Editor’s Note
22
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 a feature of just over 100 prominent philanthropists and social-minded entrepreneurs who are driving changes across Asia. This Impact List, along with future instalments planned on culture, dining and style, will eventually form a comprehensive directory of the most important people in the Tatler community.
Well, you can’t say we’re not ambitious. But we’re also taking a smarter approach, tapping into esteemed experts on each subject to ensure our selections are substantive, relevant and, most importantly, interesting. For this, we owe a great debt to the contributions of Ronald Arculli, the former chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, former chairman of Hong Kong Jockey Club and vicechairman of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority; Ruth Shapiro, co-founder and CEO of the Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society; Jean Sung, the head of The Philanthropy Centre, JP Morgan Private Bank; and Kevin
Tan, founder and CEO of Tri-sector Associates.
The resulting feature, with dynamic portraits of the Hong Kong honourees by Alex Maeland, includes inspiring stories of those who have found their true callings in enterprises like animal rescue, in the case of Jill Robinson, or sustainable fashion, like Christina Dean, or social housing, as did Ricky Yu, who quit a high-stakes corporate job to address the city’s enormous housing problem by founding Light Be. For our cover story, Prenetics co-founder Danny Yeung describes how he pivoted from genetic-testing to rapid Covid-19-testing in a bid that, if effective, could enable more travel bubbles and in-person events to resume. In a Q&A with deputy editor Lauren James, Yeung makes clear his expertise is more in commerce than science, though he clearly recognises the enormity of his responsibility at a time when many people have become skeptical of just about everything.
“We’re only testing for Covid; there’s no ulterior motive,” Yeung tells James. “Our tests are not identifiable by name: they use barcodes and only those tested positive are identified.”
Incidentally, at our photo shoot, he wore a T-shirt bearing the insignia of Superman.