Sir David Tang: Remembering a Remarkable Man

finews.asia's Tom King first met Sir David Tang more than 20 years ago. He writes of scouring Hong Kong's gritty back streets together with the wealthy businessman and socialite as he began distributing Cuban cigars in Asia.

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I heard him before I met him: a volley of expletives echoed in the spacious marble-clad lobby of what was then called The Connaught Centre, now Jardine House. I hoped they weren’t for me, or a taste of what was to come. He had a tough reputation. I was meeting David Tang, more commonly known to most people these days as Sir David Tang, of course.

The Hong Kong businessman sold his Shanghai Tang fashion empire to Swiss luxury goods firm Richemont in 1998. Tang went on to launch a furnishings brand aimed at China's burgeoning middle class, open several retro-chic China Clubs, pen a weekly «agony uncle» column for the «Financial Times» and write a book on modern manners. Along the way, he made friends with everyone from Kate Moss to Queen Elizabeth.

«Scheduling took weeks, and he let me know how important it was»

His recent untimely death caught me by surprise. It is always the same when a person who is larger than life departs this world: hard to imagine they are not going to be around anymore especially when it is someone you knew. It made me think of one of the times our paths crossed.

It summed him up in many ways. In my memory it was 1991, I looked out our business cards from that time recently; sure enough there was no email or web address. Mobile phones were also not the ubiquitous tools they are today.

I was working for The First Pacific Group in Hong Kong, where I specialized in leasing, buying and selling industrial property and warehouses. Not as glamorous as working with the shiny commercial buildings overlooking the famous harbor, but the real wealth was being created inside the industrial buildings back then. We were thrown together out of necessity: Tang needed help in finding a special storage facility and I wanted the commission for the deal! It had taken weeks to organize a few hours out of his schedule to come with me and inspect some potential sites for his latest venture and he let me know how important it was.

«He was «ho ma faan» – too much trouble – for my Chinese colleagues

Having heard of his mercurial temper, I was intimidated but met him head-on. The fact that my local Chinese colleagues had all volunteered not to take on this business as the person involved was «ho ma faan» in Cantonese - too much trouble – also left me as his only choice.

David Tang had become a high-profile entrepreneur in Hong Kong, he was regularly featured in all the social magazines. One of his new ventures was importing Cuban cigars, since Hong Kong as the laissez-faire centre of trade had no issues with Cuban merchandise. The communist neighbors to the north weren’t going to object either.

As I drove him through the industrial heartlands of Kwai Chung, Tsuen Wan and Cheung Sha Wan he told me in his perfect clipped English accent that he needed a small warehouse which had to be dehumidified. He told me his budget, and he told me he wanted it right way.

My fingers gripped the steering wheel increasingly tightly – I knew none of his wants could be achieved and his budget was perhaps based on a Cuban currency indicator. This was Kowloon, where even shabby storage was expensive.

«His ebullient and outgoing mood darkened as the zeros added up»

Tang also made me laugh a lot though with his observations and blunt language as we drove further away from the central business district and deeper into the gritty reality of then heavily-polluted and toxic industrial areas. In some ways he seemed to relax and let down his guard, enjoying the time with hard-working ordinary Hong Kong people.

His ebullient, outgoing and supremely confident manner changed dramatically however as we started to tour the warehouse facilities and he began to realize his new business aspirations would need to be revisited.

To the blue-collar workers and laborers assisting us, we made a funny combination. Tang was a tall, elegant and composed local Chinese man dressed in hand-cut Saville Row pinstripes. I was a perspiring and flustered Caucasian wearing a cheap, baggy Hong Kong-made suit. I spoke better Cantonese than he did, and his English language skills totally outclassed mine.

«Wrestled out best deal he could, and then some»

Every time someone spoke to us about his requirements, another few zeros were added to the start-up costs. I had to tell him that what he needed was a bonded warehouse, an air-conditioned, temperature-controlled environment, with round-the-clock security. His budget would have to double or even triple.

I could tell from the furrows in his brow as it became clear to him during the inspections that this business venture he had committed to was turning out to be more problematic than he had initially thought.

He wasn’t happy, and didn’t disguise it as his voice raised and the air turned blue in the car on the way back to his office – but not with cigar smoke. From our engagement though it was clear he was a determined and driven man. He met the problems head on and wrestled out the best deal he could, and then some.

We did several more trips which were equally educational and enjoyable for me more than him I am sure. The next time I saw David Tang was on the bustling bridge across Connaught Road. He was then soon to open his Cohiba Cigar Divan shop in The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, and The Pacific Cigar Company had been born.

Tom King is the managing director of finews.asia. The Edinburgh-born executive has more than 20 years of experience in the wealth management, trust and legal sectors as well as commercial real estate and financial journalism. King has been in Asia for more than 25 years, the last 10 of which in Singapore. He joined finews.asia two years ago.