A Taste of Hong Kong

Photo by Lawrence Tabudlo

Entertainment comes naturally to Barinna Poon. The president of the Hong Kong Business Association of Hawai‘i was once a pop singer in the bustling southern Chinese city known variously as the “Pearl of the Orient” and “Asia’s World City.” So it’s no surprise that organizing a festival was on her bucket list. 

And this year, just in time for the Hong Kong Business Association of Hawai‘i’s 30th anniversary, it finally came together. 

The inaugural Honolulu-Hong Kong Festival kicked off Jan. 31 on Fort Street Mall with an hours-long celebration that included prize giveaways, local street food vendors, Chinese lion dancers, traditional Cantonese opera, Chinese zodiac readings and a contest highlighting cheongsam, or traditional Chinese gowns.

The theme was “Temple Street Market” — a nod to the popular night market in Hong Kong. 

“People in Hawai‘i are very laid back,” Poon notes. “So if I did a fancy event, only like 50 people would go. And I didn’t want just 50 people. I wanted the majority of people, not just high-end, not just low-end, but everybody.”

Hundreds of folks showed up throughout the evening, turning Fort Street Mall into a lively celebration of food and culture.

Among those in attendance were Gov. Josh Green, City & County of Honolulu managing director Michael Formby, state Sen. Carol Fukunaga and state Rep. Adrian Tam. Former state House speaker Calvin Say was the festival’s honorary chair. 

All were gratified by the turnout, with Green and Formby in particular noting that events like this go a long way toward revitalizing downtown Honolulu.

Also there was Iris Wong, representing the festival’s title sponsor, the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office. Based in San Francisco, the trade office represents the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government in the western part of the United States. Her presence was a reminder that the evening was about more than food and music, it was also an opportunity to spotlight economic opportunities in Hong Kong.  

Overall, it seemed like an auspicious start to the festival — and it was just the beginning. The Honolulu-Hong Kong Festival is actually a monthlong affair, and there are several other activities planned for February (see schedule on page 14).

Poon, director of investment and leasing for the Hong Kong and China Division of Cushman & Wakefield ChaneyBrooks, first became president of the Hong Kong Business Association of Hawai‘i back in 2008. Even then, she says, the idea of a festival was on her mind. But the timing wasn’t right.  

The HKBAH was originally founded in 1996 by a group of younger individuals who had moved to Hawai‘i from Hong Kong more recently, according to Poon. They saw their organization as a link between the Aloha State and Hong Kong, which is part of China’s Greater Bay Area — an economic megalopolis that also includes Macau. The organization also promoted networking through business-friendly events such as golf tournaments and networking events.    

In 2010, Poon became president of the U.S.-Hong Kong Business Association, the umbrella organization for the HKBAH. In this role, she got to choose where to hold the organization’s national caucus meeting. 

“Of course, I chose Hawai‘i,” she says. 

That gathering, which included business forums, workshops and tours of O‘ahu, welcomed 150 guests. Poon admits the number was small compared to other business conventions that make their way to the islands, but she still considered it a success because attendees left with a positive view of Hawai‘i. 

The HKBAH hosted three more business forums in Hawai‘i — in 2014, 2019 and 2023, according to Poon. 

“The visitors felt very good about Hawai‘i,” Poon says. “They liked what they saw when they came, they have good memories of their visit. So we did our part to be Hawai‘i ambassadors to them … And here in Hawai‘i we do our part to be Hong Kong ambassadors. So in that way we are bridging the gap.”

Even as she was organizing these business forums, Poon kept a foot in the music scene. Through HKBAH, she organized a series of “Hong Kong concerts.” The first, held at Hawai‘i Theatre in 2012, drew a crowd of about 800 people. 

The performers were friends of Poon’s who were well-known singers in Hong Kong. 

“Of course, they were not young any more, but they were still singing and they still had some name recognition,” she says. “I asked them to come, saying, ‘Well, you’ve never been to Hawai‘i before so I’ll be your tour guide, and in return, you sing one night for me.’ And they all agreed.”

That first concert led to four more. The latest, billed as The Good Old Days Concert – Shanghai Jazz Meets HK Pop, took place in 2024 at Blue Note Hawai‘i. It featured Albert Cheung, Suzan Guterres, Jenny Keung, Cathy Foy and Poon. 

While Poon clearly enjoys singing — she performed a short number at the Temple Street Night Market on Jan. 31 — she was able to keep the concert series going because there was enough demand for it in the community. 

Singing is what initially brought Poon to Hawai‘i in 1989. Although she had established herself as a singer in Hong Kong, in the late 1980s, she began putting on shows overseas. She performed throughout Asia and Europe, and in Australia. She was singing in San Francisco in 1989, she says, when someone from Hawai‘i approached her with an offer to sing at a club in Honolulu’s Chinatown. He proposed a monthlong residency. 

Poon said she wasn’t interested. Hawai‘i seemed like too small of a market to make money singing, and a month seemed like too long of a time to stay there. Still, she agreed to a deal to sing for 10 days. 

She says the first couple of nights, no one came to her show. But as word spread that the club had a new singer from Hong Kong, people turned out in droves and she found herself playing to a full house. 

“I felt very grateful and happy,” she recalls. “And everyone in Hawai‘i was so warm and everything was so good — the coconut trees, the beaches — I started thinking, ‘Wow, if I could stay here that would be nice.’”

Then the Tiananmen Square Massacre unfolded on June 3-4, 1989. Poon had been scheduled to perform at a concert in Beijing in September of that year, but it was canceled. Understanding that it might be a while before she could perform pop songs in China again, she decided to stay in Hawai‘i. 

“So it was an accident,” she says of Hawai‘i becoming her home. “I didn’t plan it.”

Nonetheless, she persevered, working multiple jobs while raising her daughter. And she never gave up on her idea for a Honolulu-Hong Kong Festival. She kept pitching the idea until, finally, the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office agreed to sponsor it. It’s not surprising to learn that Poon actually wanted a much more ambitious program, with nearly double the number of events, but she eventually agreed to pare it down. 

After all, as she pointed out earlier, Hawai‘i is a laid-back place. That’s one of the things she came to love about it.