Keep friends close, bankers closer

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Keep friends close, bankers closer

The Asia expat world is small, and in Hong Kong it is even smaller. Small enough that you often bump into someone you know at the supermarket. So it is not surprising that often people just want to enjoy some anonymity.

A young banker friend of mine is due to be married at the end of the month. So last weekend a group of us decided to have a stag do, with all the shenanigans that it entails. And rather than sticking around Hong Kong, we decided to visit Macau for the weekend. It’s Asia’s own Sin City, after all.

So on Saturday night, a bunch of us went out for a nice dinner which included an endless flow of drinks. But we couldn’t help but notice that we were sharing the restaurant space with another rowdy group — a bunch of women celebrating a bachelorette party. So like any good bankers, we decided to invite the girls to join us for drinks after dinner.

The ladies took us up on our offer, joining us on the terrace as bottles of champagne were ordered.

But much to everyone’s surprise, or dismay perhaps, the women turned out to be a group of financial journalists from Hong Kong, also looking to get away for a weekend of debauchery. Of course, the groom and a few of his friends knew some of the journalists professionally, having held numerous work-related calls and meetings before.

Luckily, as I have learned, if there’s anyone who can drink as much as a banker, it’s a journalist. And with everything off the record, what happened in Macau, stayed in Macau.

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