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SwireNewsSwireNews 3rd

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E 20

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Newswire 1

Contents

Maisie Shun Wah Editor

Charlotte Bleasdale Deputy Editor

Cindy Cheung Manager

Barry Chu Manager Design/Production

The Swire group is a multi-national, multi-disciplined commercial group, with its principal areas of operations in the Asia Pacific region, and centred on the Greater China area. Hong Kong is home to publicly quoted Swire Pacific, whose core businesses are grouped under five operating divisions: property, aviation, beverages, marine services, and trading & industrial. John Swire & Sons Ltd., headquartered in the UK, is the parent company and corporate co-ordinator of the group. In addition to its controlling shareholding in Swire Pacific, John Swire & Sons Ltd. operates a range of wholly-owned businesses, including deep-sea shipping, cold storage, off-shore and road transport logistics services and agricultural activities with main areas of operation in Australia, Papua New Guinea, East Africa, Sri Lanka, the USA and the UK.

Please send material to the Editor, GPO Box 1, Hong Kong, or email us at [email protected]. For pictures, we welcome prints, colour slides or computer graphics in JPG format (500dpi and 20cm x 16cm), and digital photos taken by cameras with 8 Megapixels or above.

Swire News is published in Hong Kong, by the Group Public Affairs Department.

Copyright©2009

Features

From the Archives In the Community 28

In Your Shoes

Leadership with a Difference 18

The Upper House – Breaking with Tradition 10

Eco Warrior 26

Blue Flue 24

S W I R E N E W S • 3 r d I S S U E 2 0 0 9S W I R E N E W S • 3 r d I S S U E 2 0 0 9

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New wireCNCo MoveThe China Navigation Company Ltd. (CNCo) has transferred its head office from Hong Kong to Singapore. The new head office will also accommodate specific functions for its liner trades subsidiary, Swire Shipping, currently located in Sydney. The moves are in response to changed market conditions and the need to consolidate overall management into a single location. The number of staff directly impacted by the move is slightly over 100, including approximately 40 in Hong Kong and 60 in Sydney. Of these, around 20 have been offered positions in Singapore, while the remainder have regrettably been offered redundancy. The new company in Singapore will employ approximately 120 people, including those currently working in the Swire Shipping and Swire Shipping Agencies office in that country. Staff in offices other than Hong Kong and Sydney will be generally unaffected. “In common with many other shipping companies, CNCo is facing serious challenges due to the current severe downturn in the shipping industry,” said CNCo’s Managing Director, Richard Kendall. “At present, ships from many of our liner services call at Singapore, where a large proportion of our business is also conducted. Therefore, it makes commercial sense to consolidate a number of functions that have previously been divided between Hong Kong and Sydney into Singapore. With the shipping industry still in crisis, and no clear prospects for sustained improvement, it has become imperative to drive efficiencies wherever possible in order to remain competitive.”

Alex Fraser Asphalt Set to Expand Following Joint Venture Buy OutAlex Fraser Asphalt is now the sole owner of the multi-million dollar drum mix plant used to create its range of quality asphalt products, following a

successful buy-out of its joint-venture partner of nearly ten years, Works Infrastructure. The acquisition gives Alex Fraser Asphalt 100% control and the secure foundations it needs for further expansion and growth, at a time when the company has rarely been busier. The plant, located at Laverton North in Victoria, produces approximately 150,000 – 200,000 tonnes of product a year. The plant also offers an environmentally friendly option for customers: it has been modified to minimise emissions and is specially designed to accommodate recycled asphalt and recycled glass. Additionally, the plant allows Alex Fraser to produce a warm-mix asphalt, at temperatures 30º lower than normal, which is new to the industry. This sustainable approach is proving popular, even during economically straightened times.

In November, the Victorian Premier, the Hon. John Brumby MP, officially opened Alex Fraser’s A$45 million Western Metropolitan Recycling Facility at Laverton North. Considered to be one of the most advanced construction and demolition (C&D) materials recycling facilities in the world, the new plant will recycle up to one million tonnes of C&D materials every year – nearly one third of Victoria’s total for 2007-08. Alex Fraser expects the new plant to not only deliver good results for the company, but to help Victoria achieve new levels of resource recycling and ultimately reduce the State’s carbon emissions score on infrastructure developments.

Peter Murphy, Alex Fraser’s CEO, ends the official ceremony, with (left to right) MD Jamie McKellar, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Innovation Gavin Jennings, Premier of Victoria The Hon. John Brumby MP, and Chairman and CEO of Swire Australia Bill Rothery.

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Mr. Christopher Pratt was received by Mr. Vincent C. Siew, Vice President of Taiwan, at the Presidential Office in Taipei on 2nd November.

Mr. Christopher Pratt, Chairman of the Swire group in Hong Kong, Mr. Philip Chen, Chairman of John Swire & Sons (China) Ltd. and other senior directors warmly welcomed two delegations from Mainland China this year. One was headed by Mr. Yu Weigu, Party Secretary of Xiamen and the other was led by Mr. Zhang Guangning, Mayor of Guangzhou. The Swire group has property, aviation, beverages, cold storage and trading interests in the two cities.

Swire Pacific, Air China and CITIC Pacific have collectively realigned their shareholdings in Cathay Pacific Airways. Air China’s stake in the airline has increased from approximately 17.49% to approximately 29.99%, while Swire Pacific’s stake has increased from approximately 39.97% to approximately 41.97%, upon CITIC Pacific’s disposal of 15% and 2% interest in Cathay Pacific to the respective companies. The changes will strengthen the existing relationship between Air China and Cathay Pacific and will serve to further boost the position of Beijing and Hong Kong as key aviation hubs in the region.

Strengthening relationships

Mayor Zhang (6th from left) and his delegation visited hong Kong in August.

Party Secretary Yu (2nd from left) was received by Philip Chen (3rd from left) and other Swire senior directors in November.


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Swire Properties contemplates separate listingSwire Pacific is considering the possibility of a separate listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for Swire Properties, which at present is a wholly owned subsidiary. If this move is to proceed, it will be achieved by way of a spin off in compliance with Practice Note 15 of the Listing Rules. At the time of going to print, no application or formal proposal has yet been put to the stock exchange and no decision has yet been made to proceed with such a listing or as to the timing of any such listing.

TaiKoo Hui tops outSwire Properties celebrated the topping out of its new shopping mall at TaiKoo Hui in Guangzhou on 18th September, marking an important milestone in the development of this prime mixed-use project. Targeting the medium to high-end consumer market, the mall will introduce a range of international premium brands to the Guangzhou market, many of which are newcomers, including China Resources Vanguard Limited’s Olé Supermarket chain, and the BreadTalk group’s Food Republic from Singapore.

Pacific Place celebrates a new lookPacific Place has completed the first phase of its “Contemporisation Project”, unveiling a new look that features wooden balustrades meandering throughout the flagship complex, natural stone flooring, as well as abundant natural light. The contemporising of Pacific Place is the single largest transformation since the complex opened in 1988, and cost more than HK$1.5 billion. Along with softened aesthetics for both the interior and exterior, the project also includes the launch of a new logo: free-flowing lines come together to form the complex’s name, accompanied by a monogram double “P”.

Martin Cubbon, C. E. of Swire Properties, at the topping out ceremony.

Jolyon Culbertson, Director and General Manager, unveils the new Pacific Place logo.

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Redevelopment of 53 Stubbs RoadSwire Properties recently unveiled the design for its latest luxury residential development at 53 Stubbs Road, Hong Kong (see cover). The new development has been designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry and is his first residential development in Asia; it is due for completion in 2011. Mr Gehry, who has worked on the project with Hong Kong-born designer Edwin Chan, is one of the world’s most influential and acclaimed architects, best known for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain; the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles; the Stata Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago. The Swire group purchased the 53 Stubbs Road site in the 1940s, and built a residence there for the Managing Director of Taikoo Dockyard. The site enjoys sweeping views over Hong Kong Harbour and will be developed into a single, 12-storey building with 12 exclusive residences of around 6,000 square feet (550 square metres) each.

Swire Pacific increases stake in HAECOCathay Pacific Airways has sold 20,700,958 shares, representing 12.45% of its shareholding in Hong Kong

Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (HAECO) to Swire Pacific Limited for approximately HK$1,901 million. As a result Cathay Pacific’s direct interest in the issued share capital of HAECO has decreased from 27.45% to 15.00%, while Swire Pacific’s stake has risen from 33.52% to 45.96%. The move will improve Cathay Pacific’s cash position during an extremely difficult time for the aviation industry. At the same time, the transaction enables Swire Pacific to make a significant increase in its strategic investment in HAECO on terms it regards as appropriate and affirms its long-term commitment to Cathay Pacific and HAECO and to the Hong Kong aviation industry.

HAECO expands… HAECO officially opened its third maintenance hangar at Hong Kong International Airport on 25th September. At an investment of HK$850 million, the new 16,464 square-metre facility has the capacity to accommodate two wide-bodied aircraft and one narrow-bodied aircraft, and is fully equipped to undertake major heavy maintenance and modification work on the latest generation of Boeing and Airbus aircraft. Officiating at the opening ceremony, HAECO Chairman, Christopher Pratt, said: “HAECO has undergone rapid development over the past few years, and its facilities have been operating at near full capacity. Although the utilisation of workspace at present is not in our favour amid a downturn in the aviation industry, the


Newswire(continued)

new hangar will ensure that we are well placed to meet the anticipated upsurge in demand for maintenance capacity when the market recovers.”

… and opens two new facilities on the MainlandThe HAECO group opened two new facilities at Jinjiang, in Fujian Province on 18th November, boosting the group’s overall service offering to its customer airlines. A new composite repair facility, operated as Taikoo Spirit AeroSystems (Jinjiang) Composite Company Limited, is among the first in Mainland China to provide repair and overhaul services to composite components on both narrow and wide bodied aircraft. The company is a joint venture between HAECO (41.8%), Spirit AeroSystems, Inc. (31.54%), Taikoo (Xiamen) Aircraft Engineering Company (TAECO) (10.76%), Cathay Pacific Airways (5.45%), China Airlines, (5.45%) and Quanzhou Export Processing Zone Investment Management Company Limited (5%). The joint venture company has invested over US$27.2 million in infrastructure, equipment and staff training.

The second facility is a new retread and distribution plant that enables airlines to return tyres for retreading. The

facility, operating as Dunlop Taikoo (Jinjiang) Aircraft Tyres Company Limited, is a joint venture between Dunlop Aircraft Tyres, HAECO and TAECO. In addition to the retreading of aircraft tyres, the facility will support airline customers in the Asia Pacific region, by distributing new tyres that have been made at Dunlop Aircraft Tyres’ manufacturing site in Birmingham, UK.

New routesCathay Pacific Airways has launched a new service to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s second major commercial city. The four-times-a-week service operates through Dubai on the way to and from Hong Kong, giving Cathay Pacific a total of 11 flights a week to Saudi Arabia. Cathay Pacific has also launched a code-share service to Fiji in conjunction with Air Pacific. The Fijian carrier launched a twice-weekly service from Hong Kong to Nadi on 3rd December and the service also carries the

Above:P.K. Chan, Chairman of TAECO, addresses the audience at the opening ceremony of Taikoo Spirit.Below:Ian Edmondson, Chairman of Dunlop Taikoo (Jinjiang) Aircraft Tyres, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the tyre

retreading facility.

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“CX” code. This is the first time scheduled services have been operated between Hong Kong and Fiji. Air Pacific currently serves 25 destinations using a modern fleet of Boeing 747, 767 and 737 aircraft, and its network covers the islands of the South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, plus destinations in the United States and Canada.

Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific subsidiary, Dragonair, has recently launched a new service to Guangzhou. The airline now serves the city twice daily from Hong Kong, increasing its route network to 29 regional destinations, including 17 cities in Mainland China.

Asia Miles wins againAsia Miles has been named “Best Frequent Flyer Programme” at the 2009 Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Travel Awards ceremony. The Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Travel Awards are regarded as one of the most prestigious events for the industry in the region and are based on an annual readers’ poll conducted and analysed by an independent market research agency. This is the fifth consecutive year in which Asia Miles has been honoured by the region’s travel and hospitality industry.

Swire Coca-Cola launches GlacéauIn New York in 1996, J. Darius Bikoff was suffering from a raging thirst and low energy en route to a yoga class, so he gobbled a vitamin C wafer with a swig of water. The combination of the flavour and nourishment inspired Bikoff to develop Glacéau vitaminwater®. First launched in New York in 2000, Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong brought Glacéau vitaminwater® to Hong Kong in mid-October. Beauty workshops, art jamming, photo exhibitions and celebrity parties were held in a new pop-up store in Soho in Hong Kong’s Central District, to introduce the brand to the market.


Newswire(continued)

Building ExcellenceSwire Cold Storage’s new facility at Laverton North has won the 2009 Master Builders Excellence in Construction Awards, Industrial Buildings category. The construction of the facility incorporated a number of innovative solutions, including careful coordination of the small-pour sequence required to control shrinkage in the final concrete slab. Because the slabs were tied together, adjacent concrete pours could be no more than two days apart in order to control the rate of shrinkage. The solution promotes movement at the perimeter of the slab, rather than at construction joints, minimising potential wear from forklift traffic.

Copenhagen Communiqué Swire Pacific Limited and Cathay Pacific Airways are amongst 500 global corporate signatories to the Copenhagen Communiqué which calls on world leaders meeting at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December to agree on “an ambitious, robust and equitable global deal on climate change that responds credibly to the scale and urgency of the crisis facing the world today”. The launch of the Copenhagen Communiqué was timed to coincide with the UN Summit on Climate Change in September; it is an initiative of the Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders’ Group on Climate Change, run by The University of

Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership. At the signing in Hong Kong, Mr. J.B. Rae-Smith, Executive Director of Swire Pacific, said, “Swire endorses the Communiqué because we believe that a strong international framework for reducing carbon emissions is vital to the long-term development of our businesses. Cathay Pacific Chief Executive and current Chairman of the IATA Board of Governors, Tony Tyler, echoed these sentiments in his keynote address at the Greener Skies conference in Hong Kong in October, calling for a global sectoral approach to tackling international aviation emissions. “A more sustainable aviation industry has to be our starting – and finishing – point,” Mr Tyler told key players from the regional and international aviation industry, who had gathered to demonstrate a collective commitment to the goal of a more sustainable future.

J.B. Rae-Smith confirms Swire’s endorsement at the signing of the Communiqué.

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Swire companies top “most-admired” listSwire Pacific and Cathay Pacific have once again topped the Hong Kong section of the Asian Wall Street Journal’s annual “Asia’s 200 most-admired companies” reader survey. Cathay Pacific headed the list for the fourth year running, with Swire Pacific in second position. Swire Pacific was first in the “Long-Term Vision” category, second in “Corporate Reputation”, third in “Quality” and fourth in “Financial Reputation”; Cathay Pacific was first in “Quality”, second in “Innovation”, and third in both “Long Term-Vision” and “Corporate Reputation”.

USCS goes greenUnited States Cold Storage (USCS) has installed a comprehensive solar energy system, the Tulare Solar Array, which converts solar energy to electrical power to help maintain temperature as low as -20ºF (-29ºC) at its Tulare North facility. The system captures solar energy through 2,700 photovoltaic panels fixed on the rooftop of the 79,000 sq. ft warehouse. It is expected to generate 785,00 kWh of power a year, offsetting 14% of the

facility’s projected annual electricity needs that would otherwise be generated from non-renewable sources and with greater CO2 emissions. The multi-million dollar investment was one of the first of its kind in the US public refrigerated warehouse industry, providing not only clean energy, but also large savings in terms of operating costs.

Patrick Yeung, Director and Chief Representative of John Swire & Sons (China) and Tony Tyler, CEO of Cathay Pacific, at the awards ceremony in Beijing.


Newswire(continued)

First foot on the career ladderForty-nine university graduates have recently joined

the Swire group as interns under the Hong Kong SAR

Government’s Internship Programme; Swire is one of the

biggest corporate partners of the scheme. The interns

are offered six-month to one year positions, which are

specially designed by the participating group companies

to provide on-the-job training, job-rotations, as well as

plenty of opportunity for mentoring and feedback from

senior management. The Swire internships will enable

the young graduates to gain valuable training in different

industries, acquire experience in the workplace, as

well as learning new technical skills, and will serve to

broaden their horizons in the commercial world. At

a time of economic downturn, when many graduates

lacking work experience are finding it difficult to secure

their first jobs, the Programme will also help them to

place that all-important first foot on the ladder to their

future careers.

The Swire companies participating in the Programme

include Swire Properties, Cathay Pacific Catering

Services, HAECO, Hong Kong Airport Services, John

Swire & Sons (H.K.) Limited, Swire Beverages and Swire

Coca-Cola Hong Kong.

Peter Ting Chang Lee, JP, died suddenly in Hong

Kong on 17th October. Peter, the Chairman of Lee

Hysan, had been an alternate director of Cathay

Pacific since 1993 and a full board member since

2002. His wisdom, good fellowship and kind

support will be greatly missed by all his Cathay

Pacific board colleagues. Peter was a cultured,

modest and charming man with a great gift for

friendship.

Peter Ting Chang Lee, JP

S W I R E N E W S • 3 r d I S S U E 2 0 0 9

The Upper House Breaking with Tradition

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The Upper House, Swire’s second boutique hotel to open in Asia after The Opposite House in Beijing, is everything and nothing you would expect from a five-star hotel. From the secluded entrance, to the lobby on the top floor, to the casually dressed staff, The Upper House has abandoned all the norms.

From its very inception, the mindset behind the 117-room hotel has been different. Most five-star hotels are run by management companies, working in cooperation with developers. However, The Upper House is both owned and run by Swire. General Manager Dean Winter believes that from the outset, this has meant a greater attention to detail and a firm commitment to getting it just right.

A glimpse at the website reveals that The Upper House has clearly parted with convention in terms of the facilities on offer. Located in Admiralty, above Pacific Place, the hotel is neighbour to three other very successful hotels, countless restaurants and comprehensive convention facilities. The objective was never to compete with the area’s other tenants, but rather to complement them.

Underpinning the carefully chosen facilities is a revolutionary service philosophy. Instead of dedicated teams of receptionists, concierge staff and luggage handlers, The Upper House has only one team, known as “Guest Experience”. The staff member that checks in arriving guests may well be the same one that shows them to their room and later gives them advice on the hotspots of Hong Kong.

The team is encouraged to get to know the guests on a much more personal level and vice versa. Each employee at The Upper House

is carefully selected for his or her engaging personality and the hotel’s training programme places a large emphasis on the psychology behind good service delivery. Staff are taught to find out what guests really like to talk about. At the same time, they are taught to recognise when guests prefer not to chat, an important distinction to be able to make.

The uniforms worn by the Guest Experience team also break all the rules. They are casual and on trend – clothes that the staff might opt to wear regardless. The casual style puts both guests and the staff at ease. “If you put people in a starched uniform, they behave differently,” explains Mr. Winter. “We want our team to be themselves; that’s why we hired them.”

Mr. Winter believes that the overall result of The Upper House’s emphasis on friendly staff is a more relaxed and engaging experience. The idea of a home from home has become somewhat of a cliché in the hotel industry, however, Mr. Winter feels that this is a concept The Upper House really delivers on.

The hotel’s restaurant, Café Gray Deluxe, is another foray into the unconventional. From the

Marcel Thoma, Director of Guest Experience, with some of his team.


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start, the plan was to have just one restaurant that offered something to everyone throughout the day. However, The Upper House team did not want yet another run-of-the-mill hotel coffee shop. A balance was needed and Chef Gray Kunz was selected as the man to provide it.

Brian Williams, Managing Director of Swire Hotels, knew Gray from the ’80s when he was a chef at the Hong Kong Intercontinental’s Plume restaurant, one of the best in the region. After his time at Plume, Gray opened his own establishment in the Time Warner Center in Manhattan. His celebrated restaurant there provides top quality food in a casual ambience – just what was needed at The Upper House.

Two years after initial talks with the renowned chef, Café Gray Deluxe now offers a relaxed dining experience with high quality food and an excellent wine list that reflects the true prices of wine. The aim is not to be the most expensive restaurant in town, nor to go all out in search of Michelin stars. “With our feet firmly on the ground, we can focus on providing a wonderful experience for our guests – one that can be repeated again and again,” says Mr. Winter.

As elsewhere in The Upper House, the staff are the centre of Café Gray Deluxe. Willem van Emden, the Restaurant Director, welcomes each guest by name. Kimberley Drake, the knowledgeable female sommelier likes to chat about wine in an unintimidating way and Sam Jeveons, the barman, is already gathering a following.

The Upper House has now been open for three months and, aside from the usual minor teething problems and challenges of working with large numbers of consultants and other professionals, the biggest challenge the hotel has had to face has been the overwhelming response from the public.

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The Upper House’s doors first opened in September for a trial period. During that first month, Swire staff members, friends and family were invited to stay, along with strategic corporate and leisure clients. The period provided staff with an opportunity to brush up on their skills and put their training into practice, while guests were encouraged to give comprehensive feedback, alerting the management team to both the good and the bad.

The hotel officially opened on 2nd October, when guests were able to enjoy an introductory offer on a two-night stay. Bookings flooded in and any hope staff had of a little rest went out of the window.

Feedback from guests is now, almost without exception, positive. Praise for the staff shows that the hotel’s unusual service philosophy seems to be working and the hotel is filled to capacity. However, in spite of the hotel’s initial success, no one at The Upper House is resting on their laurels. Guests are easily wooed by novelty and by opening offers, but they can be a fickle crowd. As Mr. Winter explains, “We are new for about three months. The real litmus test will be

in January, when we’ll have to compete on an even footing with everyone else. That’s what I think about when I’m shaving in the morning.”

The Intrepid DesignerThe uniqueness of The Upper House is most immediately obvious in its design. The man behind the eye-catching face of the hotel is Asian design sensation Andre Fu. Andre originally studied architecture, graduating from the University of Cambridge in the UK. However, some early work on interiors led him to discover his true love. In 2000, Andre founded his own boutique design studio, AFSO, in London. Four years later he moved back to Hong Kong, taking his company with him.

Andre has been involved in many prominent projects, a large number of them within the hospitality industry. His distinctive style can be spotted in the lobby of JIA Shanghai, in Singapore’s prestigious Cassia Chinese restaurant and Azure restaurant and bar in Hong Kong.

The Upper House was the first time Andre had been responsible for designing an entire hotel;


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a huge undertaking, especially at a relatively early stage in his career. However, Swire were confident that Andre was the man to bring their vision to life.

The style throughout The Upper House is one of downplayed luxury. There is a distinct Asian influence that is omnipresent but subtle, conveyed by a sense of balance and tranquillity. Indeed, imparting a sense of tranquillity was at the core of the design brief.

Quiet and calm are evident as soon as guests walk through the hotel’s imposing double doors, into the small bamboo- encircled welcome area known as “The Lantern”. Up the escalator, the sixth floor is home to “The Lawn”, a large grassy expanse where guests can relax on beanbags and take in Hong Kong’s cityscape.

Guests then ascend further, by elevator, to the 49th floor. With further disregard for convention, this is where they will find the lobby. A central fireplace, large sofas and piles of books give the space a living-room feel. The two desks where guests can check in are unobtrusive, so as not to detract from the residential feel.

The rooms themselves are the largest in Hong Kong, starting from 730 square feet. Each room

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features natural timber, shoji glass, limestone and lacquered panels. The “Bamboo” rooms have solid ash flooring, bamboo timber and lilac upholstery while the “Celadon” rooms feature green tea fabrics alongside limed oak flooring and cream oak timber. The bathrooms, with rain-head showers and standalone baths, offer unobstructed views over Hong Kong.

Various pieces of art and sculpture can be found throughout the hotel, selected by consultant Alison Pickett. Looking for pieces that would neither dominate nor fade into the background, she eventually chose work by artists from around the globe, including Marvin Minto Fang whose wood grain sandstone pieces can be found in every room.

During a sizeable construction project of this kind, a lot of trust must be placed in the designer. The Swire team is satisfied that Andre has met their objectives for the hotel, while injecting his own distinctive style. Now it is time to hand The Upper House over to the guests who are looking for something just that little bit different and special.


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Up and down:one side of the 40-metre central atrium features an eye-catching metal wall sculpture by Japanese designer Hirotshi Sawada.

A self-proclaimed “abstract minimalist”, Gerald Bookle created 43 pieces of sculpture for the hotel.

Sculptor Cynthia Sah’s three sensual and curvaceous pieces.

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Leadership with a Difference

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Leadership with a DifferenceLong before a formal Corporate Social Responsibility policy was established, Swire Beverages launched its Management Leadership Development Programme (MLDP). Although the aim of the programme was to develop a range of leadership skills, CSR projects formed a core element of each programme module. The hope was that managers would find inspiration and learn valuable skills that they could then take back to their own community programmes.


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The MLDP is often referred to as a journey “on roads less travelled.” The journey is undertaken in multiple stages over a three-year period, and the last stop is in the oasis city of Kashgar and the Tajik community of Tagharma Valley. Located in China’s extreme west, the remote Kashgar prefecture is accessible only by three connecting flights from Hong Kong. Far from anywhere, it is the perfect place to reflect and review.

When the inaugural programme reached its finale in the summer of 2006, participants spent five days in the Kashgar area. As well as being a time of reflection, their stay gave them the chance to build relations with the local

communities. Determined to make a contribution which really mattered, participants, led by Stewart Stemple of Swire Beverages, asked the locals themselves how a company like Swire could help. One request was from a school located in the dusty Tagharma Valley, five hours’ drive from Kashgar. The school needed a library, and a project was born.

The first stage of the project was the quest for an appropriate design concept. Final year students from the architectural programme at

Tsinghua University in Beijing were invited to submit their ideas. The design chosen was a strikingly modern building which incorporated echoes of the Islamic world, created by student Adam Yin.

With the design in hand, Swire staff returned to Tagharma Valley to tell the Kashgar Education Bureau of the progress. A whole year and a harsh winter had passed since the last visit from

Swire and the aim of the visit was as much to reassure the community as to share the finer details. When a tender was put out to local construction companies, bureau staff realised that this eccentric group of foreigners intended to keep their promises.

Over the winter of 2007 / 2008, the design concept was turned into actual construction drawings. It was a lengthy process hampered by working remotely, but by spring, the drawings were ready and building began in May of 2008.

To assist with overseeing the construction, Juliet Landler, who had been involved in choosing the design, volunteered her skills on a full-time basis. Juliet represented RMJM, the architecture firm which linked Swire up with Tsinghua University. On arriving in the Tagharma Valley, she rented a yurt and settled in for a three-month stint as an external advisor for the project. With a background in structural engineering, Juliet proved to be an invaluable resource on the ground. She also became somewhat of a local curiosity. An American woman travelling on her own in this remote part of China is not an everyday sight and she soon became known throughout the area. Meanwhile her journal gave those working on the project from afar a

Stewart hones his leadership skills.

Juliet takes a day off.


detailed and often entertaining view of what was going on in situ.

Originally planned for the summer of 2009, for various reasons the official celebration and opening of the library had to be postponed, so without fuss and fanfare, the library was opened to the school and the local community. Residents were delighted and people from as far away as Kashgar were soon talking about the new “Swire Coca-Cola Library”.

With a distinctly modern feel, the library nonetheless draws inspiration from the way locals live. The mezzanine echoes the raised platforms that are used for social gatherings in local homes, the tower is reminiscent of Islamic minarets and the interior remains very traditional, with red hues, low tables and large cushions for seating.

The concept behind Adam Yin’s design was that the building would be a multipurpose space that could serve both as a library and as a

community centre, benefiting as many people as possible. It has a usable rooftop and a courtyard ideal for screening movies in the summer. A stage is available for plays or presentations and wide steps at the back of the building act as seating for those watching matches in the neighbouring football field. Despite challenges and many adjustments along the way, the result has exceeded expectations.

In 2008, the library project inspired another complimentary initiative: the publication of two books of Tajik folktales. During the MLDP, participants were privileged to attend a Tajik storytelling session, an experience which made

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a lasting impression. The Tajik people have a strong oral tradition and storytellers are highly regarded in the community. However, without a written language, these tales have not been preserved on paper.

As a gift to the community, Swire wanted to put their folk stories down in writing. The idea was enthusiastically received by the Tajik community and everyone was keen to contribute. Amanda Lote, who was commissioned by Swire Beverages, spent four months in the area overseeing the project, working with translators and commissioning local illustrators. In all, Amanda collected ten stories. All were told by men, except for one, The Eagle Dance, which is a seminal legend for the Tajik people, who believe they are reincarnations of the eagle.

A more formal Stewart bearing the Swire flag as he enters the village.


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The Uyghur language has long been used by the Tajik for written communication but is now being overtaken by Chinese thanks to new educational policies. Many of the younger generation can no longer read Uyghur, so the decision was made to produce a trilingual book, telling the stories in Uyghur, Chinese and English. When literal translations failed to capture the concepts, some creativity was required. This is plain to see in the title of one of the tales, which is “Home Sweet Home” in English, “The Water of the Place you are from is Delicious and its Rocks are Like Pearls” in Uyghur and “East or West my Dog House is Best” in Chinese!

Looking back at the construction and publication projects, Iris Fung of Swire Beverages marvels at how staff from various Swire companies have come together, volunteering their skills and time for the cause. Engineers Eric Tsoi from Swire Properties, and Li Ningsheng and Jiang Chun from Swire Beverages Nanjing were integral to the construction project. Jennifer Atepolikhine, our CSR expert from Swire Beverages, gave time and effort, providing enormous support to both projects and the final set up of the library. Iris also notes that the project has been an eye-

opening experience as teams grappled with language barriers, varying working styles and different expectations. Those involved had to adjust and adapt in order to work effectively together. The library, it seems, has been a place of learning for all.

The next MLDP programme is scheduled to take place in the spring of 2010, when participants will once again look into ways of enriching and continuing support for this remote community.

Iris hands the library over to the headmaster of the Tagharma Village Primary School.

24

Blue Flue

24

This photograph was taken by keen (and talented) amateur photographer Warren Swire in 1912 – the year his elder half-brother, Jack Swire, became Senior Partner of John Swire & Sons – their grandfather having founded the firm some 96 years earlier. JS&S became a Limited Company in 1914 and Warren himself became its Chairman in 1927.

Warren’s photograph nicely illustrates two important aspects of Swire’s early success in China: its shipping businesses (and specifically, its important passenger and cargo services on the Yangtze River) and its relationship with the renowned Liverpool shipping line, Blue Funnel.

Taken on the Yangtze at Hankow (Wuhan), the photograph shows the China Navigation (CNCo) steamer Shaoshing (left) with Blue Funnel’s Priam, alongside one of Swire’s own ‘hulks’ – a decommissioned steamer converted for use as a wharf and floating cargo godown.

The relationship with Blue Funnel, or more correctly, the Ocean Steam Ship Company, began in 1865, when Liverpool businessman John Samuel Swire was approached by the ship owner and engineer Alfred Holt to take shares in a new direct steamer service from Liverpool to the Far East. Up to this date, the China trade had been dominated by fast sailing tea clippers, but Alfred Holt (to quote a contemporary news report) ‘planned a vessel that would combine four qualities: first, to carry a large cargo; second, use a compact compound engine possessing sufficient steam power at the cost of

S W I R E M A G • 2 0 0 9 # O N E

From the Archives


a small consumption of coal; third, carry coal enough for a voyage of 6,000 or 7,000 miles; fourth, ability to make a voyage under canvas if necessary. The vessels, therefore, were able to do what no other packets had done before.’

John Swire invested £1,570 in the venture (increased over the next decade to £20,000) and when, the following year, he made the decision to open a branch office for his own firm in China, he entrusted his first export consignment of 600 bales of cotton “shirtings” from Liverpool to Blue Funnel’s Achilles, bound for Shanghai. Here, on 4th December 1866, a small notice appeared in the North China Daily News announcing the formation of a new company: Butterfield & Swire. Richard Shackleton Butterfield (who never actually set foot in Shanghai) was a Bradford wool and worsted manufacturer and one of Swire’s major export clients. He was to prove a short-term partner. Within two years, the alliance had been dissolved (‘He was troublesome and he bothered me’, Swire later wrote) though the new agency was to keep his name for 100 years. In keeping with local tradition, however, John Swire soon chose a Chinese “hong” name for the company, and it is of course by Taikoo ( ) – meaning “Great and Ancient” – that Swire is most widely known in Asia today.

One of John Swire’s first achievements in Shanghai was to win the role of China agent for Blue Funnel; having obtained – against considerable odds – a return cargo for that first China voyage by Achilles. Swire was to remain agent for the Ocean Group for over 120 years and in those early years was effectively the line’s Far Eastern Manager. Holt trusted John Swire implicitly and accepted his

advice on most matters, while even after the establishment of his own shipping interests Swire deemed Blue Funnel to be “the parent line” and was scrupulous to avoid China Navigation “poaching” trades from Ocean.

Soon after his arrival in Shanghai, John Swire spotted a new business opportunity. The Yangtze River was a vital link with China’s interior – at a time when there were very few roads and the railways had yet to be built. However, most of the trade on the river was carried by junk, with only very limited steamer traffic. Having failed to enthuse Alfred Holt to the point of forming his own river “feeder” service for Blue Funnel’s ocean-going ships, Swire decided to go it alone (albeit with financial backing from Holt) and in 1872, he formed the China Navigation Company, which rapidly established a burgeoning trade on the Yangtze and soon spread its network to the China coast. These two businesses, the Blue Funnel agency and China Navigation, and their interrelationship, were the bedrock on which Swire built its future business interests and they dominated the group’s activities until well into the second half of the 20th century.

Priam (4,543 gross tons) was built on the Tyne by Hawthorn Leslie in 1904; she was eventually sold for scrap to Japanese interests in 1931. Shaoshing (2,123 gross tons) which was built on the Clyde for CNCo by Scotts’ Shipbuilding, had a much shorter career, striking a rock and sinking in 1917.

Those with a technical bent might be interested to note that the secondary flue on Priam’s funnel was for the donkey boiler, which provided power for winches etc when the ship’s main engines were not in use. Her sister ship, Telamon, reportedly had an even taller stack!

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As part of its commitment to supporting rainforest studies in Papua New Guinea, Steamships Trading Company has sponsored a post-graduate scholarship for a young national intern biologist based at the Papua New Guinea Institute of Biological Research to study overseas. Junior Novera, 28, has been awarded a one-year scholarship to study for a Masters Degree in Environmental Science at the University of Lancaster in the UK. This is the first international post-graduate scholarship that Steamships has supported in the field of environmental bioscience, and is part of the British High Commission’s Chevening Scholarship Programme.

Eco-Warrior

“I come from Kunua village in the North West District of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. I am the eldest son in my family, with two brothers and two sisters, and my father is a subsistence farmer and my mother a nurse. I did my primary schooling at Kunua – though this wasn’t a smooth six years’ education, as the Bougainville crisis was reaching its peak in 1988 and 1989; fortunately, I managed to complete my primary education in 1995. In 1996, I went on to Bishop Wade Secondary School and after completing Higher School Certificate, I was selected to the University of Papua New Guinea to do my Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Biology and Chemistry. Having completed my BSc. in 2005, I joined the Wildlife Conservation Society-PNG programme, based at Goroka in Eastern Highlands Province, as an Intern Research Biologist.

As part of an ongoing study by WCS-PNG on wildlife use by local communities in rural PNG societies, I then completed a hunting study for my Honours dissertation on game animals consumed by the rural communities in PNG. This was a collaborative

and comprehensive study of a subject that impacts on the survival of many species in PNG and also the survival and health of the majority of the human population. About 86% of the people still live in rural communities and they practise subsistence agriculture, hunting and gathering. My task was to collect data on the hunting practices of the Mianmin people in the Telefomin District of Sandaun Province, who depend almost entirely on subsistence hunting for protein. There were significant differences in the prey killed by men and women: males captured more mammals and birds; women captured more reptiles and amphibians.

The study addressed factors affecting the availability of game animals to hunters and will help us design proper management protocols for sustainable hunting practices. In the long run, similar hunting studies would also enable us to identify factors such as the spatial distribution and ecological requirements of wild game species, key land-tenure systems, land-use changes and political, socio-economic and ecological transitions


In Your Shoes

affecting wild game conservation. Governments, resource owners and conservation-minded stakeholders would be able to use the knowledge gained to formulate socially sound and environmentally friendly management protocols to help conserve wild game species and sustain rural communities’ dependency on bush meat for subsistence use.

PNG is so blessed with its natural resources – timber, minerals, gas, marine life, to name a few. It is also rich in biodiversity, hosting about 5 % of the world’s total biodiversity. Natural resources are mainly extracted for the economic growth of the country. Obviously, a country needs money to sustain itself as a nation and these resources are the key; however, if people don’t act to minimise, mitigate or remediate the harmful effects of logging, mining, agriculture etc, then there is going to be calamity as a result of nature not being balanced. Mining, logging and agriculture are the anthropogenic factors contributing most to the damage done to the environment in PNG, yet more and more rural communities are venturing into logging and mining for huge – and fast – money.

My dream job since childhood was to become a military pilot and I didn’t have any clue whatsoever about conservation – even when I was doing my undergraduate degree at UPNG. I was first inspired to become a conservation biologist when I attended two training courses hosted by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in 2004 and 2005. After attending these courses, I started to realise the fundamentals and challenges for biodiversity and conservation in PNG. In PNG, conservation is very challenging and it’s not an easy task for individuals, NGOs, the Government and other stakeholders dedicating their time and efforts to create a healthy green environment. I am proud to be a conservationist and to work towards preserving

the earth’s natural biodiversity and creating a better place for men to live in. This is the approach that the Papua New Guinea Institute of Biological Research (PNGIBR) – a newly formed NGO which I am attached to – aims to achieve in conserving PNG’s biodiversity: build capacity for future biologists, raise awareness of how the environment can be saved from detrimental impacts and find possible solutions.

This scholarship is a dream-come-true for me, as I have been aiming to further my studies since completing my Honours degree. There are environmental issues in PNG which need to be solved at a local and global level by people with innovative new ideas. One way is through the provision of scholarships that give scholars opportunities to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge, get the exposure and at the same time build networks and collaborate with people who share a common interest.

This is my first overseas trip to the United Kingdom, which I am finding so interesting and very different from PNG. I am slowly adapting to the climate, food, people. I look forward to learning as much as possible here at Lancaster University and especially to gaining skills and knowledge which are applicable to the PNG context. In terms of biodiversity, the UK is very different from tropical countries like PNG. However, this is not limiting me as I continue my education journey: for my Masters dissertation I am planning to do a project on wildlife consumption and management in PNG or the tropics – I am still working on a possible project but it’s going to be a paper on wildlife use and management. All in all, it is a great exposure and experience for me and I am very thankful to Swire and Steamships for investing in me. After completing my studies, I plan to go back to PNG and put my studies to use for the betterment of PNG and the world as a whole.”

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a. 6,131 people played the harmonica together at the Swire Symphony under the Stars concert to set a Guinness Book of World Records. The free concert, sponsored by Swire and performed by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, attracted an audience of 20,000.

b. Andrew West of Cathay Pacific represented the Swire group to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph in Hong Kong on Remembrance Day.

c. Swire was one of the major sponsors of the Green Long March organised by the Beijing Forestry University and FutureGenerations and some staff volunteered for the event. Organisers hope that this movement will develop a national youth corps committed to advancing environmental protection in their hometowns and in the workplace.

d. (Left to right) Guy Moore, Matthew Bowden, Christian Johansen, Arthur Burnand and Jamie Conlin of John Swire & Sons (H.K.) completed “The Clean Half” 15 km open water relay swim and raised HK$147,000 for the Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong. A pleasant surprise was post event, the lads found out that a corporate sponsor has pledged US$1,000 per km and not HK$1,000 as they had thought!

e. Cary Chan, Swire Properties’ Head of Technical Services, told the audience at a CSR Conference organised by the Hong Kong Council of Social Services that the company has set industry standards in environmental protection.

b

c

d

e

a

swirenews - john swire & sons · mix plant used to create its range of ... 150,000 – 200,000...

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