Media

Book talk on "The origin of the Hang Seng Index and what you may not know about Hong Kong"

16 Nov 2009

HKU Libraries' Reading Club

Theme Book: The Dragon and the Crown: Hong Kong Memoirs
Speakers : Ms Nicole Kwan, Mr Stanley Kwan
Moderator: Ms Christine Loh (CEO Civic Exchange)
Date : 19 November 2009 (Thursday)
Time : 7:15 pm - 9:00 pm
Venue : Special Collections, 1/F, Main Library, HKU
Language : English
Registration: http://lib.hku.hk/friends/reading_club/bt2009_13.html  

ABOUT THE TALK
November 24, 2009 is the 40th anniversary of the launch of the Hang Seng Index. Stanley Kwan - the architect of the Index - and his niece Nicole Kwan will talk about the Index's origin and what it reflects about Hong Kong's economic development.

In working on the memoirs, Nicole dug into her family's century-long history in Hong Kong, with astonishing discoveries. She will share her findings with the audience: Tang Chi Ngong's large family and his mansion on Gough Street; the flourishing of the yinhao (traditional Chinese banks) in Sheung Wan; the activities of the Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong after the war; the ideological divide that split the family in 1949, and its aftermath...

Christine Loh, who also has a long family history in Hong Kong and has written her own memoir, will share her thoughts and the results of her research for her coming book.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Ms Nicole Kwan
Nicole Kwan has a BA degree from Smith College and MAs from Yale University and the University of Hong Kong. She has worked for international banks in Hong Kong, including Citigroup and Standard Chartered, for over twenty years and now spends her time between Hong Kong and California.

Mr Stanley S. K. Kwan
Stanley S. K. Kwan was born in Hong Kong in 1925 into a traditional Chinese banking family. He attended King's College until the fall of Hong Kong in 1941 and joined the Chinese army as an interpreter for US forces during the war. From 1962 until he retired in 1984, he headed the Research Department in Hang Seng Bank. He launched the
Hang Seng Index in 1969, served on the government's Statistics Advisory Board during 1976-84 and was awarded the Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 1985. He now lives in Toronto, Canada.