Banyan Tree

Paradise regained Banyan Tree Group founder Ho Kwon Ping is stringing a necklace of spas and resorts around the world entrepreneur entrepreneur.

Like the ground-breaking resorts and spas he runs, Ho Kwon Ping, the 51-year -old founder of the Banyan Tree Group and pin-up boy for Asia's hotel industry, has always liked to go his own way.

Born into one of Singapore's most respected business families, Mr Ho could have stepped into the boardroom of any of his family's businesses when he left college, but instead chose a modestly paid job as a journalist. He worked in Hong Kong for the Far Eastern Economic Review in the late 1970s - a job that landed him in hot water with the Singaporean government, which jailed him briefly under the Internal Security Act in 1977.

Even when he returned to the family fold in the early 1980s, Mr Ho was not content to toe the line. Taking over from his father as managing director of the family-owned conglomerate the Wah Chang Group, he used the resources at his disposal to lead the group in a new direction, building from scratch that rarity in Asian business, a home-grown luxury brand - namely the Banyan Tree.

"We were a typical Asian mini-conglomerate, involved in a number of different businesses," he says. "And like many overseas Chinese companies, we had no competitive advantage. With China starting to emerge on the scene, I could see we could no longer survive by competing on cost. So from the beginning, Banyan Tree was about building a powerful brand that gave us proprietary advantages, so we could stay above price competition and compete globally."

Creating a global luxury brand is difficult, creating one in Asia is harder still, but doing it in less than 10 years takes a minor miracle.

When he launched Banyan Tree Phuket in 1994, Mr Ho visualised creating a sophisticated boutique brand that traded as much on the romance of travel and ecotourism as it did on luxury, with the promise of rejuvenation for city dwellers by way of "a sanctuary for the senses".

"I have heard there are resorts that furnish their suites with luxury brands, like Christofle crystal glasses," he says. "You will not find that kind of luxury in Banyan Tree Phuket, or any of our other resorts. What we do is try to create a magical, intimate setting for guests to play out their romances. We aim for an emotional response. That's how we built brand loyalty. One couple has been coming here every year since it opened."

Mr Ho said the inspiration for moulding Banyan Tree Phuket into an emotive experience came from his cache of memories of travelling around the world in his youth. "I loved to travel. I loved to backpack. Even after I got married, my wife Claire and I backpacked around Asia and Europe. And the memories that stand out are of places where we found romance and intimacy, no matter how modest our accommodation."

Recreating that sense of adventure and romance for others meant building more than just another luxury resort. Banyan Tree Phuket had to reflect its physical and cultural setting.

An architectural design team, led by his brother Ho Kwon Cjan, delivered designs that reflected traditional Thai architecture. And as in a rural Asian village, the guest rooms were laid out as individual one-storey structures, ingeniously blended into the tropical greenery of the surroundings to create a strong sense of privacy for guests.

"Our pool villas in Banyan Tree Phuket feel so private that even my mother, who is over 80 years old, has skinny-dipped in one," says Mr Ho.

Another key to the success of Banyan Tree Phuket and subsequent Banyan Tree resorts is the tropical garden spa pavilion concept pioneered by Mr Ho and his creative team.

Going against the advice of consultants, Mr Ho turned the western concept of spa on its head, taking it out of a clinical white environment and putting it in an open-air pavilion surrounded by lush tropical greenery. Therapists swapped hospital white for colourful ethnic costumes, and rooms were designed to accommodate couples.

"It was a case of necessity driving innovation," Mr Ho says. "With no beachfront, we had to find other ways to occupy guests. The tropical garden spa pavilion for couples was one of those ideas. It was an industry first."

Catching Asia's spa craze on the upswing in the mid-1990s, the themed open-air spa concept proved such a success that it spawned countless imitations - and the spas were established as businesses independent of the resorts.

A year after opening Banyan Tree Phuket, Mr Ho opened two other hotels - one in the Maldives, the other in Bintan, Indonesia. In 1999, he opened a second line of hotel properties, targeted at families, under the banner of Angsana Resorts and Spa.

Like many success stories, Banyan Tree started with a mistake.

"We came across the land on which Banyan Tree Phuket is built while we were on holiday, and we thought it would make an ideal location for a resort," Mr Ho recalls. "We discovered it was an abandoned tin mine that could be bought very cheaply. So we did. It was only later we found out that the land was certified by the United Nations as being too toxic to support vegetation or to develop on."

Having bought the old tin mine, in Bang Tao Bay, on the western coast of Phuket, Mr Ho embarked on an ambitious regeneration programme that included filling in the old mines, adding topsoil to support vegetation and reintroducing indigenous plants.

The first four hotels he developed on the 600 acres of land were leased out to hotel operators. Unable to find a hotel operator to take up the fifth and final plot of land, he decided to serve up his own vision of Asian hospitality. "We named it Banyan Tree, after a restaurant in Yung Shue Wan village on Lamma Island, where my wife Claire and I lived modestly but happily for three years when I was working as a journalist."

The company that tends to take its cues and inspiration from the past is heading into the future at breakneck speed.

Banyan Tree, which was spared the devastation wreaked by the December 2004 tsunami in both Phuket and the Maldives, is expanding westward through its sister brand Angsana into Dubai.

The group also has two resort projects under way in mainland China, including a Banyan Tree resort in Tibet. Moreover, it has signed agreements to develop resorts in Greece, Mexico, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, it is planning an initial public offering on the Singapore stock exchange this year.

As its founder is fond of saying: "We are stringing a necklace around the world."

Quit Your Job to Blog, Blog, Blog

After years of juggling a full-time job and a high-profile blog, Jason Kottke is calling it quits.

Quits for the job, that is.

From now on, the New York web designer will no longer be commuting five days a week to his day job at a Manhattan financial services firm. Instead, he'll be devoting himself full time to building out his blog, kottke.org, a scattered collection of writings and photos on topics ranging from web design to the politics of Girl Scout cookie sales.

As for earning a living, Kottke has a plan for that, too. His readers will support him. At least he hopes they will. Kottke does not intend to seek advertising revenue; he plans to depend solely on reader contributions.

On Tuesday, Kottke posted a letter asking for donations and a link readers can follow to make payments using PayPal and major credit cards. Whether they'll provide enough to support a single person on more than ramen noodles has yet to be determined.

"So few people have done this that I had no idea what the reaction would be.... So doing things like quitting my job and pouring myself into this full time seems kind of insane," he said. "But I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Kottke joins a number of prominent bloggers who've turned to readers for financial support. Others include Andrew Sullivan, a journalist who runs the website AndrewSullivan.com, and John Gruber, operator of the tech blog DaringFireball.net.

Kottke's quitting his day job may not be so risky. Blogging is fast becoming a business. Mini media empires like Gawker and Weblogs are being built on the backs of bloggers. Kottke is one of the highest-profile bloggers on the net, enjoying lots of traffic and loyal readers.

But eschewing advertisers is more of a risk. Kottke is avoiding them because, as a one-man operation, there's no easy way to neatly separate editorial and advertising.

"Advertising introduces a third party into the relationship between me and my readers," Kottke said. "I don't want to be doing things on my site that are geared more to advertisers than to readers."

The no-ad approach probably wouldn't work for most bloggers seeking to make a living from their sites, said Rafat Ali, editor and publisher of paidContent.org, a news site covering digital media.

But Ali says it may work for some. Overall, Ali believes a quirky blog like Kottke's that enjoys a loyal following would be best-suited for the donation model.

Still, Ali doesn't believe voluntary contributions will ever come close to surpassing ads as a revenue stream for bloggers as a whole. He estimates that as much as 80 percent of the blogging world's revenues will probably come from advertising. This, he notes, isn't too different from the business model of the modern media industry, which is primarily supported by advertising.

But for blogs, most of which are one-person operations, advertising can represent a different challenge. In large media companies, staff members who produce content typically work separately from those who sell ads. To retain their professional reputation, Ali said, bloggers have to take steps to ensure readers that advertiser preferences aren't affecting site content.

"If the advertisers start influencing your content, it will show. People will point it out. The impact of that is that the readership and your credibility will fall," he said. "People value your voice, and your voice, even if it's biased, is not necessarily for sale."

Bloggers who do rely on advertising can usually avoid the perception of a conflict of interest simply by identifying advertisers when they are mentioned in blog content, said Steve Outing, senior editor at the Poynter Institute, a school for professional journalists. Another approach is simply not to write about companies that advertise on the blog.

While it would be nice if all bloggers could do what Kottke hopes to do, and make a living from donations, Outing doubts this is feasible.

"If you're incredibly talented on a certain topic and people value your work than I guess it is possible. But probably not for many," he said.

So far, Kottke isn't doing badly in his attempt to live off his blog. A few hundred people had sent money by late afternoon Tuesday. Most donations were around the suggested rate of $30, but Kottke also received some true micropayments.

"What's really great is the people who donate like $2," Kottke said. "They say, 'I'm sorry I'm really broke, but here's a couple bucks anyway because I like your site.'"

At this stage, Kottke is still confident he'll be one of the few to make a living from reader-supported blogging. But he tells readers he's not setting his hopes too high and expects to earn less than half of what he made as a salaried web designer.

To cut down on living expenses, he's moved from Manhattan to a much cheaper pad in Brooklyn. To save money on restaurant and takeout bills, he's also forcing himself to learn to cook.

It feels a lot like right after I got out of college," he wrote, "without the ramen noodles."

By Joanna Glasner Wired News 23 Feb 2005

KFC - Colonel Sanders

Colonel Harland Sanders, born September 9, 1890, actively began franchising his chicken business at the age of 65. Now, the KFC? business he started has grown to be one of the largest quick service food service systems in the world. And Colonel Sanders, a quick service restaurant pioneer, has become a symbol of entrepreneurial spirit.

More than a billion of the Colonel's "finger lickin' good" chicken dinners are served annually. And not just in North America. The Colonel's cooking is available in more than 80 countries and territories around the world.

When the Colonel was six, his father died. His mother was forced to go to work, and young Harland had to take care of his three-year-old brother and baby sister. This meant doing much of the family cooking. By the age of seven, he was a master of several regional dishes.

At age 10, he got his first job working on a nearby farm for $2 a month. When he was 12, his mother remarried and he left his home near Henryville, Ind., for a job on a farm in Greenwood, Ind. He held a series of jobs over the next few years, first as a 15-year-old streetcar conductor in New Albany, Ind., and then as a 16-year-old private, soldiering for six months in Cuba.

After that he was a railroad fireman, studied law by correspondence, practiced in justice of the peace courts, sold insurance, operated an Ohio River steamboat ferry, sold tires, and operated service stations. When he was 40, the Colonel began cooking for hungry travelers who stopped at his service station in Corbin, Ky. He didn't have a restaurant then, but served folks on his own dining table in the living quarters of his service station.

As more people started coming just for food, he moved across the street to a motel and restaurant that seated 142 people. Over the next nine years, he perfected his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices and the basic cooking technique that is still used today.

Sander's fame grew. Governor Ruby Laffoon made him a Kentucky Colonel in 1935 in recognition of his contributions to the state's cuisine. And in 1939, his establishment was first listed in Duncan Hines' "Adventures in Good Eating."

In the early 1950s a new interstate highway was planned to bypass the town of Corbin. Seeing an end to his business, the Colonel auctioned off his operations. After paying his bills, he was reduced to living on his $105 Social Security checks.

Confident of the quality of his fried chicken, the Colonel devoted himself to the chicken franchising business that he started in 1952. He traveled across the country by car from restaurant to restaurant, cooking batches of chicken for restaurant owners and their employees. If the reaction was favorable, he entered into a handshake agreement on a deal that stipulated a payment to him of a nickel for each chicken the restaurant sold. By 1964, Colonel Sanders had more than 600 franchised outlets for his chicken in the United States and Canada. That year, he sold his interest in the U.S. company for $2 million to a group of investors including John Y. Brown Jr., who later was governor of Kentucky from 1980 to 1984. The Colonel remained a public spokesman for the company. In 1976, an independent survey ranked the Colonel as the world's second most recognizable celebrity.

Under the new owners, Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation grew rapidly. It went public on March 17, 1966, and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange on January 16, 1969. More than 3,500 franchised and company-owned restaurants were in worldwide operation when Heublein Inc. acquired KFC Corporation on July 8, 1971, for $285 million.

Kentucky Fried Chicken became a subsidiary of R.J. Reynolds Industries, Inc. (now RJR Nabisco, Inc.), when Heublein Inc. was acquired by Reynolds in 1982. KFC was acquired in October 1986 from RJR Nabisco, Inc. by PepsiCo, Inc., for approximately $840 million.

In January 1997, PepsiCo, Inc. announced the spin-off of its quick service restaurants -- KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut -- into an independent restaurant company, Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc. In May 2002, the company announced it received shareholders' approval to change it's corporation name to Yum! Brands, Inc. The company, which owns A&W All-American Food Restaurants, KFC, Long John Silvers, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants, is the world's largest restaurant company in terms of system units with nearly 32,500 in more than 100 countries and territories.

Until he was fatally stricken with leukemia in 1980 at the age of 90, the Colonel traveled 250,000 miles a year visiting the KFC restaurants around the world.

And it all began with a 65-year-old gentleman who used his $105 Social Security check to start a business.

有乜相同？

楊千嬅、林海峰、蘇民峰和曾蔭權，他們究竟有什麼共同點？

他們今天都是名人？都被視為成功人仕？

非也。他們的共同點是全都經歷了人生的一個最大的轉捩點–––劈炮唔撈！

楊千嬅在進入娛樂圈前，她在葵涌瑪嘉烈醫院任職護士。1995年參加新秀歌唱大賽取得銅獎晉身樂壇，劈炮不做護士，與唱片公司簽約。

林海峰中學畢業後在明愛白英奇專業學校修讀設計，並認識葛民輝。他倆早年曾在Esprit任櫥窗設計，1988年初二人兼職加入商業電台任DJ，更組成組合「軟硬天師」，劈炮不做設計，開展DJ、節目主持人的事業。

蘇民峰中學畢業後，隨即投身社會工作，職業為髮型師。1982年他劈炮不做髮型師，決心拜師學藝，因機緣巧遇啟蒙師傅，跟其學習玄學。於1983年開始以業餘性質為客人分析風水命理。三年後正式開班，教授面相、掌相及八字命理。

曾蔭權1964年預科畢業後，任職輝瑞藥廠推銷員。三年後加劈炮不做推銷員，加入政府工作，在1971年考上政務主任。

如果當天他們沒有選擇劈炮唔撈，今天的勁歌金曲就沒有《少女的祈禱》、《小城大事》和《烈女》。開收音機也沒有《軟硬製造》和《維園阿伯》。書店中更沒有《蘇民峰玄學錦囊》，更不用說今天的「煲呔曾」！

無論你在事業或其他層面，當你比其他人更努力、更用心、更多付出，但都得不到預期的成效時，你就應該要「劈炮唔撈」了！

髮型師 變 賴布衣？

蘇 民 峰 沒 有 經 歷 千 辛 萬 苦 才 能 學 成 堪 輿 學 ， 牠 的 興 趣 乃 源 於 祖 父 的 循 循 善 誘 。 他 稱 : 「 自 小 就 經 常 陪 伴 祖 父 一 起 行 山 尋 龍 點 穴 ， 對 看 陰 宅 的 經 驗 相 當 豐 富 。 因 為 爺 爺 年 輕 時 候 是 職 業 風 水 師 ， 從 他 口 傳 心 授 中 啟 發 起 我 。 由 於 自 小 培 養 對 術 數 興 趣 ， 所 以 蘇 民 峰 的 成 長 過 程 中 的 消 遺 均 是 在 術 數 書 堆 中 鑽 研 ; 除 了 跟 爺 爺 學 風 水 之 外 ， 他 又 搜 閱 掌 相 學 ， 且 經 常 為 朋 友 看 掌 相 ， 他 笑 說 : 「 年 輕 時 最 愛 贈 相 ， 或 許 是 業 餘 玩 票 性 質 ， 無 顧 慮 ， 會 好 準 ， 令 我 興 趣 更 濃 。 」

「 中 學 畢 業 後 ， 雖 然 已 投 身 社 會 工 作 ， 職 業 為 髮 型 師 ， 卻 沒 有 終 止 我 對 術 數 的 情 意 ， 相 反 更 沉 迷 。 此 際 便 開 始 研 習 算 命 ， 竟 然 發 覺 自 己 很 喜 歡 用 數 理 推 算 命 理 ， 所 以 在 八 零 年 時 ， 於 工 餘 時 跟 師 傅 學 八 字 、 子 平 命 理 。 」

蘇 民 峰 自 小 學 術 數 ， 常 習 慣 邊 研 究 、 又 邊 做 驗 證 ， 將 所 學 的 理 論 與 驗 證 互 相 體 驗 心 得 ， 這 樣 才 能 捨 長 取 短 ， 所 以 他 發 覺 祖 父 傳 授 的 知 識 並 不 全 面 ， 況 且 自 己 在 書 本 上 所 學 未 能 給 予 圓 滿 的 答 案 ， 於 是 決 心 拜 師 學 藝 。 或 許 玄 學 與 蘇 民 峰 早 已 結 下 不 解 之 緣 ， 他 在 八 二 年 時 ， 因 機 緣 巧 遇 吳 晚 軒 師 傅 ， 跟 其 學 習 掌 相 及 八 字 命 理 。

http://www.masterso.com/soland/content_10.html

100天壽命

患癌CEO叫郭炳聯落淚 2006年4月25日

【明報專訊】日理萬機的新鴻基地產副主席兼董事總經理郭炳聯，忙於工作之餘，不忘抽空閱讀，平日一臉嚴肅的他，也有感性一面，一本感人小說，足以令他掉下男兒淚。

郭炳聯昨日出席「新地開心閱讀計劃」記者會時，被問到閱讀心得時，他透露在周末看了《Chasing Daylight﹕How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life》這本書，深受感動，不禁掉下眼淚來，他還「死撐」說﹕「我很少睇書睇到喊，可能這本書由第一身寫，非常感動﹗」

第一身直述 記步向死亡經歷

這本書由畢馬威會計師事務所美國業務主席兼行政總裁(CEO)奧基利(Eugene O'Kelly)和他的太太合撰。53歲、正處於事業頂峰的奧基利，呼風喚雨，在全無先兆下，醫生告知他患上末期腦癌，只餘約100天壽命，他遂記錄自己步向死亡的經歷，出版成書。

身為CEO一分子的郭炳聯，閱書後亦嘆道﹕「許多人未去世前，只顧工作，非常忙碌，直至知道壽命只剩3個月，方發覺最重要的，還是家人、朋友。」

Wolfgang Mozart 莫扎特

Wolfgang Mozart was fired as a court composer by Archbishop Colloredo of Salzburg. The composer moved on to Vienna, where he completed the mature masterpieces among his forty-one symphonies and twenty-seven piano concertos, along with several of the greatest operas of all time --- including Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute.

如果當天莫扎特沒有離開 Salzburg，今天的商人又如何可以用「莫札特效應 」賺盡父母錢？

Walt Disney

Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper for "lack of ideas".

Well, meet Micky!

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs cofounded Apple Computer in his family's garage in 1976. But the board fired him.

Well, he purchased a majority stake of Pixar, the creator of Toy Story, which won an Oscar award in 1995. Then, Jobs returned to Apple in1996 when Apple bought NeXT.

Mark Cuban

Shortly after college, in 1982, Cuban moved to Dallas, Texas and found work with a new IBM PC software dealer. He was fired for choosing to make a sales call to close a $10,000 software deal instead of opening the store on time.

Cuban founded a new company, MicroSolutions, and was able to convince some of his previous customers to come along. The Microsolutions became a system integrator and reseller for companies like Novell, 3Com, IBM, Banyan, Apple Computer and Sun Microsystems and an early adopter of technologies such as Carbon Copy, Lotus Notes, and CompuServe. One of the company's biggest clients was Perot Systems. In July of 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe, Inc, then a subsidiary of H&R Block, for $6 million.

He is now a well-known Internet billionaire and the owner of the NBA team, Dallas Mavericks.

行行出狀元 大學生擦鞋擦出80家店

開在成都市高檔社區旁的羅記擦鞋店在成都小有名氣。不僅因為在這裡擦洗一雙鞋所需的費用從10元到100元不等，明顯高於成都市普遍存在的一元錢的行情，更因為擦鞋店的老闆羅福歡是一名畢業於四川師范大學的大學生。從街邊的擦鞋攤兒起步，到今天在全國擁有80多家羅記擦鞋加盟店，羅福歡用8年的時間完成了一名大學生基層創業的傳奇故事。

放棄白領生活

今年33歲的羅福歡出生於四川航太工業公司一個工程師家庭。1993年，羅福歡考入四川師范大學教育係，學習市場行銷專業。一開始，羅福歡也希望讀了書以後出來，能夠找一個跟所學的對口的、有前途的工作。1995年，像當時很多大學生一樣，對大公司大企業非常嚮往的羅福歡，畢業後選擇回到了父母所在的大型國營企業，來到了鑄造車間，擁有了一份穩定的工作。不過，工作了一年後，羅福歡最終還是離開了這裡。1997年他來到成都，並順利地進入了一家資訊咨詢公司，開始了他曾經非常羨慕的白領生活。

記者：第一份工作選擇改變可以理解，但是第二份工作呢？你自己又選擇了一次。

羅福歡：就有一天，雙休，我在街上閒逛，當時我看到一個(擦鞋的)老太太，其實我是出於同情心，夏天，挺熱，我看她沒生意，怪可憐的。於是我就上去把我的鞋給她擦，我就照顧她，一塊錢嘛。我喜歡跟人瞎掰，就問問生意怎麼樣啊，辛苦嗎？她就告訴我每天掙多少錢，她說一天生意好還可以掙個七八十，我給她合計了一下，這一個月還不兩三千呢。比我那個時候的收入還高呢。我覺得那該可憐的不是她，而是我。當時我就想，我跟她換一下，我做她那工作，我肯定做得比她好，就有這想法。

羅福歡對自己的想法充滿了信心。他把自己的目標鎖定在中高檔鞋的護理，並希望能將擦鞋店開設在成都市的高檔酒樓和茶館。為此他花費了一個多月的時間對成都市的擦鞋市場作了調查，將自己的想法和調查結果寫成了一份中英文對照的詳細的“合作計劃書”，並附上了可行性報告，可是幾乎跑遍成都的所有酒樓茶館也沒有一家接受。於是羅福歡決定還是回到最原始擦鞋那種方式。

為了突出自己擦鞋的與眾不同，羅福歡還專門製作了一個價目表，在上面赫然寫著擦鞋3元到50元，而這樣的價格對於成都市普遍存在的一元錢擦鞋的行情來說簡直就是天價。

記者：那你把自己的起點定在哪兒？怎麼會擦個皮鞋要那麼多錢？

羅福歡：我當時用的差不多都有15種不同國家的鞋油，就是說不同品牌和五個國家品牌的鞋油，然後工具和各方面的硬體，都準備得特漂亮，哪怕是一雙(替換的)拖鞋，都是買的60幾塊錢的。

開始創業之路

1997年的最後一天，羅福歡的擦鞋攤在充滿過節氣氛的成都市太升南路正式開張了。

羅福歡：第一天很早起床的，六七點鐘起床，然後去了那兒之後，差不多做好了準備，說實話，那時候還真有點不好意思。

第一個顧客是這樣子，一對夫妻。女的說，老公，把鞋擦了吧，這還挺好。她老公就說，擦什麼鞋啊，第二天還不得臟啊。她老婆說那句話我永遠記住了，她老婆那真是幫了我，她說了一句話是，咱今天晚上就不洗臉了，告訴你，天天洗啥洗啊。

然後他坐下，坐下了，我就還是老套的嘛，請問先生您擦多少錢的呀，指向那個(價格表)。他一看那個價，愣住了，這是機會，我可不能讓他跑了。先生，您別看了，那都不算，不看。您也是我第一個顧客，今天也是我第一天擺攤，我先給你擦了，你覺得值，最後你就給多少。

記者：我願意給多少錢就多少錢。

羅福歡：對，我先是告訴他的，然後我就給他擦了。半個小時，擦了半個小時過去了，完了，擦好了，給他。非常滿意，給了十塊錢，小夥子，別找了，值，就是10塊錢。

帶動社會就業

就這樣，為了堅持自己的理想，羅福歡在這條街上擦了5年的鞋。5年的時間，太升南路發生了巨大的改變，而羅福歡的生活也發生了改變。2003年2月，羅福歡的第一個專門為中高檔客戶服務的鞋店——羅記擦鞋店在成都市桐梓林路正式開張了。羅福歡還專門為自己的擦鞋店註冊了“羅記擦鞋”的商標。

記者：也有人覺得現在教育資源那麼緊缺，把你培養成一個大學生，你現在去當一個擦鞋匠，是不是教育資源的一種浪費？

羅福歡：這跟我所做出的成績，要混成一塊看，它是不浪費的，不是教育資源的浪費。首先我讀了書出來，上了大學出來，擦皮鞋，現在把它做得這麼好，帶動社會上很多下崗職工來做這個，帶動很多就業機會，我的全國這麼多店，還要去找人，那就是好幾百人，幾百人上千人，這也是對社會那種貢獻，一個小小的貢獻。

記者：但現在很多大學生覺得找工作很難，你有什麼忠告？

羅福歡：是啊，它是很難，很多是很難，因為他定的點不一樣，他一齣來就要當白領，五千，八千一個月那種，那肯定難，你在選工作過程中，你選別人別人不選你？現在大學生出學校到社會，首先你最好是先能養活自己，你別再讓父母為你，再這樣操心，那樣再給你拿生活費什麼的，那樣才是對的，高樓大廈還是一層一層來的，不是一步邁上去的。

2003年10月，羅福歡就開了第二家羅記擦鞋店。現在，羅福歡已經在全國擁有了80多家加盟店，而且業務範圍也從單一的鞋的清洗和護理，擴大到皮革皮具。甚至北京、上海等地的客戶會將自己需要特殊護理的皮具郵寄到成都，這些都讓羅福歡對自己的未來充滿信心。對於最終的目標，羅福歡說，我也希望我羅記這個店能夠做成百年老店，能夠做下去，因為這是我的愛好，我自己喜歡的工作，我得好好對她，就像老婆一樣，喜歡才娶她，娶她愛她一輩子，就是這樣。認認真真做，因為我能從工作?面找到樂趣，能夠昇華自己，包括我的店頭，都是用72把鞋刷做成的兩個擦鞋兩個字，剛好72把刷子，72行，行行出狀元。

來源：深圳特區報

過勞 => 退步

跨國公司指港員工過勞
工作量增 難聘人才 表現退步

一項調查顯示，43％總部設在香港的跨國公司表示員工工作過勞，比去年同季增加9個百分點，情?亦比新加坡、日本和中國內地嚴重，負責調查的公司指出，過勞的員工都有表現退步的問題，而過勞的元兇是工作量急增和難以聘請所需人才。

翰德國際顧問公司昨日發表今年第二季就業調查報告，報告訪問了逾2400家香港、新加坡、日本和內地的大小型跨國公司，香港佔525家。各行各業中以消費品業和傳媒、公關、廣告業過勞比例最高，達一半，法律界和製造業等亦逾四成。

法律界過勞比率最高

相比去年同期，法律界過勞比率增幅最高，由去年20％增至45％，相信與工作量增加，和缺乏處理首次公開招股與收購合併的律師人才有關。改善工作過勞的方法包括聘請員工、重整工作和評估工作職務等。

工時方面，除銀行業外，受訪公司員工的工時都較去年同期少，每周工作50小時或以上，由去年70％減至67％。但僅14％指工時明顯或略短於兩年前，41％更認為工時明顯或略比兩年前長。

58％公司擬增人手

另有58％表示公司計劃增聘人手，為本港自2000年第4季以來錄得的最高數字。銀行業對長期職位增長最樂觀，64％計劃吸納新血，傳媒、公關和廣告業對職位需求增幅最高，由上季的34％增至49％。

【明報專訊】

J.K. Rowling

Rowling's first book, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", was published in 1997 and was an instant success. By 2000 she had become the highest-earning woman in Britain, with an income of more than 18.3m pounds. In 2001, her annual earnings were estimated at over 21.4m pounds, placing her between Madonna and Paul McCartney in the ranks of high-earning celebrities. With the release of the first movie based on her books, her total earnings are estinated to have exceeded 62.4m pounds. (That's more than USD 100 million!!)

When Rowling wrote her first book she was a single mother living on a welfare check in a mouse-infested flat in Edinburgh. She was so poor she couldn't afford to heat her flat in the winter, so by day she went and sat in a local coffee shop with her baby daughter, nursing an expresso for hours as she worked on her manuscript. Rowling achieved hugh success despite all these obstacles, and there is no reason why YOU could not be just as successful as she is.

英國史上最暢銷作家 J.K羅琳

單親媽媽的神話

《哈利波特》的作者J.K羅琳（Joanne Kathleen Rowling）一寫成名的故事，被視為現代灰姑娘傳奇。《哈 利波特》第一集甫出版，羅琳就獲得英國國家圖書獎兒童小說獎，以及斯馬蒂圖書金獎章。目前六集《哈利波特》已翻譯成六十三種語言，全球銷量超過2.5億 本，前四集還拍成電影上映，亞馬遜網路書店稱她為史上最暢銷作家。她每個小時就有100萬英鎊入帳，英國《經濟學人》（The Economist）報導，她擁有價值5億英鎊的個人財產。

羅琳從小就喜歡寫作和講故事，尤其熱愛英國文學。立志成為作家的羅琳曾擔任過 秘書與教師，然而卻不斷地轉換工作，在她29歲時，遭逢了人生的最低潮。她離婚又失業，還得獨自撫養女兒。當時她棲身在租來的沒有暖氣的小公寓，靠著微薄 的失業救濟金生活，每次在咖啡館裡只點一杯卡布其諾，一字一句地寫下《哈利波特》。

書稿完成後，在出版界默默無聞又沒有人脈的羅琳，到圖書館翻查出版經理人的資料，寄出許多封自我推薦信，終於獲得其中一人的回應。羅琳第一次和出版商共進午餐時，對方還告訴她：「寫兒童小說，你別想賺大錢。」

堅持夢想的羅琳不只讓作品成為出版社的印鈔機，也在全世界掀起被譽為「文學界的披頭四狂熱」的閱讀風潮，更在30歲出頭時，改變了自己的一生。（文/林婉蓉）

2006-01-25 Sina

You Must Work This Out!

Please answer the 10 questions below in a form of writing. (i.e. Please use pen and paper!!)

1. 你現時的工作職位是什麼？
2. 你的工作性質是什麼？
3. 你最喜歡你工作的那一部份？
4. 你最不喜歡你工作的那一部份？
5. 那些東西可以令你工作得更快更易？
6. 那些東西會令你工作得更難更麻煩？
7. 你與那些人工作，他是又是做什麼的呢？
8. 在你工作中，那些是最不尋常的事呢？
9. 你學了什麼東西是你工作上最重要的呢？
10. 五年後，你會是在做什麼呢？

宋芝玲 苦讀韓語終上位 浮沉多年 迎來韓風

電視台女藝員宋芝玲，過去一年曝光率驟升，凡是有南韓演藝人員訪港，必定由她負責採訪，只因她的韓語實在說得好。成功背後，有人說，她是南韓人（媽媽是中韓混血兒）， 「自然」懂韓語，但事實是，命運只給了她一丁點的優勢，她的背景只讓她掌握基礎韓語，韓語文字、複雜的文法，要靠她留學南韓年半苦修得來﹕「若我沒有讀韓文，今日肯定應付不了主持的工作。」

27歲的宋芝玲像一隻任性的小鳥，父親是上海籍生意人，希望獨生女芝玲承繼家族事業，可是宋芝玲念完中六便拋下書本選港姐，父親震怒，是寵她的媽媽讓她去參選的。

1996年，宋芝玲選美落敗，簽約做女藝員，演藝事業不見起色，經營生意亦不愉快收場，「人到青年」仍要靠媽媽接濟。在生命的最低潮，她回歸了第二 個家——到南韓讀韓文。宋芝玲3歲前在南韓釜山長大，回港讀書期間，每到暑假便回南韓探親﹕「自己的韓文只有旅遊程度，到東大門壓價或說『好味』、『多少 錢』就可以，書寫及語文能力都不夠。」

韓風未吹 友人潑冷水

那是2003年，韓風還未成形，「朋友都說韓文沒有用，紛紛游說我讀日文或英文」。一次，身在南韓的宋芝玲在考試前夕感到很失落，致電香港朋友，卻被大潑冷水，「那人說，不知道你讀韓文來幹什麼，回香港也沒用。我感到很傷心」。

幸好得到韓裔媽媽支持﹕「媽媽說，我幹什麼事也是3分鐘熱度，今次我和她賭氣，我一定要讀完。」課程每10周考試一次，每天上課4小時，宋芝玲感到 艱難﹕「韓文我要由零學起，對長輩及後輩，韓文稱呼不同。但正因我學了這些用詞，才懂得在訪問南韓明星時作適當提問。」宋芝玲咬緊牙關完成延世大學六級韓 文深造班，撰寫了一篇《南韓人的酒文化》作畢業論文。

大長今熱 韓文聲價十倍

學成歸來，剛好與大長今熱潮碰個正?，宋芝玲做夢也沒想到，本來被看成一文不值的韓文突然聲價十倍﹕「讀韓文要達至做訪問的水平，最少要5至6年。」她和幾個懂韓語的同事，突然工作量大增，去年更8次到南韓公幹。

「現在南韓女性 似野蠻女友」

對於南韓文化，她有頗客觀的分析﹕「電影電視節目我嫌它太苦情，較喜歡喜劇﹔電子科技、音樂的確是亞洲尖端，時裝風格則太拘謹﹔人際關係方面就太計 較輩分，曾經有個朋友在認識他一年後，才發現我比他年輕3個月，他竟要我稱呼他『哥哥』。」南韓女性是否有大長今精神﹖「當然不是，現在的南韓女性像我多 一點，似野蠻女友啦﹗」

【明報專訊】