Philip Bowring

Opinion | As China turns inwards, Hong Kong’s international outlook fades

Foreigners played a major role in forging modern Hong Kong, but with the emphasis now on integration with the mainland and a steady exodus of long-time residents, the city’s cosmopolitan character is now in question

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A woman looks out over Victoria Harbour while heavy rain obscures the Hong Kong skyline on July 20. Even Hong Kong’s wildly excessive quarantine rules seem to reflect an inward attitude which should be alien to an international city. Photo: AFP

Philip Bowring

Published: 6:30am, 8 Aug 2021Updated: 6:30am, 8 Aug 2021

At this time when there is so much focus on national security issues and more integration with the mainland, two recent events have brought home the historic role of foreigners, good and bad, in the creation of the city.

First was that a half-Chinese Hongkonger with the very Irish name of Siobhan Haughey became the first to win two Olympic medals. That in itself was a lesson in how Hong Kong has to some extent avoided the ethno-nationalism that afflicts many places, the mainland included.

Second is the imminent publication of a biography of the late Hari Harilela, the Sindhi trader whose family came to Hong Kong in the 1930s and who went from small player in the tailoring business to richest Indian in the city with a string of hotels and other properties here and overseas. The biography written by formerly Hong Kong-based journalist and author Vaudine England includes much from Harilela’s own written recollections as well as a wealth of background information on Hong Kong’s business history and international links.

Much respected by other communities, the family-centric Harilelas are a latter-day reminder of the role of Indian merchants in the earliest times of modern Hong Kong. Indeed, even before the British had established themselves on the “barren rock” of Hong Kong, a Parsi trader from Mumbai, Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy (later Sir), had partnered with Jardine and Matheson in China trade.

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Hong Kong’s most successful Olympian: Swimmer Siobhan Haughey wins second silver

Other Parsi names from Mumbai are still with us, in Mody Road, named after Sir Hormusjee Mody, businessman and philanthropist who helped found the University of Hong Kong, and in Ruttonjee Hospital, founded by Jehangir Hormusjee Ruttonjee.