My holidays are sometimes even more work than a business trip! But I can't shut myself off from design, because my work is my passion.
Dinner parties are always more lively when Thomas Ma is invited. At his happiest when helping out, Thomas is the kind of guest who will be pouring the wine and entertaining guests with witty stories as if he was the host. His approach to business is the same; he finds that he draws energy by being involved in all aspects of a company. One of the founding directors of OVO home, he personally sources many of the lifestyle products available in the shop.
"Even when I go on a holiday, I'm always looking at design," Thomas admits. "My holidays are sometimes even more work than a business trip! But I can't shut myself off from design, because my work is my passion." Although he originally studied hotel management, he has always appreciated art. While he worked in hotels, he was most interested in the elements of the business that related to the home, such as creating an ambience of comfort.
OVO home began in 2000 as a furniture shop for uniquely Asian designs, with lifestyle accessories to complement its furnishings. OVO GARDEN evolved because Thomas had a passion for gardening and felt it would be a welcome complement to OVO home.
"Many people enjoy buying and arranging flowers," he says. "But when it's a business, you have to consider how to provide a unique arrangement for each customer. That's the challenge: how to keep enjoying the business while still giving customers what they want. The key for us is to establish a relationship with them. There's an expression in Buddhism that states true happiness is in helping others. That's our guiding philosophy."
Many years ago, Thomas worked for actress and singer Anita Mui, managing her company and following up with her shows. "I admired her artistic talents and diligence" he remembers. "No matter how sick she was, she gave everything she had as soon as she stepped on stage, even if it was just a rehearsal. Not many people could do that. Maybe it was because people of her generation fought for what they had, and were not afraid of hard work."
From the very beginning, OVO has been a Starstreet resident. Initially, it was part of a ground floor space in Sau Wa Fong. Even the name 'OVO' is related to the precinct. One day, Thomas noticed that birds were constantly around the bamboo that he bought to decorate the front of the shop. It turned out that they had built a nest and laid three eggs there. He felt that the birth of the baby birds mirrored the birth of the retail shop, and even the shape of the three eggs in the nest resembled the word 'OVO'. So he decided to name the fledging company after his avian friends.
"I think Starstreet Precinct is similar to San Francisco," Thomas remarks. "Of course, the scale is much smaller, but there are lots of galleries and shops, and the streets are hilly. We find that Europeans like coming to OVO, as well as young Hong Kong people who may have studied or worked abroad. This area combines a sense of traditional Hong Kong culture with a strong east-west mix. I believe the unique culture will spearhead the development of this area. After all, Wanchai is the heart and soul of Hong Kong."