The Little Prince June 23, 2007

 

I just finished reading the Little Prince from beginning to the end.

 

I have a lot of friends who read it a few years ago when it became suddenly very popular in HK.

Because of that, I had decided not to read the book, worried that it would take the charm away from a simple children story book.

 

Then I realised today that it is not a simple children story book.

I have to admit that I cried from the beginning to the end when I was reading the book,

at the privacy of my apartment, the company of Damien Rice, and the gentle being of my two rabbits.

 

I don’t even want to start talking about why tears came down non-stop.

If you have read it, you would have understand.

If you have not read it, nothing more needs to be said from me.

Just think really hard of all the things that once mattered to you but lost.

Think of all the decisions you made while knowing clearly that you would suffer from it.

Remember what you have in your hands that you will lose your life to keep them in your hands.

 

So let me end this blog entry with this –

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"All men have the stars…but they are not the same things for different people.

For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides.

For others they are no more than little lights in the sky.

For others, who are scholars, they are problems.

For my businessman they were wealth. 

But all these stars are silent. 

You–you alone–will have the stars as no one else has them…

In one of the stars I shall be living. 

In one of them I shall be laughing.

And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night…

You–only you–will have stars that can laugh…

And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows)

you will be content that you have known me.

You will always be my friend. 

You will want to laugh with me. 

And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure…

And your friends will be properly astonished to see you laughing as you look up at the sky! 

Then you will say to them,

‘Yes, the stars always make me laugh!’

And they will think you are crazy. 

It will be a very shabby trick that I shall have played on you…"

 

 

A story of a dog in Can Tho June 17, 2007

 

Today I visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. 

 

For someone who grew up in a colonial city of Britain, I am not a patriotic person at all.

But I could not help but was overwhelmed by sadness and a sense of futility looking at the memorial of sacrified soldiers,

and the little notes that their friends and families left behind.

 

I never agree that there is any reason worth a war and thousands of lives.

And I still think so, if not more after this visit.

 

I don’t want to say that these soldiers died in vain.

But it does not have to be like that if we all try a little harder to be kind to each other.

 

I want to share this one particular note on the memorial with you.

 

We always say that the living suffers more than the dead.

And it is so true, even for the most innocent of all.

 

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(note that the dog’s paw is on top of Hine’s dog-tag)

 

Vaughn Hines,

 

     Above is a picture of the puppy you owned at Can Tho, Vietnam September 1967.

She would go out to each returning Mohawk aircraft looking for you.  We could not make her understand you would not be returning after your aircraft crashed and took you from this life.

     Your men in the platoon took good care of her, after your loss. Hopefully the good Lord has reunited the two of you, in heaven.  You were one of the finest soldiers I ever served with.  God Bless you!

 

J. Donley

SFC, RET.

16 June 2007

Anxiety of being left behind June 15, 2007

 

Friends, I’m not sure if you have felt the same. It took awhile before a person like me to admit that I felt the way I do.

 

It may be just the alcohol.

 

A major team player who is also a senior management, a very treasured friend of mine, decided to leave the firm today. It’s a very strange feeling for me. And I always felt hard to deal with feelings of being left behind. My boss calls that insecurity or pre-worrying. I call that natural human behavior.

 

This senior management person who left the company has been a dear work friend of mine and I always knew that he’ll be leaving. But I thought I would do so before him. Secretly it triggers a lot of rethinking on my future on my behalf now that he’s really leaving, but at the same time because of the appraisal I’m giving to me my subordinate, I’m trying to spin a positive note around this latest change, despite what I felt deep inside.

 

It’s always not good to be the ones that are left behind. It gets you to think outside your comfort zone of what possibly lies ahead of you and what you may have missed.

No matter what I said to my staffs about what is most impt to you at your current position, there is always something more out there. You can’t avoid them from leaving you, especially when you are in a management position. 

People don’t stay with you forever, just as you don’t stay with the company forever.

 

I guess the anxiety comes from the fact that the higher you go, the more you know that you are always the one being left behind. 

That is exactly because you have more to lose, so you will never be the first one to leave. And you have more to gain from the position as well.

If you have worries about being left behind like me, I can only say good luck.

One way or another, it’s only natural for someone to look for the best ppportunities for themselves in their lives, and that it is perfectly normal that they left you behind.

Get over it. It’s just a fact of life.

 

If you are worried, reconsider your position in life. And let whoever that needs to go on move on and look for the best for themselves.

 

Happy Birthday to all that are borned on June 11 June 11, 2007

 

A few new experiences June 10, 2007

So this is the first time I put up some actual images than illustration.

Well, these are for my good friends…a report of new experiences this year.

 

1) Cherry Blossoms at Brooklyn Park in April

– Nothing compared to Kyoto in Japan. People, cherry blossoms are better in Japan. It’s worth the $1K+ ticket and 13 hours of flight.

 

2) A trip to Tokyo, Hakone, Hong Kong in May

– It was hot but great fun. Loads of good food and food is probably the cheapest thing for tourists in Japan.

– Note, you HAVE to know Japanese or you’ll be VERY frustrated in Japan. Even in Tokyo.

– If you have to ask for directions, pick women to ask, no matter if you are a man or a woman. 40+ Japanese men in suits are not any better in their English, or their manners.

– The best part of Japan to me, is still the older, suburban, more traditional parts. People are also more polite there.

– HK is still the best place to shop in the world!

 

3) Lunch at Bryan Park in June

– Shame on me. Took me 2 years to do this!

– Watch out for the piano performer. He sits behind a little trollye that looks like an ice-cream cart, but it’s actually a piano! And he’s good!

– Don’t bother standing around waiting for the chairs. That way it will never be your turn to sit down.

 

4) Shakespeare at the Central Park in June

– Despite the drizzling rain, the not very impressive acting by Romeo and Juliet, the experience is great.

– Of course you need good pals like mine, who started lining up at 8a.m. on a Sun morning, for 3 hours to get tickets for you. Or you’ll have to be a maniac.

– And btw, it is probably the only time during the year you can walk around in Central Park safely at night!

 

My report to-date. More great stuffs on the way~!!