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| Sherry Kwok |
| Dear Friends Greetings from the plastic pearl of the orient ! It's been a very good year full of unforgettable life experiences and transformation. In Asia, we entered the year with the tragedy of the tsunami disasters weighing on our minds. Hong Kong Hong Kong has taken only 8 years to transform itself from being an exciting, dynamic Asian city to a mere Chinatown. After all, the people in Hong Kong have built a Chinatown that they deserve. Mainland government is not to be blamed. Pollution has become really bad. It's smoggy everyday, and there are too many mainland tourists everywhere you go. Please do not come to Hong Kong for pleasure! Go somewhere else where they don't talk like ducks and chickens, por favor! Threat of avian flu outbreak I have more sympathy for the chickens than for the people. The human race has been systematically slaughtering them for so long that I think it's only fair that they strike back. What's really haunting and totally disgusting is that in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, they sometimes just burn the chickens alive en masse. I don't know whether it's because they are plain ignorant or they are just simply cruel and enjoy observing the gruesome process. New experiences To die or to be kept alive I flew to Los Angeles in February to bid farewell to my god-grandma (80 yrs old) whom I spent a lot of time with as a child. She was at a hospice after having suffered two strokes that paralyzed her on one side and had also lost her ability to speak. After many months of treatment with no sign of improvement, my aunts had decided to have the feeding tube disconnected. Although it was hard for everyone, but we were positive that grandma would have wanted the same for herself. Interestingly, this happened during the same period as the Terry Schiavo case. For me, spending time at the hospice was quite an experience although it's not the one that cares for Cat Woman, Captain America, Superman and the gang. I had never been to any place like it before. As soon as I passed the entrance, a very unpleasant smell invaded my olfactory system. The place was very clean and bright, but it smelled stale and unpleasant. I didn't know how I should feel seeing that many old people gathered under one roof being totally bored but not to death. My nose became accustomed to the smell after a day to two. Getting acquainted with a few of the most quirky residents was a very unusual, sitcom type of encounter. Grandma's neighbours were very envious of her, because most of them didn't have visitors everyday; but my three aunts had been taking shifts to nurse grandma 24/7 for several months. The nurses loved my aunts and so did the neighbours. They were helping everybody else while they were there and collecting everyone's life stories and health charts! Some of these very wrinkled senior people really didn't care who they were or what their names were. They seemed to have become miserable children who simply wanted to be rid of their stinky skin pouches. (A Chinese nickname for the body.) They couldn't care less whether there was any continuity or not. They feared not death but the dread of existing without living. That's what the smell communicated. Before I left Los Angeles, I concluded that longevity is not exactly a blessing and was determined to have a living will made as soon as I returned to Hong Kong or have "NO RESUSITATION PLS" tatooed on my boobies! Euthanasia is a very important issue that each country should confront for the sake of humanity. It's very debatable whether keeping people alive through medical technology is a humane act or not; and shouldn't everyone be granted the right to choose as for how one wants to die? Life Dynamics In May, I attended a 5-day life coaching course called "Life Dynamics" with AsiaWorks Hong Kong. This course was recommended by Henry. I hated it in the beginning but am very grateful that I have done it. It has helped me to discover my blind spots in life, sharpened my awareness of my weakenesses, and defined my hidden fears. The course focused on empirical learning through games. It made me realize how people usually just operate on automatic gear without any self-awareness. The inability to step out from one's comfort zone to practice lateral thinking is the biggest obstacle of personal growth. I hope I will be able to take the advanced course next year. Austria/Vienna & Germany/Berlin Herny and I took a two-week holiday in September to visit his childhood home country Austria/Vienna and attended a design conference in Berlin with Alliance Graphique Internationale. We went to look for Henry's childhood house in Baden (30 mins away from Vienna by train) and found it! We also attended a re-inauguration of a Synagogue in Baden. Henry was invited by the Austrian Chamber of Commerce and Association to serve as a guest speaker for a half day seminar in Vienna on "Design for Asia". After the seminar, the chamber organized an afternoon programme for all the guests to visit several very creative and successful design studios. These visits were very interesting and eye opening for us. For example, we saw this conference room chair that cost them 2 million Euros in 2 years solely on research and development - focusing on the design and engineering of the back of the chair. Their professionalism is extremely impressive. We both loved Vienna and its people and had a fabulous time there. They have the best potatoes, cucumbers, cream cheese and COFFEE on earth! The only disappointment was that I wan't able to meet up with Ms Foster in Vienna. She has returned to the States. In Berlin, the AGI congress was creatively inspiring and was also a lot of fun. Henry had a great time seeing old friends from all over the world. Men who love their work become natural high when they get to mingle and interact with their colleagues! Next year, it will be held in Tokyo and Kyoto. I hope I will be able to schedule it in. Highlights in Berlin - we visited the two new Holocaust Memorials designed by Peter Eisenman and Danial Libeskind. Eisenman has turned a plot of land into a spectacularly powerful scantuary, whereas Libeskind has built a clumsy sculpture to imitate a scantuary. Tis the difference between a master and a student disguised as master. |
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| Holocaust Memorial designed by Architect Peter Eisenman |
| There are 2,711 charcoal grey monolithic slabs planted close togehter in undulating waves representing 6 millions murdered Jews. Walking through the slabs at sunset was a very moving exprience. We walked through them again after dark, and the experience became very haunting, fearful, and oppressive - reminding us of death. There is a museum in the basement focusing on stories of 15 Jewish families from across Europe. I was deeply moved by the stories, and I thought to myself - China should really build a memorial and museum for the Cultural Revolution as well. The day when China has the courage to confront its crime and history honestly, it will be the beginning of a powerful renaissance for this central kindom of the earth! Right now, the communist party has gone banckrupt ideologically, and it is rotting from within. Work JUNIworld.com has finally been launched on 25 October 2005! This is my first baby. After such a long and difficult pregnancy, I am really happy that it is finally up and running. Now, the challenge lies in turning it into a healthy and wealthy business with good products. There is a lot to be learned and done. I am committed to raise this baby into his adulthood. Growth I have been riding on a streetcar named mid-life crisis all year long. I am grateful that the process has lead me to my rebirth. It has been a difficult but fulfilling period of self-reflection, re-evaluation of life, relationiships, my approach to thinking itself, and a series of issues that only a middle age person would care for. It made me want to simplify and focus only on the people and work that are enriching to my life. The rest, I must leave behind with discipline. I have launched the second half of my life on 14 December 2005 with the adoption of a new Chinese name. The new Chinese name I gave myself is Kwok Yan Ting - ³¢ «Û ¾^. I needed a symbolic inauguration to celebrate my rebirth and to shed my old skin to fit into a more challenging, bigger and chubbier life ahead! Happy Holidays & Best Wishes for the New Year to each of you and your families! Lvoe Sherry |
| Henry & Me, Wallace Shaw - a great guy from Scotland |
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| Ariel view of the Holocaust Memorial. Photo by: Jackel Finck/AP |
| Austrian National Day 2005 |