The journey begins － A Lasallian Brother in China

I first met Brother David when I was about 12 (and that, for the records, was a looooong time ago). Brother D is the younger brother of my ku-cheung, husband of my ku-mah. Ku-mah in turn is my father's elder sister. And Brother D is a Catholic priest of the La Salle order. In other words, I am sort-of like his niece.


Always with a quick smile, a kind word and a hearty laugh, every one warms up to dear Brother D easily. 


What seems like a thousand years have passed since that childhood memory of him, and suddenly, I heard news that he has retired a few years back and now lives in a remote Chinese hamlet in China, teaching English for free. Records of his teaching, his travails and joys of a simple life in the heartland of his ancestors can be found on www.lasallechina.com


His writing style is light and warm (like the real person) and quite often, with a touch of humour. 


A sample of his writing (and also shows his popularity)


"At lunch on Thursday, one of the ladies in Baijiang made the remark that it was hard to invite me over for a meal.  I assured everyone that I always accept the first invitation and will not change, no matter who invites me later on.  It was then someone suggested that in order to avoid the discomfort of “failing to invite laoshi” that I fly a red flag on top of my house so that villagers will know that I already have an invitation for a meal.  One villager even suggested that I fly a green flag when I need a meal! "

Gratefulness....

Gratefulness is the trait of a great person.

On the flip side of the coin, ungratefulness must be the trait of a little person. And it hurts, and is unsettling to be working together with people who are ungrateful. And the funny thing about ungrateful people, they are also spiteful, with lots of bitter things to say about you, and about the team, and the world around them.

Thankfully in my work life, I have only met two of such people, colleagues that you have made an effort to help develop their skills to enable them to grow in their roles; and when they have what they want, they not only push you away but say a lot of "things". Well - only two in my entire career. Thats really not much, I guess.

Perhaps ungrateful people are rare in this world.

Thank God for that!

Where do you want to go?

One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. "Which road do I take?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?" was his response. "I don't know," Alice answered. "Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

The meaning of marketing

(sent by Lynn Liu - Oct 2010)

1. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: "I am very rich. Marry me!" - That's Direct Marketing"

2. You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says: "He's very rich. "Marry him." -That's Advertising"

3. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day, you call and say: "Hi, I'm very rich. "Marry me - That's Telemarketing"

4. You're at a party and see gorgeous girl. You get up and straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour her a drink, you open the door (ofthe car)for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her ride andthen say:"By the way, I'm rich. Will you "Marry Me?" - That's Public Relations"

5. You're at a party and see gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says:"You are very rich! "Can you marry ! me?" - That's Brand Recognition"

6. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: "I am very rich. Marry me!" She gives you a nice hard slap on your face. - "That's Customer Feedback"

7. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: "I am very rich. Marry me!" And she introduces you to her husband. - "That's demand and supply gap"

8. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say anything, another person come and tell her: "I'm rich. Will you marry me?" and she goes with him - "That's competition eating into your market share"

9. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say: "I'm rich, Marry me!" your wife arrives. - "That's restriction for entering new markets"

Wonderful Colourful Vibrant Ethiopia

Little boys at Queen Sheba's Ruins stand high on the fence to ask us for sweets. All of them wore clothes that are either in tatters or patched up in a few places. Nonetheless, their smiles are sweet, their manners gracious.

On far left, the 14th century colourful frescoes from ceiling to floor, all depicting stories from the Bible. These frescoes - still vibrant in their varied hues inspite of the years, are hidden inside plain monasteries made of bamboo, wood with thatched roof.

On right, a faithful man cloaked in white shawl and headdress makes his way to the monastery for evening prayers.

Locals walked everywhere. Some more fortunate ones travel in horse-driven carts like this.

Tourists like us get the 20-seater bus with a wisp of airconditioning thrown in.

Brisk business at a local convenience stall, even the camels have to queue up to buy a drink!

Me in quiet reflection at the obelisk site in Aksum

"A slow day in business", pictur of a local souvenir shop

Colour memories all sketched in my travelogue, of a vibrant and beautiful country and people.

High tea in style

Jennifer Crewes made a score of scones, whipped up clotted cream and produced fruit jam from a jar, and voila, we had Devonshire High Tea at home. Complete with English Porcelain teacups and saucers, and a three tiered plate to hold the tasty scones.

Love....

A heart that loves is forever young - Greek Proverb.

Happy Valentine's Day 2011

Drawing at Egypt's Alexandria Qaitbay Citadel.

老佛爷驾到 (The arrival of Empress Dowager)

I always think of myself as pretty nimble footed and flexible. That was, until last week, when I had to navigate the steep lava-rocks down towards the Blue Nile Falls in Bahar Dar, Ethiopia. Blue Nile Falls ranks 3rd in the world as one of the grandest falls.

On the way down, a local boy, Tefra, probably seeing my shaky knees, handed me his walking stick - fashioned from a tree branch. Sturdy stick in hand, already I felt much better to negotiate the climb. After a few minutes, Tefra offered me his hand, which I gladly took.

For the next few hours (climb was downwards to the Fall, and then up again - back to the bus), I felt like Grand Old Empress Dowager Cixi. Shaky knees, breathlessness, and one big stick in hand, and a young man's hand on the other!

Story of two pebbles

A farmer owed a local rich but very ugly and old man a lot of money. And the farmer had a beautiful young daughter that the old rich man favours. The latter proposed to the farmer to waive the debt in return for the hand of the beautiful daughter. Both the farmer and daughter were shocked at the proposal.

In any case, the shrewd old man wanted to make the proposal "fairer" to the young lady. He said, I will put two pebbles into the bag and you pick one. Should you pick a black pebble, you are to marry me and I will extinguish your father's debt. If you pick the white pebble, you do not have to marry me, yet I will still extinguish your father's debt. If you picked neither, I shall have your father thrown into prison.

With that said, the old man picked two pebbles from the ground which is full of pebbles and put them in a bag. The young girl's sharp eyes caught the old man stuffing two black pebbles into the bag. What can she do? Expose the cheat? Or sacrifice herself? Or let her father go to jail?

What would you do?

This calls for lateral thinking over logical thinking (For more on lateral thinking, read Edward De Bono's books).

....

....

...

What the girl did was she reached into the bag and picked out one pebble. And dropped it onto the ground (full of pebbles) before anyone could see the colour of the one she picked.

"Oops. Clumsy me." announce the young girl apologetically.

"Never mind. The pebble left in the bag would prove which pebble I picked first", offered the girl, knowing very well, the other pebble left in the bag is surely black. And that way, "proves" the first pebble must have been white.

The old man did not dare to reveal he cheated in the first place and therefore had to extinguish the debt without a bride in return. This is how the young lady turned a seemingly hopeless situation to a most advantageous result, with a little bit of lateral thinking.

Moral of the story - a solution exists in every problem. Just take a moment to examine it from a few more angles.

(This interesting story extracted from a PPT circulating on the internet)

Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight | Video on TED.com

Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight | Video on TED.com