Children of Chinese immigrants in Denmark are now top leaders in multi-million businesses 

Humphrey Lau and Pui Ling Lau came to Denmark as children of Chinese immigrants. Today, both are directors in Danish multi-million businesses, Humphrey Lau as head of Grundfos’ department for global industry with responsibility for an annual turnover of DKK 7.5 billion and Pui Ling Lau as operations director in Realdania.

In their first joint interview with Børsen, the siblings talk about how their journey of a lifetime began in their parents’ small China grill bar in Copenhagen.

Back in the 1980s, the two siblings’ everyday lives as children of Chinese immigrants were far from the top of society. 

Humphrey Lau says to Børsen, “We lost our father when I was 11 and Pui 10. With that, our childhood disappeared, and from then on it was a battle for survival.”

There was no other alternative for the siblings than to work in the parents’ China grill bar as the family were immigrants and the mother spoke poor Danish.

Pui Ling Lau says, “My big brother and I had a great responsibility for the family, and we both had to work hard in our grill bar until late in the evening,” while remembering that it strongly united the family.

Since then, they have both worked hard to be where they are in life and both can present impressive CVs with a large number of positions at the top of the Danish business community. 

In addition, Pui Ling Lau has also worked in the civil service at the Danish parliament, Christiansborg. Here she has been a clerk in the Ministry of Justice, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in the Prime Minister’s Office, where she in 1998 became Chief Ministerial Secretary for Poul Nyrup Rasmussen and later Head of the Ministerial Secretariat under Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

In 2004 she was also entrusted with the task of arranging the Crown Prince Couple’s wedding as head of the Lord Chamberlain’s Office. Humphrey Lau has a long international career at Novozymes, Novo Nordisk, and Grundfos, to name a few. 

 

About Gregers Møller

Editor-in-Chief • ScandAsia Publishing Co., Ltd. • Bangkok, Thailand

View all posts by Gregers Møller

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