The Call of the Entrepreneur is an inspiring documentary examining how entrepreneurs shape the destinies of individuals and nations.
One of its protagonists particularly resonated with me when I first saw the movie. As an aspiring journalist, I was drawn to the story of Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong-based media entrepreneur. I gathered the courage to track down his email address and request an interview. Though intended for publication in Hospodárske noviny, I believe it never appeared in print.
Following Mr. Lai’s conviction on Monday (Dec 15, 2025) for violating national security laws in Hong Kong—a verdict that carries a potential life sentence—I have decided to publish this interview.
Seventeen years later, his words remain remarkably relevant.
I wish to express my gratitude to Mr. Lai for this opportunity and to his team for providing the photographs. All was already in 2008.
Mr. Lai, you are one of three main characters in the documentary film The Call of the Entrepreneur. Why did you decide to appear in this film?
I am a good friend of Father [Robert Sirico], so when he asked me to be part of the movie, I felt very honored and agreed.
Your life is full of risky situations: you had to leave your mother as a child and traveled with smugglers to Hong Kong. You took risks when starting your business. When did you learn how to take risks?
When one is born into a situation like mine—when the communist regime took over China (I was born in December 1947)—my family, which was in business, immediately became an enemy of the people. We were shattered and overwhelmed with tragedies. I was thrust into a life plagued with uncertainties and risks, and I tried to adapt to it. Risk became part of my life and the means to survive and advance. Later, I also discovered that life is about creation, and all creativity involves uncertainty and risk, because when you are creating, you’re creating for an unknown future. To live is to create, and to create is to take risk.
Do you think it is possible to create without taking risks?
No, because creation is about bringing into existence things that don’t yet exist. When you create, you’re creating something for an unknown future, and an unknown future is bound to be uncertain and full of risks.
You read The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek. Was it useful for you? What did you learn from this book? Which of Hayek’s ideas do you remember most?
It is Dr. Hayek’s passion for freedom between the lines of his books that inspires me the most. His books bled into me a passion and conviction for the fight for freedom that has become my second instinct. Of course, he also taught me the reasons why dictatorship is barbarous and bound to be cruel.
Dictatorship is barbarous and bound to be cruel.
From your point of view, which virtues and values are needed to run a successful business?
Faith in yourself and the belief that if you do the right thing, you are rewarded not only materially but also spiritually. The latter is more important because material things might not give you happiness, but spiritual elevation will. Knowing that you are doing the right thing is a very good feeling.
Do you think that religion and belief can help people to create, to work, to run businesses, and to become entrepreneurs?
I believe that faith in God can make you a stronger person to endure loneliness and hardship, because you believe that God will not give up on you no matter how down you are. To believe in God is to believe in the boundlessness of Him, which makes one believe in the unlimited opportunities and possibilities in life and business—that is what makes one an entrepreneur.
Can you please describe your conversion to Catholicism?
I always felt that I was so lucky as a person that there must be a God, so out of thanksgiving, I converted to Catholicism.
Was it easy for you to convert to Catholicism? What were you experiencing during the conversion?
My wife and family had been Catholic for a long time before I converted. I had attended Mass for a long time with my wife and family before I decided to convert, so my conversion seemed a very natural course of events.
You moved from the clothing industry to the media industry. Is selling clothes the same as selling information—selling magazines and newspapers?
All businesses are the same: selling what customers want and solving problems customers face that no one has yet solved. Business is about finding out what’s wrong with yourself and the market. It’s all the same.
What problems of customers are solved by media?
Media is not just a rational but also an emotional product. It needs to resonate with and share sentiments with your users. It must not only be accurate but also entertaining. It must be about the stories of people’s lives that your users can relate to their own life experiences.
Do you want your children to become entrepreneurs like their father?
To many people, business is not important—life is important. So the only wish I have for my children is that they are happy.
What are your plans for the future?
Just to believe that there’s going to be a better future. I don’t plan my future because nobody knows the future.
What is a better future?
If one keeps the humility to learn, one can build a better future, because the more one learns, the better future one can create.
If one keeps the humility to learn, one can build a better future, because the more one learns, the better future one can create.
Do you see a better future for China?
Yes, I even think that China cannot escape the fate of becoming a democracy one day. China cannot be isolated from the world and be great. It must become part of the world by embracing the world’s dominant value—democracy—in order to be part of it.
How do you judge the Beijing Olympics? What is your opinion on China having organized the Olympics?
The Beijing Olympics will help China integrate with the world. Though China opened its market to the world three decades ago, the world was still something in the dark—Chinese people still had phobias and insecurities about the world outside. The Beijing Olympics turned the light on. Now Chinese people see that people all over the world are coming to them with warmth and friendliness. They feel honored and see their pride as part of this world community. They are more willing to embrace the world because the world embraced them during the Beijing Olympics. The ignorance of the outside world is lost, and Chinese people see the world as it is now—their fear and insecurity about it evaporate.
(Q&As come from 2008, never been published until now.)