All play, no work in Hong Kong summertime

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All play, no work in Hong Kong summertime

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It’s that time of year again. Long balmy evenings filled with cricket on the green, mother buttering homemade cucumber sandwiches, father’s cries of “well done my boy” interrupted only by the skylark. Ah, the great British Summer Time. And as I watch the black rain lashing the window in Hong Kong's first typhoon warning of the season, I feel somewhat misty eyed.

Luckily, this sense of nostalgia is not endemic and the youth of Hong Kong is certainly making the most of our so-called summer. Last week I called round to see an old mate who heads up capital markets at one of the American banks and I was surprised to see his team looking a little thin on the ground.

When I enquired why, I found that one banker had decided to go wakeboarding before work, but having only got to the beach at 8:30am, he had since emailed ahead to say he was unlikely to be in on time.

Another was on his way back from Shek O, where he had been racing his Lamborghini. I hear that 5am on Shek O Road is Hong Kong’s answer to Goodwood’s Festival of Speed.

My friend seemed unperturbed by the tardiness of his syndicate team, even when we returned from lunch to find that they had all crowded around a single desk to watch a basketball match. So much for 24 hour bond desks!

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