AFTER THE RAIN

Hong Kong rises from under the umbrella

Sometime in the middle of September last year, the busy financial district of Hong Kong was left paralysed when more than 10,000 students descended into the area – protesting what they called an encroachment of China’s political will on Hong Kong’s governance.

Collectively called ‘Occupy Central,’ these protests kept growing over the next month, at one point swelling to almost 80,000 protestors, according to some news outlets.

The scenes of students, some still in secondary school, facing off against the city’s uniformed custodians, left many to wonder if the Asian economy’s shining light could slowly dim.

Walking the streets of Wan Chai, which saw some of the most intense protests, on the way to the Asian Financial Forum 2015 (AFF), there was little sign of the unrest that gripped the city only two months ago.

At the forum itself, which is now in its eight year, it was evident that the community of more than 2,000 investors, private equity players, high net-worth individuals, and senior consulting and financial services professionals believed that the protests were but a minor blimp in the successful economic story that is Hong Kong.

DENTED BUT NOT DAMAGED

A senior executive with a professional services firm in Hong Kong, who requested to be anonymous, said that the protests were unnerving but the somewhat-peaceful resolution of the protests has calmed the business community in the city.

“With the protesters blocking the financial district, of course it was not an issue that we could just overlook and go about thinking it is work as usual,” he says. “The protests were new to us… Hong Kong is an intense, politically aware city but it had never seen protests at such a mass scale.”

However, he does not believe that the protests have turned the global financial and business community away from Hong Kong. “I think that it would continue to be a major centre of trade and you will continue to see it rise in conjunction with the growth of the larger Asian economies.”

“I believe that the leadership would take necessary action to assuage both the city’s young demographic and the community of businessmen who are behind its economic engine.”