The Hong Kong International Airport isn't what it used to be in the old days. There are no crowds, only a handful of shops are open and the lounges are practically empty.

HKIA used to be a humdrum of both business and leisure travelers.

I used to look forward to relaxing in the lounges—especially the Cathay ones—as they usually have a free flow of warm food, drinks, snacks, etc. The Pier at HKIA was the go-to for hot showers, Aesop scented shampoo and body wash. After freshening up, I would settle into a bowl of wanton noodles from the noodle bar, an extra serving of chilli, paired with either champagne or a can of Asahi beer. Sometimes I would get a scoop of Haāgen Das vanilla ice-cream from the counter, head over to the coffee bar to get a double shot espresso and pour it over to make an affogato. Then I would either work at the open bar or just get some shut-eye on the couch.

I could spend an entire day in transit at HKIA (people think I am crazy to do this). Before COVID-19, I would even travel out of the airport into the city to meet with friends. Macau was also accessible straight from HKIA via a one-hour or so ferry ride. This was the Hong Kong that I was familiar with, at least from the perspective of an airport commuter. You can understand why I am slightly sad and disappointed when I saw the nearly empty aisles along the departure gates at HK airport.

Aside from the crowd, nothing much about the facade has changed except for some additional seating areas with charging points.

These installations beside the travellator are new

Hong Kong struggles to conform with the cross-border travel policies set in China (which is totally understandable). At the same time, the city faces the pressure to open up like the rest of the world, especially Singapore, its closest competitor. But like walking on a tightrope, business and investor confidence in the city is gradually diminishing over the last few years.

Whether this relates to the pandemic, influence of geopolitics, or the draw of more spacious living conditions, companies can always find a reason to jettison Hong Kong for Singapore. It might be odd for me to speak as a Singaporean, but I actually am rooting for a Hong Kong comeback, in a healthy competitive way.

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Hong Kong not only serves as the gateway, but also somewhat like the last mile solution for doing business in China. Despite it being part of China, it's British colonial legacy and history is what gives the city its unique quality—the ability to bring together the resources from both the East and West. When you think about it, this is actually very similar to Singapore.

Singapore has Southeast Asia, but the size of the market in the region dims significantly to China.

The melting pot of diverse languages and cultures makes doing business relatively more cumbersome and difficult to navigate. China on the other hand at least embraces putonghua which is at least homogeneous nationwide. You could hire a Chinese-speaking foreigner and ‘parachute’ him/her anywhere in China with some comfort in the knowledge that they can at the very least communicate with the locals. But you can't do this in Southeast Asia. While English is the lingua Franca in ASEAN, every city in Southeast Asia has its own language. To master the Indonesian market you not only need a native from Indonesia who understands not only the language but the customs. Likewise for Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand.

But to succeed in each market independently, we need to dedicate resources specific to each country. Besides, to win in Southeast Asia, you can't afford to focus just on one country. Even the biggest and most successful startups in the region have expanded their footprint beyond their home country. After Indonesia, GoTo has set its sights on Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. Despite making a name of itself in Malaysia, Grab has expanded into other key markets such as Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Yet, even as successful as these startups go, Southeast Asia as a region still falls behind significantly in size to China. Over one billion people in China over the last few decades have been reading more, spending more, investing more, and consuming more. And in recent years, the flurry of venture capital and private equity money into Southeast Asia, lifting overall valuations, has just made it increasingly difficult to find a rich exit in a crowded market.

Everyone is waiting eagerly for COVID restrictions in China to open up and for trade flows to resume. Guess which city will be the biggest beneficiary of that? It is perhaps simply just all a matter of time.

“Make Hong Kong great again.”