At Home in Hong Kong

At home in Hong Kong: Andreas Schmitt

Andreas Schmitt stands out from the crowd. He is strikingly tall and at 38 years old already has a magnificent career under his belt. A giant in the land of smiles – the Managing Director of Simba Toys Hong Kong.

Andreas Schmitt is used to turning heads. At 2,06 m tall, he stands out even in Germany. But in China he is practically a tourist attraction. Not a day goes by without passersby asking to have their photograph taken with him. The 38- year-old laughs about it.

Just as extraordinary as his outer appearance is his life. Born in Middle Franconia, for almost three years he has lived in Hong Kong, the location of the secondlargest branch of the Simba Dickie Group. The MD of Simba Toys Hong Kong (HK) has a view from his office in Kowloon of the spectacular skyline of Hong Kong Island, the banking and cultural center. With his team he makes sure that the flow of goods between China and Europe runs smoothly. The scale of this task becomes evident if you bear in mind that 75 percent of toys produced by Simba Dickie come from the province of Guangdong around 60 km away. On top of this, Schmitt is also on the board of Smoby Toys HK, whose offices are located nearby. The responsibility is huge. "But it's my dream job," says Schmitt, beaming his winning smile. "I have been given the chance of a lifetime here."

From college into the world

Never in his wildest dreams had the business student imagined that he would one day work in one of the most exciting cities in the world. He completed an internship at Simba Dickie because it was close to home in the Nuremberg region. He liked the world of toys right away. "I've got a playful character," he says. His commitment attracted the attention of CEO Michael Sieber. The company had made the young man his assistant immediately after his exams. Andreas Schmitt learned the complex system of the toy industry from the bottom up, and from day one accompanied his boss on numerous world trips to the production and distribution sites of the group. to the north of the island.

Andreas Schmitt was soon promoted to product manager for Simba Baby, until he was put in charge of the major new project "Disney Princess Fashion Dolls", the license to the world-famous children's movies. He wanted to "give back what I
owe to the management", and he succeeded. He spent three months of the year in Hong Kong to "accompany the toys from A to Z". From the idea to the shop counter.

Culture shock is all part of the experience

He remembers his first stay in Hong Kong as if it were yesterday. Back then Hong Kong was still a British colony, before it was returned to China on July 1, 1997. The colonial lifestyle was noticeable everywhere you went. "I was taken to my hotel by limousine and pampered 24 hours a day."

His least favorable impression: "I feel like I'm in an anthill." The humid, overbearing heat, as if you were wearing a suit in a sauna with the heat on full, the ever-present rush, the diesel fumes from the buses, crowds and jostling everywhere, the rackety echo of pneumatic hammers, concrete mixers and trucks. The countless people. "It was all just like in the movies."

More than seven million people live in Hong Kong today, that's 6,355 per square kilometer. As a comparison: in Germany there are now around 230 inhabitants per square kilometer, and the most densely populated city, Munich, has 4,300. Hong Kong, which translates as "fragrant harbor", is one of the leading financial metropolises in the world. It has the highest store rents, is the largest textiles exporter, has the largest container port and a subway network with the world's highest transport performance. Superlatives in the very smallest of spaces.

Andreas Schmitt has since become part of this movie himself, and sometimes the extreme noise level, "the constant racket", the transport, the cell phones, the droning air conditioning and the vociferous Asians get on his nerves. He can't stick to the same pace as the rest of the sea of people, because he just walks at a different rhythm. Sometimes Chinese people dog his steps "just to experience how such a tall man walks," explains the Nurembergian. But deep down he is fond of the country: "Hong Kong is my home for the time being and I love it, even though this world will always remain closed off to me." He enjoys his business meetings in Central on Hong Kong Island, which can only be reached by ferry. "It's calm on the water."

The SIMBA DICKIE GROUP enjoys a good reputation

Several times a year, Andreas Schmitt meets the employees in the factories in Guangdong, where there are always around 3,000 factory workers in the service of the joint venture enterprises of the Simba Dickie Group. In Shanghai he visits the almost 80 employees in purchasing and sales just as often. The Sieber family has accomplished something exceptional here in Asia from the very beginning: half of the local employees have remained loyal for at least ten years. "There are normally constant comings and goings here," says Schmitt. "People don't become emotionally attached to one company – they might take up a better offer at any time." But his team is stable. Simba Dickie is considered an excellent, reliable employer among product developers, designers and sales managers alike.

A normal working day in the life of Andreas Schmitt lasts up to 14 hours, six days a week. To counterbalance this he goes three times a week to the gym in the same complex as his office. One of the manager's passions is strolling through the supermarket on a Sunday. "In Hong Kong you can find everything the European stomach desires," he laughs. "And anything exotic." He likes to look, to smell, to try things. "It relaxes me." Now and then he goes for a walk, which means: window shopping in the endless, air-conditioned malls. But above all he likes to spend late evenings in his apartment, at 100 square meters a palace by Hong Kong's standards. He reads German newspapers on the Internet, calls home, listens to music... What the eloquent 1 Andreas Schmitt really misses is the German language – "to really be able to communicate".

New temporary home

Schmitt travelled from Nuremberg to Hong Kong on October 16, 2005. Without a return ticket. A 20-foot container with furniture and personal belongings followed by boat. Today he moves naturally through the narrow streets of Hong Kong. The Simba Toys manager has just extended his contract by two years. After that he wants to return to Germany and start a family. Until then he is concentrating only on his career. "The pace is fast, my pulse is always racing, but I haven't regretted a single day so far."

The spirit of optimism and purpose perceptible all the time in this city, where everyone just wants to get to the top, "suits me," says Schmitt. Having said that, things have never before been as crazy as they are now. During peak season of all times (production for Christmas) the government has brought in new visa regulations and Schmitt constantly has to apply for a new one if he wants to cross the border into China. "The rising costs for raw materials, energy and wages are insane." And all the while workers are disappearing from the factories because they are poached away. Or work stops because there's a storm raging. Schmitt's main occupation is actually that of "troubleshooter".

But Andreas Schmitt is sure to master even this tricky situation. Because he has come to terms with one thing over the past few years: "Absolutely everything is different here, completely different. You need a lot of patience and inner peace." He smiles.