Scottish Region
Events in the Scottish region are organised by Fiona Lauder.
Summer Luncheon - Friday 23rd June 2023
It was a dull and rather miserable day for this year’s summer gathering which was, once again (by popular demand!) held in Bijou in the Leith area of Edinburgh. An excellent menu of the best seasonal choices had been prepared by owner, James Harrison, and his first-class chef. To accompany a number of the items on the menu, James’s wine supplier had matched a selection of wines. And that very wine supplier was on hand to take us on a guided tour of her wine choices whilst we all perused the menu. Needless to say, both food and wine were very much appreciated! Just under twenty members and their guests attended what proved to be a jolly afternoon of delightful food and enjoyable company: a celebration of the previous day’s Dragon Boat Festival, and also a celebration of the birthday of long-time Society member, Cecilia Thompson.
2022
Given that the planned Chinese New Year event in early February had to be cancelled because of Scottish Government Covid regulations, the first Scottish Region’s gathering this year took place on 22 April to coincide (sort of) with The Ching Ming Festival. Lindsay Jones joined members and guests for a sumptuous Chinese feast at The Loon Fung restaurant in the Canonmills area of Edinburgh.
A World Forum for Foreign Investment Conference was held in Edinburgh from 9 to 11 May. One of the major sponsors of this meeting was InvestHK and it was at the invitation of InvestHK that members were able to attend a drinks reception, held at The Edinburgh City Chambers, on the final day of the conference. The reception was a huge success and allowed members to enjoy a delightful evening of socialising and networking. Again, Lindsay managed to whizz up to Edinburgh to attend this event.
The sunshine was out in strength for the annual summer luncheon on Friday 10 June. This year, the get-together was held at Bijou, a fabulous local eatery in the Leith area of Edinburgh. An excellent turnout of members and guests tucked into a superb lunch and enjoyed an interesting and informative after-lunch talk by the guest speaker, Andrew Davis, Head of Investment Promotion at InvestHK. The ensuing Q&A session was followed by some lively debate, so much so that the afternoon moved with ease into the early evening!
Fiona Duong was in town to attend the summer lunch. What a delight! And Lindsay was in Edinburgh for various meetings which made it possible for her to add the lunch to her busy schedule……and I am pleased to announce that the ‘official’ photographer actually remembered to take some photographs of the occasion!
2021
I am more than delighted to report that we managed to hold two events, both in Edinburgh, which took place during slightly relaxed Scottish Government COVID restrictions: one at the end of September, the other at the beginning of December.
The former was an exhibition outing to China – Through the Lens of John Thomson, 1868 – 1872, at Heriot-Watt University on the evening of 30 September. The thrill of the evening was that we were treated to a special introduction to and guided tour of the exhibition by the curator, Betty Yao.
Despite the rather out-of-the way location and the awful weather, members and their friends rallied round and enjoyed a hugely informative talk, and an exceptional exhibition! It was also good to welcome Lindsay Jones who had managed to squeeze in a visit to Edinburgh into her busy schedule.
The latter was a festive lunch which took place at The Raeburn in trendy Stockbridge. A jolly afternoon of good food and wine, and excellent company was the order of the day, and was the perfect start to the run-up to the festive season.
August Luncheon 2021
The sun was streaming in through the windows of the clubhouse dining-room of The Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society, the temperature was well into the 20s, the tables were set with crisp napery and gleaming silverware so all was set for the first gathering of the Scottish Membership since the last pre-lockdown, festive-season celebration in December 2019…..an absolute age ago!
Twenty-two members and guests attended the event which, from the word-go, went off with a bang. I rather suspect this was because everyone had been starved of socializing for months and months on end.
The golf club pulled out all the stops serving a rather good lunch, and those members not driving were able to enjoy the club’s rather good wine list!
The occasion provided Roy Dewar with the opportunity, finally and formally, to hand over the Baton of Convenor to me: the actual informal handover had taken place in an Edinburgh coffee shop in February 2020 when, little did we know at that time, there would be an imposed gap of seventeen months between the two events!
We were all delighted that Lindsay Jones just happened to be in town and free to join the party. She was able to provide us with an overview to the forthcoming Society’s planned events: a great interest to those present. In addition, Lindsay was able to meet and chat to members informally and, at long last, she and I were able to meet.
A jolly afternoon was had by everyone, underlined by the fact that lunch did not come to an end until almost five o’clock!
Summer Lunch - Tuesday 27th August 2019
On the 27th August we held our latest Regional Lunch in Edinburgh.
The lunch was at the Mansion House at Edinburgh Zoo which was a new venue for the Society and 37 members and guests were in attendance. We were very lucky to have Lindsay Jones, the recently appointed Executive Director of the Society as our speaker. Lindsay updated us on her ideas for the future of the Society and gave us a summary of the current unstable situation in Hong Kong which is of concern to all of us who have lived and worked in that great City. Her address was very well received and we hope Lindsay can attend one of our future events. She will be very welcome.
The lunch was a relaxed event and the caterers did their best to provide good service and tasty food. At one stage your correspondent wondered whether we were taking part in A Fawlty Towers show at the Edinburgh Fringe as the tea and coffee were served before the dessert! All was well in the end and I think it is fair to say that we all had a good time.
Once again a big thank you to Lindsay and to you all for being there.
Summer Luncheon, Friday 15th July 2016
I am pleased to say that the Scottish Region of the Hong Kong Society continues to be well supported and I would like to thank our members for their attendance at our events.
On 15th July, 2016 we had a very successful lunch at the Royal Overseas League in Edinburgh. 45 people attended the lunch and our speaker, Andrew McRae spoke to us about his experience of setting up a retail shop in the very competitive environment of Central Hong Kong. Andrew is CEO and Founder of Museum Context Ltd and has 2 successful shops in the Royal Mile area of Edinburgh. His speech was both entertaining and informative and was very well received. On this occasion we decided to vary from our normal lunch format and the Club put on an excellent Malaysian style curry buffet.Our members seemed to enjoy the change and I noticed that many of the attendees visited the buffet more than once! I am very happy to report that there was still plenty of food left so nobody was left wanting.
Our next event will be our Annual pre Christmas Chinese lunch at Saigon, Saigon in December 2016; a final date will be fixed for this shortly and the members advised accordingly. I had considered a change of venue but when I raised this at our last lunch I was left in no doubt that our Scottish members would prefer to return to Saigon, Saigon. I am pleased to confirm, therefore, that we will do so.
As I write this we are well into September but the temperature remains very acceptable so I am hopeful that our winter will not be too severe and I wish you all well and look forward to seeing you in December.
Summer Luncheon - Friday 26th June 2015
Our first luncheon of the year was held at the Royal Overseas League on Friday 26th June 2015. On this occasion we had 38 attendees which we considered to be a good turnout at this time of year. A fine lunch was served and the company was very convivial.
On this occasion I decided that I would bore the members with an account of my time in Hong Kong, on the subject of Banking in Hong Kong in the 1980s.and early 1990s. During that time we experienced a Bank Run which is something I would not like to see again but, it was a very important lesson in life and people's values, and it was very interesting to see how our staff responded to a crisis. It was also a very interesting time to be a Senior Banker in Hong Kong and I was pleased to be able to share some of my experiences with the members.
The talk appeared to go down well and we managed to stick to the allotted time so, all in all, another successful Scottish luncheon.
Our next event will be our Annual Chinese Xmas Luncheon at Saigon, Saigon and I look forward to seeing you all there.
Christmas Luncheon - Thursday 11th December 2014
We had a very pleasant and successful lunch on the 11th December 2014 at Saigon, Saigon in Edinburgh. Despite severe winter weather on the day, 40 members and guests attended and the food met the usual high standard we have become accustomed to. This event has become a favourite of the Scottish members of the Society as it allows us to get together in a fairly informal environment and to meet up with lots of old friends. In addition the value for money is excellent and the range and quality of dishes is very good. We also have an additional attraction in Edinburgh now as the vastly over budget, and much delayed tram project, is successfully running and there is a stop very close to the restaurant.
For 2015 it is my intention to have a luncheon with a speaker in May/June 2015 and as soon as details are finalised I will advise all of our members. The other event will be our December luncheon at Saigon, Saigon which as I have already said is a favourite of our members. At our December 2014 lunch we had a brief discussion regarding the number of events we hold in Scotland and it was felt very strongly by those present we should continue with our 2 events each year.
We shall be following the progress of the new North East of England branch with interest and, where possible, we may be able to help each other out. If any members from other parts of the UK wish to attend any of our events they are, of course, extremely welcome and we would love to see you.
In finishing I wish all our members a very successful and healthy 2015.
Summer Luncheon - Wednesday 18th June 2014
The Scottish Region organised a joint luncheon with the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London on Wednesday 18th June 2014 at the Royal Overseas League in Edinburgh.
45 members and guests attended the lunch including some senior members of the business community in Scotland. We were lucky enough to be addressed by Erica Ng, Director General of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade office in London, who gave a very interesting talk on Hong Kong's importance as an International Finance Centre. The figures she quoted were very encouraging and showed that Hong Kong continues to occupy a pivotal role in the International Finance area. It was enlightening for our members to hear how quickly and efficiently major projects can be completed in Hong Kong, particularly when the Edinburgh trams project , which had been recently completed, took so long and was way over budget. I am sure the Chairman of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, who was in attendance, was impressed by the Hong Kong figures.
The lunch was a great success and the Royal Overseas League looked after us very well and I would like to express my sincere thanks to Erica for taking the time out of a busy schedule to attend the event.
Our next Scottish event will be our usual Xmas Chinese lunch in early December and I will advise all our members of the details in October.
In the meantime I wish all members a pleasant Autumn and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in December.