I am crying as I think about my Oscar right now. For over 19 years, Oscar stood by me all the time, even run hundreds, if not thousands of miles with me, over trails in Hong Kong. He has always been kind and caring, adapting to any situation I put him in, and has not once complained. He is truly representative of the resilience of the Hong Kong people...he’s truly a Hong Kong dog, in that sense. Every day, I wonder if I have given him even a small part of what he has given me all these years!

For those who don’t know, Oscar is blind due to a tumour behind his right eye. Each time poor Oscar whines or whimpers, I imagine how much the tumour (which by the way is growing deeper and bigger into the top of his mouth) must be hurting him..and my tears start to well up. The tumour is almost impossible to operate on, as it has now grown too big for surgery. I don’t think any vet in Hong Kong has dared to perform surgery on a growth this big before. At least none of the surgeons in our clinic. The best chance of surgery was apparently six months ago, when the tumour was much smaller. I am both sad and angry at myself for not deciding to act on this sooner. In three days, we will receive the biopsy results of the tumour, which will help us understand the origin of the growth. Right now, chemo seems like the only logical option. Our vet, Dr Ho has also advised us on an alternative option, to give Oscar an Aloe Vera-based immune injection from the US, called Acemanon.

Physically, Oscar is weighed down in more ways than one. After every visit to the vet, this 19-year-old dog, (who would be 135 years old had he been human) walks all the way back home on his own, dragging his right hind non-weight bearing leg, carrying a big ball of mass that has grown between his legs over the past three years.....without a single complaint! As much as it hurts to watch him suffer, it is his spirit that I can’t help but admire. He has taught me so much. I love Oscar, he is my real best friend!

Just like Oscar, many other animals and creatures throughout the world have become reliable and loyal friends to people. If we open our hearts and minds enough, it is plain to see that the bonds of friendship can be extended beyond the human world, and can cut across various dimensions of the animal kingdom. If our hearts are big enough, humans and animals can in fact come together as one happy family.

If I could go back into the past, there are certainly some things I might have done differently. For one, I would have spent a lot more quality time with mum, instead of spending more time getting into arguments with her. I would have been happy and grateful just being in her presence, and said thank you more often.

Recently, I attended the funeral of the late Mrs Senathirajah, and when I saw her three sons breaking down before us – something I had never seen before – I could certainly relate to it. Just like my mum, Mrs Sena had raised her sons single-handedly, and she was the pillar of strength for these men who have today grown to be independent and hugely successful in their own fields. I had always known Mrs Sena to be a warm person, who would go out of her way to welcome me and make me feel part of her family.

If I had a chance to change the past, I would also have taken more time to get to know my grandpa better. He was a grouchy old man, but there was something about him that I secretly admired. He was a blacksmith, and in my opinion, one of the most hardworking people of his time. He was what one would call, a man of steel, a strong personality. Perhaps, if I tried hard enough, I could have made him smile more often.

As for Oscar, my beloved dog and my best friend, I wish I had pet him and played with him more often...I try my best to hold him and show him more love now. He’s getting old and is partially blind, with a tumour behind his right eye. To make things worse, he’s got a massive growth between his legs, and has been dragging himself around on his own, without a single complaint, for three whole years now! I don’t even know how much longer he’ll be with us.

In terms of work, I wish I had invested more energy to maximise and optimise my personal contributions to the development of the whole Group. The world needs leaders with a strong value system, who go beyond lip service, who have a sense of responsibility that drives them to walk the talk. As we all know, it’s far easier to preach then to practice.

While I can’t change the past and undo my mistakes, I can definitely do something to influence the future. And I intend to begin with my son, Ricky. I’m on a downside slope, while Ricky is on an upside slope..he’s young, charged and has a low database of experience and knowledge, which makes it the right time for me to make a difference in his life and influence him positively. But that’s where the challenge lies... to be a living example for this young boy, I need to exercise more self-discipline. I need to stop making excuses for myself. Instead, I need to be ten steps ahead of myself. If I start today, perhaps I will have less regrets tomorrow...

I recently had the opportunity to visit the QuestNet India office in Bangalore. In fact, I was the first Director to visit the office since the prolonged India crisis which is still in the midst of being resolved. Suresh Thimiri, the Acting CEO of QuestNet Enterprises India introduced me to his dynamic team of 15-20 people who are working very hard to overcome the challenges of the market and give QuestNet a fresh new face in India.

During my three-day stay in Bangalore, I also had the chance to watch a product demonstration and meet up with potential suppliers for new products and consumables that will soon be introduced into the market. In-line with the company’s resolution to ‘go green’, we are looking at introducing a range of environmentally-friendly cleaning products that will certainly be well-received if accompanied by a strong marketing strategy. Other products under consideration include meal replacement products, and also unique interchangeable jewellery which is aimed at the Mumbai market.

Meeting face to face with the team also gave me the opportunity to talk to them about the history of the QI Group and QuestNet, our diversity, our strengths and how our employees are our greatest, most priced assets. I also told them about our newly acquired building in Malaysia and briefed them about our sponsorship involvements in the AFC and motorsports arena. As a Group, we pride ourselves on giving back to the communities in which we operate, hence, I shared with them some of RYTHM Foundation’s projects which have successfully been carried out in the past year. Last but not least, we discussed the company’s expansion plan for 2010/2011 into countries such as Brazil, Japan, US and Russia.

At the end of my trip, I felt a certain sense of satisfaction because I was able to get my message across to the India team about the importance of interacting and interfacing with their international counterparts, be it the Customer Support team, IT, Finance or even Logistics. Just like the wheels of a cart, whichever part of the world we are in, nothing is possible without integration and cooperation. Teamwork is a must in order for us to collectively achieve our individual goals and missions. The India team especially needs to shift from their former perception of QuestNet, to acknowledge the new, legitimate positioning of the company, while realising that each individual is a key influent in his or her own right.

To the QuestNet India team, my prayers and well wishes are always with you!

For those who don’t know, I have a 19-year old dog named Oscar. How did I get him? Well that’s a long story, and something I’d love to share with all of you who are taking the time to read this. You see, back then I had a partner who was a dog lover and we lived in a two-level apartment in a small village in Sai Kung, Hong Kong. When we first moved in, we got two dogs, and before we knew it, it turned into a troop of seven, among which there were two Saint Bernards, an English Sheepdog, and even a German Shorthair. My partner, well she was the bigger dog lover, so she named most of them.

Anyway, one day while we were driving downtown, we saw a taxi run over a little puppy. We thought the puppy had died. However, before we knew it, the little fella was pulling himself up and making his way out from under the car! What a fighter! Well, we couldn’t just leave him there, so my partner and I picked the puppy up and took it to RSPCA. RSPCA told us there wasn’t much they could do, they said he was a stray dog and even if he survived, he wouldn’t live well because he had a broken hip that needed surgery. They said the best thing to do was to just put him down. No way in hell were we going to do that, so we decided to adopt him. So that was the first time I named a puppy, simply because I felt that we had a connection. Frankly I had no clue what to call him. But since the Oscars was playing around the time, sometime in March or April, that’s what we decided to call the little fella..Oscar!

The vet told us that if we kept Oscar active, his hips would be replaced with muscle. And since his hip was totally broken, he limped around for a while but managed pretty well. He lived with us in the village for two and a half years.

I used to take Oscar running with me on the Maclehose trail in Hong Kong. Back in the early 80s, the Ghurkhas used the trail for training. Lots of people also trained there to prepare for the Maclehose Trek, which was a 100km trek up the hill. It required a team of four people, who each had to finish in time. It was quite a challenge and I daresay there have been a lot of broken relationships along that trail. For 5 years I trained to improve my time, and all the while Oscar would come with me. Never once did he complain.

I remember an incident that took place sometime in my 3rd year of training on the trek. It was a hard Sunday and I had just finished hiking for 4 hours, I still had two more hours to go. Oscar was running ahead of me, when I suddenly stopped at a shop to get a drink. Suddenly I heard a whole lot of barking and I found that he had gotten into a fight with 2 German Sheppards up ahead. The owner had his dogs off a leash and they were really vicious. At one point, it got so bad, I had to throw myself between the dogs to save Oscar. By then, the owner realised and grabbed his dogs. Oscar seemed alright, so we continued on our way. Only later did I realise that he was limping. When I looked closely, I saw that he was hurt. He actually had little chunks bitten out of him in at least four places. But he never once complained.

There was also another incident that I remember clearly. Some cruel people used to intentionally leave rat poison along the Maclehose trail in Hong Kong. One unfortunate day, Oscar ate some food that was poisoned and he went into violent convulsions...I had to carry him 4 and a half blocks to a vet and they had to literally pump the poison out of his body to save him.

Sometimes I wonder if Oscar’s half human. He’s never been trained, but even when he needs to answer the call of nature, you’ll find that he’ll never do it along the sidewalks or the streets. He always looks out for a bush. And even when he does it in the bushes, he seems almost embarrassed if anyone is watching! Today, age has finally caught up with my 19-year old Oscar. He now has a big growth between his legs and a tumour behind his eye, and everyday his limp becomes more pronounced because of his hip. He also suffers from arthritis and rheumatism. But he’s been taking it one day at a time.

It’s been an amazing journey with Oscar by my side. He’s been more than a pet, he’s been a good friend. It stuns me as to how it started off as an arbitrary and inconsequential relationship, and how, just by showing him some tender loving care and affection, he has reciprocated it a thousand fold. I guess that’s the difference between man and dog. Sometimes the latter just appreciates you more.

I’m pretty used to being identified by those who know me, as someone who is self-centred. Well, perhaps over the years something has changed. I think as I age, time has lead me to reflect on a few precious little moments that I may have missed out, simply because at some point, I didn’t make enough time to nurture and maintain the relationships that actually mattered.

After my mum, dad and grandpa passed on, I naturally became the eldest living member of my family, and since 2000, I’ve take it upon myself to bring the whole family together as often as possible. Doing this made me see how hard it must’ve been for mum to bring it all together when she was still around. All those Thanksgivings, and Christmas’ and gatherings that happened for ‘no apparent reason’! Today, I can see why she put herself out to do these things...because in some small way, it made a difference.

No doubt it’s a lot of work (and God knows I never run out of work!), and it’s superbly easy to get distracted, but in 2009 I made a strong commitment to organise an annual family gathering or getaway that would at least bring my family and my sister’s family together...especially now that my nephew is in Asia too.

Before dad passed on, I had this amazing opportunity to spend some quality time with him. I remember, back then I had just gotten separated and bought a house. Life had set me up with quite a few challenges. But, I’m so glad that despite that I still made the time to be with him. Not a day goes by without me reminiscing about it.

To me, the process of coming together with family or friends, is a very enriching experience. I daresay we take it for granted most of the time. It’s a valuable process not just for the individual, but for the whole group..to be part of something that goes beyond ourselves for once...to see ourselves as part of a bigger picture. Come to think of it, it adds up to a really beautiful picture.

Thanks to a promise I made to my dear friend Felix, I’m supposed to be training really hard at hiking up Hong Kong’s ever famous MacLehose Trail on the 20th of November. This 100km trail is named after former governor Sir Murray MacLehose, and it’s not something you can finish off in an hour! It’s divided into 10 stages and takes 35 hours to complete, so you can bet your last dime that it’s for serious hikers only!! And no way am I going through all 10 stages of it...Felix and I are just doing a part of it. How on earth did I agree to go on this hike, God alone knows! Plus, what’s even more interesting is that I’m supposed to be flying off on the same day to Trinidad to attend the Commonwealth Business Forum at CHOGM, along with the whole gang of Directors! This time round, it’s going to be held from the 24-26th of November, on a cruise liner in the harbour of Port of Spain! What can I say Felix…brilliant timing! Simply brilliant.

Want a sneak peak of CHOGM 2009? Aah...can't wait!

As a trustee of RYTHM FOUNDATION, this year has proved to be very meaningful for me. Sometime in August, RYTHM Foundation under the QuestNet Pays Forward Programme, teamed up with World Vision, a non-profit child-focused emergency, relief, development and advocacy organisation, to make a difference in the lives of 121 impoverished kids in 11 countries. Through a two-year sponsorship programme, we are aiming to enrich these kids with education opportunities, health care, and support systems. If you want to find out more about this initiative, just visit: http://tinyurl.com/ydzr2ql

The best thing about this programme is that it seemed to have not only caught the attention of the press, but also the interest of some elementary school students in Hong Kong. Having read about it in the local papers, they wanted to find out more so they could write about it in their school newspaper. So, they made an appointment with my assistant and came to see me in the office. I held a brief interview with them and I must say that for a bunch of 13- 15 year old kids, they certainly asked a lot of intelligent questions. How many kids at that age even know what CSR is…? Think about it…! It was a refreshing change to be sitting down and chatting with inquisitive students who had done their homework about corporate social responsibility and who wanted a better understanding of why our company was taking up such a big initiative. I don’t really think I have words to describe how I felt at that point in time. All I can say is that the world needs more of such kids…..they are leaders in the making. And if the education system is empowering them with such a mindset today, perhaps…there is HOPE for the future.

What do you fear most? For me, in my younger years, it was failure that I was most fearful of. Did you know that somewhere in university, I got burnt out with all the studying, that I became a nervous wreck. I was constantly paranoid about failing. Yes, I was so afraid of failing that I would concoct weird stories in my mind and almost will them to life.

For instance, I’d think to myself, “If I fell down the steps, then I wouldn’t have to sit for my exams.” But what if I break my leg? Or what if I kill myself by jumping off a building? Would that be better? In my mind sometimes I wished there would be some kind of war that would need all my teachers to go off someplace, and which would need for the school to be shut down.

Then suddenly I’d be dragged back to reality when I think of my mum and how sad she would be if anything bad were to happen to me. Truth is, as much as my imagination took me on these long journeys, I don’t think I had the guts to actually act on my instincts! Fear of failure is not altogether a bad thing. Perhaps without fear I may not be where I am today.