L VE Being married to another accountant can bring joy, through the pleasure of shared interests, and anxiety, through time spent apart on business trips. Jemelyn Yadao talks to high-profile CPA couples about how they celebrate togetherness and shun heartache Judy Tsui still remembers the long, blue dress she wore one evening to the Captain s Bar at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in 1972. It was at the meet-up with friends that a persistent young man approached her leading to an old-fashioned tale of boy chasing girl. He took me home and then insisted I take his number... I told him: No, I don t want your number because I won t call you, recalls Tsui, professor and vice-president for international and executive education at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and a member of the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs. But with just a few, written words, the young man eventually softened up the then uninterested Judy Lam. He sent me a card with his number, saying: I m very much in [like] with you. He was not being frivolous by saying I m in love with you, which would scare me away... It was very charming and real. Three years later, Lam married the young man, Andrew Tsui, who went on to become chairman of executive search firm Korn/Ferry International Hong Kong and also an Institute member. They now have three grown children. With the many demands of the profession, maintaining a relationship with another accountant can be difficult. However, couples with hectic careers, like the Tsuis, are proof that CPAs can sometimes make ideal partners. Judy Tsui says her husband has been especially understanding several times in their marriage. In 1986, she flew to the United Kingdom to study for a master s degree for one year at the London School of Economics, leaving behind her family, including their oldest daughter. Andrew was very supportive, together with my in-laws and my parents. They just said: Go, we will take care of everything. The strength of their relationship was put to the test again in 1990 when a third child was on the way and, simultaneously, 38 February 2013
Judy and Andrew Tsui she pursued a doctorate at the Chinese University of Hong Kong for four years. Everyone was saying: Judy you re very lucky. Your husband is so supportive. Anybody else would have resented you for doing your master s in the first place and then doing your doctorate on a part-time basis and also having a full-time career. Andrew Tsui has found his wife equally supportive during periods of change. After working in financial services for 10 years, he faced the difficult choice of whether to stay in the sector or move on to consultancy. I was struggling [to decide], he recalls. Ten years later, I was thinking about changing [career] and that s major decision time so I really appreciated Judy s support and tolerance in helping me make these major life and career choices. With teaching assignments and academic conference meetings in China, the United States and Europe, Judy Tsui works longer hours than her husband. Despite this, he says that, with effort, they still manage to make things work. [If] both of us are not terribly busy at the same time... If Judy goes on an overseas trip, sometimes I try to meet up with her somewhere that helps. And, when we want to relax, we go hiking, play golf and we also go dancing quite a bit. Most importantly, Judy Tsui adds, both of their priorities are the same. We both love our children dearly, and we do everything for them in terms of giving them the best, without being tiger mum and tiger dad. Different paths Sabrina Ho s husband was different from the boys she grew up with in Hong Kong. They were mainly bookworms, while he is very smart without being smug humble and athletic at the same time, recalls Ho, director of accounts at international law firm Stephenson Harwood and an Institute member. You could say I was very attracted by his brain at first, until I saw him coming out of the swimming pool, she laughs. She first met Chew Fook-aun, who is now chairman of Lai Fung Holdings and deputy chairman of Lai Sun Group, in 1981 while they were both studying at the London School of Economics. They now have a son, aged 15. February 2013 39
With the couple working in different industries, Chew and Ho never bring work matters home. I deal with lawyers but I also deal with a different set of professionals, mainly investment bankers, corporate bankers, analysts and fund managers so that side is very different from the professional firm side, says Chew, who is also a former vicepresident of the Institute. I wouldn t know about his line of business and I don t want to pry into that either because we deal with sensitive issues at work, and unless it s a general issue we never talk about work, says Ho. Being married to another accountant means an understanding that sometimes work has to come first. We know what the job entails, and it makes it easier for us to understand why we don t come home at a certain time or why we have to change our holidays to fit our work schedule, says Ho. Her husband agrees. If I say I ve got my year-end result or I ve got my annual reports, that s something we both understand, says Chew. But like any couple, sometimes bumping heads is inevitable. He is a financial news junkie... It was a Sunday, I tried to cuddle up to him and he said: Don t come between me and my Financial Times, laughs Ho. Like other career-driven couples working in Hong Kong, Chew and Ho have grown accustomed to the limited face-to-face time they have Mondays to Fridays. Weekends, however, are usually reserved for the family. We ve established such an easy and comfortable rhythm over the years. We talk during the day, whether for checking things on the home front, or maybe it s just asking him, What time are you coming to pick me up after work? Competing camps On top of long working hours, Eddy and Nellie Fong had to deal with another thing keeping them apart: professional rivalry. Working in competitive firms when you are young is easy but working in competitive firms when you are both partners is difficult, recalls Eddy Fong, chairman of the Open University of Hong Kong, former chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission and a retired PricewaterhouseCoopers partner. His wife, before retirement, was a partner at Arthur Andersen, one of the then Big Five accounting firms. Chew Fook-aun and Sabrina Ho 40 February 2013
A PLUS He recalls deciding whether or not his wife should accompany him to certain functions. Of course private life is private life we treat ourselves as husband and wife but in terms of socializing and entertaining clients, I hardly ever appeared at Nellie s firm s functions and she hardly ever appeared at my firm s functions. Working in different camps, he says, wasn t easy. But we managed quite well... I think basically you rely on your professional integrity. So that s a very unusual aspect of our relationship, he adds. The couple ended up working for the same firm because of a completely unexpected turn of events. In 2002, the Enron collapse led to the extinction of Arthur Andersen and PwC acquired many Andersen employees. It meant Eddy Fong saw his wife more than usual until he retired in 2003. I was so pleased to see Andersen joining PwC, he says. For one year we were actually working in the same firm. The couple has been very understanding of each other, realizing that both their respective careers meant a lot of travelling, and sometimes even temporary relocation. While at Andersen, Nellie Fong volunteered to go to the Mainland to head the firm s China practice. For a woman, she says, having her husband s full support during times like these was crucial. Even after their vibrant accounting careers, the couple has kept busy by being heavily involved in public community service, positions that have led them to, once again, work in the same office. We maintain a private office and our secretary continues to manage our busy schedules, says Nellie Fong, who is a former LegCo and ExCo member and known for her charity work. Like many CPAs, the couple has accumulated enough experience during their careers to help them pursue meaningful roles in retirement. To be able to put such talent to use after retirement for the good of the community is probably most rewarding for a person, Nellie adds. For 38 years, they have stayed happily married by working together both in and outside the office. She has her strong points, I have my strong points so you just have to compromise all the time, says Eddy Fong. It s no different if you are an accountant or not it applies to all. Having a secure income to provide for the family, including their daughter, as well Nellie and Eddy Fong February 2013 41
Florence and Simon Yip as the financial savvy to save up for their future is one of the many perks of being married to another CPA, Eddy Fong says. You understand each other better, and you share the same experience. Accountants probably think alike in many ways, although I don t think I agree with her all the time, he laughs. Partners in pressure Not only does Simon Yip understand his wife s daily work life and the challenges that come with it, he also knows her colleagues very well. I actually introduced those people to her. In fact, it made her life more manageable in a practical sense, says Yip, recalling how his wife joined his former firm after the fall of Arthur Andersen. At the time, he had gone on to set up his own firm, Simon K.Y. Yip & Co. Yip had previously worked for Coopers & Lybrand, now PwC, where his wife Florence Yip currently works as a tax partner. I ve known a lot of her colleagues for more than 20 years, he says. The couple, both Institute members, are parents to two children and have been unfazed by each other s hectic lifestyles for more than 32 years. There s no use trying to be hard on each other, because the work itself is hard enough already. It s part of our day-to-day routine, and you have to respect that, Simon Yip says. He and his wife have mastered balancing a busy work life with quality time together. As well as movie nights and family vacations, they make an effort to go on holiday without the kids, now aged 21 and 17. A few nights ago we discussed about when Florence is going to visit our son who is studying in the U.K. I said: I ll come, but why don t we go a few days earlier so that we can spend some time together. When Simon Yip decided to set up his own practice in 1992, his wife played an integral part in helping him face the new challenge. I supported him, she says. I knew it was going to be hard because he used to work for a big firm where everything is catered for including pens and paper. But with any start-up, the resources will be limited. He needed to deal with all sorts of things, she says. He s done well. Back in their university days, Simon Yip had been playing the role of the supportive other-half long before the two were an item. I was able to help her with her homework, because I was one year her senior, he remembers. That way, I would have more free time, Florence recalls. 42 February 2013