“Macau is a place where legends are born, [where] the stories are written,” said Matthew Marsh when describing how Hong Kong’s parallel SAR has impacted the world of motorsport. 

Marsh never holds back when sharing his insights with the Club’s motorsport enthusiasts at the annual Formula One themed lunches. However, his most recent Club Lunch to preview November’s Macau Grand Prix was alongside Dr. Philip Newsome, a former HKU Professor of Dentistry who has spent the past 33 years writing and photographing the Macau Grand Prix. Dr. Newsome has also authored several books on the event, including Macau Grand Prix: Photographs 1954-2023, which was published earlier this year. 

Photographs from Philip’s latest work were also featured on the FCC’s Hugh Van Es Wall for the entire month of November — coinciding with the 71^st Macau Grand Prix and this fully-booked Club Lunch on the eve of the event. 

Like Marsh, Dr. Newsome agreed that the Macau Grand Prix is like no other motor race and is one of the most high profile events for up and coming drivers, many who have competed and benefited substantially from a good performance round the daunting streets of Macau. 

“If they win, they have to be good. But winning in Macau isn’t just about talent, it requires a lot of luck .There are many great drivers who’ve raced in Macau and haven’t won it, but have gone on to great things,” he said, citing the examples of multiple Formula One champions Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen who put in hugely impressive performances in Macau but failed to take the winner’s spoils. 

Marsh and Newsome also discussed how they initially discovered the Macau Grand Prix. 

Marsh had often heard about the race during his own racing career in the UK, but he never considered attending — and racing there himself — until he moved to Hong Kong. Through contacts made by visiting the event, he eventually found a drive in one of the support events and went on to become a regular competitor there. Marsh experienced the highs and lows of this most demanding of circuits, winning the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia championship in 2004 at the final round in Macau but also surviving a first corner crash which took out much of the field a couple of years later. 

For Dr. Newsome, he had frequented motorsport events in Europe before moving to Hong Kong and attending his first Macau Grand Prix in 1985, yet he felt that the viewing experience wasn’t fun enough. Not having the ability to be a successful driver, he figured that pictures and writing were his ticket to a better seat. 

“Sitting in the stand is fine, but it can get a bit boring. And I thought, ‘I want to be over there. I want to be where the action is,’” he said, referencing the activity in the pit lane and garages.

His early ventures into motor sport journalism included interviewing Sir Stirling Moss at his home in London, initiated by the fact that Sir Stirling’s father had not just been a competitive racer but also a dentist working out of a mobile surgery in bomb ravaged wartime London. Newsome has also penned the biography of Teddy Yip, the Macau casino mogul who went on to successfully run racing teams all over the world.   

To watch the full discussion, please visit the FCC’s YouTube channel:

Henry Steiner moved to Hong Kong in 1961 and only intended to stay for nine months at his job as a graphic designer for The Asia Magazine. Finding Hong Kong full of more career opportunities than New York City or other popular destinations for designers, he stayed and ultimately became the “Father of Hong Kong Design” for his work with some of the city’s most recognizable brands. Visuals for Cathay Pacific, HSBC, Hong Kong Jockey Club, Standard Chartered, Wellcome, and many more companies have all come to life through Steiner’s creativity.

Zolima CityMag, a local publication that covers Hong Kong culture, recently published the first volume of its new series Zolima Culture Guide. This first edition features the city’s history through the work of Steiner and the cultural legacy of his designs.

At an FCC Club Lunch attended by Steiner himself, the two writers behind Zolima Culture Guide – Henry Steiner’s Hong Kong sat down with Correspondent Board Governor Jennifer Jett to talk about their new book and how the legendary graphic designer’s work influenced their own lives.

“From the very beginning, we didn’t want to do a biography of Henry Steiner or even a catalogue of his work. It was the story of Hong Kong through his work,” said Christopher DeWolf, who has been writing about the city’s architecture, culture, design, and history for over 20 years.

During the talk, DeWolf explained Steiner’s history in Hong Kong and how his designs were originally formed. Steiner had already arrived with the idea to express himself creatively while still preserving a deep respect and care for local culture, which led to his unique take on blending Western and Chinese visuals in his work.

While “East meets West” concepts have been used by previous designers, Steiner’s work stands out in that he highlighted the extreme differences between each and combined them in unique ways.

“We’re talking about Henry’s perspective as an outsider, somebody who could interpret Chinese characters without even being able to read [them], and yet being able to articulate [their] nuance[s] as a symbol,” said Billy Potts, the co-author of Henry Steiner’s Hong Kong.

Like DeWolf, Potts is also a writer covering Hong Kong’s design heritage. During the talk, he explained that he was a huge fan of Steiner’s designs when starting off with his own design works.

In his first interviews with Steiner, Potts said, he worried that the famed designer wasn’t giving him enough to work with. But upon reflection, Potts realized that Steiner was speaking about himself through the lens of Hong Kong’s design and how he fits into this specific part of the city’s history. It’s this specific angle that helped Potts and DeWolf write the book.

In Potts’ opinion, Steiner’s work, especially the media work he did for various magazines early on in his career, is not just about design, but communication as well. Potts went on to say that every designer in Hong Kong can, at some point, be linked back to Steiner.

“You can see from all of this how Henry is a focal point for design and communication in Hong Kong. If we were — and it wouldn’t take long — to seek out any creative person in Hong Kong, any designer, you wouldn’t have to push very far before you realize that it connects back with Henry,” he said.

Henry Steiner still lives in Hong Kong to this day, over 60 years after his arrival. If one were to walk through Kowloon, much like the walks Steiner, Potts, and DeWolf took when in the process of writing the book, Steiner’s influence is apparent in everything from signs and billboards to bus ads — ultimately shaping daily life in Hong Kong.

“Over 60 years, if you look at all the projects that Henry Steiner has worked on, you’re understanding the story of Hong Kong and how this thing has evolved through the years. That’s what I think makes his work so interesting,” DeWolf said.

From October 21-25, Hong Kong hosted its 2024 StartmeupHK Festival in efforts to boost local investment and interest in the city’s start-up ecosystem. With such government-led initiatives and local leaders’ praise for the city’s supportive environment, one may have the impression that Hong Kong is doing everything it can to support start-up businesses and their founders.

However, three experienced founders believe otherwise.

Coinciding with the 2024 StartmeupHK Festival, the FCC held a Club Lunch panel with three founders with decades of experience — Jordan Kostelac, founder of Deploy; Arthur Lam, founder and CEO of Zero2; and Ryan Manuel, founder and CEO of Bilby.ai.

All three panellists shared their views on how Hong Kong is performing as a start-up hub and how the city can change its strategy and mindset to better aid in-need founders.

Lam first pointed out that a few decades ago, Hong Kong had virtually no competition when it came to start-up markets. Now, the city is in fierce competition with cities such as Shenzhen and Singapore and increasingly, other major cities across Asia.

“That is the problem — we didn’t have to compete with anyone else 20 years ago. Obviously now, we cannot have the same mindset,” Lam said.

Coinciding with Lam’s views were that of Kostelac, who also believed that Hong Kong should expand its interests and variety of start-ups in order to create a more supportive environment.

“This market, Hong Kong, as a capital market, urgently needs to diversify and needs to be capital allocated. That’s the only identity that makes sense. Building close to Shenzhen and hoping we become the center of tech doesn’t work,” Kostelac said.

Manuel also commented on Hong Kong’s overall desire to be the centre of multiple initiatives, not just start-up companies. In his opinion, he feels that the city should focus on key industries versus trying to be the best at everything.

“How do we make something the best in the world? Pick something and just go for it,” Manuel said.

The trio also discussed the complications in how founders acquire funding for their start-ups, local start-up hubs like Cyberport and Science Park, and how to discern serious start-up founders and investors from superficial opportunists.

To watch the full discussion, please visit the FCC’s YouTube channel: