Andy Cheng's blog (pls leave comment before you go)

勇於求變及接受新的挑戰，可說是劉詩敏青商的主要成功要素。白羊座的Sylvia 笑言自己對號入座，完全符合自己星座的特性—「做嘢會衝埋去」，以及「坐唔定」。當然Sylvia正面與樂觀的性格亦幫她在工作和社會服務上克服不少困難。

曾當過唱片騎師的Sylvia是獅子山青年商會2005年的社會發展董事。她現在是創藝傳訊的執行董事。創藝傳訊是她在2004年時自資開辦的，主要為其他公司統籌活動。而公司在這三年中所統籌的活動也愈來愈大。

在工作上，Sylvia笑言自己常常都想「去遠啲」。「有些人去到A的時候，就會停留在A裡，享受在A的感覺。但當我去到A的時候，就會想去B。」

其實Sylvia選擇開PR公司，與她做DJ的經驗有很大的關係 -做ＤＪ其實三分二時間開咪, 三分一時間用在舉辦活動。跟隨家人移民到澳洲，Sylvia在那裡讀High School，而在讀大學的時候，為了賺取零錢，Sylvia到了一間華人電台做DJ。之後1997年跟隨家人回流香港，到商業電台做DJ，是《開心看天下》的其中一個主持人。

「我做電台其中一個抱負是我很想將一啲正面的訊息帶出去。因為我是一個很正面的人。我覺得人是應該互相幫助。有時我看見有些人自殺、虐兒等……我會想電台可不可以帶出一些正面的信息呢?」

劉詩敏與青商的緣份則是她轉到新城電台時結下的。當時新城英文台想開一個節目幫新移民，但當時未能找到DJ主持。「我當時是新城的Operation manager，但我看到如果找不到DJ，這個節目便做不成，我認為這節目的理想和我做DJ的理念基本是一樣的，所以我就主持這個節目。」

正因為這樣，在2002年Sylvia參與了獅子山青商旗艦project義不容「遲」 (GIGV)。當年GIGV主題是幫助新移民，由前會長Gloria領導。03、04年GIGV司儀亦是由Sylvia擔任，到2004年，Sylvia正式加入Lion Rock。

「青商擴闊了我的人際網絡，在青商真的可以認識很多人。」

今年年初，Sylvia、Gloria及副會長Eric及Wayne組成了一個非牟利機構--- Givers,旨在聯合其他私人機構和年青人，為社會服務。

除了自己的公司，青商和傑出生命計劃外，Sylvia還要兼顧教會工作及未來一年讀有關counseling的碩士。「就是因為這樣忙，才需要讀個counseling的碩士來輔導自己。」Sylvia笑說。

當國際青年世界會長Scott Greenlee第一次在工作時扮演管理的角色時，他認為自己需要在工作各階層上都要事事過問，以收管理之效。

「The biggest problem I had in leadership as a person in my mid-20s was the desire to do everything myself. I was a very bad delegate.」

「I had trust in people, but not that much trust.」

希望將每一樣工作做到最好，Greenlee說自己卻忽略了同事的感受，結果令他們感到沮喪。當時24歲的Greenlee在美國一間跨國電訊公司初次擔任領導的工作，幸好得到上司和同事的提點，才發現自己越界做了同事應做的工作。

現在，作為一間political consultancy firm的老闆，Greenlee呼籲年青的管理或領導人要把權力及責任下放，因為這才是專業的管理。他說自己可以很早發現這個問題，是較幸運的一個，希望可以與他人分享自己的經驗。

Greenlee認為青年商會是一個很好的平台，給年青的管理人員嘗試把權力和責任下放。透過參與不同的工作計劃和擔任董事，青商可以試驗逐步把權力和責任下放，而把有關的經驗應用在自己的工作上。

在領導方面，Greenlee笑言自己在求學時期已是一位領導者，是校中football team的隊長。當時的他已懂得激勵隊員士氣。

「I try to motivate them to work harder and practice...motivate them that even though we’re 10 points down and we have 30 seconds to go, we might still win if we can get the right shots」

在24歲那年，在一位同事的介紹下，加入了他美國家鄉密西根州的青年商會。他慶幸加入了青商，擴展了他的人際網絡，對他的工作有很大的幫助。

加入青商大概十年後，Greenlee找到了一個新的目標 — 做JCI世界會長，而在他加入青商15年後，他達到了目標，成了2007年度世界會長。在上月，他來到香港馬不停蹄，連跑很多活動。

被問及下年卸任後會忙些什麼，Greenlee 說他會幫美國共和黨總統候選人競逐明年總統大選, 而自已亦可能踏足美國政冶舞台, 但未有具體計劃。

Greenlee早在美國的電訊公司任職，其後自己開辦了私人電訊公司，但由於要準備成為JCI的世界會長，兩年後即2005年，Greenlee選擇了成為自顧人士，成為political consultant。

對香港的感覺，Greenlee說：「Hong Kong is great. I am very impressed that it seems like the business spirit is always in overdrive, is always very excited to learn more, to meet more people and to take the business opportunity very seriously.」

堅持履行企業的責任及取之社會，用於社會是獅子山青年商會前會長梁美儀的成功之道，亦可說是她做人的座右銘。

Gloria笑言自己來自小康之家，又是家中十個兄弟姊妹中最年輕的，自己沒有家庭財政上的負擔，所以什麼事情都可以放膽去試。亦是因為這樣，她可毫無顧慮地在1989年創立了人力資源公司ExcelNet Recruitment Services (HK) Ltd，並踏上企業家的道路。

曾在跨國獵頭公司工作的Gloria，看到自己並非native speaker，工作發展的空間有限，便毅然創立自己的公司，專門幫其他公司尋找一些較低職位的職員如秘書。

「當時我的opportunity cost很低，公司的start-up成本，包括租金成本都比較低，就算真的失敗了，我們還可以再出來打工。」

Gloria認為自己的真正考驗是1997年的金融風暴。「那時候，整個行業都在萎縮。我亦常常跟下屬開會，叫他們要有心理準備，要勒實褲頭。」

但性格樂天的Gloria在危難中亦看到了機遇。「Human resources這一行一向都是良莠不齊，金融風暴其實可以淘汰一些不夠專業的人力資源公司。」

當時Gloria只在想如何與員工共渡難關，並沒有想過結束公司。「我覺得公司的情況還未到要關閉的地步。我亦需要考慮我的員工。」

「我有一個vision — 只要市場有一個職位空缺，ExcelNet就有存在的價值。」

面對危機，Gloria認為公司要轉型 — 從以往只攻中下階層的職位，延伸到包括高層聘請。而公司亦會找緊MPF推出機遇而提供外判聘請服務和接一些operational的project，不只限於聘請。

在管理方面，Gloria採用了friend management 的方法，自己和員工一起工作。「我的管理手法可能和書本所講的不同，書本說的是由上而下一層一層的管理。」但事實證明Gloria的管理成效顯注，員工流失很少出現。

在2002年，當Gloria還清在97年前置業而衍生的債務及把公司推向正軌後，她希望找個喘息的機會。當時Gloria其中一個客人是半島青商前會長並向她介紹了青年商會，這使她與獅子山青年商會結下不解緣。對於Gloria，加入青商的主要目的是參與社會義務工作及回饋社會。當年的義不容「遲」計劃是幫助新移民來港的青少年，是Gloria的一個難忘及美好的回憶。

「當我見到他們在台上做interview的時候，我真的很開心，我的開心是在這裡講不出來的。」從義務社會工作，及她姐夫患上癌症而逝世，Gloria深深體會到金錢並非生命最重要的東西。

「我們不能控制生命的長短，但我們可以使生命豐盛。」「我希望做到如果我的生命在任何一刻完結，我亦會無憾。」

Gloria說她未來的挑戰包括要把公司的業務衝出香港，到世界更多地方。而她亦擔任了一些義務機構的董事，包括康復力量。最近Gloria和Sylvia、Eric和Wyne組成了一非牟利機構 Givers, 旨在聯合其他私人機構和年青人，為社會服務。

但對於充滿passion的Gloria來說，應付這些挑戰應是遊刃有餘吧!

專訪蕭若元 - 管理, 戲劇和閱讀人生

對於蕭若元, 相信大家都會想起才子, 因為他博學多才而且想像力豐富, 創作了很多經典劇集如天蠶變, 唐伯虎點秋香。 而他又主持電台鋒煙節目, 曾和鄭大班打對台。但唔講唔知, 其實蕭公子也是一位成功的企業家! 短短三十分鐘的訪問, 蕭公子道盡他的管理哲學, 事業路途和對追求知識看法。

“有三種人不能用。” 蕭若元一講到管理哲學就侃侃而談。

“第一是唔教聽的人，第二是一憤世疾俗的人: 對所有嘢都negative, 第三就是太懶的人。”

五十七歲的蕭若元現在是一間美容公司的主席, 每天工作八至九小時, 並業餘兼任一網上電台的主持。

他認同General Electric 的主席Jack Welch 的見解: “人是不能managed 的, 物件才可以managed。 人是要lead 的, 要motivate 的。”

除了管理外, 一向擅長度橋的蕭公子, 最近在生意上想到一條絕橋 – 用藝人作整容代言人, 相信大家都知道是那一位了。目的是要改變公眾對整容的看法。

蕭若元的事業道路充滿傳奇。 他早年曾到日本接受證券訓練, 其後回港創辦東泰證券。 在1972-1976, 蕭公子分別創立了地產和雲石公司, 上市後獲收購。

在1974, 他伙拍劉家傑在無線電視作新聞主播, 五年後轉到麗的電視作新聞主播。

1980-1993 可说是蕭若元在電視劇和電影業的颠峯時期 – 他編的800集電視劇包括天蠶變和大地恩情, 60部電影包括最多中國人着的唐伯虎點秋香, 法內情和省港奇兵等。

回歸後, 蕭公子選擇到新城電台開咪, 論盡家事國事, 和鄭大班打對台。 2003-2004年倒董後專注美容公司業務。

由於現在工作較忙,蕭若元減少了看書的時間。 “以前除了工作和睡覺, 其他時間都在看書。” 他一天睡六至七小時。

蕭公子說他的閱讀是 “無目的和無追求的, 只是為了興趣”。而所得的知識很的時都用不着。中二的他已看紅樓夢. 中三便看李敖和殷海光。 與書分不開的他用了五十年來看歷史, 亦用了6年時間鑽研術數。 最近他则醉心於evolution psychology 和quantum physics.

雖然博學多才, 蕭公子仍認為自己的知識不夠“深”, 蕭公子也真的太謙了。

Commemorating the death of John Lennon on December 8 is like commemorating June 4, or going to the Lunar New Year fair at Victoria Park, no matter how busy you are, you still squeeze time to do something for it.    

Around this time every year, it’s natural to feel unease. This moment in December - such an important month, apart from Christmas and farewell for the year, John Lennon is certainly a theme as well.

The story of The Beatles is rich in content and much more interesting and … sad, compared with what you can see in a movie or TV program. But to visualise the band's journey, you have to listen to their songs, read their books, understand the rock and roll culture some five decades ago, particularly in schools and clubs.

And Liverpool.

John Lennon will not be John Lennon if he was born somewhere else. The depression-hit Liverpool had profound impact on Lennon’s subsequent productions during and after the late Beatles. I always want to go to this city, maybe someday when I have enough money, I will land to the Liverpool John Lennon Airport, which has a slogan – Above us only sky.

Some background: Vocalist and rhythm guitarist John Lennon, playing in clubs in England in early 1960s, met bassist and vocalist Paul McCartney who later introduced guitarist George Harrison to the band. Drummer Ringo Starr later joined the band after the original drummer fucked up.

Inspirations flooded in as Lennon and McCartney started to compose. The Beatlemania, highlighted by such songs as I Wanna Hold Your Hand and A Hard Day’s Night and the fab four’s hair style, swept through England and conquered America. Lennon and McCartney wrote a song in a cab when they went touring in 1963, while they wrote the Sgt Pepper album in the studio ‘eyeball to eyeball’. 

In 1965, the band began some musical experiments and indulged in drugs, meditation and later had a vacation in India where they found new inspirations - after being fed up with the gigs and their usual catchy tones.

Tensions in the studio grew gradually with the band mates heading to different music directions and Lennon’s growing indifferent attitudes towards the band after meeting his second wife Ono Yoko in her art exhibition. Not appreciated to have Yoko, a female, in the studio when they were recording songs, the other members simply ignored and humiliated her - a major reason for the band’s split in 1970. The band’s last performance was on a rooftop in Liverpool.

Then John began his new life in America, where he had great difficulty in gaining the citizenship and was being identified as a politician involved in treason activities when he openly criticized the America’s involvement in the Vietnam war. He also got through hassles in fighting for the custodial right of Yoko’s daughter, but their effort proved in vain.     

In 1980, when he finally returned to the studio, he was assassinated. After the killing, fans around the globe, with candles in their hands, mourned the working class hero.

Lennon, 40, was shot dead in Manhattan on December 8, 1980, by Mark David Chapman, who said in 1991 that he was under "total compulsion" to kill Lennon. "It was like a train, a runaway train, there was no stopping it," said Chapman, who shattered hopes for a re-union of The Beatles.

The other three ex-Beatles, together with Lennon's widow Yoko, completed his three unfinished songs, including Grow Old Along With Me and Real Love.

However rich but short his life is, ultimately it should be the lyrics and melodies that have captured the essence of the life journey and turned people on. Here are some of my favorites:  

- ‘Living is easy with eyes closed
Misunderstanding all you see’ - Strawberry Fields

-‘So this is Christmas,

And what have you done’ – Happy X’mas 

 ‘All these places had their moments

With lovers and friends, I still can recall

Some are dead and some are living

In my life, I loved them all’ – In My Life

Each of the songs has its background, but what appear in the songs are something universal, something that can trigger your thought about your life, the world, a generic event or a particular event. Your mind can simply follow what the songs take you to.   

Humor is the other thing that makes John Lennon a genius and stands out among other genius. Humor makes him more ‘human’ than other geniuses. John was on his way back home and was asked by a fan when the band would re-unite. John said “Tomorrow”. 

He was staging a “Bed Peace, Hair peace” campaign in which he and wife Yoko stayed in bed to peach peace. A maverick went messing around his campaign and said John did not write songs for him. John, in response, said he wrote songs especially for him. 

But talent and wealth couldn’t make Lennon happy after the release of his landmark album Imagine. His regrets included not being able to see McCartney again after the band’s split (as blocked by Yoko), not spending enough time to his son Julian Lennon.     What Lennon lacked was the courage to get things done. Indulgence in smoking, drugs, sex and alcohol, Lennon could not set his focus on anything, despite the fact that he always want to compose. 

Okay, so much history now. I would let Lennon’s lyrics to end this article.  

‘And so this is Christmas

For weak and for strong

For rich and the poor ones

The world is so wrong

And so happy Christmas

For black and for white

For yellow and red ones

Let's stop all the fight’ - Happy X’mas 

‘Grow old along with me

Two branches of one tree

Face the setting sun

When the day is done

God bless our love

God bless our love’ - Grow old along with me

‘Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup

They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe

Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind

Possessing and caressing me

Jai Guru Deva OM

Nothing's gonna change my world

Nothing's gonna change my world

Nothing's gonna change my world

Nothing's gonna change my world

Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes

They call me on and on across the universe

Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box

They tumble blindly as they make their way across the universe

Jai Guru Deva OM

Nothing's gonna change my world

Sounds of laughter shades of live are ringing through my open ears

Inciting and inviting me

Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns

It calls me on and on, across the universe

Jai Guru Deva OM

Nothing's gonna change my world’ – Across The Universe

 ‘Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace’ - Imagine

‘People say I'm lazy dreaming my life away

Well they give me all kinds of advice designed to enlighten me

When I tell them that I'm doing fine watching shadows on the wall

Don't you miss the big time boy you're no longer on the ball?

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round

I really love to watch them roll

No longer riding on the merry-go-round

I just had to let it go’ - Watching The Wheels

ENDS