Death of a Hong Kong businessman

Because of the recall of made-in-china toys by US toy giant Mattel, a HK businessman, whose factory manufactures bulks of these recalled toys, could not foot the bill and committed suicide in his factory in Foshan, Guangdong province, China. The toys are found to contain toxic lead paint.

According to new reports, the businessman Cheung Shu-hung, 50, was deceived by his good friend in China, who supplied him with the toxic lead paint, a fake plastic pigment. As a result of the recall, he was left with a HK$200,000,000 (US$3M) debt.

The man was greatly missed by his employees, who said he was a kind boss. It is reported that he made sure his employees had their pay-check before killing himself.

I am saddened by the tragedy. Hong Kong businessmen/women are among the first group of people going into China to do business, who contribute in a big way to bridging China to the world. Many of them set up factories as early as 20 years ago in the Pearl River Delta, especially in places like Foshan and Dongguan. But now they are facing an uncertain future and a dim prospect because of the changing environment. The rising labour cost, the unstable electricity supply, the higher environmental standard and miscellaneous charges imposed by the local government, and the culling of the tax benefits, are just some of the factors leading to their predicament.

Adding to this is the human factor - you can be cheated even by your so called good friend, who like so many others in China, can provide you with fake products. Also, to do business in China, you have to take care of things like connection and corruption.

The odds are turning against HK businessmen/women. They have done so much to help China open its door to the world, but now, it seems, the country is turning itself against them.

The death of Cheung tells it all.