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Reflections on leaving Hong Kong

Michael C Markowitz Editor in Chief

There is an old Yiddish saying: "Man plans. God laughs." As the movers pack my family's life into boxes for the long cruise to Boston—for the next eight weeks, my goods will be on a slow boat from China—I can't help but ruminate on this philosophy and the interesting things we are bringing back from Asia. First, the philosophy: In February, for both professional and personal reasons, it became clear that the time was ripe for my family and I to consider returning to the United States. The end of June would mean the end of the lease held by the family occupying my house, my lease in Hong Kong, and the kids' school year. I, therefore, started looking for other opportunities and began to plan for leaving Hong Kong in July, one year before the People's Republic of China arrived. As the end of June approached, there were no suitable opportunities on the radar screen.

"Man plans.

God laughs."

Therefore, making lemonade out of lemons, my wife and I decided that we'd hate to come so close to June 30, 1997, and still miss the transition parties celebrating China's return to rule over Hong Kong—or lamenting Britain's retreat—so we'd stay in Hong Kong until after the transition to Chinese rule. I also sat down with my boss in Hong Kong and mapped out an aggressive publication and career strategy. In line with those revised plans, I set to work on an exciting project that will bear fruit in the coming months. And, on July 1, my wife and kids boarded a flight to the United States to spend the summer visiting friends and family. Naturally, the phone call offering me the opportunity to come back to EDN came on July 2: "Man plans. God laughs."

Something else to laugh at is what we're bringing back from Asia. When I was growing up, my grandfather was a Reagan conservative—even before Reagan made it fashionable. In contrast, my grandfather considered me a radical. Whenever we'd get together, he and I would have discussions that, like most political campaigns, quickly degenerated into mudslinging, negative-ad-filled diatribes. The funny thing is, having spent almost five years in Asia watching and participating in the Asian miracle, I've learned that he was right more often than not.

Ironically, Grandpa passed away during my first weeks in Asia. As a result, he didn't know about the book I'll never publish, Grandpa Would Be Proud, about my conversion from liberalism to a somewhat right-of-center conservatism. And, because this column appears in a technology journal, it is appropriate to incorporate the knowledge of Asia and its engineers I am bringing back.

I left the United States in February 1992 with the naive and chauvinistic vision that American engineers were the world's best and brightest. I'm returning with an appreciation of the knowledge and skills of Asia's engineers; they are as talented, intelligent, and well trained as any US engineers. And, in many cases, they are willing to work for a whole lot less. What does this mean to you? Engineers working for companies in the United States must continually add enough value to their projects to justify their additional costs. "Man plans. God laughs."