Death of the label ‘super-connector’

Lau Nai-keung argues that the term ‘super-connector’ is superficial and that HK needs to develop a more concrete strategy to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative

If Death of a Salesman represents the illusion of the American Dream and the death of the middleman is the outcome of e-commerce and disintermediation, we may be about to witness the death of a super-connector, if that’s even a thing. Super-connector is supposedly a homemade label, but apparently it is not. There is even a website superconnector.org, which is “an invite-only network that brings super-connectors in various domains together to help each other to achieve their goals faster”. Impressive!

According to pundits, super-connectors know everyone and everyone knows them. They build relationships very quickly and with a lot of people. They are invaluable because they match people with opportunities and, in doing so, they leave their connections with a positive opinion of them and their abilities.

One of the major misinterpretations people have about connectors is that it is easy to be a connector. It is not. In fact, it is very difficult to become a super-connector, because it requires the unique ability to understand a person’s needs moments after meeting them.

Is Hong Kong a good connector for the Belt and Road Initiative? Let’s have a look.

A Unison survey found wide discrepancy in how accepting Hong Kong people were of different ethnic groups, with Pakistanis, Africans, Nepalese, Indians and Filipinos being less accepted than Europeans, Americans or Japanese people.

The survey, published in 2012, was conducted over five years among mostly police officers in training and secondary school students, finding they held less than favorable views of those with darker skin. Among the 1,860 surveyed, less than half would feel comfortable having Africans, Nepalese, Filipinos, Indians and Pakistani in their personal lives, for example as friends or spouses.

“From my experience, ethnic minority residents tend to face more frequent ID checks,” Annie Li Man, a campaign officer at Unison, which campaigns for ethnic-minority rights, told the media. “It makes ethnic minorities feel discriminated against, which leads to distrust between them and the police. Those targeted may think twice before going to the police to report a crime.”

And you think that Hong Kong people only have a problem with non-white foreigners? Unison’s poll also found that many Hong Kong residents distrust mainlanders, with only 85 percent saying they would accept having mainland people in their neighborhood, compared to 93 percent approval for Japanese and 89 percent for Americans.

With separatists and China-haters now elected into the LegCo, it is safe to say that this trend has only The author is a veteran current affairs commentator.

escalated in recent years.

A connector is a new name for the old concept of comprador. The word comprador derives from the Latin comparare, which means to procure. Later on, the term extended to a section of an indigenous middle class allied with foreign investors, multinational corporations, bankers, and military interests.

It is important to note that in today’s Hong Kong, foreign inevitably means Western, and globalization equals Americanization. This was not always the case. When I was young, Hong Kong had much stronger ties with Southeast Asia. Back then, the place was known as Nanyang (South Sea), or Dongnanya (Southeast Asia).

Hong Kong truly was a regional coordinator in the past when it was more embedded in the production network. The Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA), which was enforced in 1974 to govern the global trade in textiles and garments and imposed quotas on the amount developing countries could export to developed countries, made regional coordination a necessity.

But as quotas that existed under the MFA were gradually dismantled under globalization and Hong Kong moved single-mindedly toward becoming a financial center, Southeast Asia has now become nothing but a tourist destination for most Hong Kong people.

Three years ago, President Xi Jinping announced the Belt and Road Initiative, a key policy to connect trading partners along the ancient Silk Road. With the initiative, the central government wants to connect the nation with over 65 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe through land and sea routes.

The Belt and Road Initiative is going to rebalance global production, consumption and wealth. Hong Kong can participate to its advantage only if it is prepared. We have many competitors aiming at the connector role. For example, Yunnan and Guangxi are designated as the connecting landmass between Southeast Asia and China. Their educational institutions also produce talents that speak Asian languages.

Super-connector is an empty slogan. What Hong Kong needs now is a concrete strategy, and the necessary resources to execute it.