, however, believe that the forces at work against the traditional media model are much more powerful than most people recognize. Specifically, as companies get better at using Social Media, they will see less need to pay a “tax” for advertising in traditional media when they can reach customers themselves.

The other appearance was on Al Jazeera to discuss the case brought by Chinese writer Mian Mian against Google for scanning her books.

As I said to Al Jazeera, the Mian Mian case is another chapter in the battle ongoing battle between the analog and digital worlds.

US Govt Polls Asian Journalists about Obama

thomascrampton — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:53:14 +0000

Are you a journalist in Asia? Obama wants to hear from you!

The US State Department has started looking for feedback from journalists in Asia about Obama’s speech tomorrow. (No pressure, Mr. Speechwriter!)

Here’s the email that has been sent to local media in Hong Kong.

What do you think?

Seeking your reaction to President Obama’s speech

Greetings from the American Consulate General in Hong Kong. As you may have heard, tomorrow morning (Saturday) from 9:00-9:45 AM, U.S. President Obama will give a speech that focuses on his Asia policy. CNN International and Hong Kong Cable TV plan to broadcast the speech live. I urge you to watch the President’s speech. In case you miss it, we will also post the text of President Obama’s speech on our website as soon as it is available. The link to our website home page is: http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov

When speaking about U.S. foreign relations, President Obama has said that “there must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground.” In this spirit, I would like to relay your feedback on the President’s speech back to Washington, DC. Please reply to this email (ObamaAsiaSpeechHK@state.gov) by Monday noon and tell me:

1) What is your reaction to President Obama’s speech?

2) How do you think the President’s speech will be viewed in Hong Kong and Beijing?

3) President Obama’s Cairo Speech was seen as a transformative event in U.S. relations with the Muslim world. Do you think the Asia speech will have a similar impact on the countries in Asia?

Thanks and best regards,

Joe Bookbinder

Director, Public Affairs

U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Seminar: Social Media and Travel

thomascrampton — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:47:45 +0000

Hong Kong Twestival Supports the FCC Charity Fund

thomascrampton — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 07:06:47 +0000

The Global Twestival, celebration of Twitter, is coming to Hong Kong and I am very pleased to say it is supporting the FCC Charity Fund. A great scholarship and language training program that I have been involved with for 7 years.

Here’s the details:

Following the success of the first global Twestival on 12th February, 2009, in which 202 cities participated, Twestival returns in September with a local twist on “Twestival” – the volunteer-run, charity fundraising events for people who know each other through the micro-blogging service twitter.com. The Hong Kong event will take place on 12th September, 2009 at The Culture Club Gallery and Guru raising funds for Hong Kong based FCC Charity Fund that helps educate Hong Kong’s neediest children.

The first 24 hour “‘tweet-up’ with a social conscience” inspired thousands and raised $250,000 for clean water charity, charity: water, and the next event Twestival Local, looks to be even bigger. Twestival Local again gives every city in the world the chance to hold their own Twestival and choose their own local charity. Twitter users in Hong Kong chose FCC Charity Fund based on an online vote, details of which you can see at www.hongkong.twestival.com.

Volunteer teams in Hong Kong and cities across the world are now coming together to survey their communities, nominate causes, plan events, gather sponsors and raise funds.

Hong Kong Twestival organizer Jay Oatway said “We’re so excited about the next Twestival in Hong Kong and working with our great team of volunteers and sponsors to raise funds for FCC Charity Fund. We’re hoping to see lots of Hong Kong Twitter users coming along to have an amazing time with us and generate lots of cash and awareness!”.

Details of the event:

Venue: The Culture Club Gallery and Guru (2 adjacent clubs)

Address: 13-15 Elgin Street (Lower), Soho, Central

Time: 8:30-11:30 pm on 12th Sep 2009

Features: Live music, DJs, comedians, big screens, instant twitter messages, attractive door prizes & luck draw prizes (including Raymond Weil watch, Skagen Watch, dine-dining coupons, etc).

Price: $150

Includes 2 Carlsberg beers, 1 raffle tickets, 1 goodie bag, donation and a lot of fun.

Tickets available at Amiando

About FCC Charity Fund

The ‘FCC Charity Fund’ has raised more than HK$23 million over the past seven years and awarded university scholarships to 63 students from Hong Kong’s low-income families through The Po Leung Kuk/Henrik Nielsen/Foreign Correspondents’ Club Scholarship Fund, as well as funding language training centres through The Po Leung Kuk/JP Morgan/Foreign Correspondents’ Club Language Training Program and The Po Leung Kuk/Merrill Lynch/Foreign Correspondents’ Club Children’s Learning Centre and Child Welfare Centre.

JP Morgan has generously partnered with the FCC Charity Fund since the first Language Training Centre (LTC) was established five years ago at the Po Leung Kuk headquarters in Causeway Bay, a facility that gives 300 PLK children in residence the chance to learn English and Putonghua. The unique and creative teaching style designed by the LTC team has made learning a foreign language easier and more fun for the children.

The FCC Charity Fund is proud to announce the opening last May of The Po Leung Kuk/Merrill Lynch/Foreign Correspondents’ Club Children’s Learning Centre and Child Welfare Centre in Lei Muk Shue in Kowloon. Initially, the centre is providing the much needed language course to 150 children from underprivileged families in that area. The FCC Charity Fund and its partner sponsors strongly believe that these language skills will help the children better cope with the challenging requirements of today’s business world.

In addition to financial support for its 63 university scholarship students, the Charity Fund assists its scholars with internships and employment support through the vast network of the FCC’s members who represent diverse industries and professions. FCC scholars are currently employed at Hong Kong’s top law firms as well as various media, hospitality, medical, technical and financial institutions.

FCC Charity Fund Website

Online donations page for the Language Training Program

For more information on, please see the contact list below.

Twestival Hong Kong:

Twitter: @twestivalHK
Web site: http://hongkong.twestival.com

Media enquiry: jay@charged.mobi , aquarius.chiu@gmail.com

Charlie Daniels Band comes to Hong Kong!

thomascrampton — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 12:48:14 +0000

It is now fully confirmed that the Charlie Daniels Band will be coming out to Hong Kong for a charity concert on Saturday, September 19!

This is a blatant promotion for the Foreign Correspondents’ Club Charity Ball, the best charity event in Hong Kong. This is our 8th ball and so far we have raised more than US$3 million for Hong Kong’s neediest children.

The cause is great, but the party is just as good. Despite the tough economy our sponsors have stuck with us and – amazingly – we’ve actually picked up quite a few new sponsors.

This year we have the Charlie Daniels Band. A Grammy Award winning legend, he’ll be playing his hits, including The Devil Went Down to Georgia, Long Haired Country Boy, Ain’t No Law in California.

Come join the fun on Saturday September 19! (Best to book early, since we often sell out.)

Contact me if you have any questions and Sandy Chan to book your seat now!

Sandy Chan: banquet_mgr at fcchk.org or Tel 2521-1511

Digital Storytelling (Hong Kong University courses)

thomascrampton — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:35:00 +0000

For anyone interested in going digital, Hong Kong University is offering a series on workshops this summer. The HKU program has uber-blogger Rebecca MacKinnon on staff and offers some excellent digital classes.

Diane Stormont will be teaching the online skills training and Rob McBride will be teaching the course on digital storytelling.

Here’s the summer’s upcoming programs:

Digital Storytelling (Video Editing) – 3-5 & 10-12 July 2009
This is a hands-on 5-day course in digital video shooting and editing. Participants will learn to engage in the digital age of multi-skilled storytelling. Weekday or weekend modes of study available.

Online Skills Training for Working Journalists – 3-5 August & 10-12 August 2009
This is a practical course aimed at helping working journalists make the transition into the digital age. They will be introduced to the technologies and the skills that are revolutionizing the news media. Participants will learn the process of digital news gathering (audio, stills, video) and preparation for web distribution. Modular classes and morning sessions will accommodate those who are working.

Media Presentation Skills – 19 August 2009
This highly interactive one-day course is designed for anyone whose role requires them to communicate through broadcast and video media.

For details and enrollment form, please go to http://jmsc.hku.hk/map/shortcourses or contact Kylie Chan at +852 2219 4416 / kyliec at hku.hk. To learn more about the Journalism and Media Studies Centre, please visit our website at http://jmsc.hku.hk

(h/t to Doreen Weisenhaus)

Meet Marko Ahtisaari: Dopplr co-founder and Internet visionary

thomascrampton — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 04:51:50 +0000

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Marko Ahtisaari will be in Hong Kong tomorrow appearing at an event to discuss Dopplr, his start-up Web 2.0 travel service.

Well beyond Dopplr, the philosophy professor-turned Web 2.0-er has long been at the leading edge of thinking about digital.

Marko Ahtisaari has worked previously as Director of Design Strategy at Nokia and serves on the board of directors of F-Secure and Artek. Most recently Ahtisaari has been Head of Brand & Design at Blyk, the free mobile network for young people funded by advertising, and will continue in a role supporting Blyk in its partnering and expansion strategy.

The event – which is free - will take place from 6:30 – 8:30 PM on Tuesday 23 June at Mozart Stub’n, just above Lan Kwai Fung at 8 Glenealy Street

http://www.mozartstubn.com/

“How Digital Influencers Travel”
Dopplr research finds travellers share plans before making them

You are invited to a presentation of fresh data, insight and conversation on the travel patterns of the world’s digital influencers. The speaker is Marko Ahtisaari, CEO of Dopplr, the leading international online service for smarter travel. Dopplr is backed by an premier group of international investors including Tyler Brûlé (Moncole), Thomas Glocer (Thomson Reuters), Esther Dyson, Joi Ito, Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn and Facebook) and Martin Varsavsky.

For a taster please see:
http://blog.dopplr.com/2009/05/11/data-how-the-dopplr-community-travels/

About Dopplr

Dopplr is a service for smart travellers. Dopplr members share personal and business travel plans privately with their networks, and exchange tips on places to stay, eat and explore in cities around the world. Dopplr presents this collective intelligence – the travel patterns, tips and advice of the world’s most frequent travellers – as a Social Atlas – available on your PC or mobile.

Founded in 2007, Dopplr has offices on London’s Silicon Roundabout and the Helsinki seaside. Dopplr is backed by a premier international group of investors including Tyler Brûlé, Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn, Facebook)), Esther Dyson, Thomas Glocer, Martin Varsavsky, Lars Hinrichs (Xing), Joichi Ito and Saul Klein.

Further info on Marko:
http://ahtisaari.typepad.com/about.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marko_Ahtisaari
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopplr

Further on Dopplr:

http://www.dopplr.com/socialatlas
http://blog.dopplr.com

PHOTO BY JOI ITO

Top HK Execs Experience Refugee Living

thomascrampton — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:23:22 +0000

Given the current views towards Wall Street executives, some may take pleasure in top business executives being humiliated in front of their peers.

Here in Hong Kong, a group of top CEOs were recently stripped of their normal comforts and placed in a refugee situation for Crossroads Slum Survivor Challenge 2009. This video of the event filmed and edited by Will McCallum, a journalism student at HKU who has been helping me with my blog.

The intent was to give the executives a taste of refugee life. Enjoy watching executives suffer!

Meet 2 Great Asian Designers in Hong Kong

thomascrampton — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:13:32 +0000

This Saturday I will have the pleasure of moderating a great design-focused event in Hong Kong:

HKDUG’s Nicholas Wang is proud to have the opportunity to gather two leading luminaries of Asian design to share their experiences with you. Kohei Nishiyama, founder of the Tokyo-based online design company cuusoo.com and Douglas Young, founder of Hong Kong design-based retailer G.O.D.

Both Mr. Nishiyama and Mr. Young have been hard at work pushing the design and innovation envelope for over 10 years, you will be able to hear about their experiences and what drives them to success.

Since 1997, long before the Web 2.0 trend toward co-creation, Kohei Nishiyama has been running an innovative online product development community. The system, used by the design-centric Japanese retailer MUJI and soon to be rolled out globally by LEGO, has manufacturers working with consumers to design products – from inception to manufacturing. Started off as an ideal to make “people’s wishes come true”, cuusoo.com is now synonymous with crowdsourcing. Mr. Nishiyama will be sharing with us how massive online collaboration can create sophisticated design products.

Douglas Young launched the Hong Kong-based homeware and accessories company Goods of Desire (GOD) in 1996 with a mission to bring better homegrown design into people’s lives. G.O.D., the acronym which sounds like “to live better” in Cantonese, started out by capturing Hong Kong’s icons and turning them into art forms and retail objects to be appreciated as affordable art. Mr. Young’s designs are inspired by Hong Kong’s unique cultural identity, they’re often iconic but with a twist, so people of Hong Kong can immediately identify with them, while putting a smile on their faces.

Mr. Young has the foresight to begin collecting items of cultural significance more than 20 years ago, their G.O.D. Street Culture Museum is now a database for current and future designers to draw inspirations on. When Mr. Young learned of this meaningful event, he graciously accepted the invite and lend us a venue to make this happen.

Date: May 2nd, 2009
Time: 2:00pm – 5:00pm (Discussions begin at 2:30pm)
Address:Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre
30 pak tin street, shek kip mei
kowloon, hong kong

Further details on the event website.

My food rant in the South China Morning Post

thomascrampton — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:08:22 +0000

Amy Ma, food writer for the South China Morning Post, recently interviewed me about Hong Kong’s food scene.

I’m not sure what Amy expected, but as Amy’s story reflects (it is behind the SCMP firewall), I went into a bit of a rant about the Disney-fied restaurants that afflict Hong Kong.

So many Hong Kong restaurants are the kind of packaged products you find at an American mall rather than the authentic eateries started by immigrant families in many cities.

I speculate that Hong Kong real estate prices and tight immigration policies have something to do with this.

There are, on the other hand, some fantastic private kitchens in Hong Kong.