Category Archives: Reviews

After recent months of mouth-frothing, hair-tearing, screeching and ranting about the South China Sea, the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands and Liu Xiaobo’s Nobel Peace Prize, Beijing freaks out about being accused of freaking out. This phenomenon of a grim, insecure and overly … Continue reading →

You’ve heard all about the famines, the lack of fuel, the labour camps, the social regimentation and other horrors. You’ve read about the starving roaming the country, the bodies in the streets and the illicit cross-border traffic with China. You … Continue reading →

As befits a city long known for the multitude of North Britons among its merchants, bankers, investors, law enforcement officers, hoteliers and, at one time, governors, Hong Kong is now home to a tartan-tinged magazine – A Broad Scot, a … Continue reading →

Among Hong Kong’s many claims to fame – along with the world’s highest per-capita consumption of oranges, or the extreme ratio of suicides to road deaths – is the fact that its country’s ruling party does not officially operate within … Continue reading →

A lot of Hong Kong’s restaurants, especially in the more central areas, are characterless and insipid.  They and (unconsciously) the customers are playing a game: I’ll pretend I’m a real, up-market and stylish establishment, and you pretend to think the … Continue reading →

There is a particular type of Westerner who works in Hong Kong educational institutions and is, or becomes, mentally unhinged.  There was the lecturer who fought a years-long battle with his college and the government in an attempt to prove … Continue reading →

JD Salinger took reclusiveness to the point where it became pretentious and tiresome; he almost became more renowned for his determined invisibility than for his literary output.  Maybe this is because he never actually wrote much – it would be … Continue reading →

It is unlikely that anyone will buy this tome for themselves; it is expensive and not exactly useful.  But of course that makes it an ideal gift, either to give or receive, which is probably why it is appearing just … Continue reading →

It is unlikely that many people will want this small book, which is just as well since it must be difficult to find.  It was recently published by the author’s widow, perhaps primarily for circulation among family and friends, but … Continue reading →

Some time in mid-2003, I was at an otherwise forgettable lunch/speech gathering in a big hotel ballroom.  Sitting opposite me at the round table of 10 was the rotund and garrulous Mike Rowse, boss of InvestHK, the Big Lychee’s inward … Continue reading →