+24. Lee Wai-ming works as an accountant, but his. A new spin. For Lee Wai-ming, nothing beats ping pong diplomacy when it comes to doing business

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1 +24 Success ingredient: table tennis A new spin For Lee Wai-ming, nothing beats ping pong diplomacy when it comes to doing business By Cookie Micaller Photography by Brian Ching Lee Wai-ming works as an accountant, but his life involves another strikingly different world: table tennis. In fact, his friends nicknamed him Klampar after the Hungarian table tennis superstar Tibor Klampar because both play with a powerful backhand and produce wicked spins off their paddles. I love table tennis. If I did not study accounting, maybe I would have been a table tennis coach, says Lee, who started as an audit clerk in the late 1980s and now runs his own consulting firm. Even now that I am a CPA, I haven t left table tennis. I fly to places where there are competitions. Lee s entry into table tennis, an Olympic sport since 1988, began with a dare. A proud primary school classmate and ping pong player once challenged him and said, You cannot beat me, ever. Lee fumed but could not afford any equipment. Luckily, he later stumbled on a set of racquets and a net in a scrapheap on the streets. I practised hard and got better and better, Lee recalls. Later on, he fell in love with the game and earned a spot in the varsity team of Lingnan University. Lee had the opportunity to cross racquets with two of the world s best ping pong players China s Wang Liqin (three times winner of the World Championship and a bronze medallist in the 2004 Olympics) and Kong Linghui (the 2000 Olympic gold medallist) in 1994 when the pair visited Hong Kong to train the city s table tennis players. Over the years, Lee won, among other trophies, the Labour Union Cup Hong Kong Open in 1991 and the Hong Kong Sports Festival in 1992 and He was three times first runner-up in the annual age-graded Hong Kong Open Championship and reached the quarterfinals of the prestigious Shanghai Open in China in A licensed table tennis coach, Lee says he is most proud to have taught a 12-year-old girl from Shanghai back in 1998 who won in a European tournament in 2006 and was seeded number 13 in the under 21-world ranking of the International Table Tennis Federation as of December Over the years, Lee has gathered a treasure trove of mementoes a yellow jersey souvenir shirt signed by Jan-Ove Waldner, the Mozart of table tennis and a legend in his native Sweden and in China, and a top-ofthe-line racquet given to him by Belarusian table tennis star, Vladimir Samsonov, who played in the recent World Team Table Tennis Championships in Guangzhou. Like the groundbreaking table tennis diplomacy between the United States and China from a bygone era, Lee has parlayed his shot-making prowess into business deals. The sport, he says, is common ground in Hong Kong and China and brings numerous benefits to his firm, which offers auditing and consulting services to Shenzhen and Hong Kong companies. Now, Hong Kong is part of China and every businessman has to do business with China. When I talk about table tennis in China, they just love it. I play with senior government officials from the tax department, finance department, the military and lawyers. Last June, I was the training coach for the police force in Shenzhen but I didn t do it for the money, just for goodwill. Lee says table tennis is good training for accounting work. During auditing, it makes me become more detailed-oriented in my work. I become more patient. In the auditor s report, if you overlook one little thing, the effect is very, very big. Table tennis made me a strong person, not physically, but mentally. I feel more complete, he says. [ 24 ] A Plus + August 2008

2 Lee Wai-ming, who runs his own firm, Power Consulting Ltd., says table tennis is a good training ground for accounting work. August A Plus [ 25 ]

3 Success ingredient: equestrian Beyond racing Nicholas Tan hopes Hong Kongers will come to appreciate horse riding as more than a race, writes Howard Tang Photography by Brian Ching [ 26 ] A Plus + August 2008

4 Horse racing is one of Hong Kong people s favourite past-times, along with mahjong and eating so much so that it has almost become an obsession. But what about the sport of horse riding? Apparently, not too many people here can tell the difference. And that, Nicholas Tan says, is the biggest battle he and others involved in the Hong Kong Equestrian Federation s Olympic committees had to fight in turning the city into China s equine capital. We had to educate the Hong Kong public about the difference between horse racing and horse riding, the Deloitte audit partner tells A Plus. Tan first learned how to ride horses as a young boy on a Danish farm while on family vacation and is now a leisure rider. Because of his interest in horses and accounting skills, he got involved in 2005 with the sub-committee in charge of promoting the Olympic 2008 equestrian events in Hong Kong. Although he deals with numbers daily, Tan says handling a marketing budget for the Hong Kong equestrian events was different and more taxing, especially the time-consuming tender processes, where bidders had to be assessed individually on price and technical competence. We were given a budget and we had to make sure everything would fit within it, he says. Fortunately, with the government s help, the sub-committee was able to plan the budget, which he declined to disclose, in great detail and met its target. Hong Kong will host dressage, jumping and eventing on 9 to 11 August in Shatin and Beas River in the New Territories. Dressage is often dubbed equestrian ballet as the horse must perform set movements or freestyle to music. Jumping requires the horse to clear a series of obstacles and eventing combines dressage, cross-country and jumping. The promotion sub-committee, comprising two full-time and six part-time members, went all out to interest Hong Kongers in the events and the Olympic Games taking road shows to schools, opening to the public a riding school in the New Territories, and staging a weekend carnival at Happy Valley. Judging by the numbers, the carnival, which attracted at least 5,000 people, including journalists, celebrities and district councillors, had the biggest impact, Tan says. Another high note in the marketing blitz was bringing the horses and riders to schools. Sending riding experts on road shows to the schools was also useful because it gave the kids a chance to meet with real horse riders and not horse racers. It also showed them a different side of horses, he says. With his hectic schedule as an audit partner at a Big Four fi rm, how has Tan found the time to be so involved with such a gargantuan project? Tan says his involvement in the Olympics allowed him to do something different and as accountants, we are experts at juggling our schedules. August A Plus [ 27 ] Projector photo: Tom Shaw/Getty Images

5 +28 Success ingredient: dragon boat CPAs are attracted to the traditional Chinese sport because of its emphasis on teamwork. (From left) Eric Wong, director, Human Resources Management Association; Zelinda Ng, Asia Pacific CFO, Equity Trust Group; and Sam Yuen, internal audit manager, Giant Wireless Technology Ltd. [ 28 ] A Plus + August 2008

6 United we stand Three accountants tell Howard Tang why they are so committed to dragon boating Photography by Brian Ching At first glance, accountancy and dragon boating may seem worlds apart. So what drives a team of busy accountants to be so passionate about the sport that they are willing to endure grueling training for it every week? Sam Yuen, internal audit manager at Giant Wireless Technology Ltd. and member of the Institute s dragon boat team, says he is attracted to the traditional Chinese sport because of its emphasis on teamwork, much like accountants work in the office. Racers may be fit and very strong but if they are not in sync with the team, they may do more harm than good, says Yuen, who started paddling in 2002 while living in Sydney and joined the Institute s team a year later. There is no other sport that I can think of where individualism doesn t exist at all. Zelinda Ng, another team member and Asia Pacific CFO at Equity Trust Group, agrees with Yuen. There is no me in dragon boat. Team spirit is very important. Ng took up the sport after the 2003 SARS epidemic in Hong Kong, which prompted many Hong Kongers to rethink how to lead a healthier lifestyle. I wanted to do something outdoors so I figured spending time in the ocean would be a great option, Ng says. She was not disappointed and has now become addicted to the serenity and joy of being out on the water. The Institute s dragon boat team has grown every year since 2001, according to Eric Wong, a director at Human Resources Management Association and convenor of the dragon boat interest group. The team now has close to 50 members and regularly participates in the men s boat and mixed boat races in Hong Kong. Dragon boat racing is gaining prominence in the international sports scene after being designated as an official sporting event in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. Here in Hong Kong, its growing popularity as a team sport may be attributed to an annual season of races lasting four to five months, usually from February to June. The Hong Kong Tourism Board has also heavily promoted dragon boating because Hong Kong is one of a few Southern Chinese cities that are near the coast and have kept the tradition alive. Dragon boating is a hidden treasure of Hong Kong, says Yuen. For the Institute s dragon boat team, training is tough, lasting two hours every Sunday. This season, the team held additional practices on Wednesday nights. But members persistence and hard-work paid off, given the collection of silverware the team bagged this season: second place in the Stanley Dragon Boat Association Warm-up Races mixed category and third place in the men s category, and fourth place in the International Dragon Boat Competition mixed plate category (second division). We hope to do even better next season, Ng says. August A Plus [ 29 ]