Get a fresh start.
Add this topic to your myFT Digest for news straight to your inbox
Items reveal the idiosyncratic taste of the FT’s late columnist and Agony Uncle
Catch up on our top commentary from Jo Ellison, Robert Shrimsley, Gillian Tett, Janan Ganesh, Simon Kuper and more
An interior design Agony Uncle column became a conduit for outspoken humour
Film producer pays homage to the FT columnist who stood up to the Chinese state
Algy Cluff tells of the intern who turned out to be better connected than he was
A popular figure whose influence, philanthropy and friendships spanned the world
Presenter pays tribute to a man with a deep, almost bottomless well of kindness
Hong Kong-born founder of fashion label Shanghai Tang wrote Agony Uncle column
Bon vivant and FT columnist sold his eponymous fashion label to Richemont in 1998
‘I cannot think of anything better than a proliferation of coffee shops over tedious pubs’
A veteran of sailing on other people’s big boats separates the crass from the first class
‘The moment I was wheeled in, I knew this was nothing like my preconception of an A&E department’
‘It is English-speaking and the standard of Chinese food is excellent, unlike other European capitals’
‘It’s delightful to pretend that one has a 300-acre estate in the middle of London’
‘In Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un’s tailor cut me a ‘Kim’ suit: medium brown in colour with slightly flared trousers’
‘Your acquaintance is probably using it as a term of endearment — but at your age why are you bothered what you are called’
The doors are too heavy, you can’t change a flat tyre, and it makes you appear either devious or paranoid
China regards the handover from Britain two decades ago as an unalloyed success
‘Was this stratospherically powerful man really making small talk about Chinese food and jackets?’
‘When asked a binary question, a politician’s answer should be “yes” or “no”, a practice that is beyond 99.99% of them’
Just remember: if you ever decide to remonstrate with a cabbie, make sure you can run just slightly faster than him
‘Board members have had it too good for too long . . . let’s “out” them from their snug seats of complacency’
‘Sometimes, especially in Asia, variations of the tapering consist of an origami butterfly or pyramid. All of which are irritating’
‘If your father is indifferent to music, he might as well hang a horn, trombone, trumpet and tuba on his wall’
