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During the dinner gathering at my home last December, I mentioned that I was contemplating the idea of retiring early to enjoy life. Now it finally happens. The announcement came out during our regional leadership conference at Agra, India. It was a memorable evening for my wife and me, particularly because the venue was just next to Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders in the world. My last day with Citigroup will be 31 March 2004. We will stay in HK until end April/early May, then move to settle down in Toronto. I may do some consultancy work for Citi in China in the next couple of years, and will have to come back to Asia two or three times a year. Definitely I will come back to HK in November to participate in QES' golden jubilee celebration. Will let our classmates have our contact details in Toronto later. Picture taken with my wife & Colin Powell when he visited Citibank Singapore in 1998
Picture taken with Mak Ping Sun during my visit to Singapore on 12/5/04
History after leaving QES: After leaving QES, I studied for another two years in New Method Colledge at HK side with Dennis Lee, Bowring Kwan, Albert Chan and Yam Wing Lok. Then I joined Citibank. I have been pretty fortunate in my career as it is quite rewarding. In the early '70, Citibank was expanding very aggressively in HK and they provided good training and career development oppotunity. After a few year rotation in various operations area, I was assigned a regional role to assist in rolling out a key new banking system across all Asia Pacific countries. Later I became a Systems Project Manager (even I did not have solid technology background!) When Citibank decided to expand the consumer banking business worldwide in the late '70, I was tranferred to the Consumer Group to manage the branch distribution. In 1983, when Citibank acquired Diners Club Cards from Stanchart HK, I was appointed the General Manager for this new franchise. In 1984 I was asked to join the International Staff Program and started my expatriate career. I was first assigned to Taiwan to start up the consumer banking business there. After staying there for six years, I was transferred to United States in 1991 to head Citibank's retail business of the Mid Atlantic Region, which covered Washington D.C. and Maryland State. During my stay in the U.S. I got Citibank to sponsor me to get a Green Card. After four years in 1994, I was transferred to the Philippines to be the Executive Vice President for CityTrust Banking Corporation, which was a local commercial bank affiliated to Citicorp. Between November 1995 through November 1999, I was posted to Singapore as the Country Business Manager for the consumer business. I am now also a Permanent Resident of Singapore (got my PR renewed last year for another five years). In December 1999, I was transferred back to Hong Kong to be the Country Business Manager of the consumber business in Hong Kong and Macau since then. I was married with two children. Our elder daughter Angie already graduated and settled down in Los Angeles. She got her B.S. degree from Washington University in St. Louis, and Master's degree in Architecture from UCLA. Our younger son Jeffrey just entered into Northwestern University in Evanston, Chicago area. He is now a freshman in the Engineering School. So my wife Diana and I are now "empty nesters". Since many of our QES schoolmates have retired, I am also seriously considering to retire sometime next year. We may settle down in Los Angeles to be close to our daughter, or in Toronto to be close to my wife's family, or in Singapore since we have lots of friends there (and it is a great place for golf). I do go to Sinagpore quite often as our regional office is based there.
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