In Pictures: The Inaugural Catalyst Series Event, Featuring Bernard Chan

On August 26, we hosted the inaugural event of The Catalyst Series. 

The series’ mission is to catalyse the impact of entrepreneurs on the Gen.T List. Each event features a guest speaker, a leader in their field, who provides actionable insights that Gen.T honourees can take back to their business. 

Taking place over a private lunch in Tatler House Hong Kong, the event also offers attendees an opportunity to learn through open discussion with their peers as well as experts from J.P. Morgan Private Bank, with whom we have co-organised the series.

The inaugural event featured Bernard Chan, president of Asia Financial Holdings and convenor of Hong Kong’s Executive Council.

Multiple topics were covered over a lively lunch, including why adversity is the mother of invention, how to get widespread adoption for new ideas, the importance of storytelling in every aspect of business, and the social responsibility of entrepreneurs to help the next generation.

Attendees at the inaugural lunch included Danny Yeung, co-founder of medtech company Prenetics; Fred Ngan, co-founder of digital insurer Bowtie; Fiona Lau, co-founder of e-commerce platform Shopline; Crystal Pang, co-founder of logistics provider Pickupp; and Arthur Lam, co-founder of green engineering startup Negawatt.

Chan also candidly discussed his struggle with health problems when he was younger, and shared how they changed his perspective on life. “Adversity is where hope and opportunity comes from,” he said.

The group also discussed strategies to turn conflict into coalition, with Chan sharing his experience of being elected to the inaugural Legco as its youngest member, at 33 years old. 

It was a gripping, endlessly fascinating discussion, perhaps best summed up by honouree Arthur Lam, who partway through the lunch exclaimed, “I’m going to get my notebook!”, leaving the table in a hurry and dashing back a moment later to make sure he didn’t miss a moment. 

We are hosting one Catalyst Series event a month for the remainder of the year. If you’re a Gen.T honouree and you’d like to apply to attend, email editor@tatlerasia.com