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In 1996, Australian journalist Clive James made the (then relatively laborious) voyage from Hong Kong Island to a quiet seaside villa in Sai Kung. His mission: an audience with Sir David Tang, a prominent Hong Kong businessman and founder of the China Club.
In those days, the 1997 handover loomed large in the minds of the city’s European expatriates, and the event was a focal point in James’ Postcard From Hong Kong documentary. To that end, he sought authoritative commentary on Sino-British relations from the back channel diplomat equally at home in both worlds.
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When pressed on the supposedly irreconcilable differences between English-style governance and a resurgent Beijing, Tang simply replied, “Being pro-China doesn’t mean that you’re anti-British, nor if you’re pro-British that you’re anti-Chinese. They are not mutually exclusive.”
That soundbite – so often sidelined in favour of uproarious morsels from his Agony Uncle column in the Financial Times – encapsulated the cultural agility with which this raconteur navigated life, business and politics.
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Locally, the Tang lineage is well documented. His grandfather, the legendary Tang Shiu-Kin, founded the Kowloon Motor Bus Company in 1933. Tang later emigrated to Britain in the 1960s and began his formal education at the Perse School, where he demonstrated an affinity for mathematics and languages (French, Latin and Russian).
Beginning in the early ‘80s, Tang embarked on a colourful career. After practicing law in the employ of his grandfather he engaged in international oil exploration under the mentorship of English swashbuckler Algie Cluff.
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He later became the exclusive distributor of Habanos S.A. cigars in Hong Kong, all the while founding numerous autobiographical businesses – namely The China Club and Shanghai Tang – that have gone on to achieve institutional status. The latter enterprises, particularly throughout the 1990s, were instrumental in enriching Hong Kong’s cultural capital: birthing a fantastical visual style that evoked various artistic traditions, all of Chinese heritage.
Under the guise of high-concept chic, foreigners were – perhaps for the first time in centuries – reacquainted with the notion of something “made by Chinese”. David Dodwell, executive director at the APEC Trade Policy Group, says this was a purposeful rebuke to the “tawdry mediocrity of ‘Made in China’”. “‘Made by Chinese’ was something to be proud of, and it imbued the inspiration for Shanghai Tang,” Dodwell says.
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Tang’s legacy of fearless outspokenness extends beyond the business world. Much fanfare has surrounded his too-numerous-to-name philanthropic endeavours: fundraising for the Hong Kong Cancer Fund; founding the Hong Kong Downs Syndrome Association; and patronage of the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation. But it is his contribution to Hong Kong’s socio-political discourse that illustrates a man concerned with more than pecuniary self-interest.
In his article The fine art of cultural know-how, written over a decade ago, Tang predicted the difficulties that today grip development of the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD). Tang likened the advisory group initially responsible for consulting on the construction of WKCD museum facilities to “people [who] do not live in the real world… those who believe that by just learning one bar a day on the piano, they can in 17 months play the whole of Rach Three.”
Measuring 40ha in area, the WKCD has held only one notable public exhibition to date while first phase building works suffer continuous delays. It was a criticism levelled in the spirit of genuine concern: evident in his subsequent calls for creative leadership sired within the totemic institutions of the Tate Modern and Guggenheim.
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“We are smart,” Tang wrote, “but no matter how smart we are, we are in nappies in this business, and need to trace through that scimitar curve of learning.”
It seems a disservice to reduce a man such as Sir David Tang, KBE to a pithy anecdote. After all, he carried more legendary party lines in his breast pocket than most comedy writers think up in a lifetime. In addition to his writings, which will preserve his spirit for many years to come, he is survived by his wife and two children.
Text: Randalph Lai
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Remembering Sir David Tang: Entrepreneur, raconteur and all-around Renaissance Man