Born and raised in Hong Kong, John emigrated to the United States when he was a Form II student at La Salle College. He continued his education at Stuyvesant High School in New York City and studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He went on to complete master’s degrees in Bilingual Education at Boston State College and in Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He worked in the Boston Public Schools as a teacher and in curriculum development.

John returned to work as a public official, an Administrative Officer, in the Hong Kong Government in 1982, and after 1997, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. During his 30 plus years in public service, he took up a number of posts relating to commerce and finance. After reunification, he was appointed Director-General of the Economic and Trade Office in London, Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Secretary for Planning and Lands, Secretary for Commerce, Innovation and Technology, Director of the Chief Executive’s Office and in 2007, Financial Secretary where he served until 2017. He ran for the post of Chief Executive and lost.

John is currently engaged in a number of diverse activities. He is the Founder of Esperanza, a non-profit charity organization, a board member of HATCH, a social impact charity organization of Social Ventures Hong Kong, a board member of Dalton School Hong Kong, an international school, the Vice Chairman of Ion Pacific, a financial institution that specializes in technology investments, the Senior Advisor of Bowtie, a virtual insurance company, a board member of the Greater Bay Area Homeland Investments Limited, a VC firm that invests in technological solutions, an advisor of StashAway, an intelligent wealth management platform, a partner of E15 VC, a venture capital fund that focuses on deep tech, an advisor of Mercury Technology Solution, a software solutions provider, an advisor of Halo Energy Limited, a provider of EV charging systems, an advisor of The Asia Group, a strategy and business advisory group to corporations and organizations with business interests in the trans-Pacific region, a board member of TOJOY, a business matching platform, the host of a weekly music program on Hong Kong Commercial Radio and the fencing coach of La Salle College.

John is married with two grown children and three grandchildren.