Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2020 i Tatler Hong Kong

TATLER HONG KONG Entrepreneur Danny Yeung stars on the cover of this month’s issue. Yeung is the co-founder and CEO of Prenetics, which manufactures DNA testing kits and this year also pivoted to making Covid-19 tests, thousands of which Yeung has donated for free throughout the pandemic. tatlerhongkong.com TATLER INDONESIA Actor and film producer Nicholas Saputra discusses his career on camera and his activism off-screen: Saputra is an avid environmentalist who backs awareness-raising films with his production company, Tanakhir Films. tatlerindonesia.com TATLER MALAYSIA Asra Jehan uses her accessories brand, Royal Sembilan, to give artisans a platform to showcase their work. She is particularly dedicated to supporting the dying art of tenun, a traditional weaving technique historically found throughout Southeast Asia. tatlermalaysia.com TATLER PHILIPPINES On the cover of Tatler Philippines is…

What better way to celebrate Asia Art Archive’s (AAA) 20th anniversary than throwing a party amid the green environs of the Hong Kong Country Club? As the organisation officially left its teenage years behind, more than 30 works donated by artists, collectors and galleries went under the hammer at a highly anticipated invite-only dinner and live auction. Pieces by Yayoi Kusama, Stanley Wong and Irene Chou were among those up for grabs, with all proceeds going to support AAA’s mission to fund education and research into contemporary art in Asia. “We are absolutely thrilled to be celebrating 20 years. This is an important milestone for us. We’re equally excited about the continued growth and dynamism of contemporary art in this part of the world and feel privileged to be part…

American actress and singer Ashley Park has been a star on Broadway for years, appearing in productions such as Mamma Mia!, The King and I and Mean Girls, the latter of which earned her a Tony award nomination for best supporting actress in 2018. This year she has made her mark on the screen, appearing as Lily Collins’ quick witted and fearless best friend, Mindy, a nanny with a hidden singing talent, in Netflix’s hit Emily in Paris, which has been renewed for a second season. What was the audition process like for your character Mindy? In June 2019, I received an email from my agent to audition in New York. A few weeks later, I was rehearsing for a play in Massachusetts and my agent called to tell me…

Watching his family deal with the fallout of his uncle’s stroke 14 years ago, Alvin Cheung could not have predicted it would be an event that would shape his own future career. “I remember seeing him suffer through the disease and watching his parents having to take care of him. It was really upsetting,” Cheung says. “So, when I started working, I decided I wanted to do something to make life easier for people like him and their carers.” One business degree later, in 2015, Cheung teamed up with robotics researcher Newman Ho to develop a wireless robotic hand to help patients with hand-function disabilities perform simple, everyday tasks able-bodied people take for granted, such as picking up small objects or turning a doorknob. “HandyRehab’s mission is to be the…

PICTURE THIS Ever the champion of merging art with fashion, Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson takes inspiration from American artist Ken Price for a Christmas capsule for the festive season. Price, who was most active in the Sixties, painted on ceramic sculptures. His images of palm trees and the Los Angeles cityscape can now be found on Loewe’s Hammock and Puzzle bags, recreated using intricate leather marquetry, as well as on easy shirts and denim looks. WANDERLUST For its first patterned suitcase, Rimowa has launched a camouflage style with a metallic sheen made possible by innovative aluminium anodising techniques and painstakingly finished by hand. The special edition comes in two colourways—green and pink—and in a compact cabin size for when your travel bubble dreams come true, hopefully in time for…

Some luxury handbags are more than just investment pieces. As far as functionality goes, they’re the vessels that protect and carry day-to-day valuables. But where fashion is concerned, handbags are the icing on the cake of a look. That being said, French fashion house Louis Vuitton’s exotic skins collection is a special kind of frosting. Vuitton is familiar with crafting its goods using only the most prized materials. Through its exploration of exotics, the maison considers crocodile to be the pinnacle. Working with these skins is a meticulously planned-out journey from beginning to end. A specialised skill is required to work through the long hours that go into creating each bag, and Vuitton’s craftsmen are present in each of the 350 steps of the way. How the bags are designed…

Tell us about your latest line. I wanted to modernise the Middle Eastern evil eye, which typically comes in turquoise, so I decided to design it with pink and blue sapphires, as well as emeralds, surrounded by my signature baguette-cut diamonds, which act as eyelashes. What’s been your biggest achievement to date? When I was asked by Harrods to have my own standalone boutique, which opened in October. Who would you love to see wearing your pieces? A mother, daughter and grandmother. What’s your favourite gemstone? Diamonds. If you weren’t a jeweller, what would you be? A chef. I love cooking and eating fusion food. What music do you listen to? Charles Aznavour and Leonard Cohen, to calm my soul. How have you been spending this year? I’ve been locked…

KEEP ON GOING For its latest limited-edition series of exceptional watches, Audemars Piguet has partnered with Anita Porchet, who specialises in paillonné enamel dials, which involve tucking pieces of foil between layers of enamel. Porchet has designed faces for three of the five watches in the series. The remaining two are reserved for custom orders and are likely to sell for several hundred thousand US dollars. Powering the Grande Sonnerie Carillon Supersonnerie is the hand-wound Calibre 2956, a new movement that makes complex mechanisms look like child’s play. This calibre not only strikes the hour, quarters and minutes on request (which a traditional minute repeater would do), it also strikes the hour and quarter by default, without any involvement from the wearer. Plus, the carillon instrument means that these watches…

“I love that Hong Kong offers so many possibilities and everyone is so connected and efficient. We can bring a brilliant idea to life within months, if not weeks, which gives us a lot of confidence and leverage when organising arts events.” -MARIA WONG “While the city’s mindset is innovative and creative, it still keeps alive century-long artistic, culinary and architectural traditions, which makes it a fantastic city to live in and contribute to.” -JULIEN LOÏC-GARIN “I love Hong Kong because of the diverse and exciting arts and cultural activities one can experience in this extremely compact city. This constant transformation and Hong Kong’s positive, can-do attitude is what makes the city amazing.” -DAPHNE KING-YAO Explore more tips and stories on Hong Kong at discoverhongkong.com…

Adrian Cheng has emerged as one of the world’s most influential arts patrons, famous for backing boundary-breaking exhibitions through his K11 Art Foundation. But this year Cheng has extended his giving to other sectors, too. “Covid-19 has been a wake-up call for all of us to think about how connected we are,” says Cheng. NWD funded new mask factories in Hong Kong, which have produced millions of masks that have been distributed for free to low-income families. Cheng donated HK$10 million to scientists researching how masks can be made more effective. “I keep advocating CSV: creating shared value,” says Cheng. “What we are trying to do is not simply give, but to join hands and create more value for society. It is a shift from passive to proactive.” Another of…

During Chinese New Year in 2001, David Yeung had a revelation. “I just didn’t want to cause any suffering to animals for my personal enjoyment of food,” he says. What started with converting to a vegetarian lifestyle evolved into activism, entrepreneurialism and eventually a full-blown empire. In 2012, Yeung launched Green Monday, a social venture that addresses animal welfare, environmental issues, health and climate change through innovative projects. In 2015, he unveiled Green Common, a plant-based grocery store that now has 14 different outlets across Hong Kong. “Our planet is past the point of sustaining eight billion people,” says Yeung. “This is not just a passion but a responsibility. We must be part of the solution.” In 2018, he launched what might be his most talked-about venture yet, OmniPork, a…

What can you do to help? That’s the question David Begbie wants everyone to ask themselves, as his own family did in 1995 when they set up the Crossroads Foundation, which connects vulnerable people with the resources they need. Begbie was just a teenager when his father, Malcolm, an accountant, and mother, Sally, who worked in public relations, began turning their skills to helping others, starting with sending clothes to victims of flooding in China. From those initial donations bloomed an organisation that now redistributes items to people in need in Hong Kong and the wider world—from airline blankets to shoes to furniture to computers. The charity inhabits a former Gurkha army base outside Tuen Mun, where 45 volunteers work full-time alongside thousands more temporary volunteers. Begbie and his team…

Dipa Swaminathan already faced a challenging mission before this year’s upending by Covid-19. Swaminathan, an assistant general counsel for SingTel, created It’s Raining Raincoats in 2015 to raise support and compassion for the enormous population of migrant workers in Singapore. She started the initiative after witnessing incidents of inhumane conditions, such as men wearing rubbish bags to protect themselves from the rain, and seeing results when she raised her voice to complain. “A little compassion towards them goes a long way,” Swaminathan said in a 2018 Ted Talk. “We find bridges to build between our community and theirs.” She has arranged athletic meets with local schoolchildren, secured donations of clothing, and distributed water bottles collected from schools and unsold pastries from a network of Starbucks stores. She was given a…

Myla Villanueva is the founder of five start-up companies and a pioneering woman in technology. But she’s best known for her work in securing the integrity of the Philippines’ voting process as national chairperson of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting. Villanueva’s efforts to conduct non-partisan voter education and to reform poll watching across the country have developed over the last decade since the introduction of automated elections. “There needed to be a new poll watchers’ education protocol and, conversely, a primer on how to vote and shade those circles on a ballot,” she said in 2019. Villanueva mobilises an enormous number of volunteers for this initiative to ensure clean elections and has been widely praised for her management skills, which have echoes in both her technology business and…

In 2017, Myanmar Now journalist Ko Swe Win criticised a powerful Buddhist monk for inciting hate and endorsing assassination when he publicly praised the killer of a Muslim human rights activist. This was one example of his brave journalism the board of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation cited in naming him a 2019 recipient of the prestigious honour for emergent leadership. Having grown up in a poor family in the political turmoil of Yangon, even getting arrested in 1998 for protesting in a student demonstration, Swe Win has focused his coverage on social justice issues. His criticism of the monk, Ashin Wirathu, caused him to be sued and briefly jailed, with a trial that was viewed by critics as a form of harassment for requiring the editor to travel 1,255…

RONNIE CHAN Hang Lung Group tycoon Ronnie Chan hit headlines around the world in 2014 when he gave US$350 million through his family’s Morningside Foundation to Harvard University, which at the time was the largest donation ever received by the institution. But that wasn’t even Chan’s total giving for the year: he also donated US$20 million to the University of Southern California. And Chan gives time as well as money: he is chairman of the nonprofit educational institution the Asia Society Hong Kong Center and chairman emeritus of the Asia Society’s global board, as well as chairman of the Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society, which aims to improve the quality and quantity of philanthropy in Asia. LI KA-SHING Billionaire Li Ka-shing was given the nickname Superman because of his…

Philipponnat Clos des Goisses 2002 Inexplicably one of the most undervalued prestige cuvées in an era that fetishises single sites, the Clos des Goisses has a winning blend of generosity and poise that makes it a true wine lover’s champagne. The vintage’s blazing acidity will keep this baby singing for decades to come. Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires 2004 Long held back by its hokey “Champagne Charlie” moniker, Charles Heidsieck has undergone a major restoration of credibility thanks in large part to the Blanc des Millénaires. They are only released ten years after the vintage and epitomise the house’s rich, smoky, sexy style. Azelia Barolo Bricco Voghera Riserva 2014 The Scavinos of Azelia have long lived in the shadow of their cousins at Paolo Scavino, with whom they share the…

Everyone loves a list, they say, except those who have to write them. Having helmed more than my share of lists during my career—best dressed lists, cultural events lists, grocery lists—I can say without reservation that, while always fun and easy to read, they are nearly impossible to get exactly right. Inevitably, even after agonising (and arguing) for weeks over who really belongs, there will always be some choices that will seem entirely subjective, because they are. Also, everyone loves to be on a list, even if they won’t admit it, so there’s a lot of politicking that goes on behind the scenes. This is particularly true when the subject is Asia’s Most Influential, a new tentpole helmed by Lee Williamson, Tatler’s director of lists, that debuts this month with…

Black tie galas ... remember them? As social distancing guidelines continued to relax in Hong Kong, the First Initiative Foundation seized the opportunity to stage an exclusive dinner at the Hong Kong Museum of Art last month. Hong Kong’s most fabulous dusted off their gowns and dinner jackets and came out in force to celebrate the charity’s tenth year. In partnership with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the foundation flew in rare paintings from the world-renowned Uffizi Galleries in Florence for a four-month-long exhibition on show until February 21. The Tsim Sha Tsui exhibition, Botticelli and His Times—Masterworks from the Uffizi, presents 42 breathtaking works from the gallery’s incredible collection, among them ten works by Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli, making this the greatest number of Botticellis to ever be exhibited…

VICKY LAU, TATE DINING ROOM AND BAR THE PREP Organisation is key. Executing a successful event is 70 per cent organisation. Start a few days early and count down to your guests’ arrival. I like to start with cleaning out the fridge three days before, so that there is room for all the new ingredients. Set the table a day before. This way you can ensure that you have everything from napkins to chairs and tableware in place, and you won’t have to scramble at the last second. Meal prep. When planning your menu, pay attention to guests that may have special dietary restrictions and work around them. I like to make one or two dishes last minute but if you want to be present with your guests,…

YOU’VE SEEN THE MEMES: “2020 is the year of the introvert.” With social distancing and mandatory lockdowns, the shy and socially awkward could finally breathe a sigh of relief this year. But what about the popular and outgoing? How have socialites survived without a jam-packed calendar? Amanda Lau, key account director for Chow Tai Fook, has enjoyed getting closer to friends like Eleanor Lam. “I’m seeing my friends more often than before. Pre-pandemic we were always out of town for work. Covid-19 has brought us closer than ever,” she says. But for Mahnaz Lee, co-founder and director of Women Helping Women, the opposite rings true. “At first [social distancing] felt like a well-deserved vacation: I stayed at home and rested, read and meditated, things I always wanted to do but…

You’ve taken the leap and booked to travel abroad over Christmas: what next? The government has ruled that all incoming travellers now need to self-isolate in a hotel for two weeks upon their return to Hong Kong—at their own expense. You could say it’s a way for a beleaguered hospitality industry to recoup some of the income lost after a year of low tourism, as well as a way to deter travelling and keep the virus at bay during the winter season. The government has released the names of 16 recommended hotels for quarantiners, but the list is decidedly unglamorous and leaves a lot to be desired. If we are to be confined within four walls for 14 days, we want the experience to be as comfortable as staying at…

Joe Wan sits in his fifth-floor office, where floor-to-ceiling windows look out to Victoria Harbour and, on a clear day, a distant Hong Kong skyline. The Kwun Tong waterfront boardwalk, where he was earlier being photographed between elderly leisure walkers and sweaty joggers, is almost visible too—a serene and impressive view befitting the CEO of business expansion and integrated services firm Tricor. While his company’s group management is situated ten storeys away, he chose an office on the same floor as the rest of his team. “When I first took over, you needed to open four doors to get to my old office,” says Wan, who became CEO in January 2019. But during a major renovation, which will end with the installation of a coffee, drinks and snacks bar, he…

How did you first realise you wanted to work in fashion? I’ve always pursued beauty. For a few years I was a fashion blogger and at some point I started to make my own clothes and everyone began asking me where I got them from. The rest, as they say, is history. What were some of your first concerns when you started the brand? I’d worried about how to introduce the brand to Europe and the US, but then we were picked up by Net-a-Porter during our first season on the market, giving us a global audience. We are also doing our best to be more sustainable with each season. In the very beginning we only produced a limited quantity to reduce our carbon footprint and avoid overproduction, but now…

READY, SET… 1 LA PRAIRIE The five-piece Platinum Rare Haute Rejuvenation Ritual is designed to smooth, lift, firm and brighten skin. Each product is infused with platinum for collagen production, and La Prairie’s Exclusive Cellular Complex. 2 DRUNK ELEPHANT Cult beauty label Drunk Elephant teamed up with luggage brand Monos to fill a carry-on trunk with ten bestsellers, including the TLC Sukari Babyfacial and B-Hydra Intensive Hydration Serum. 3 CROWN AFFAIR The Set by New York haircare brand Crown Affair includes a comb—hand-carved in Switzerland, obviously—and a brush handmade in Italy. It also features a hair oil, towel, scrunchie and three-minute version of an hourglass, as a reminder to take your sweet time while staring at your hair. 4 TATCHA Based on the beauty rituals of Japanese geisha, Tatcha’s skincare…

WHITE NOISE Dark and dramatic, a mix of smoky quartz, amethyst and diamonds dominates the fine jewellery pieces produced by Vara of London. Launched by Mayuri Vara, who splits her time between London and Hong Kong, the jeweller’s Serpentina Linea line makes use of thin slivers of gold, which coil around the wearer in the form of a snake that’s paved with rows of diamonds. FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION Say goodbye to losing your AirPods: Misho has unveiled a series of earrings that will hold them in place. Available at Lane Crawford, they come in three styles: two sports-inspired sets called the Minimal/Active Tall and Minimal/ Active Tiny Pods, and one everyday staple called the Pebble Pod, which wraps around the headphone to secure it. A TOUCH OF JADE The top…

The year was 1988. I attended a dinner party in North London and it was here that I met my future wife, Adriana. When I decided to propose, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to present her with an exceptional emerald. Adriana is Colombian and, for hundreds of years, her homeland has yielded many of the world’s finest emeralds. In fact, it is estimated that the country accounts for a staggering 50 to 60 per cent of the world’s emerald market. I first visited Colombia a year after we met. I was immediately struck by its undeniable beauty. It has a dramatic Caribbean coastline, cobbled colonial communities and snow-capped peaks that offer some of the most breathtaking views I’ve ever seen. The Colombian people are wonderfully…

The world of fantasy has always found its most exquisite expression in jewellery. And no one creates a world of such precision and imagination, precious stone upon precious stone, capturing rivulets of water, the shimmering wings of a butterfly, and budding flowers, than the Hong Kong-based, Taiwan-born art jeweller, Cindy Chao. Nature in its endless wonder is a constant source of inspiration for Chao. “Nature teaches human beings to be humble but also lets us know there exist possibilities beyond imagination in the world,” she says. For the creative force behind Cindy Chao The Art Jewel, it’s the possibilities that she finds particularly rewarding because “that is how nature has inspired some of the greatest artworks in human history.” Chao does more than render objects from nature. As her much-lauded…

What should we know about Geneva Watch Days 2020, which happened in August? We’re really excited about this new concept, which is a departure from traditional watch fairs like Baselworld and Watches & Wonders. It’s a digital fair, meaning 50 per cent of activity is conducted via Zoom and other online platforms. It was also open to the public, unlike previous watch fairs. What makes Geneva Watch Days special? The fact that this fair is open to the public means any collector visiting Switzerland could see our novelties at the same time as retailers and professional watch experts. Tell us about the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Chronograph Skeleton. This is Bulgari’s sixth world record in six years and it demonstrates the very best of complex watchmaking. It’s the flattest tourbillon chronograph…

It wasn’t a background in veterinary science or law that led Jill Robinson to champion animal rights in Asia, but the soft caress of a bear. When Robinson arrived in Hong Kong in 1985, she was shocked by instances of animal cruelty she witnessed. “I saw dogs that were just thrown away by people who had become fed up with their designer animals,” says Robinson. She joined the International Fund for Animal Welfare as a consultant and also set up Doctor Dog, Asia’s first animal-therapy programme, in 1991. In 1993, she got a tip-off from a journalist about bear farms in the neighbouring Chinese city of Zhuhai. In traditional Chinese medicine, it is believed that moon bear bile can treat a host of ailments, giving rise to a lucrative industry…

There are 775 million people in the world who are illiterate, or roughly 100 times the population of Hong Kong. Two-thirds of them are women. “If you want to talk about women’s empowerment, you have to start with education,” says John Wood, founder of Room to Read, a Hong Kong organisation that works to improve literacy and gender equality in education in developing countries. This year marks Room to Read’s 20th anniversary, and while there is plenty to celebrate, there is still more work to be done. “We had a goal to reach 10 million students in our first 20 years. We’ve been able to double that,” says Wood. “We hope to make that 40 million students by 2025.” Room to Read currently operates in 15 countries throughout Africa and…

“Housing is not an issue that can be solved by money alone,” says Ricky Yu. In Hong Kong, a city where more than 1.4 million of the city’s 7.4 million residents live below the poverty line, the problem of affordable housing is especially acute and a major cause of societal unrest. A decade ago, Yu, who had been working a fast-paced, high-pressure management job, decided it was time to pursue “a high-return investment on my life”. He left his career in the corporate world to start Light Be, a social housing platform that seeks to lift individuals out of short-term poverty. Light Be, a name simplified from “let there be light”, has secured more than 100 flats throughout the city where tenants are offered below-market rents for a period of…

PichaEats was started by a group of university students who, while volunteering in a refugee learning centre, noticed many of their young pupils dropped out in order to contribute to their families’ financial needs. So the students—Lee Swee Lin, Kim Lim and Suzanne Ling—decided to create a food business that would employ those children’s parents while the kids could continue to learn. The trio discovered that many of the refugees, well-educated degree holders from countries like Syria, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq and Pakistan, had considerable cooking skills, so they encouraged them to prepare regional dishes at their homes that could be sold and marketed through PichaEats. Since 2016, the business, originally named the Picha Project after the child of its first “chef”, has helped more than 25 families achieve a…

Everyone hates plastic bags. But sisters Isabel and Melati Wijsen decided to do something about them in 2013, when they were just 10 and 12 years old, respectively. All it took was a history lesson on the significance of impactful leaders to inspire the sisters in their Bali schoolroom to ask, “What can we do?” The Wijsens created Bye Bye Plastic Bags, a campaign that has drawn enormous attention, thanks in part to the founders’ young ages. Among its projects, the NGO has launched an educational booklet about the harms of plastics to the environment, collected rubbish from rivers and formed partnerships with collectives that produce alternatives to plastic bags. Bye Bye Plastic Bags has also inspired young people around the world to form their own teams promoting its mission,…

As Bill Gates once said, “I’ve never met anyone who knows how to have as much fun with condoms (in public, anyway) as Mechai Viravaidya.” Viravaidya is known throughout Thailand and beyond as “Mr Condom”, having organised the nation’s successful HIV and Aids prevention programme, in addition to his numerous ventures in non-governmental organisations dedicated to eradicating poverty and improving access to education for rural schoolchildren. In 1974, in response to challenges brought on by a rapidly growing population, he established the PDA to initiate family planning services that contributed to a dramatic reduction of population growth, from more than 3.3 per cent in 1974, with an average of seven children per family, to 0.6 per cent in 2005. His ability to gain acceptance for contraceptives comes from his sense…

CAMBODIA Suwanna Gauntlett Gauntlett, founder and CEO of the Wildlife Alliance, fights for the protection of the rainforest and wildlife. Melita Hunter Hunter, co-founder of the Song Saa Foundation, protects the habitat and marine life of the Koh Rong Archipelago. CHINA Chang Sun Chang, founder of Black Soil Group, promotes a modern agriculture business with improved productivity by consolidating land and scaling up operations. Charles Chen Yidan Chen, one of the co-founders of Tencent, whose Yidan Prize Foundation established the world’s largest education prize, provides educational innovators and pioneers with recognition and support. Guo Jianmei Guo, a lawyer, author and human rights activist, provides thousands of disadvantaged women in China with free legal aid and counselling. She was also awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 2019 for her pioneering work…

For most wine enthusiasts, becoming a collector wasn’t something they set out to do; it just sort of happened. Looking back, I wish that ten years ago, when I started to think about collecting, I had someone to take me under their wing and help me think strategically. To be fair, there was no dearth of willing wings, but I was loath to let on that I didn’t really know what I was doing. The truth is that most of us are just winging it, seduced by the latest sale or trendy region and rarely doing much in the way of long-term thinking. Of course, there are people whose approach is purely rational and profit-driven, but I have very little wisdom to impart to them. Instead I’ve assembled a guide…

As Asia’s next generation of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) take over management of their own financial legacies, they do so with a strong sense of responsibility, according to Jan Boes, head of the client strategy office for UBS Global Wealth Management’s Global Family Office APAC. “They are aware of the hard work previous generations put into creating wealth, and they want to be responsible stewards,” he says. While many of Asia’s younger HNWIs aspire to use their wealth to effect positive change, they share a number of fundamental beliefs and aspirations with the previous generation. They are aware of the need to sustain the wealth through the generations and those with children also want to set a good example. “Wealth, to this younger generation, is often viewed as a means to…

JON TONKS Jon Tonks is a British photographer whose work explores how people’s lives are shaped by history and geography. His photos have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, National Geographic Traveller and more. For Tatler, Tonks photographed gallerist Ben Brown and his mother, artist and art patron Rosamond Brown (p.222) STEPHANIE TENG Commercial and documentary photographer Stephanie Teng has worked with the likes of GQ Japan and Condé Nast Traveller. This month, Teng shot watch collector Austen Chu (p.178) ANGELA HO Angela Ho is an artist and illustrator who works primarily in acrylic paint and animation. Her work has been featured in GQ and Fast Company magazine, among others. For Tatler, Ho drew this month’s instalment of Alphabet City (p.240) ALEX MAELAND Creative director, designer and photographer…

Among the coffee shops and independent restaurants in Hong Kong’s hip neighbourhood of Tai Hang lies an edgy jewellery store that opened on July 4 called One of a Kind. “Stop thinking, start blinging” reads the neon pink sign on the outer wall of the shop, while an ornate crystal chandelier makes for a sparkling greeting as customers enter. Olivier Caouette, the Quebeçois merchant behind this hidden gem, has spent the past 11 years in Asia polishing his bedazzled business model. Though opening a jewellery store during a pandemic may have been too risky for some, Caouette was up for the challenge and set out to create “a one-stop destination for quality, trend-driven and timeless accessories to elevate wardrobes”, he says. Enamoured by Hollywood glamour and the energy of international…

Anyone aimlessly scrolling through Instagram on October 10 may have felt the sudden stab of FOMO watching eco-warrior Emily Lam-Ho celebrate her birthday at actress Carina Lau’s Mid-Levels mansion. All of Lam-Ho’s closest gal pals, including Claudine Ying and Victoria Tang-Owen, were there to celebrate the birthday girl. Even Lam-Ho’s father-in-law Charles Ho—a certified silver fox—got in on the action at the intimate autumn soirée. Lam-Ho stepped out in a monochromatic Chanel playsuit with matching slingbacks and made the most of the mirrored decor in Lau’s impressive home to pose for photos. Then, she and her friends enjoyed food freshly made by American steakhouse Prohibition, presented by head chef Ivan Chan, who treated the women to fresh seafood and succulent wagyu. A few bottles of bubbles and the party was…

OVOLO HOTELS Ovolo doesn’t merely accept quarantiners, it embraces them with a package that will leave guests wondering where those two weeks went. The hotel chain’s quarantine concierge package (at the Southside and Central locations) includes perks, such as daily barista coffee and happy hour, Apple TV and Alexa, a leafy plant “to bring the outside world in”, daily step challenges with prizes, and a celebratory toast at the end of the stay. DORSETT WANCHAI On the dedicated Facebook group for quarantiners, the Dorsett Wanchai has emerged as one of the most popular choices. Rooms start from just HK$490 a night for guests booking the 14-day stay, which includes super-fast WiFi, weekly laundry, on-demand test kits from Project Screen and access to Dorsett Mart, a 24-hour online shop selling snacks…

We’ve all had a tough 2020, for sure. But let’s not start feeling sorry for ourselves. Rather, we should end this year by thinking of all the positive things that so many others have done to soldier through, including charities and social enterprises that have had to cancel programmes, performances and nearly all their fundraising efforts. And yet they have faced this crisis with agility and courage. If there is one thing that they have taught me, it is that there is always hope. So I’m dedicating this month’s Hot List to ten worthy causes that I support regularly and hope you, too, will be inspired to do the same. END CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE FOUNDATION The End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation (ECSAF) was founded by actress Siao Fong Fong, a…

In kindergarten, Tomo Koizumi would bring a backpack filled with origami paper to class, determined to become a teacher of the ancient art of Japanese paper folding. But he soon realised that it wasn’t so much the paper he loved as simply the act of collecting a full spectrum of colours. Nearly three decades later, Koizumi, 32, still loves hoarding hues, but now uses polyester fabrics that come in 170 colours to build majestic, sartorial sculptures that look like bouquets of blooming hydrangeas for stage performers around the world. Lady Gaga, Japanese girl group Perfume and Hong Kong pop star Miriam Yeung are just a few who have flaunted his frothy creations on stage. “In Japan, there aren’t really occasions to wear big dresses, so I became a costume designer…

When were you first introduced to jewellery? I was about six or seven years old and had strung together a bracelet made of plastic pearls and gold beads. I didn’t know what a clasp was, so tied it onto my mother’s wrist. She took it to the jewellers and had it replicated with small Akoya pearls and gold beads with a proper clasp. Tell us about your new capsule collection. Nature has always been a powerful source of inspiration for my jewellery. I’ve designed ten pieces that are set with stunning diamonds. Each gemstone is so precious, I decided to design unique settings for each piece to ensure I did the stones justice. Do you have a favourite piece? It would have to be the rose-cut Cocoon ring, which features…

If you’re anything like us, Cartier has “wish list” written all over it this holiday season. And if you’re thinking up gift ideas for the woman in your life, we know it’s no easy feat. Perhaps you’re shopping for your sister, mother, wife or best friend. No matter what, it’s surprisingly common to enter the week before Christmas without deciding on that perfect present. This year, why not make things easier for yourself? Cartier’s celebrated Love collection was first launched in 1969 and its design has become iconic thanks to its distinctive mechanical screw detailing that’s etched into various gold metals. They’re practical as well as playful, allowing you to choose from wrist-hugging bracelets that can be worn alone or stacked together. Timeless pendants that are perfect for everyday wear…

The ancient Greeks coined the term cosmos in the 6th century BC to describe a universe that is harmonious and impeccably ordered. In an attempt to recreate its heavenly perfection on Earth, humans looked to jewels—finding an other-worldliness in the depth of blue sapphires, the star-like sparkle of diamonds and the Mars-red aura of rubies. In a journey to the centre of the cosmos, Louis Vuitton’s 90-piece high jewellery collection Stellar Times continues that tradition—fusing exquisite craftsmanship, bold gems and unparalleled creativity to form a constellation whose attraction is totally irresistible. The colours of the gemstones lead the collection’s seven themes: sapphire and emerald for Planète Bleue; ruby for Astre Rouge; yellow sapphires for Soleils, inspired by the fiery heart of the solar system; and pale green indicolite tourmaline for…

One of Austen Chu’s greatest regrets is selling his Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Openworked Perpetual Calendar. For years, the platinum edition was his dream watch. He even had a photo of it as his laptop and phone backgrounds for a while. And by a while, I mean for four whole years. But with an original asking price of about US$150,000, it was a lot of money to spend for the then 19-year-old. So, Chu tracked down a steel version, which was much more affordable—to him, at least—at about US$45,000. He flew to Switzerland to collect his new purchase and stayed with a friend at an acquaintance’s house in Geneva. “We decided to celebrate and have dinner afterwards. We got so drunk, like absolutely plastered. By the time we left the…

All eyes are on Danny Yeung. In a world desperately—in some cases even recklessly—seeking a return to normality, the Chinese-American entrepreneur and his genetic-testing company Prenetics are building a business model in the hope that rapid testing can make activities like travel and large events possible once again. A career built on pivoting from one industry to the next set Yeung up for the extraordinary journey he started this year. Less than 12 months after he created a certain amount of buzz in Hong Kong with the launch of CircleDNA, which sells at-home test kits that detect disease risk, food sensitivities, personality and behavioural traits, Yeung’s company became one of the forerunners in a global race to roll out a rapid, cheap Covid-19 test. Prenetics began selling one in April…

Jessica Tam has a lot on her plate as head of Social Enterprise Business Centre, a platform for social change in Hong Kong, having established Hong Kong’s Pay for Success (PFS) project, an initiative where investors see returns on their investment paid by the government if their scheme is a success. Commissioned by Oxfam Hong Kong’s social innovation and entrepreneurship development fund in September 2020, the PFS project helps kindergarten students to learn Cantonese and other skills. Tam has also successfully campaigned for the government to introduce the Care Food Campaign, which over the next two years will funnel HK$300 million towards goals oriented around Hong Kong’s elderly population. This will include serving 3,000 people at home, issuing 1,000 community care service vouchers, and an additional HK$75 million going towards…

The tragic events of 2020 have been a sore validation for Christina Dean, whose mission in founding Redress in 2007 was to promote sustainability without hindering business. “I believe that industry must take place, but we have a responsibility to ensure we do not hurt public health,” she says. “Fashion has a tremendous role to play—it’s beautiful, it’s functional and it’s our second skin. But I think it’s wrong that our clothing causes so much suffering, ill-health and pain to millions of people around the world.” Dean was a journalist and a dentist before her passion for adventure led her to move to Hong Kong in 2005. Her research on apparel manufacturing led her to realise the need for more environmental education for aspiring designers. To that end, with Redress,…

Environmental protection has been Wang Canfa’s focus for decades, particularly how to translate China’s ambitious efforts to contain pollution into action. As the director of the Centre for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims, he has brought legal cases against businesses that might have previously treated laws and regulations as suggestions, and helped those whose lives have been affected along the way. Wang is also a professor at the China University of Political Science and Law and is widely recognised by environmental activists and government leaders as an expert on the impact of China’s rapid economic growth on its climate and culture. He has helped draft provisions designed to give more clarity to enforcement and penalties for violating China’s “ecological redlines” regulations that are intended to fortify the nation’s goal of…

As the inventor of the technology used in N95 respirator masks, Peter Tsai found himself back in the news this year, and quickly out of a short-lived retirement. Tsai was a professor in the University of Tennessee when he patented the filtration material used in the masks 25 years ago. His research greatly improved the ability to produce more efficient masks using nonwoven fabrics, melt-blowing and electrostatic charging technology, but his name was barely known outside his native Taiwan before the pandemic. As need for the masks, which were designed to be disposable, became critical this year, Tsai went back to work in a makeshift laboratory developing ideas (boiling, steaming, baking, you name it) to clean and decontaminate them for multiple wears without compromising their charge. He published an emergency…

When Rosamond Brown moved to Hong Kong in 1964, she didn’t set out to become one the city’s most prominent art patrons. She slipped into the role as if it simply were the thing to do. That she was only 26, and a painter herself, was no matter. “My husband Charles and I used to go to shows, which were mostly held in the New Territories, and purchase works we found interesting,” she recalls, speaking on the phone from London, where she currently spends part of her time. “We felt we ought to do our part in helping artists, all the more because I myself was one. But there was no grand plan behind it. We bought the pieces and hung them on the walls of our house.” “Hong Kong’s…

Jacques Selosse Initial Blanc de Blancs N NV I remember the days when this creamy, hazelnut-suffused NV from superstar grower Jacques Selosse was no more than a slight self-indulgence and a hip alternative to your nicer big-house NV Brut. Having experienced a 110 per cent price increase since autumn 2010, it’s now more of an occasional treat. Armand Rousseau Clos St Jacques Premier Cru 1993 This wine used to feel like the insider’s grand cru (Clos St Jacques is a premier cru but many argue it deserves grand cru status). These days it’s priced like one, having risen 430 per cent in value since 2010. However, 1993 was a deeply underrated vintage and remains lower in price than other strong vintages from the Nineties. The wine itself remains a lyrical,…

Cynthia Lee is an avid gardener, and she sees many shared principles between her favourite pastime and her day job as regional head of Wealth Planning and Advisory for Asia Pacific at HSBC Private Banking. “You need to have the right ecosystem to let plants flourish,” she says. “I walk around my garden proudly every day and see that some plants are flowering, some need more shade or more water. When a plant outgrows its pot, I’m extremely proud and move it so that it has more room to continue growing. “I think this has a lot of similarities to how we work with families and how we try to create the right ecosystem for our wealth advisers so that they can bring value to the clients that we work…

THE GEN.T LIST 46 The number of honourees in this year’s most popular category, Technology. The next most popular are Finance & Venture Capital (33), The Arts (32) and Sustainability (30) US$1.6 BILLION The amount of funding companies founded by this year’s honourees attracted between January 2019 and June 2020 8 The Gen.T List includes young leaders from eight countries and territories across Asia: Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Mainland China, Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand 18 MONTHS The key criteria for the Gen.T List is achievement in the past 18 months 31.5 The average age of this year’s honourees. Only people under 40 are eligible for inclusion THEIR CHALLENGES What’s the biggest obstacle standing between them and professional and personal fulfillment? 27 per cent say it’s a lack of…

A thing of beauty is a joy forever, as the popular saying goes, and this exquisite necklace by Italian high jewellery brand Maria Gaspari is destined to bring continual joy as it gets passed down to each generation. Set in white gold, the necklace features 26 rubies, each surrounded by diamonds in various cuts and arranged to resemble a flower. Striking and elegant, with the cluster of white diamonds bringing out the crimson brilliance of the rubies, this necklace might just be the prettiest way to invest in the future.…