This morning, Julie and I went to Markville Mall for our usual morning walk.
It was an ordinary morning, but something happened that brought me back more than sixty years.
I met an old schoolmate.
We talked about the upcoming La Salle College picnic on August 30. He asked whether I would be going. For personal reasons, I decided not to attend this time.
Then our conversation took an unexpected turn.
He asked me, “Were you in the same class as Jack So?”
That question immediately brought back a name from my school days.
Jack So Chak Kwong — 蘇澤光.
My classmate strongly recommended Jack's recently published autobiography, 不說不可能——從廣州街童到機場主席 — roughly, Never Say Impossible: From a Guangzhou Street Child to Chairman of the Airport Authority.
I had heard of Jack So many times over the years. But suddenly I realized something:
I knew Jack before he became Jack So.
Jack So Chak Kwong (蘇澤光), my La Salle College classmate, whom I first knew as an outstanding student in 1964.
We Were La Salle Classmates
Jack and I graduated from La Salle College in 1964.
We were classmates at La Salle, although we were usually in different classes. I remember Jack as one of the outstanding students in our year, consistently near the top academically and already very popular among his classmates.
I left La Salle after Form 5 to join Abbott Laboratories Hong Kong, while Jack continued his studies through Forms 6 and 7 before entering the University of Hong Kong.
Today, looking back, I remember Jack as an outstanding student.
He was consistently near the top of our form academically. He was also already very popular among the students.
At that time, of course, none of us could have known what his future would look like.
We were just teenagers going to school.
We studied, played, talked with our classmates and worried about examinations.
But even then, Jack stood out.
La Salle's alumni records identify him as a 1964 graduate, and HKU records that he later graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969.
From a Schoolboy to a Builder of Hong Kong
After university, Jack's career took him into many different worlds.
He began with the Hong Kong Government. He later moved into the private sector and held senior positions in securities, finance and property development.
He became Executive Director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council from 1985 to 1992.
Then, in 1995, he became Chairman and Chief Executive of the MTR Corporation.
This is where his story becomes particularly interesting to me.
When we think about Hong Kong's MTR today, we probably think of it simply as part of everyday life.
We take the train.
We transfer between lines.
We use Octopus.
We go to work, school, shopping or the airport.
But somebody had to build that system.
During Jack's years at MTR, he was involved in major developments including the Airport Express and the Tseung Kwan O rail extension. HKU describes him as a leader behind the development of the Airport Express and the introduction of Octopus cards, as well as major projects including the IFC and ICC.
The Airport Express in particular changed the relationship between Hong Kong and its new airport.
What millions of passengers experience today as a convenient train ride was once a massive infrastructure project involving planning, engineering, finance, land, transportation and thousands of people.
And Then There Was the Airport
Jack's career later brought him even closer to the aviation world.
In June 2015, he became Chairman of the Board of Airport Authority Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Government specifically noted his extensive experience in economic, trade and transport affairs when announcing the appointment.
By then, Jack had already spent decades working on some of Hong Kong's most important economic and infrastructure projects.
His career had come full circle in an interesting way.
The boy who had once sat in a classroom at La Salle was now helping oversee one of the world's major international airports.
It is difficult to imagine that journey when you are sitting in Form 1.
The Man Behind the Scenes
What interests me most about Jack is not simply the number of important positions he held.
It is the nature of the work.
Much of what he helped accomplish is something ordinary people simply use.
The MTR.
The Airport Express.
Octopus.
The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The IFC.
The ICC.
These are things we see and use, but we rarely think about the people behind them.
HKU described Jack as a man of “innovative ideas and decisive action” and credited him with leadership in many of these developments.
That makes me think about the meaning of success.
Some people become famous because they are constantly in front of the camera.
Others become important because they quietly get difficult things done.
Jack seems to belong very much to the second group.
His Memoir
That is why I am now curious about his autobiography.
The book is titled:
《不說不可能——從廣州街童到機場主席》
The title itself tells us something about the journey.
From a childhood in Guangzhou, to Hong Kong, to La Salle College, to the University of Hong Kong, and then through more than five decades in public service and business.
The memoir was published in March 2025 and reportedly contains 128 historical photographs, using Jack's personal experiences to reflect on Hong Kong's economic transformation and development.
I have not read the book yet.
But after my conversation with my old classmate this morning, I certainly want to.
I want to see what Jack remembers about those years that I also remember.
More importantly, I want to understand how the boy I knew at La Salle became the man who helped shape so much of the Hong Kong we know today.
Sixty-Two Years Later
There is something almost amusing about this whole episode.
In 1964, Jack and I were simply two La Salle students.
He was in the A class.
I was in the B or D class, depending on the year.
He was one of the outstanding students. I remember him being popular and well regarded.
Then I left La Salle after Form 5.
Our lives went in different directions.
More than sixty years passed.
And now, in 2026, I am an old man living in Canada, writing my stories and taking morning walks with Julie.
Then, unexpectedly, another old schoolmate mentions Jack So to me at Markville Mall.
Suddenly, a piece of my youth comes back.
That is one of the strange and wonderful things about getting older.
Our memories do not disappear completely.
Sometimes, all it takes is a name.
We Never Know Where Life Will Take Us
When we were young, we probably thought success meant getting good examination results, entering a good university and finding a good career.
Life turned out to be much more complicated.
Some people became doctors.
Some became teachers.
Some became businessmen.
Some left Hong Kong.
Some stayed.
And some, like Jack So, became involved in projects that affected millions of people.
Looking back from the perspective of more than sixty years, I think there is a lesson here.
We should never underestimate the people sitting beside us in a classroom.
The quiet student.
The brilliant student.
The popular student.
The boy who always seemed to know the answer.
None of us could see the future.
We could only see the person sitting in front of us that day.
I knew Jack So in 1964.
I knew him as a fellow La Salle student who was already outstanding.
Decades later, I discovered that he had become one of the people who helped build the Hong Kong that I knew.
And now, after all these years, I am curious to read his story in his own words.
Perhaps that is what growing older really means.
We don't just remember our past.
We rediscover it.
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