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Sleeping No by Tricia Bisoux photos by Grischa Rüschendorf Hong Kong, says that her success hasn't hinged on issues of gender, age, or tradition. Rather, she says it was results that helped her sidestep stereotypes to become a leading force in China's ever-growing private sector. Choi has served as CEO of her family's company, Seapower Manufacturing Hong Kong Limited, since succeeding her father, Tsai Xi Liong, in 2000. A manufacturer of backpacks, camera bags, and other accessories that are sold worldwide, Seapower is headquartered in Hong Kong, with a factory in China; it recently opened a customer service office in San Diego, California, and owns a real estate operation in Indonesia. Born Siu Lui Choi in Xiamen, China, Choi graduated from the China's like 'The World of Suzie Wong,'" says Choi, referring to the 1960 film that portrays its protagonist, Chinese prostitute Suzie Wong, as subservient, passive, and painfully traditional. It's a portrayal that many in China find pejorative and offensive, and one that still stirs controversy today. "That was more than 30 years ago," Choi says. "That's perception, not reality." At the age of 35, Choi is an example of China's new image. more cosmopolitan, more capitalistic, and more corporate. And as she can well attest, Chinese women are pursuing professional careers and leadership positions in greater numbers. "When you talk to people in the West, many still think hirley Choi wants to set the record straight. China doesn't fit the stereotypes that many people still entertain—and neither does she. As China moves into a new phase of economic and social growth, says Choi, it's building on its traditionally communist, agrarian roots to become ing to Seapower in 1994 to serve first as a credit manager, and then as the managing director of its financial division, which the company has since sold. As a successful merchant banker, she listed more than 80 companies on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. music and business require diligence and discipline, she says, and both require a person to work well individually and as part of a group. "In an orchestral score, you have different parts—piano, oboe, violin, bass, French horn—the same as any organization. But it's the way the conductor leads them that's the crux of the story," proposes Choi. "To succeed, the conductor must know what piece he wants to play and how he wants the music to sound." Since taking the baton at Seapower, Choi has made innovative changes to improve performance in what once was a functional but stagnant business environment. China, too, is shaking off age-old conventions, expanding its years old, once seemed destined for a career as a concert pianist. But while studying music at USD, she decided also to major in finance so she could "try something different." That choice, along with her musician's proficiency with numbers, led her into business. Choi, however, doesn't see the move as so large a leap. Both University of San Diego with bachelor's degrees in finance and music in 1990. She attended Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management in San Diego to earn her MBA in 1992 and later attended the executive program at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business in California. She worked as a merchant banker with Merrill Lynch before com- Surprisingly, Choi, who has studied piano since she was four markets and encouraging private business. As it does so, busi- nesses and business schools are now entering Chinese markets with veritable gold-rush fervor. Choi is eager to see these devel- opments come to fruition, but she also offers some words of advice. To bridge the ideological distance between East and West successfully, she says, Western businesses must first see China as it is today, not as it was 30 years ago. Then, they must understand its history, its culture, and its ambitious plans for the future. BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2004 19