Teamwork Is Absolutely Everything

As Wah Kwong approaches 70 years since its inception, executive chair hing chao is honouring his family’s legacy while ensuring that the shipping company adapts to an industry which looks remarkably different to that of his forebears.

- Saskia Tillers

Growing up around the family business, founded by his grandfather and run by his father, Hing Chao always knew that a career in shipping was a sure thing if he felt so inclined. With this knowledge that one day he could follow in his forebears’ footsteps, Hing tentatively explored other career options, being determined to forge his own path first and foremost.

“After graduating from Durham University, my father put me through a series of internships with different shipping companies in Hong Kong and Europe, but I wanted to discover my own interests outside of shipping first,” Hing explains. “So that’s what I did. I spent a lot of time with the nomadic hunters in Inner Mongolia working to preserve their culture. Then, relocating back to Hong Kong, my attention was focused on doing similar things with cultural preservation and intangible cultural heritage. I started to build a track record and became known for my work in that space.”

Hing channelled his passion into a major project, founding the Hong Kong Culture Festival in 2015 as a means of preserving and promoting arts and culture in his home city. “As a citizen of Hong Kong, I felt very strongly upon my return in 2006 that most young people don’t really know our history or have a strong sense of cultural identity,” he tells