Scuba diving in Hong Kong
Christopher Dillon explores the joys of diving in Hong Kong, including local attractions, clubs, commercial operators, dive sites, logistics and risks.
Is your business ready for Hong Kong’s civil unrest?
August 16, 2019—As protests in Hong Kong intensify, they are having a growing impact on the city’s businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Here are some business continuity planning (BCP) and communication strategies for SMEs dealing with civil unrest. People first Your business won’t survive a major interruption without the support of your staff. […]
Hong Kong will survive
August 14, 2019—For my friends outside Hong Kong: These are difficult times in the special administrative region. Despite the violence you’ve seen on TV, life continues. We’re not cowering in fear (and clouds of tear gas) in our homes. We’re going to work, some of us are scuba diving, and today is the first day […]
Freedom of speech in Hong Kong
October 9, 2018—The Hong Kong government rejected an application by Victor Mallet, a British journalist working for the Financial Times and vice president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, to have his work permit extended. The story broke on Friday, October 5, and Hong Kong authorities have declined to explain the decision, despite expressions of concern […]
Chinese sensitivities
October 2, 2018—In China, many topics—including independence movements, criticism of senior officials and references to Winnie the Pooh—are banned from social and conventional media. Now, as trade frictions between China and the United States intensify, the New York Times reports there is a new list of topics that must be “managed”: ■ Worse-than-expected data that […]
The future of radio
I have a soft spot for radio. I grew up listening to clear channel radio stations at night in Canada, worked for a time as a DJ, and there’s usually an internet radio station like KEXP, KUVO or the BBC (or one of a dozen more) playing rock, jazz, ambient or news in the background […]
Reviving my blog
June 9, 2016—With the recent relaunch of the Dillon Communications website, I’m also reviving my blog. In the process, I’m updating some of the old blog posts from Beneath the Peak about media, media relations, writing, presentations and communications, and writing new posts about these topics. I will also highlight resources—including books, websites and software—that […]
A pleasant surprise
May 25, 2016 — On Tuesday night, I had a pleasant surprise when I received the following email from the letters editor of the South China Morning Post. I’ve redacted the author’s name, but the letter is otherwise complete. Dear letter writers, I am writing to tell you that this is my last week as […]
Native attractions
May 25, 2016 — Yesterday’s South China Morning Post featured a front-page story about passengers on the Queen Mary 2 being shown a video by British archaeologist John Reich. In the video, Reich reportedly described Hong Kong as an “extremely polluted city,” with “inferior museums” where there was no point in dining-out because passengers, “would […]
Disappointment in Hong Kong’s government
May 24, 2016 — Communications problems—including a failure to manage expectations—is one reason for the growing sense of disappointment in Hong Kong’s government. 1. We’re spoiled. Compared to the kleptocratic thugs in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, the bureaucracy of India, or the brutal repression of North Korea, we have it good. But it’s easy to lose sight […]