June Road Mishaps
I rarely see a bad accident in Hong Kong. Generally they can be found in the Hong Kong-Chinese media, in modestly graphic detail. After driving in Hong Kong for ten years, I usually only see fender benders and… hardly any. The month of June has been the exception: I have encountered a variety of mishaps in just a few weeks. Odd.
First, one happened while I was driving to work. I came off the ramp to encounter backed up traffic, am indication something has happened since traffic on this ramp typically moves smoothly. By the bottom of the ramp I saw a car on fire with the firefighters hosing down and the car kicking up a tremendous amount of smoke and steam. The pour driver stood and watched with downtrodden shoulders.
Second, one afternoon on my way back to the office. An accident happened immediately in front of me. A lady changed lanes without properly checking if the lane was clear. A bus promptly ploughed into the side of her car. I stopped to offer myself as a witness. The two drivers hopped out of their vehicles and the bus driver wanted the woman to move her car. She refused, with a mild argument developing. I think the woman was pretty certain the bus driver was at fault and had a smug little look on her face. Very typical for Hong Kong drivers not to move their cars despite the smallest of damage to their cars.
With the lanes mostly blocked – it was possible to get around the woman’s car by half driving on the sidewalk – the traffic backed up something fierce. There was also a bus behind me, so they were all in a bit of a logjam. By the time the police arrived twenty minutes later, there was probably a kilometre of traffic up the road. Of course, being Hong Kong, many drivers leaned on their horns over and over and over, providing symphony of noise.
A policeman arrived, took one look at the accident, and the woman’s face went from smug to sour. As far as he was concerned she was at fault. She was not happy. I gave my details then left for them to sort it out.
Finally a few days later, also on my way to work, there was a slowdown as everyone gazed at this poor scooter driver with a flat tire. Wow, poor guy. What bad luck to get a flat tire then for whatever reason have his stuff strewn all over the highway. Regardless, there he was stoically piecing things back together while other traffic dangerously rushed by. No honking from the other drivers, just amazed gazes. Note the bamboo scaffolding to the right of the scooter, with green overtop for safety reasons.
Jasper the street person, hobo…?
Jasper, spontaneously selected to help appeal for Sunday School teachers, stands at the front of the sanctuary in casual dress and missing a shoe. Tess and I, slouched deep in our pews, then watched as Mr. Charisma waltzed through the pews asking for people's completed forms. He certainly presented an image that the ministry was in dire straits… or us!
Comments on Facebook included:
- Bwahahaha….
- Was gorgeous as usual.
- My wife would happily reinstate herself as a Union Sunday School Teacher but it would ruin her carbon footprint. Love your comment on your lovely offspring.
- this is FANTASTIC! hahaha! Love the missing shoe
- Charles, I think Amy goes down in history as about the only child who turned up at Small World with NO shoes! So I think one is a good start…
Dumaguete Guitar Man
I am sitting in the Dumaguete airport after spending four days here with ICM. (I attended the annual budget/strategy meetings and assisted with conducting a new leadership training program.) The airport is small and intimate. There is a Guitar Man strumming slow songs. I suspect he might be blind. I just had one of those bizarre-trapped-in-time-in-the- middle of nowhere moments when The Guitar Man played an instrumental version of a distantly familiar song. I searched my memory to finally place it: I Don’t Want To Talk About It by Rod Stewart. I particularly love this song. First, it’s a great song. Second, the week before Rod Stewart played at Albert Hall, one of his managers discovered Amy Belle busking on the streets. Within one week Amy sang with Rod Stewart at the Albert Hall concert. Below is a You Tube video of that performance.
I have had many moments like this Asia in some of the most remote places possible. I remember one night sharing with an India Leader in Calcutta about a book “The Art & Science of Success” by Edward DeBono. A great book but not that easy to find. About 10 pm we called it a night. Remarkably as we stood at the lift, I noticed a bookstore open at the far end of the lobby. Sure enough, offered up on a shelf was a copy of “The Art & Science of Success.”
Back to the blind Guitar Man. After placing the song I really wanted to hear I again. As I approached him I conspicuously placed a chunk of cash in his little collection box and then asked, “Was that a Rod Stewart song you just played?” I asked.
“Pardon me, sir?”
“Was that a Rod Stewart song you just played?” I repeated, “It was great version and I’d love to hear it again. Was it Rod Stewart?”
“No sir…” he said quietly.
Regardless, The Guitar Man serenaded on and passengers contributed heftily to his box as they departed for the next legs of their journeys.
Downstream
When Sebastian went on his first ICM trip to the Philippines in June 2009, he met a young boy named Jay-R. You can find the video about that trip here. Sebastian and Jay-R, along with many of the other Filipino boys, got along famously that weekend chasing frogs and other small creatures. Sebastian was alive in new ways, seemingly unconstrained by his Hong Kong world that immediately descended on him upon returning to Hong Kong. (Left, standing outside Jay-R's home, April 2011.)
The Manila floods hit during the Fall of 2009 when we were supposed to attend another ICM Building Trip. The flooding mainly hit the larger Manila area. Jay-R’s area in Bacolod, further south, was safe but still received buckets of rain. At the time I explained to Sebastian that the drainage system we helped build in June 2009 would minimize the impact of the rain at Jay-R’s home. Some ICM friends heading down to Bacolod after the floods took a care package for Jay-R from Sebastian. A letter of deep appreciation came back from Jay-R but in November, while on our re-scheduled building trip, we didn’t have time to see Jay-R. Instead, Sebastian met Joshua, a similarly aged boy and the son of our ICM pre-school’s teacher and pastor.
Next stop for Sebastian and Jay-R was the ICM Kids Camp, April 2010. ICM helped us bring Jay-R up from Bacolod to Dumaguete so that thw two boys could spend the week together. Sebastian really wanted Jay-R to attend. The ICM team cautioned us that these arrangements often don’t work – the magic created in Bacolod might not be re-created in Dumaguete. “The frogs are different,” they said. Sure enough, they were correct. Sebastian was much more reserved during Kids Camp than he was in Bacolod although he still had tons lots of fun. (Following Kids Camp our children all said it was the best vacation they’d ever been on. Hmmm… tough competition for Fintry.) Still, I asked Sebastian why things were a little different at Kids Camp between him and Jay-R. Sebastian explained, the best way that he could, that each ICM trip he wanted to do something special for someone. First there was Jay-R, then he made a friend in Joshua, then he helped Jay-R attend Kids Camp, and so on. (Left: the front of JR's door, painted by JR's mother.)
This past weekend we were on another ICM building trip to Bacolod. We stayed an extra few days to hang out at our hotel – the kids love the pool with the giant slide – and also visited our pre-school. On the way back from the pre-school we took a few minutes to make a surprise visit on Jay-R. Wow, am I ever glad we did.
When we left Jay-R’s GK community in June 2009 it was half a rural construction site. Houses semi completed, drainage half built, it was wet and muddy. When we returned 21 months later the community was complete and thriving. A huge community building stood in the middle of the neighbourhood, dwarfing the small building we helped build in 2009. The finished drainage system showed signs of being well loved by water. Flowers adorned the homes. Jay-R quickly appeared, along with his mom, who welcomed us into their small house. This was when the dots started to connect for Sebastian – Sebastian discovered the pictures and letter he’d sent Jay-R on the walls of Jay-R’s home. There was also a piece of Jay-R’s Kids Camp arts & craft work with the words, “Black Bananas are the Victory” written across the bottom. The Black Bananas were Sebastian, Jasper and Jay-R’s team that won the “best team” award at the end of the Kids Camp week. (Left: the pictures and letter on Jay-R's wall.)
Sebastian was amazed to see these items flood back through his world, albeit for ten minutes. They helped all four kids see the downstream impact of their efforts – long forgotten from their view but still alive and making a difference thousands of miles away.
Sound check at Elvis Costello
Last night Tess and I went to see Elvis Costello. Our friend Laurel ordered the tickets the first day they went on sale months ago. As it turns out, Laurel must have been the first one on the phone. Laurel claims she asked for "the best seats" and sure enough, we sat in the front row, dead centre. Coincidentally, we met some people from Union Church in the same row (who shall remain nameless to protect their identity because last night was the Union Church AGM and this might end up being the one blog per year that Pastor Greg reads… but hey, WWJD? I think he'd honour a commitment to Elvis!) Meanwhile, in the 3rd row sat a dozen people from the newly planted Watermark Church. I cheekily said to them, "I guess this is the Union Church row." As I sat there, remembering all the times I've been to a concert and eagled eyed the front row to see who got the best seats. I slouched lower. (Above: final sound checks before the concert began.)
But slouching was impossible. Elvis Costello put on a stunning performance. I have always liked Elvis not just because he had great music, but because I identified with him. He is a bit quirky, wore the suits, recorded a popular album "Live at the El Mocambo" at a Toronto rock club, married a Canadian. When I learned he was playing solo, I wondered how he'd replicate all of his songs without accompanying instrumentation. Well Elvis and his seven guitars – one of which had written on the back "Forget Iraq ~ Rebuild New Orleans", demonstrated his amazing guitar skills and diverse vocal abilities. He played most of the old favs including "Oliver's Army" during an encore.
Elvis worked the crowd well, often departing from the microphone and amps to sing unaided, just Elvis and a guitar, walking the stage, singing to the various sections in the audience. The crowd silent, listening, expecting and enjoying.
But the quietest moment in the evening had to be during one of Elvis' encores (yes, Singapore, cheer for more on Monday and Elvis will return again!) During the encore Elvis sat back in a chair to strum his way into the hugely successful Notting Hill cover of "She." There was no cheering from the crowd. The crowd went silent. Most people have a special person or memory associated with this song (for me it's Tantalizing Tess) that would have been pulled out of the recesses of peoples' minds as Elvis performed. I believe the crowd was also silent because they knew Elvis does an extraordinary version of She. For the three and a half minutes he played this song, no one wanted to miss a note or tone. We were stopped in time, enjoying the present, pleasurably reminded by the past, anticipating the future.
Epilogue: surprise, surprise, here is a You Tube video of "She" from last night…
Happy Valentine’s Day: God Loves You
This morning during church the Sunday school kids gathered at the front of the sanctuary with red heart stickers in their hands. Jasper stood their proudly, beaming like a weird wild man of Borneo with his single jagged, crooked, front tooth. Sebastian stood smiling with some trepidation. Our Sunday School Leader asked the kids to go into the congregation, find someone they know, place the sticker on them while saying, "God Loves You."
Jasper was off like a rocket. No idea to whom he gave his sticker. Most likely he used it to bandage his tooth, which he plays with non-stop. Honestly, he'll have nothing to play with once that tooth drops out.
Sebastian came towards me to give me a heart. I then asked him to find someone else in the congregation to give his other heart. I watched Seb walk down the aisle and as he reached the end I thought, "Oh well, it's okay that he didn't find anyone."
However, just as I expected Sebastian to turn right and exit the sanctuary he made a left, then another left, heading up the far side of the sanctuary. I thought, "He… has… a… mission. What is he up to?"
A few seconds later Sebastian stopped at one of the rows. Walking into the pews he found a very good friend of mine deep in the crowd and sitting by himself. With an amazing shy smile on his face, Sebastian placed the heart on my friend's chest and I could see him say, "God loves you."
Wow… it was an amazing moment.
Meanwhile I failed my own Valentine's Day. I have been delinquent in getting Tess' her annual Valentine's collage. Tess, with such a big heart, is being very forgiving about the whole debacle.
