Contrary to popular belief, this Phil is neither The Power (darts player) nor Philthy Animal (Motorhead drummer).

This Phil has no entry in Wikipedia. He was born and raised in the UK, living in several different towns and cities, and even Wales, during the first few years of his life. He went to university in Nottingham, where he unwittingly became a computer nerd for a while, studying Electronic Engineering and then Computer Science. He also had a brief brush with stardom while playing the drums in a student band. After graduation, he moved to London to work as a software developer, before escaping to Japan in 2002 to enter the world’s oldest trade - teaching English.

After spending a year in Tokyo getting acclimatised to the food and culture and learning rather too little Japanese, he made a slightly ill-considered move up north to Hokkaido. There, he experienced some of the coldest days of his life, and learnt how to dig a car out from over six feet of snow. He also became half-fluent in Japanese, taking advantage of the fact that his city was home to around eight foreigners, but more than 30 volunteer teachers.

He continued to work as an English teacher, before finally moving to Sapporo where he established himself as a freelance editor and writer. He also won some web-design contracts and taught English to small groups within companies and educational establishments.

On his first visit to Hong Kong, while standing in Statue Square one warm evening, Phil was struck with a strong desire to live in the city one day - the dream came true in 2006. After flirting briefly with unemployment, he worked as an English textbook editor at Oxford University Press. Here he made use of his IT and presentation skills, becoming responsible for the development of an electronic textbook and presenting the new product to an audience of 300.

He moved to Euromoney in 2007 where he is now editor of China Law & Practice magazine. He loves his work for its variety and the chance to meet people, travel and learn about the intricacies of law.

When he’s not delving into the mysteries of the Chinese legal system, Phil enjoys eating out (and in), drinking in (and out) and hiking (always out, and usually on mountains which turn out to be quite steep). He also has a love of real ale (don’t even get him started on the difference between bitter and stout), cricket, and good music.

Phil plays the guitar and drums and attends St John’s Cathedral with his wife most Sundays.

Linkedin Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/faffer

Joined: March 2009