The list of first impressions on perusing the Asia Tatler 500 list:
- 94.3% of the wielders of the greatest power and influence in Hong Kong are people you have never heard of;
- this includes a significant number of spouses, kids and siblings who are, if anything, even less familiar than the rest;
- surprisingly few of our wielders of the greatest power and influence might passably be described as physically attractive, and indeed many have the misfortune to be unsightly;
- 99% of wielders of the greatest power and influence have such stunningly blissful marriages that they leave the other 1%’s absence of marital details all the more mystifying and noticeable;
- roughly speaking, for every figure with known achievements to their credit, there are two sleazeballs, three shoeshiners, five layabouts, seven bimbos and a couple of dozen total nonentities.
The list of highlights from the Asia Tatler 500 list:
- a female SPCA supporter “known as Bobo to her friends”;
- two people whose bigamous marriage to each other is not mentioned;
- a generous number of the apparently “famed” Zimmern sisters;
- Bunny Chan;
- one tycoon’s cheated-upon wife referred to as his “beloved” (and several variants on this theme);
- a woman whose main claim to fame appears to be enjoying time at her private island in Indonesia;
- Audrey Eu, Emily Lau and Christine Loh – the scattering of token women who are neither “elegant”, “beautiful” or “stylish” nor civil servants;
- a lively conversationalist whose main claim to fame is to have agreed to marry someone called Horst Julius Pudwill;
- offspring of same;
- six Harilelas;
- one Cambridge U graduate who, it is commonly known, can barely do his own shoelaces up;
- a woman married to “Citibank’s Kevin”;
- James “fond of boats” Tien;
- one of the apparently “famed” Pao sisters;
- a man whose terrier won the Best in Show award at the Crufts
dog beauty contest and maintains a renowned Hong Kong stamp collection; - one-meal-a-day fund manager V-Nee Yeh shown with one collar tucked in and one sticking out, clearly not at ease among the assembled company; and, perhaps most distressing of all…
- the Asia Tatler magazine’s own publisher, one Barrie Goodridge. Congrats, Barrie!
The only thing more boring than Hong Kong politics is Hong Kong high society..zzzzz
Twas not always thus, Snorer.
Oh, for the days of Diane Butler and Crystal Li, when Shirley Li had not just “big hair” but “absolutely ginormous hair”, and who could forget dear old Kai Bong & Brenda.
I had already forgotten about Kai Bong & Brenda, so thanks a lot for digging them up again.
The most distressing thing is that I am not on the list.
Mike, you and my friend Fanny Pong seem destined for a date together…
Audrey Eu may not be beautiful, but she is rather elegant. And naturally so, unlike the other rent-a-face, ‘beauty’ parlour victims on the list. And Brenda and Kai Bong were at least up front about their dealings with the media, proffering stuffed lai-see packets to any journo that cared to interview them.
I seem to remember a certain famous HK e-zine had a column called WOOFER OF THE WEEK. I am pleased to see it revived here.
Reading between the lines, it appears that Lily “Chevalier” Chow has fallen off the Hemlock marriage radar screen …
A few faces I know there lol, though there were a couple I thought would be but weren’t. Kinky Ho, Fanny Winky and Pizza Chan (all real names).
How many of those who boast about studying abroad actually finished a formal degree? Better I spose than a free doctorate from Siem Riep State University.
So is the eligible bachelorette Miss Lily Chow of Chevalier fame: a sleazeball, a bimbo, a shoeshiner, a layabout or is she one of the minority with real accomplishments?
One well known character didn’t mention his wife’s name, one of the Harilela’s looks like Jafar from Aladdin, no-one under ‘x’? Give it 5 or 10 years and there will be plenty.
Surprised to see Tsang Tak-sing on there, and even more so to see he studied at HKU. I thought he was denied entry there because of his terrorist activities.
We all know the ‘who’s who’ concept is utter crap but if a publication insists on compiling one can it really do no better than assembling the obvious moneyed and preening class and their useless offspring. Interesting that only 1 out of 500 (Helen Ma) even appears good looking. Obviously despite advances in cosmetic surgery money still can’t buy looks!
Gary Harilela looks like he has just received an extended Dirty Sanchez.
and where is ex-model and ex-banker’s wife Fanny Sit ?
Sharen Lo-Ho, I can’t stop laughing.
“The couple are partial to spending time at their holiday residences.”
Just makes me want to find a gun and a nice wall……
Hari Harilela:
“In 2009, he was honoured with a Grand Bauhinia Medal by the HKSAR government. In 2009, he was a recipient of the Grand Bauhinia Medal.”
Yes, we heard the first time.
Where’s Jackie Chan? The list is bogus.
Jackie Chan made the list of least trustworthy HK’ers at rank no.1
True…
Sorry Baz Goodridge your list is flawed – No Terri Holladay ???
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