earned him the nickname "Taipan". Cheng was appointed as consultant for a wide spectrum of key institutions in Hong Kong, including the Land Development Council, Mass Transit Railway Corporation, Hong Kong Jockey Club, Trade Development Council, PCCW, Futures and Security Commission and Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Cheng was a board member of the Hong Kong Audit Bureau of Circulation (HKABC). He also served as board member, treasurer, chairman of the Society of Hong Kong Publishers from 1988 to 1990. He has been served as a trustee of the Foundation of Businesses in Support of the Arts since 1990. He was a member of the Securities & Futures Commission's Public Shareholders Group. Cheng also led the Hong Kong Expo' 97 Initiative Committee in 1988. In 1999, Cheng took advantage of the dot-com boom to set up 36.com Holdings Ltd. 36.com later ventured into publishing the weekly Cup magazine. Cheng remains publisher emeritus of the now monthly Cup magazine. Political activism In May 1989, over a million Hong Kongers took to the streets to rally for the pro-democracy student movement in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Democratic Patriotic Movements of China was established during the massive protests. Cheng is a co-founder of this multi-sectorial umbrella civil body to back the Chinese students' demand for democracy and a clean government. The peaceful demonstrations in Tiananmen Square ended in a bloody military crackdown, which shook Hong Kong and the world. Cheng then went on to form the Right of Abode Delegation, with Hong Kong leading businessmen to press London for full British passports for Hong Kong people as a political insurance policy. The campaign resulted in right of abode in Britain for some 50,000 Hong Kong people. As an activist, he was instrumental in mobilising mass opposition in 2002 to the Hong Kong Government's Central and Wan Chai Reclamation Project, which was regarded as environmental-unfriendly and a threat to Hong Kong's renown Victoria Harbor. He was behind a judicial review that resulted in stopping the reclamation in Central. Media personality In 1994, Cheng co-hosted the ground-breaking political talk show "News Tease" on Asia Television which set the trend of current affairs commentary programmes in the local electronic media. He was under pressure to leave the business sector because of his candid political remarks. Apart from ATV, he also hosted current affairs talk shows on Cable TV and