There Are No Strangers

This evening, there are no strangers here because with the mercury today hovering at 27 Celsius, even the ice would have to melt.

I was told that asking or talking about the weather has been one of the most time honored way of starting a conversation, of breaking the ice.

However this technique doesn’t work in the country where I was born. Instead of asking about the weather, my countrymen and women ask if one has eaten the meal.

My home country has only summer all year long. The only difference is the amount of rain falling in a day. That country is Malaysia. I grew up there and my family still live there.

10 years ago I came to Hong Kong on the April Fool Day of 2000 to start a new job. I came here, single, without any relative nor any friend, and the poor me was also broke and heart-broken then, having just ended a long relationship.

So, Hong Kong was this new place for me to start anew, a new harbour for me as if to re-anchor myself.

Luckily! All starts well.

My first few months in Hong Kong were incredible. There were a lot of parties and there were a lot of fun. Guess where did I first put up myself?

It was No. 12 Lan Kwai Fong, just 1 doors away from Club 97.

As they say all good things must come to an end. After 6 months, I take cognizance of myself and call it quit. I moved out of Lan Kwai Fong.

Since then, I have lived in every parts of Hong Kong. You name it. In New Territory; in Kowloon; in outlaying island; and now back in Hong Kong Island where I started.

Hong Kong did turn out to be a very wonderful place to me. It was here that I met a Hong Kong girl who eventually became my wife.

We married after one year of courtship but not without my observing the compulsory Hong Kong ritual, presenting a diamond ring with the knee kneeled down.

If there is any sceptic to this ritual, let me tell you it is all worthwhile.

I am now a proud father of 2 little boys, 3 and 4 respectively and the thing I enjoy doing most these days is walking with them to the kindergarten before heading off to the office.

For me, it was not too long ago that my work denied me all these pleasure. I used to travel a lot, on average 150 days every year for more than 9 years.

I work for a German company in the medical equipment industry. My company offers technology to help surgeon to navigate a surgery and to deliver more precise radiation to treat cancer. Recently I took up a new responsibility with less travel required.

So, you could imagine how happy I am now being able to spend more time and more quality time with my family.

In private, I enjoy reading the non-fiction type of books. Books on history, politics, social-economics are my favorite.

On matter of discretion or some peoples say indiscretion, I drink and I am holding the glass quite well, this is what my Korean firends told me.

Please let me put on record. I am partial to single malt whiskey and if you are likewise, I am happy to share my tiny collection with you.

Dear Friends. As I have told some of you before, it took me 10 years to join the Toastmaster Club. Obviously, you know the reason now. It was Lan Kwai Fong that distracted me and kept me away in those early years.

When I finally joined this club a few weeks ago, my feeling is best described by the Chinese proverb: 浪子回头, or in English - a straying child returning to the fold.

I am really happy to be with you and to be a member of this club. I am looking forward to a great Toastmaster experience and a marvelous friendship with all of you

Before I leave, I would like to share with you an inscription. I saw it on a wooden plague when I was backpacking in my student days, at a small lodge at Ambleside, a scenic Lake District town, in northern England.It says:

“There are no strangers, only friends you haven’t met yet” – William Butler Yeats.