Escape from Paradise: From Third World to First

May Chu Harding, nee Lee, was born in Singapore. At the age of 18, she founded and published two professional trade magazines, Development and Construction, and Banking and Financial Review.

May Chu wrote the editorials and lead articles for both magazines, including her famous interview with I. M. Pei.

May Chu is the great-granddaughter of Aw Boon Par, one of the "Tiger Balm Kings" who, with his brother, developed Tiger Balm and founded Chung Khiaw Bank with branches throughout Singapore and Malaysia, and the Sing Tao Group, publishing newspapers in Asia, Australia, the United States, and Canada.

May Chu’s native language is English, but she is also fluent in four Chinese dialects and Malay.

Her family’s palatial estates, Hong Kong’s Tiger Balm Gardens, and Singapore’s Haw Par Villa, have become major tourist attractions.

John Harding

Prior to devoting himself to publishing and writing as a published author, John, was Vice President of Computer Operations for Citibank Singapore, where he created the largest financial data center in Asia providing credit card and banking services worldwide. Before that John served as Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Singapore's Inland Revenue department, where he was in charge of computer operations.

John has held the academic positions of University Professor at Pratt Institute of Technology, Graduate School of Engineering (New York, NY), King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (Dhahran Saudi Arabia) & John Cabot University (Rome, Italy).

John worked as a consultant to the United Nations Secretariat, New York, NY. He also served as a United Nations Expert for the United Nations Development Program in Kingston Jamaica where he set up the first computer center for the Government of Jamaica.

Other companies for which John has worked include Saudi Aramco (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia), Westinghouse (Milan, Italy), and Rockwell International (El Segundo, California).