From shipbroker to restaurateur

Press, 29 December 1988, Page 13

From shipbroker to restaurateur

PA Hong Kong A New Zealander, Gerrard Sharman, personifies the adage of not being able to keep a good man down. The Hong Kong-based shipbroker laughs when he recalls now how he lost his shirt during the 1984 tonnage slump. “When you lose your shirt and you’ve got no money you’ve got to do something.”

He and his Australian wife Jennifer opted for life on Lamma Island where the rents are about one-fifth the rents paid for accommodation on exorbitant Hong Kong Island. Lamma Island is a 40minute ferry ride from Central or a 30-minute junk ride from Aberdeen.

The Sharmans now have the satisfaction of knowing their thriving Capital Restaurant fondue business on Yung Shue Wan’s main street emerged from their economic hardship.

One of the small Medi-terranean-like village’s claims to fame is that there are no cars. Since the Sharmans moved to Lamma they have found an increasing number of professional people moving in as neighbours to get away from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong island.

Sharman’s life has been interesting, and during his, early years difficult. Q-

He was born in India of New Zealand parents in 1931 and his family took him to Christchurch in 1932.

He spent four years in Christchurch before circumstances required his father, who went to sea at 16, to move wife and family to Shanghai. The Japanese wrought havoc on the Sharman family. They were forced to flee Shanghai for Hong Kong in 1936 and his father, who was a chief engineer with the Mollers Shipping Company, subsequently died as a prisoner of war in Singapore.

Gerrard Sharman spent the war years in Colombo, Bangalore and Darjeeling when his family was separated during World War IL After the war he was reunited with his family in Christchurch but the lure of Asia proved powerful. In 1948 he returned to Hong Kong as a 17-year-old where he followed his father’s footsteps into the shipping industry.

For a man who has spent 10 years in New Zealand, Sharman obviously retains a strong affection for the country. His restaurant is decorated with New Zealand memorabilia provided courtesy of a former New Zealand Commissioner to Hong Kong, Frank Muller.