Cause and Resilience in Difficult Times

I haven't posted in about six weeks, and like many of us this is because my focus has been on the important things at hand - making sure that family, friends and those we hold dear are safe, and working through these unprecedented times. There is no "play book" for this and we are all responding and contributing as best we can.

In these difficult times, it is important that we take the time to see, acknowledge and thank those who go above and beyond. The people who have a commitment to their cause and the resilience to respond to the challenges we are facing. I want to share 2 such examples.

Feeding Hong Kong

The challenges to those living at the margin in Hong Kong have always been here, but the last year has seen a genuine double-whammy. The economic slowdown which started with protests and disruption, has been slammed by the impacts of COVID-19 measures in Hong Kong. Everything done in HK has been necessary; the shutdowns, the distancing measures, border closures and more have meant that we have kept the infection rate down (with many, cases being brought back by those who "fled to somewhere safer" when this all started and have now come back sick). The fact that the HK death rate is so low is further proof.

These challenges to everyday life have hit businesses and the people who work in them very hard, and in times like this, the people who are hit hardest are those at the margin. Around 20% of people in Hong Kong live below the poverty line and don't enjoy the security of knowing how their daily food requirements will be met. It is even worse for seniors (1 in 3!) and kids (1 in 4!). The number of people falling into this situation is rising rapidly!

I serve on the board of directors of Hong Kong food charity, Feeding Hong Kong. We are a food bank which rescues good food going to waste and gets it to charities who need it.

When the COVID-19 measures started, we like many operations thought hard about how we would react. MANY charities (including high profile ones!) are closed or running reduced operations.

We honestly had to ask the question about following suit - our people were rightly concerned and unsure about what laid ahead. So we talked about it, and we asked the team what we should do. We were able to quickly enact new, heightened hygiene measures (we deal with food and so we were very good already) and we worked with our donor partners to secure the additional masks, sanitiser, bleach, disinfectant etc. that we need. Importantly though, we talked about why we exist, who we are there for and how important what we do is. And we all agreed that we would carry on serving people in need, because for many there is no one else to help.

The team have done an AMAZING job, and we haven't stopped. They've shown resilience when others have not. I am so very, very proud to serve this team of people as a director of the charity.

To be honest, we need help and I will always use every chance to ask for it. Our sources of food and funding have changed a lot due to circumstances, while the demand is higher than we have ever seen. We need shelf stable food (rice, oil, canned goods) and cash donations - the demand right now is infinite.

PLEASE visit our Virtual Food Drive to help: https://feedinghk.org/virtual-food-drive/

HSBC Commercial Bank Technology

The second example I want to share is the team I lead in my day job. The HSBC Commercial Bank Technology Team here in Asia Pacific.

Needless to say, it has been a busy few months. The COVID-19 measures have moved across all of the markets we serve in Asia Pacific. The impacts have been on both our customers and our colleague teams who serve them. At the same time as demands for banking services have changed and shifted, our colleagues and team have had to adapt to working from home.

For many of the team, it is more difficult that you might imagine. In some markets, domestic living arrangements are different to others. Apartments are small, in many cases these homes are multi-generational with elders living with, or very close to the family. As I mentioned in my last post, it is very easy to visualise a colleague trying to work in a crowded flat, with a couple of house-bound kids running around their feet, and grandma interrupting with offers of tea, food or inquisitive questions. It isn't easy.

The dynamics and tooling of working from home are also different from what we use every day, and while my technology infrastructure colleagues have done a mind-bogglingly AMAZING job of scaling up, it is still a different way of working. We've all had to learn how to be most effective in these circumstances.

Despite these challenges, the team have done a REMARKABLE job. We've kept our commercial banking systems and channels to customers in Asia Pacific stable and available. We have moved quickly to support government measures and programs (and will continue to do so), and we have helped our colleagues react to the changing shape of customer servicing and flows of business.

This has required the team to be responsive, to take initiative, to take ownership and to be resilient. No matter the challenges, they have risen to the cause, and again I am so very, very proud to serve them as the Regional CIO.

In talking with some of the team, I have come to understand why. They have spoken about the importance of what we do. The bank is in many markets, the back-bone of business. The payments transactions, funds-flows and services we enable are essential to the ongoing conduct of business. We have an obligation to make sure they are available and stable. For many they see it as an important cause.

These are very fine examples of cause and resilience, in these difficult times.