27°C | Light rain
Oct 21, 2011
When John Hung, one of Hong Kong's most recognised taipans, was jailed for bribery 2-1/2 years ago, many saw it as an ignominious end.
But today the man himself has high hopes the fall heralds a new start.
The former Wheelock chairman and Jockey Club voting member was convicted of accepting an advantage to help with a membership application. He was jailed for two years in July 2009 and served 16 months in Stanley Prison before being released.
It was during his incarceration that he started writing a book about his life, which he spoke about yesterday at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Central.
Called Master of None, the book tells of his life growing up in the city and his business career, while also detailing his time in prison.
Hung lost 17 kilograms in his first five weeks behind bars and struggled to come to terms with it all.
During the height of summer the temperature in his small cell was unbearably hot. He had only a small high-barred window for ventilation and there were no fans.
"If you moved around in bed at all you'd be constantly sweating," he said. "Every night I sweated through at least two or three T-shirts."
Hung, 71, agreed he was in prison and not a five-star hotel, but argued there was still need for prison reforms.
One example he gave was that there was no differentiation made between young prisoners and older ones, so older prisoners like him struggled badly at times.
"I suffered physically but it was more mental torture. I worried greatly about my wife and children," he said. "I'd only see them twice a month for 30 minutes each time."
What did help was that he was fluent in Cantonese and this made him an instant hit when he proved he could "swear with aplomb".
"I remember referring to other people's mothers every five minutes," he said. "That was appreciated by everyone."
Hung said the book would also try to put the record straight on his guilty verdict. He said writing it was "one way of telling my side of the story".
He pleaded not guilty to one count of soliciting an advantage and three of accepting an advantage totalling HK$450,000 from a middleman, Joseph Loong Shun-ming, in October 2006, as a reward for helping racing member Joanne Wong Pui to become a full Jockey Club member.
He claimed the money was a loan from Loong, who he described as a friend, and not connected to Wong's membership bid.
But Deputy Judge Anthony Kwok Kai-on said it would be an astonishing coincidence if the two things were not connected and he was found guilty. Hung said that if anything he was "too honest and too trusting".
"You could say I was naive. I still do feel that I was innocent but that doesn't matter now," Hung said. "It's something in the past. It doesn't worry me any more."
A fourth generation resident of Scottish and Chinese ancestry, Hung is a well-known figure in the Hong Kong's corporate and sporting world.
He was awarded a Silver Bauhinia Star in 1999. He now engages in advisory and consultancy work.
john.carney@scmp.com Copyright (c) 2011. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.