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Leglessbird Newsletter Dec 2024
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Dear Family and Friends,
Happy New Year! As another year draws to a close, it's time for our annual tradition of counting our blessings and sharing our adventures.
Remember last December when we quoted our cryptically named wise friend "POW*" (Jin's current fascination with encryption compels us to use this Caesar Shift cipher - happy decoding!)? His sage advice to "Live happily, live well wherever you're, don't get stuck!" became our family motto for 2024, truly a year of transformation for the leglessbirds.
We kicked off 2024 riding the wave of wanderlust from our magical Scandinavian Christmas adventure across Finland, Norway, and Estonia. My passport certainly got a workout this year - I led four enlightening overseas study trips with students to Singapore, the UK, Spain, and the USA. Between these journeys, I deepened my personal growth at the Life Academy Foundation in Taiwan, where I had several 'aha' moments, particularly about the wisdom of "returning the results to the children" (把結果還給孩子) and "There is still time in this life, why wait for the next life?" (既有餘生，何須來生？), deal with what you need to deal with now.
Speaking of breaking free from life's 'standard operating procedures' (as I often tell my students), another encrypted wise man "Hezmh Xerk" once quipped that when asked "Why do you do it?", one should simply reply "Because I don't have to". Following this spirited advice, we took a leap of faith and established a second home in Taoyuan, Taiwan, in August. Thanks to Irene's remarkable dedication and loving touch, she's transformed our Taoyuan space into a warm and inviting sanctuary that truly feels like home. This wonderful adventure has given us a chance to experience a different pace of life, with the added bonus of Jin becoming quite the linguistic virtuoso in Mandarin!
Our dynamic duo - Jin and Dad - continue their martial arts journey in Hapkido, with Jin sporting a smart green belt while Dad huffs and puffs his way through brown belt training. Jin's interests have evolved from magic tricks to an impressive array of puzzle-solving and crafting. He's become quite the Renaissance boy, crafting everything from musical instruments to rubber stamps. His musical journey has been particularly fascinating - he's developed quite an expertise with jaw harps, mastering various types from Mongolia, Russia, and South East Asian countries, each with its distinct sound and playing technique. Combined with his flute playing, he's becoming quite the world music enthusiast! He's even ventured into the world of indigenous Australian music with the didgeridoo (currently fashioning one from bamboo - our neighbours are thrilled!). My "Letters to Jin Jin" project has now reached 224 entries - though I suspect some might be better classified as "Dad's Random Thoughts While Drinking Coffee". With Volume 1 now complete, I'm already working on Volume 2, chronicling our continuing adventures and life lessons for posterity.
On the professional front, while Hong Kong's economy continues to navigate choppy waters, I've been particularly intrigued by the "Age Earning Profile" analysis and its implications for the future of work. I'm always eager to chat about preparing our young ones for the AI-driven future - just catch me over a cup of tea (Irene and Jin would insist on Chinese tea, naturally).
I would like to end this annual reflection with a message created by me and refined through AI:
"When times are beyond our control, we can always transform ourselves. Get stronger, grow wiser, keep hope alive and embrace unlimited possiblities."
「身處無法掌控之時，始終能夠蛻變自己。變得更強大、更睿智，堅持希望，擁抱無限可能。」
2025 is going to be a very interesting year, to say the least - so buckle up for the ride ahead!
We wish you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous new year!
Love,
Jin, Irene, Dominic
December 2024
* For those intrigued by Jin's encryption hobby, we've used the simple Caesar Shift cipher. Consider it a little puzzle to start your new year!
"POW"="???" "Hezmh Xerk"="????? ????"
"Live happily, live well wherever you're, don't get stuck!"「無論你身在何處，都要過得好，快樂地生活，不要被困住！」- December 2023
PS
Work: The demand for tertiary education and corporate training has been relatively steady during these challenging times. In addition to my usual teaching at CUHK and conducting training workshops in Hong Kong and Mainland for corporations, government, NGOs and universities, I did something new in order to gain some invaluable experience. I conducted a Quality Assurance Validation for a Master Course provided by a local university. I moderated a number of academic panel discussions and delivered a few Master classes for our EMBA programme.
Book reading:
"Three-Body Problem" Volume I, II and III (original Chinese title: 三体) - Written by Cixin Liu, Hugo award recipient. I was so amazed by the wild imagination of the author stretching a lot of the scientific concepts, human nature, behaviour and strategy to a whole new fantasy level. "The Code Book" Written by Simon Singh: For anyone who is fascinated by cryptography, encryption and deciphering from ancient techniques Caesar shift, encryption used by Queen Mary of Scot, lost ancient language Linear B, World War II Enigma machines, isolated tribal language, to modern high tech encryption.
"CEO Excellence" (2022) - Written by Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra (McKinsey senior partners)
"The Tyranny of Merit" (2020) - Written by Michael J. Sandel
"Hidden Potential" (2023) - Written by Adam Grant
Make my home town great (again?): Hong Kong's economy is facing a lot of challenges. We eagerly await inspiring and visionary strategies effectively executed by competent leaders.
Quotes
"Returning the results to the children" (把結果還給孩子)
"There is still time in this life, why wait for the next life?" (既有餘生，何須來生？)
"Our success at Amazon is a function of how many experiments we do per year, per month, per week, per day," - Jeff Bezos
Hong Kong Corporate Innovation Index
