for instance. But the Russians are not alone. London is also a natural magnet for the super wealthy of India and China, and also for our very own tycoons from Malaysia and Singapore. My friends keep pointing out to me big blocks of property owned by some well-known Malaysian. Tey tell me about the large hotel chain now owned by Malaysia’s Hong Leong group, the shopping mall owned by a Singaporean tycoon, the massive new apartment project at Battersea Park being developed by a Malaysian conglomerate; and they also tell me about the latest In-thing… investment in the UK’s premier and championship football clubs – Cardiff owned by Vincent Tan of Berjaya group (which recently made it into the Premier League making the Berjaya boss a serious “player” in the football club leagues) and also Queens Park Rangers owned by Tony Fernandez of Air Asia, which has just dropped a notch to the Championships League. Actually, all very heady stuff for me to take in! Tis is 21st century London – it is still the same, but really no longer quite the same.
London has always been cosmopolitan before, but it is more so now. Te presence of new Europeans mainly from Eastern Europe, Asians, Africans, Russians and every kind of foreigner is very visible, and it is not confined to the super rich. At Harrods, I am served by a Polish waitress at the restaurant and by a
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beautiful lady from Uganda in the jewellery department. At Selfridges, the guy who cuts up my salt beef was originally from Uzbekistan and the driver who takes us to the airport is from Yemen. Te grocer shop down the road from where I am staying migrated from Pakistan, and of course, most of the Chinese eating places are run by former residents of Hong Kong, many of whom came during the late ‘80s and ‘90s. London is a wondrous melting pot in more ways than one, and I feel very at home enjoying the diversity of peoples in this great city. I am not surprised so many people love London. There is something truly special about this place and for someone like me who love old buildings, old traditions and all
the shows and the sporting events, London spins a special magic I feel each time I come. I do not need to do all the things I love doing here to enjoy this place. This time around for instance, I had no time to take a walk through Hyde Park, or browse for hours at the bookstores Waterstones and Dillons, or catch the ballet at Covent Garden. I was a week too early for tennis at Wimbledon. I used to enjoy watching the old greats play during my banking days, when I often got invited to watch tennis in one of the big banking tents where I drank champagne and ate strawberries while rubbing shoulders with the financial elite of the city. We also could not get tickets to watch Helen Mirren playing the Queen! But we did manage to catch Rod
Stewart’s one day concert at the O2. It was sheer good luck that a friend of a friend offered VIP box seats for the concert, so for us, this ageing singer became quite a highlight of our stay. For someone his age, the man has lost neither his voice nor his charm, and his smoothness gave his performance a real edge. He introduced his youngest sons to the full house crowd (25,000 people at least) who sang along to songs that were hits a couple of decades ago. We loved the two hours spent with him. Te bonus were the souvenir T shirts I bought for my husband, which were of such good quality they pleased him no end!
Catching up with Carmel Greenwood in her beautiful London home!
JULY / AUGUST 2013 | F ENGSHUIWORLD
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