As the third generation of Diamond Restaurant, a renowned brand with more than seventy years' history in Hong Kong, Andrew comes from a background deeply steeped in local culture and traditions. One of his grandfathers is the Cantonese opera superstar Leung Sing Por, MBE; while another grandfather is the founder of the famous Yung Kee Restaurant in Central. Although Diamond Restaurant closed down in 2002 due to declining demand for banquet hall restaurants, the family's legacy lives on through Andrew's tireless efforts in rejuvenating and repackaging the brand.
Today, Diamond Restaurant is a trendy and environmentally-friendly business that brings healthy and high-quality food products to consumers in Hong Kong. From securing a sustainable source to coming up with creative recipes to share with consumers, Andrew has worked hard to redevelop Diamond Restaurant into a modern brand that can compete in today's ever-evolving food industry. To encourage the younger generation to try abalone—commonly viewed as a very traditional food—he came up with refreshing recipes for healthy salads incorporating abalone. He also came up with the innovative idea of providing a shopping bag done in a traditional "paper bag" style that invokes nostalgia in older customers and curiosity about their origins in younger generations.
Heavily inspired by his grandfathers, Andrew is also passionate about cultural preservation in Hong Kong. In recent years, his family donated Diamond Restaurant's traditional and elaborate dragon-phoenix hall to Hong Kong Heritage Museum as a historical relic. At the exhibition, Andrew recalls a heartwarming encounter with an elderly couple who had gotten married at Diamond Restaurant. "I was so touched to see a couple run up to the display and share photos and anecdotes of their wedding with me," Andrew recalls fondly. "Stories like these are our history; they are the building blocks of Hong Kong and I am humbled to be able to help preserve these meaningful moments for our next generation."
Before taking the helm for his family businesses, Andrew led a fulfilling career in advertising and marketing, beginning with two prestigious agencies, FCB and Ogilvy. He then switched to in-house marketing at PCCW, where one of the programs he was responsible for overtook cable TV's monthly viewer subscriptions. Next, he worked for the Italian suit brand Cerruti before spending the following eight years with Cartier. Andrew was part of the milestone moment when Cartier first allowed a new local advertising campaign to be launched, leading a TV and online commercial campaign to record-breaking success across multiple digital media platforms (all while averaging only four hours of sleep for three consecutive months). On the heels of his success, Andrew decided to take up new challenges by relocating to Cartier in mainland China, where he honed his management skills while training frontline staff at Cartier's shops.
Andrew is also an advocate of stepping out of our comfort zones and taking on new challenges. He has been a guest speaker on several television programs and is supportive in cultivating our next generation of leaders and change-makers at HKUST. In a recent career talk for participants of the HeadStart@HKUST program, Andrew encouraged students to head out to explore the world. "If you don't jump when you are still young, when are you going to jump?" he asked. "The world is so big and there is so much to see. Don't be afraid – just go and experience for yourself what it's like out there."
Know more about Andrew from the below interviews: