Tony Miller

“Author”, that sounds good, if a little vain and unfamiliar. I have spent most of my life as the near anonymous scribbler of bureaucratic memoranda, policy papers and the like, having worked in the Hong Kong Government for some 35 years. Arriving there in 1972, with a degree in Modern Arabic, I had intended to stay three years and learn Chinese before joining the UK’s foreign service, but quickly changed my mind about leaving. China soon opened its doors and, since 1979, my wife Nga-ching ( 雅貞 ) and I have wandered all over the country, happily exploring its historic sites and natural wonders. Outside the day job, I developed a keen interest in Chinese history, painting, porcelain, jade and the conversations across borders that have influenced art and style through the ages. This pointed my pen in a different direction, and the result has been publication of a few lectures and papers on previously unresearched aspects of Chinese antiquities. It led also, for a while, to Presidency of Hong Kong’s Oriental Ceramic Society, as well as membership of the Min Chiu Society. Who knows where it will lead next?