Valentine’s Day
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
J
udy 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 educa-
38
February 2013
tion 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 profes-
sion, 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,
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
Valentine’s Day
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
Valentine’s Day
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.
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
Partners in pressure
to be hard on each other, because the work
Not only does Simon Yip understand his itself is hard enough already. It’s part of our
wife’s daily work life and the challenges day-to-day routine, and you have to respect
that come with it, he also knows her col- that,” Simon Yip says.
leagues very well.
He and his wife have mastered balanc“I actually introduced those people to ing a busy work life with quality time toher. In fact, it made her life more manage- gether. As well as movie nights and famable in a practical sense,” says Yip, recalling ily vacations, they make an effort to go on
how his wife joined his former firm after holiday without the kids, now aged 21 and
the fall of Arthur Andersen. At the time, he 17. “A few nights ago we discussed about
had gone on to set up his own firm, Simon when Florence is going to visit our son who
K.Y. Yip & Co.
is studying in the U.K. I said: ‘I’ll come, but
42
February 2013
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.