Recently, I was cleaning an attic full of memories, cards, and letters. Amongst the items were letters that my friends, and even one teacher, had written to me right after I finished my A-Level exams at South Island School in Hong Kong in 1992. One of those letters was from Tushar Salukhe, with whom I went to school. Tushar and my other “brother from another mother,” Sung, have been my lifelong friends, and of the two, Tushar has known me the longest. It was he who coined the nickname “Dups” that I go by.

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Since I was visiting London, where Tush lives, I thought it would be good to have a conversation about the 1980s Hong Kong that we witnessed growing up there. If there was ever a “golden era” for Hong Kong, I am sure it would have been the 1980s. Wealth and affluence abounded; the economy was growing, boasting one of the busiest airports in the world and serving as a center of global trade. This was pre-handover Hong Kong, a bustling, vibrant mix of the West and the East.

What follows is my conversation with Dr. Tushar Salukhe about growing up in Hong Kong, succeeded by an essay that I wrote right after our 25th high school anniversary in Hong Kong in 2017. I’ve included some old photos I dug up here.

Come and wander the crowded streets of one of the most amazing cities at the height of its power and glory in the 1980s, through the eyes of two teenagers.

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