The great Hong Kong hustle is why I came – and why it’s still the choice for me

The mixture of dreams, hustles, finance, work ethic, transport and infrastructure makes Hong Kong stand out, even when compared with Silicon Valley
Like the dotcom boom, Web3 will be big in Asia and there is no better gateway to that potential

Casey Lau

Published: 10:30am, 16 Oct 2022

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My father left Hong Kong when he was 21 for a better life in Canada. Ironically, when I turned 21, I left Canada for a better life in Hong Kong.

I love telling that story as it showcases the circle of life and opportunity. It was also pretty unique when I arrived in Hong Kong, but probably not so much over the past few years. I think we are going to hear this story starting to happen again now.

I moved to Hong Kong because it felt like everyone from Hong Kong was escaping to Canada pre-1997.

The opportunities left by that gigantic crater were unbelievable for a kid who was used to two pages of job listings in the newspaper, compared to the phone-book-sized Saturday edition known as Classified Post.

As my career flourished in Hong Kong with the advent of the internet, things really went crazy. Within a few years of arriving, I was the co-founder of one of the hottest dotcoms in Asia.

I wondered: was it my brilliant mind, or was it because I was in Hong Kong with all the amazing people that helped me make the website a reality? Obviously, the latter.

The mixture of dreams, hustles, finance, work ethic, transport and infrastructure is something we take for granted – just like the egg tart and dim sum places that have closed down. When you have been away for a long time, you see that the late-night diners, MTR and airport made life just a little bit easier. It’s something I value immensely and which, if you are in the tech sector, makes Hong Kong stand out compared to other places, even Silicon Valley.

04:32

Hong Kong by the numbers, 25 years after the handover

Then there are the people. I have always seen Hong Kong as a tech hub, even when looking from across the Pacific for the first time. For all its land-grabbing “innovation gardens”, we have an inordinate number of unicorns – start-ups valued at more than US$1 billion. That is the real Hong Kong Hustle. And there will be more coming as we move into Web3.

The term “brain drain” gets used a lot. Show me that phrase, and I will show you post-1997 Hong Kong and how incredible everything got just one year later. We live in a post-handover, post-pandemic, post-you-name-it global economy; Hong Kong is still the hub in Asia when all the doors are unlocked and the windows are opened to let some fresh air in.

I look at it from a conference perspective – where are you going to put a global conference in Asia? Smartly, Singapore took advantage of the situation Hong Kong was in and many Hong-Kong-based events have moved there because the show needs to go on.

Other Asian cities are throwing their hats into the ring, hoping to become business event destinations. But when everything is back to normal, the only choice for international-level quality events will still be Hong Kong. The events here next month prove how important they are and how it can make miracles happen.

09:38

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And before you ask why the international RISE tech conference isn’t happening in Hong Kong next year, when quarantine rules have been relaxed and might even be lifted completely, let me say that I wish turning on a global event was that easy and quick to do. It takes a lot of planning and we are doing other events in Brazil, Canada and Portugal.

I also have perspective on Hong Kong’s importance in the global tech ecosystem.

Web3 is about to grip the world as more start-ups are launched and more corporations get on board. I believe Web3 will be huge in Asia – it may be bigger and move faster than in the United States. The chance to be part of the new internet is very exciting for young people today, who can be in control of their entrepreneurial futures with the opportunities available through the mini-supercomputers in their hands.

The question “why is a cartoon monkey worth so much?” reminds me of what I was hearing two web generations ago, such as, “I would never buy anything online with my credit card, someone will steal all my money” and – my favourite – “why would anyone post a photo of their lunch on the internet?!” I feel like I’m going through the same type of questions that I did with Web1 and Web2 as history repeats itself.

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Asia is coming into a new era – as each country pops open again, it feels like the last scene from the film Fight Club, where the buildings come down and The Pixies song “Where is My Mind” starts playing. A realisation, a countermeasure and a reality check.

There will always be a 21-year old fresh graduate in the world, not even necessarily from Canada, but maybe Mexico, Portugal, Nigeria or Brazil, who would want to tap Asia’s potential. And I’m guessing they will do it from Hong Kong.

The doors have finally opened, opportunity will be flooding back and I, for one, will be here for it again.

Casey Lau is the co-host of RISE, Asia’s largest tech conference, and the co-founder of StartupsHK, the first start-up community in Hong Kong. RISE returns to Hong Kong in 2024