Rise to the top
Christina had also decided that she would only focus on work, and not think about having a relationship.

Being fluent in both English and Mandarin, she often found herself drafting presentations for Acer’s then-CEO, Stan Shih. She was also unafraid of taking on new assignments outside her job scope.

When asked to take over hosting duties at a distributors' meeting after its host abruptly left the day before the event began, she did so without hesitation, buying a kebaya while in transit in Penang to wear to the meeting. Her audience loved her and she eventually came up with events that were unconventional for the industry, such as product launches in the garden in Italy for Acer, a oxygen-themed party to launch O2's first PDA smartphone, and a 'shop' in Chijmes to launch Yahoo's online shopping portal.

Describing herself, Christina said: "I like it when I'm in total control. I'm not afraid of the limelight and a big audience and I flourish in autonomy and freedom.

"I don't do anything I'm not passionate about."

Those traits served her well when the opportunity came up for the position of Marketing Director of Acer's European operations. She asked for it, and got the job.

She was just 27.

By the time she was 29, she was asked to run Acer's Italian operations. She had found out that the then-Italian managing director had been embezzling the company's funds. She also faced another crisis when the company's warehouse in Italy was robbed. 

Turning to competitor IBM for help in packing and delivering products to her customers so that she could track costs and keep them down more efficiently, she managed to turn a profit at year's end.

Giving it up in the name of love
After returning to Hong Kong in 2008, she retired from the corporate world for a second time a year later to be with her husband. Christina says she has no regrets about giving up her career.
 
She said: "I'm not like all the other executive women; I can't juggle two roles at the same time - working and personal."

Her husband's much younger age, instead of being a source of difficulty, comes as a plus to her. She explained: "I feel that he is more natural, sincere and true to himself. He says it like it is. Of course, I won't say that for every younger man, but I can't imagine myself with an older man now."

Only one friend has ever called her a cougar, but that was in jest only.

She also believes that her husband has taught her a lot when it comes to communicating with other people, as he constantly points out to where she could have been more tactful, or shows her another point of view.

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