Liu Ping has published, ‘My Chinese Dream — from Red Guard to CEO’. Most people who read her book would start to learn about Ping from 1955 onwards, discovering her amazing journey of struggle, personal education, and then, finally, triumph. For me, I experienced this book in reverse because I had first met Ping in 2011 on a business trip to China. I saw Ping the CEO. I saw Ping the diplomat. I saw Ping the creative director. I witnessed her in action. I understood and admired how she conducted business in China and abroad. I attended her business meetings, and I spoke with her colleagues and staff. I saw the ‘current’ Ping who is beautiful, youthful, full of life, funny, charming, and adorable. Ping is a first-class, world-class, diamond-level CEO who possesses the golden touch. Anything and everything she does is the best it can be.

Here I am wearing the most remarkable tie I have ever owned. It was a priceless gift from Ping. The tie is completely hand-made (every single stitch -- and I mean every thread and how it is embroidered, is lovingly made by people whose skill has taken decades to perfect). I had a memorable time in Beijing. Ping's hospitality is second to none.

The Ping of today is an executive who has heart. She has soul. She has brains. And whatever she does, it is done to the absolute highest most exciting level possible. Therefore, upon meeting Ping, I just assumed that she must have had a charmed life and that she must have come from a privileged background. How amazing it was to read her book and learn that the dynamic champion that she is today, was born from struggle, pain, suffering, confusion, hardship, and personal battles. It does my heart good to read about hope, and know that hope can triumph.

This book, ‘My Chinese Dream — From Red Guard to CEO’ is more than a personal story. It is a history book. A business book. And a lesson in what China was and what China is. It can enrich readers from all walks of life who want proof that hard work pays off. It can enlighten business and government officials about the real people behind the real China, who love life, who have a dream, who contribute mightily to society, and who embrace other cultures to enrich their own. Ping writes with honesty, as if she is speaking with the reader over a meal. She tells of fascinating stories that are heartbreaking and inspiring.

Ping does a lot of community work to help colleagues in her industry (she even helps her competitors by training their staff). Ping and her team at China Star Group assist the underprivileged through numerous charitable works. Here, Ping is seen with Chinese Officials.

This book does not set out to sell us anything, nor to convince us of anything. It just tells of a journey that few people could ever imagine. Ping shows the human face of the Chinese who love their homeland, who love the world, and who love life. She makes it all infectious and delightful. Ping is 57 years old. To meet her, you’d think she is 37 — a well groomed beautiful woman with impeccable manners and a welcoming smile. To consult her about life, you’d think she is 97. To relax with her, you’d think she is 27. Ping has a lot to teach the world, and she shares it in this romantic book. I hope that Ping will write another book in her retirement, so that she can keep teaching us about work, business, China, life, and love. I feel that every CEO ought to spend time with Ping to learn about corporate culture, creativity, and excellence. If all the world’s CEOs were like Ping, people like me would be out of a job.

You can order your copy from Amazon if you click here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR LIU PING

Liu Ping was born in 1955 in Liaoning Province in northeast China and raised in Guizhou Province in southwest China. She became a physical labourer in Kaiyang Phosphate Mine when she was 15. Liu Ping attended university after two years of hard work as an explosive maker and underground electrician. She became a middle school teacher after she graduated from university.

When China started to carry out the policy of the economic reform and opening-up to the outside world, she became an English interpreter for the chemical mining industry. Liu Ping later became the chief interpreter for the ministers of the Ministry of Chemical Industry. In 1992, Liu Ping got a job in the biggest travel enterprise in China and worked there for 10 years. She decided to build up her own business when China entered the World Trade Organization in 2001.

Liu Ping is now the CEO of China Star Group, which owns three companies, including: China Star Beijing, China Star Shanghai and China Star Hong Kong. She is active in several international associations such as the Society of Incentive Travel and Executives (Site), Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). She is currently serving on the Site International Board of Directors and is one of the founders of the World PCO Alliance (WPCOA). Liu Ping is also an advisor for meetings and incentives development for the Beijing Dongcheng District Government. However, her favourite job is to work out event programs with her creativities.

The world-premier of ‘The Day Hollywood Died’ was launched to a sell-out crowd in Hoyts Cinema at Fox Studio’s Entertainment Quarter in Sydney. What I attended was more than the launch of a film; I was privileged to witness to the launch of new careers. It was the day that first-time film-makers shattered every barrier (and indeed there were obstacles galore) to showcase talent plus drive plus determination plus passion, mixed with vision, perseverance, love, stubbornness, and professionalism by the bucket-load.

Writer KG Donovan. Producer Sam Kanj. Director Ronnie S Riskalla, leading the team at Rising Pictures, producers of 'The Day Hollywood Died'.

It’s a wonder the writer, director, and producers were not making their speeches via satellite from the local hospital, saying something like, ‘Sorry folks, we can’t join you because we are on a drip. Doctor’s orders. This film nearly killed us.’

When we critics speak of artists who are driven by energy and passion, we do not mean to portray a fluffy notion of fun-loving youngsters prancing around pumping high-fives into the air. Energy and passion (the type on which Director Ronnie S Riskalla, Producer Sam Kanj, and writer KG Donovan were surviving) would be prohibited substances if they could be bottled. The energy and passion that were required, and that were expended on ‘The Day Hollywood Died’ were of a potentially lethal dose that the FDA and the TGA would otherwise have regulated, due to the sheer dangers of the powerful active ingredients. Five years of hard labour. Five years of stressful days and depleting nights. Everything went wrong. They had to learn fast. They fathomed the toughest lesson of all — ideas in one’s head, are not easily squeezed out into a world that does not understand brain-speak. Creativity comes from the brain. Humans do not speak ‘brain’. They think in brain-speak, but do not communicate in ‘brain-speak’. In fact, humans speak nothing at all. We are born without a language. We must learn a language. Creators have to take an idea and give it birth thorough language, colour, imagery, stunts, action, dialogue, make-up, special effects, music, and a plot — while an audience sucks these stimuli through eyes and ears, in the hope that they can re-assemble these artificial media in their own head, in such a way as to see and perceive and comprehend what the creators meant to express in the first place. That’s one mighty task.

In this day and age, anyone can make a film. Anyone can write a book. Anyone can sing. Click, copy, paste, repeat, randomise, synthesise, upload, and distribute. However, how many people can do what Donovan, Riskalla, and Kanj have done? Very few. And fewer than that! Through ‘The Day Hollywood Died’, these creative geniuses were running a marathon — through sludge and mud. They had to battle deadlines, budgets, charlatans, time-wasters, frustrations, administration, and non-belivers in a cut-throat industry that harbours three kinds of people (I’ll leave you to work out the categories). They did it alone, by the grace of God, and with the help of dozens of angels who enlisted not as mere actors, editors, cast, and crew, but as supporters rushing to applaud, to up-lift, to sustain, to cheer, and to roll-up their sleeves and jump in the deep end, as their way of saying, ‘We believe in your talent; we see your vision; we delight in your mission — count us in!’ And so the team-effort was born. Cast and crew, hand in hand, to the end. Doing whatever it takes — all from the heart.

Together, the cast and crew churned a cyclone that hit the big screen on Friday 4 May 2012 to an eclectic crowd that watched a film so shocking and so captivating and so engrossing that at the end, there were more salutes than applause as people felt violated by a film that can hypnotise them, control their mind, focus their thinking, drive them batty with curiosity, and take them to a great height for 89 minutes until the final 60 seconds when the tightly-wound spring is flicked and whoosh, down we all plummeted in free-fall; heading to Earth with neither a parachute nor a safety net. Wham, bang, splash… we crashed after the final twist was revealed just one minute from the end. Breathless. Stunning. Clever. Dangerous. The audience was laughing in anxiety. They (and I) were relieved to understand what the mind-bender was all about. What a great relief to finally understand what the movie was all about. In fact, Rising Pictures might well find itself needing government clearance for its future productions, if it’s going to dabble in such mind-bending thrillers. Either that, or have oxygen bottles on standby.

If that’s not manipulative enough, what about the magnetic music from Henrique Dib? This maestro turbo-charged every scene via a haunting heart-thumping orchestral whirlwind that extenuated eerie drama, perplexing action, and, at times, stomach-wrenching conflict that were made more disturbing though ‘suggestion’ than through ‘deed’. We did not have to ‘see’ the ghastly deeds to feel their effect. The dialogue was so believable that we entered the chamber and became more than spectators — we became witnesses who winched and squirmed more at what ‘might have happened’ and at what ‘could have happened’, than by what ‘did happen’. How was that possible? It was all due to the skilful actors. They grabbed us by the collar and dragged us out of our plush velvet chairs, into their ghastly world. We became reluctant accomplices, watching the dilemma, wondering what we might do and how we might escape. The characters were crazy, and believably so. Well, I must admit that I was sucked into the whole story so much, that I pondered whether or not it would be safe afterwards to meet the actors on the red carpet. Would I want to befriend such demented people? Ah, and there is the magic in the talent — actors who play their part so convincingly well, that we find it impossible to believe that they were acting. They must be real loonies, hired to do what they do best… scare people by quixotic antics and through irritating, illogical, irrational, unpredictable rants; made worse by weapons, knives, pistols, and machine guns. Dear oh dear. There was a scene where three people were shouting each other down, each pointing a weapon at the other. Talk about flash-points!

We had actor Drew Pearson playing the part of a man who, seconds after entering the danger zone, ends up on the floor. And every time we saw him, he was beaten-up some more. Bashed, kicked, punched, shot, and bitten (as in having his finger bitten off). Pearson played the part so well, that we felt his pain. Constant, consistent, incessant pain. Ouch. I am not sure how Pearson would explain this in his resume. What would he say? ‘I played my part beautifully. I was on the floor, in agony, the whole time.’ Strange role. Perfectly executed. Painfully portrayed! I winched every time I saw him. His character never relented. Pearson was the face of pain and suffering, and it was mesmerising and morbid.

Tommy Brandson had better stay out of legal trouble. If he ends up in court for any reason, I can imagine the prosecutors showing this film to a jury saying, ‘Look at what this man is capable of. How can this man be innocent when, in this film, we see his true colours — a complete nut-case.’ Brandson played the part of a man so erratic, that it would seem plausible for real gangsters to make him an offer. I can just hear the husky voice on the phone saying, ‘Mr Brandson, we need you to join our family. You’ll head-up the collections division.’ It was a spell-binding performance from a young actor who gave birth to a character that deserves to be franchised and syndicated. Maybe he can start his own TV series. Maybe he can play the part of a cop. He can be the good cop and the bad cop, rolled into one. Work that out!

Such intensity requires some relief, just to remind people to breathe. This is where Nenif David comes in. He portrays a fast-talking flip who strings lovely words together, at high speed, yet almost nothing makes sense. We just work it out after he finishes speaking. What did he say? Oh, I think I know what he meant. David’s character was comical, but not in the humorous sense. The character was down-and-out a stupid man in disguise. Weird, that! Every time he opened his mouth, the audience laughed, giggled, and chuckled, partly because he reminded them of a stupid person they know; and partly because he was endearing himself to them; and partly because everyone was so wound-up that they needed any excuse to vent (as in, release pressure through an air vent) to avoid a build-up of blood-pressure caused by the suspense and drama that was unfolding at such a fast pace that it was painful — physically and mentally (because all the while, we stood there, shoulder to shoulder with these basket-cases simply because we needed to know, we wanted to know, we had to know, what they were doing, why they were in that mess, and why they were in such dire straits. What led to the debacle? Who arranged this almightily right-royal cock-up? What was the missing link? We had to know. So we hung around, fixated on a plot so sinister and so peculiar, that we wondered if a solution were possible. Maybe not all problems can be solved. Maybe ‘The Day Hollywood Died’ was simply a story of a balls-up. A diabolical series of events that just happened, for no rhyme or reason. But then again, what if there was method to the madness? So we signed-up. We were captivated and glued to the story, the plot, and the drama. In truth, we were snared. Caught-up in a spring that wound and wound. Something was going to give way, and whatever it was, it was going to be catastrophic.

The main female character was brought to life by Amy McWatters. The woman she played was someone you’d warm to, want to befriend, and then soon realise that you had made a terrible mistake. How would you back-out of a relationship with an amoral woman who was tough, ruthless, yet sexy and almost girlish. When the audience was perving on violence of the unspeakable variety, there was this character smiling, smirking, delighting, while showing us that she was curious about what might happen, and how it might hurt. Alarm bells were ringing in my head. Women like that worry me. McWatters developed a character so strange and so real, that it was the audience who could be accused of being schizophrenic — loving her for half a second, and wanting to slap her soon after.

The first on the scene was the towering Eric Rizk whose character jumped out from the big screen to make it clear to all concerned that he was the boss. When he asked questions, he demanded answers. If there were no answers, someone was going to get hurt. Think of some answers quick-smart, for heaven’s sake, and be quick about it. His character reminded me why the world is in such a mess. It’s thanks to the unreasonable people who just do not care about anyone else. Do it my way, and get out of my way. What a creed. Rizk set the tone for the film. It was going to be a no-nonsense rough ride that was devoid of small-talk. Ah, that’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you: ‘The Day Hollywood Died’ was a captivating thriller that dished no small-talk, no chit-chat, no diversions, no distractions. That was the secret to the loading of the spring. Tighter and tighter, stronger and stronger. No time to waste. Don’t dare look elsewhere. A loaded spring eventually has only one direction in which to go, begging and threatening to be released. And the wham-bam was all in the mind. The hard action, the explosions, the helicopter drop, the car chase… all loaded a spring whose release was a cerebral one. Mental agony.

The ah-ha moment was personal: almost a foreboding, a warning to the viewer that life is fragile and problematic when we dare to abuse others. The film had a message. A warning relating to something of which each of us is capable (and perhaps guilty). Oh dear, the final sixty seconds of the film were terribly disturbing, simply because Donovan, Riskalla, and Kanj turned the screen into a mirror-of-sorts. It was an embarrassing heart-searching moment. Could this happen to me? It sure can! Now that’s haunting and menacing.

Who would have thought that ‘The Day Hollywood Died’ could be a thought-provoking film that pointed the finger at the viewer and wagged that digit, saying, ‘Is there anything to which you ought to own up?’

CONNECTIONS

You can learn more about Rising Pictures and ‘The Day Hollywood Died’ through their FaceBook page if you click here.

To read a review I posted on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), please click here.

Music Composer Henrique Dib’s FaceBook page is here. The fabulous album is available on iTunes.

I convinced a friend of mine to partake of the popular fruit. She wanted to go with the Microsoft camp. I dissuaded her. So she invested in an Apple Mac. The problems she had, drove her to the brink. Mind you, I had heaps of problems too, but this article is not about me. It’s about her tether — whose end she had reached. You can read about her frustrations below. She makes a lot of sense. Her main complaint is that she cannot get in touch with people at Apple. There are a few silly things that companies do, that frustrate the bejeebies out of people.

Before I hand you over to her gripe, here’s an observation from me about Apple: the company relies too heavily on the user-community to solve its own problems. In the good old days, that was the way of the world — the hackers’ world. Mr Steve Jobs (RIP) was a hacker himself. People used to literally ‘build’ their own computer, and spend hours at computer clubs (yes every Thursday they would meet at a local hall to exchange ideas) fixing each other’s problems.

Gone are the days when Apple can rely on the geeks. For example, if you have an issue with your Mac, you are encouraged to search for a solution on Google. Excuse me, that is a daft thing to do, simply because Google is a messy place. An innocent customer whose money had made Apple shareholders filthy rich, has to trawl through hundreds of comments, that just lead nowhere, on the off-chance that someone had posted a sensible solution (which does not work because theirs was for a different Operating System, three lightyears ago). The Fora (the plural of Forum) are useless. Apple needs to take responsibility for its bits and bytes and appoint many more help-desk helpers to document the issues using real smart technology. The current fuzzy search engines are using 15-year-old fuzzy logic that no longer makes sense. It’s way too hard. Apple makes spunky products, but just dumps the users in the deep end. This is not fair. You can’t take people’s money and then frustrate the hell out of them. People have lives to lead and businesses to run and studies to complete. They just should not be expected to find solutions within hay-stacks. I have more to say on this. However, you either get it by now and know what I mean, or you don’t. Either way, it would not add to the argument if I were to rant any further. So I shall hand you over to my frustrated friend. This is her take on Apple and the help-less help desks:

Dear Jonar,

I am writing to ask for your logic through Logictivity to help me solve a customer service issue. I know how passionate you are about customer service so I am sure you will feel my pain as I describe this issue. I will be brief in order to limit my intrusion on your time but if you need further details I will be happy to send further information.

I am based in rural Queensland where alas we continue to suffer from limited and ever frustrating telephone service from Telstra who continue to pretend that they give a damn about “the bush”. I will leave the Testra story for another time but it is because of their low standard of telephone service that we have to rely on a satellite service to access the internet. It is tedious, slow and expensive in spite of the so called “service guarantee” the provider signed. Using this satellite service I have been able to do most essential things like access email, use Google, log on to the university site etc. I have not, however, been able to access the Apple site to download all the usual and regular software updates for my IMAC. Every time I try, Apple sends me an error message telling me to check my internet connection. Which, as I explained, works well enough on Google etc but cannot seem to get through to Apple.

I have had a lengthy battle with my service provider (Skymesh) who after much ado have written to inform me that my inability to access the Apple software has nothing to do with the standard of service they provide. They insist that the problem lies with Apple themselves. Skymesh have recently written to me explaining that, “Apple’s updates are coded for Low latency connects such as wireless or ADSL and do not work well with high latency connections such as satellite. The best way to work around this is to contact apple and ask them for a direct download link… you will need to contact apple themselves.”

This may or may not be true but I have had a terrible time trying to verify it. Have you ever tried to contact Apple support?

I have had to bounce from one link on their website to another, give them my hardware serial number and describe the problem, but all of that information goes nowhere because I keep arriving at a page that requires me to ‘pay for an incident’ before I can proceed any further. I cannot even find an email I can use to simply ask them if Skymesh’s explanations are correct let alone request the so called ‘direct download link’.

So there you have it. I cannot even contact Apple to tell them that I cannot contact them.

How’s that for a computer age dilemma. The age of communication leaves me isolated and alone in rural Queensland where even a satellite is not enough to enable me to communicate those who claim to be there to provide me with a service. I hope this message reaches you because I know you will do something about it. Please reply to my email or, if all else fails, send a pigeon… do not send a letter because Australia Post does not deliver mail in our little village… yes another story for another time.

I communicated with my rural friend, and she added:

What we are trying to do is:

1. Verify if indeed the Apple system is at fault like my provider is suggesting.

2. Ask if (again as my provider is suggesting) Apple can provide me with a “direct download link” that can overcome that problem.

If the answer is ‘no’ to any of the above then we need Apple to provide their version of the story regarding why their computer keeps telling my computer that it is not connected to the internet when IT IS.

All of that is awfully difficult when I do not have a means of getting through to apple support… because they want me to commit to paying for an incident. I cannot see why they expect the customer to have to pay to ask them these simple questions.

I then gave my friend some advice, including the suggestion that she ought to contact Apple support. She responded:

On your advice I called Apple support repeatedly but there was no answer because it was after 5 in the afternoon and apparently we are only permitted to experience difficulties between 9-5. So I waited till the following morning and called again in business hours. I spoke to someone who was on a very bad phone because I could hardly hear him but he managed to ask me a whole lot of questions and of course reminded me that I did not have a service agreement so I would need to pay $59 for them to do some trouble shooting. That is $59 not for the solution but only for trying to identify the problem. I tried in my very academic polite voice to explain that I did not need a solution at the moment. I merely want to ask if indeed (as my provider alleges) Apple systems will not allow me to connect via a high latency device like a satellite. That is when he told me that ‘here in the USA we do not have that problem with satellites’.

I was a little annoyed as you can imagine because I realised then that after waiting all that time to get through to Apple Support in Australia I was in fact connected to America. When I asked him why I was diverted to the US when I dialled the Australian number he explained that Apple Support is an international network and my call could be answered from anywhere around the world. If that is the case then why was my call not answered last night when even though the Aussie support was closed some other support centre around the world must have been open?

Anyway I asked if there was some way he could put me through to an Australian centre who might have a better understanding of any satellite issues in this country but he said he could not. He recommended that I just call the number again and see if I get an Australian to answer my call next time.

I tried a few times, each time asking if I had an Australian on the line. Finally a man, who sounded very American, assured me that he was indeed in Australia. We went through the whole ‘you have to pay’ procedure yet again. And yet again I would be paying for them to do some ‘trouble shooting’ for my money. They would not necessarily be providing any solutions. I explained to the guy that I did not need any trouble shooting for any individual and personal issue. I simply want to know if Apple were aware of a latency issue with the satellite which would affect many Apple customers in rural Australia. He was not aware of the problem and therefore could offer any solutions even if I wished to pay for them. So I am still in the dark. He did, however, suggest that I log on to the ‘communities’ site and try to find a solution there!!!! That takes an Apple GENIUS I am sure. As if I hadn’t already exhausted all the chat rooms trying to find a solution…

There was one more thing. I discovered that I could log on to Apple support and download a software “combo”. That allows me to get the latest MAC OSX 10.5.8. The whole thing mind you not just the latest updates which I need. Fine you say, do that then. Well I tried. It is over 750 Mb. So what you say! Well I am on a monthly plan that allows me 1000 Mb per month. So if I were to do a monthly update it would take up 3/4 of my monthly data allowance just to get the updates. Furthermore, it would take about 4 hours on my slow system to complete the download. Not a very useful option you would agree.

So the questions remain:

1. Is there an Apple system issue that leaves all its satellite customers in the dark?

2. Does Apple know about the problem? In which case what are they doing about it?

3. If they don’t know about it how does one tell them when it is impossible to find an email address? (you’d think they would have a suggestions/complaints/contact mechanism. You’d think they want to hear about these things and do something about them. You’d think… but as you say they are not interested in the millions of people using Apple products and all their woes. They just want us to buy buy buy and pay pay pay.

If they can give me an answer to these questions then MAYBE they are entitled to ask for payment.

In the meantime I will go call Bill Gates’ crowd and see how they can get me out of the Apple orchard.

Not long ago, the likes of Optus would simply hang up on any customer whose call was challenging. Snap. Gone. Goodbye, re-join the queue and waste another 48 minutes of your life, and pray to the God of the Airwaves that you would be greeted by a less vile help-desk operator.

These days, the opposite is true. The clever operators simply DO NOT want to hang up, at all. WHY? Because they do not want the customer to complete the exit poll.

I invented the term and the concept of the ‘Exit Poll’ in 1998. I was travelling the country speaking with the most senior of managers and company directors (also on Radio and Television), warning them that the day will come when exit polls will be upon us. And here we are. Optus now uses an exist poll. However, the clever help-desk operators know that, so long as they do not hang up, the customer cannot participate in the survey. So those operators who know that they did not do a great job, do not disconnect the call. They just place the call on hold or place it on mute, hoping that the client will hang up in frustration.

There’s always a trick to every trade. Managers who do not know how to think like a culprit, will be unable to catch the culprits. So go figure. All this technology, and it’s useless. If these companies were serious, they would make it possible for a customer to press *1 (Star One) at any time and reach a senior manager, and press *1 again and reach a Director, and press *1 again and leave a message which only the CEO’s assistant can hear and pass on to the CEO. Anything else is a silly pathetic joke, so give it up. All exit polls ought to be monitored by all the directors and senior managers of the company, live, in real time, on their Facebook account. That’s one ticker tape that ought to keep them up at night.

P.S. Here is an audio excerpt from one of my books, about Exit Polls.

Click here for one of the dozens of Television interviews that mention Exit Polls.

P.S. Upon posting this article, a reader responded thus: ‘What about the flip side of the coin where operators are pressuring customers to take the exit poll and say what a good job they have done. I have had the experience where they repeatedly tell me their name and command me to take the survey. It is ridiculous that they want accolades for doing their job well. They should of course always do their job well without demanding a pat on the back and brownie points. A company should only be interested in occasions when they fall short of their standards so they can fix them.’

In my book ‘How to Lose Friends & Infuriate Your Boss’ I have a chapter called ‘Heroes from heaven: Managers who enrich your life’. In it, I list twelve qualities that I believe managers ought to have (as opposed to the horrible qualities many managers do exhibit). To read the full chapter, please click on this link to download the PDF: BOSS_V2_Heros_from_heaven_by_Jonar_Nader.

Teen star photographer Mario El Khoury’s photo (featured below) was selected as one of the winning entries in Saudi Arabia’s ‘Most Competitive Youth Competition’. The photo will be featured in The British Museum from 26 January to 15 April 2012 as part of the exhibition called, ‘Hajj: Journey to the heart of Islam’. The Director of The British Museum, Mr Neil MacGregor, said, ‘This exhibition will enable a global audience to deepen their understanding of the significance and history of the Hajj. In particular, it will allow non-Muslims to explore the one aspect of Islamic practice and faith which they are not able to witness, but which plays such a major part in forming a worldwide Islamic consciousness.’

Mario El Khoury is seventeen years old. He is a Christian who is making a statement about Islam. He started shooting at a very young age, featuring his photos at his website called MariokPhotography.com which you can visit here. The Organisers said that the purpose of the project was to, ‘create, promote and launch a unique competition that challenges youth in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to demonstrate their global competitiveness by applying 21st Century Skill-sets while encouraging and fostering creative and innovative pursuits.’

Mario and nine other artists have won a trip to London with a view to visiting a range of installations and galleries. ‘Hajj: Journey to the heart of Islam’ will be the first major exhibition dedicated to the Hajj; which is the pilgrimage to Mecca. This is a focal point of the Muslim faith. Organisers said that the exhibition (comprising competition winners) will examine, ‘the significance of the Hajj as one of the Five Pillars of Islam, exploring its importance for Muslims and looking at how this spiritual journey has evolved throughout history.’ Thanks to sponsors including HSBC, the exhibition will bring together a range of objects from a number of different collections including old and new pieces which reveal the enduring impact of Hajj across the world. The Organisers added, ‘The exhibition will examine three key strands: the pilgrim’s journey with an emphasis on the major routes used across time (from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East); the Hajj today, its associated rituals, and what the experience means to the pilgrim; and Mecca, the destination of Hajj, its origins and importance.’

PILGRIMS CONVERGE LIKE WATER

Mario’s winning entry was this photo which he called, ‘Pilgrims converge like water.’ Here is Mario’s description of his photograph: As a non-Muslim seventeen-year-old, I was born (and have always lived) in the heart of Islam. I am privileged to travel far and wide, and in so doing, I have observed that people tend to fear the unknown. For this reason, I would like to help non-Muslims to better understand the essence of the Hajj and the enriching spiritual journey to Mecca.

This photograph represents the ‘sense of community’ that pilgrims, from every corner of the world, feel when they converge around the Kaaba, like droplets of water around the rock. Water droplets, which come from every ocean, are like the Pilgrims who unite in a common belief. Together, there is strength. Like the water, the Pilgrims will eventually disperse — spreading their goodwill back into their communities.

A study in ‘Estimating the Impact of the Hajj: Religion and Tolerance in Islam’s Global Gathering’, directed by John F. Kennedy School of Government, found that Hajjis speak of ‘peaceful coexistence, equality, and harmony’. Water can be said to mirror these attributes, because it gives life, it nourishes, and it is the epitome of brotherhood where each droplet (like each Muslim) is a valuable entity, made even more precious when it unites to form the vast dynamic ocean. Muslims, like the ocean, derive great power when they work together to foster the values of respect, within the warmth of a loving family and a supportive community.

Malcolm X (the African American Muslim Minister and human-rights activist) said that Islam is, ‘the one religion that erases from its society the race problem’. When he performed the Hajj, he was amazed that Hajjis included blue-eyed blondes and black-skinned Africans. He said, ‘…we were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white and the non-white’.

As a Lebanese Christian living in Saudi Arabia, I enjoy a multi-cultural, multi-religious, and multi-lingual environment. I am fortunate to have been surrounded by Muslims who, as my friends, have taught me the importance of the Hajj. In turn, I hope that my photograph will speak to non-Muslims in ways that help them to appreciate the beauty of this Pilgrimage.

In this photograph, I did not use any filters because I wanted to retain the darkness and dullness, as metaphors for life’s ‘ups and downs’. Not all things on Earth are bright and colourful. Pollution exists around us, and within us. This is why the cleansing power of the water also represents the cleansing power of the Hajj — a spiritual journey that helps Muslims to clear their mind and to calm their heart, as they ask God (who is solid and strong, represented by the formidable rock) to remove the pollution from their daily life so as to emerge as better humans.

As Mario explains on his website, ‘Humans criss-cross this Earth while generating trillions of events, simultaneously. Then, at lightening speed, everything passes, and is gone forever. You cannot be in more than one place at a time. Therefore, unless you were there, you will never know what took place. As a photographer, my job is to slow things down and freeze them in time. I set out to capture moments — very small moments, so that I can bring you a snapshot of what happened, when you weren’t looking.’

This is a young man who is fully engaged in his craft. Forty years from now, when the whole world has recognised him as a giant of art and photography, commentators will be mentioning this special milestone, noting that at the age of seventeen (and he only just turned seventeen) his work was featured at The British Museum. In a world where billions of people take trillions of photos, its good to see such exhibitions. They are culturally relevant, and artistically necessary. For Mario, this is yet another accolade (and he ought to be getting used to them by now). Mario is off to London soon, having just returned from Paris. He gets around. And he just turned seventeen. Amazing.

I asked Mario how old he was when he first handled a camera. He said, ‘I was so young, that I really can’t remember.’ A common question that Mario’s friends ask him is, which of his many photos he would consider to be his best. He always replies, ‘Tomorrow’s photo’. I asked Mario about this response, and he explained that life is all about evolution and that the world is all about change. He added, ‘As I grow older and mature, I see the world in a different light. New things amaze me. I see more, and for this reason, I feel a sense of urgency to capture more. Tomorrow’s surprises always seem more enticing than yesterday’s story, because news and newness is captivating and tormenting. The new deserves the limelight especially when it is heralded by a sense of curiosity. It commands our attention.’

You can stay in touch with Mario at his Facebook page.
Mario’s official website is here.

In Australia, we say, ‘Happy New Year’. Yet, it seems that nothing is new. The issue of Racism keeps on raising its ugly head. Here is a chapter that I wrote in ‘How to Lose Friends and Infuriate Your Boss’. The chapter is called, ‘I’m not a racist, but…’. It explores pride and prejudice amongst our peers. If you would like to understand what racism is, and how it can impact you, and what you can do about it, click on the link below to download the PDF.

Jonar_Nader_Boss_Racism_Chapter

I happened to be in Dubai. A friend suggested I watch ‘Mission Impossible’. It’s not a movie I would normally see, except that my friend mentioned that it was partly set in Dubai. So off I went to the tallest tower in the world, and watched the movie which contained too many bad technicalities that kept snapping me out of the suspended reality. So much money was spent on this major movie, yet the most basic of directions were non-existent, at many levels. Simple things that would not have cost the producers anything to have done correctly, just kept giving the game away, and showing how pathetic the technical direction was.

Anyway, the movie was scheduled for 8:00 pm. It started at 8:21 — after the ads and then the previews (not to mention arriving 10 minutes early to find my seat). That’s 31 minutes of sitting there doing nothing. Shocking. Why can’t movies start on time? Just why? Or why can’t they tell us that it is 8:00 for 8:21? Simple. What right do they have to waste so much of our time. And to think I gulped down a delicious cup of real hot chocolate. As for the soufflé, I had one spoonful. I wanted to be punctual. Something about this movie madness is not right. It’s like the time I rushed in the rain and got hot and bothered in order to arrive on time at a Cher concert, only to be kept waiting for 90 minutes while the Village People sang hideous old songs like Y.M.C.A. What a waste of a rush that was. Why could they not say on the ticket when the show really starts, and who the supporting act really is? I had no idea. Why would someone who likes Cher, also like the Village People — and for 90 minutes. Go figure.

By the way, I happened to be in Dubai on business, and thought to visit the world’s tallest building. In Dubai, Sunday is the start of the working week (like our Monday). So when my American friend Scott McKain and I visited Burj Khalifa at 3:00 pm on Sunday, we did not think that we would miss-out on reaching the Observation Deck. Sadly, the Observation Deck was sold-out, days in advance and days ahead, which meant that we could not even purchase tickets for the next day (and we did not bother asking about any time thereafter, because our business trip was a typically short one). So I ask you, why did neither the airline nor the hotel mention to us that the Observation Deck is often booked out, so that we could have reserved a ticket well in advance? (We visited in the winter — being the off-season on a working day, during the afternoon on the equivalent of a Monday, which one would think is not the busiest of periods.) Imagine how much worse it would be during the peak season. Would one have to book weeks or months in advance? And if so, how are we to know this? An Observation Deck is not Moulin Rouge. It’s not usual to book for such things. So we live and learn… the hard way.

A hotel ought to be more than a bed. It ought to be a hub of information and support. How hard would it be for the concierge to slip a note with each check-in to say, ‘Hello, I am your concierge, and I am here to make your stay in Dubai a comfortable and enriching one. By the way, a major attraction here is Burj Khalifa, but please let me know if you are interested in it so that I can assist you to book as soon as possible, because you cannot just go there on the off-chance.’ As a traveller, I find that each city sports its peculiarities which indeed are surprising. Whatever happened to a concierge being more than a bell-hop and a person who whistles for a taxi? Why did my hotel not contact me via email so that I could have booked online, long before I reached Dubai? They did have my email address, because I had called the hotel to triple-check my confusing booking. Everyone seems to record conversations for training and nonsense purposes. However, who listens to them, with a view to finding ways to provide a better service? I would like to see a job-advertisement which reads, ‘Wanted: A phone-recording analyst to listen to all the archived recordings of conversations with clients, and then draft weekly ideas on how we can improve our service.’

Oh and another thing about American movies and Americans (notwithstanding that many of my good friends are Americans) is that they are hopeless and sometimes rude and arrogant when it comes to the pronunciation of names. They just do not bother to stop a second and ask how to pronounce things. Like calling Iraq ‘EYE-Rack’ as if Italy is EYE-talley. So in the film, Mr Tom Cruise is supposed to be fluent in Russian. Anyone who can master Russian should be able to wrap their tongue around other foreign words. Alas, Tom could not even pronounce ‘Burj’. Of the team of 200-odd people working on his film (it was a Tom Cruise Production) it seemed that he did not ask, or no-one knew, how to pronounce the name of the central feature of the movie. The cinema in Dubai was packed. Everyone wanted to see the city featured in the film. How hard would it have been for him and others to have shown a little respect and learn how to pronounce the name of the tallest building? How would he like being called Tam Cloose? Not nice. And most definitely disrespectful. He pronounced it ‘Burge’ to sound like ‘Purge’. That’s plain ignorant and insulting (but typically American, I dare say). Mind you, George W. Bush and others say things that sound like, ‘The You-knighted States’. How can the word ‘United’ be You-knighted? Why must the first letter stand-out on its own? We don’t say Tee-ex-ass? Surely it’s just Texas.

By the way, below is a photo I took of Burj Khalifa using my iPhone. After posting the article above, one of the senior managers of the Dubai World Trade Centre took it upon herself to arrange for me to go to the Armani Hotel’s fabulous bar called Atmosphere which is on the 122nd and 123rd floors of Burj Khalifa. That was a lovely gesture, typical of the hospitality of the people of Dubai. The view from Armani’s Atmosphere was superb. Mind you, the stunning city made me wonder what a Bedouin of old, would have thought of the amazing growth. Only 30 years ago, the vast majority of Dubai was just sand and more sand. To witness the development plays havoc with history. Imagine what the old tribes would make of the spectacular growth and remarkable modernisation.

People speak about the Global Village and the World Wide Web and Social Networking, as if humans are connected as one. Here are indicators, showing how the world still suffers from the THEM & US Syndrome — some could argue that US used to mean USA, but with its powers diminishing, things might change soon enough. First, consider film and television, as well as documentaries. All producers know the importance of international distribution, yet their ignorance is revealed when they naively cater to one type of viewer, and speak only in miles and inches, unaware of the many who simply cannot understand such measures. While watching documentaries, I am agitated by narrators who do not even realise that half their audience would have no idea what 95 degrees Fahrenheit really means. They could easily superimpose the conversions on the screen for us to follow, but no… we don’t exist.

For over twenty years I have wondered when the Americans would stop printing brochures and newsletters which are date-stamped as ‘Fall’ or ‘Summer’. I used to work for American companies, and I could not get it through to anyone at our US head-office that a large part of the world is not in step with the American weather system. It’s just plain rudeness.

In December of 2011, I was logging on to my WordPress account and I noticed that the front-page (see below) had white dots falling down the screen, simulating snow. I wondered how a global company like WordPress could be so ignorant about the Earth and its temperatures. Would WordPress consider simulating that snow when it is very hot at its end of town?

So I engaged a researcher to gather all the temperatures around the globe during December; to work out where in the world it snows, and how many countries celebrate Christmas without snow. (If the argument is going to be about Santa’s birth-place, we would have to argue about whether or not Christmas (Christ’s Mass) is all about Santa or all about Jesus, whose local climate at the time of his birth was unlikely to be snowing.)

Of the 370 countries surveyed, we find that only 74 of them experience snow during December. 111 countries register temperatures that can be considered cold. 73 countries are mild to pleasant. 112 countries were experiencing temperatures above 21 degrees Celsius  (69.8 Fahrenheit).

If we consider the world (say 370 countries) at two ends of the scale, we have snow in 74 countries, and a warm to hot climate in 112 countries. I think 112 beats 74. Can anyone tell me why we project/force unrealistic images of Christmas with complete disregard to the rest of the world? Mind you, this merely counts countries as single entities. Try this exercise based on ‘population’ and ask how many people (in terms of quantity) know Christmas to be a hot time, and you will see some amazing numbers. Maybe soon, when the Social Network becomes a United Nations approved cyber-city with its own Mayor and voting system, we might take the whole thing to a vote, and the majority might well vote to obliterate snow from the Christmas image.

Below was the screen-grab that infuriated me, showing snow falling on my screen while I was sweltering in the Merry Sydney Summer.

The Institute of Hair Regrowth & Beauty (IHRB) was Sanctioned a second time by the Complaints Resolution Panel, due to 12 breaches, including misleading advertising.

The Complaints Resolution Panel released a 16-page Determination after finding IHRB in breach of 12 Sections of the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code & Act. This is the second such finding. You can download the Determination here.

The Determination calls on IHRB to: withdraw its advertising; withdraw the representations; publish retractions in all its print vehicles; and display a retraction for 180 days on IHRB’s website.

Earlier this year, after a Police raid that gathered evidence for a six-month investigation by the Health Care Complaints Commission, IHRB was served a Permanent Prohibition Order for endangering the health and safety of its clients. In separate action, NSW Fair Trading successfully prosecuted IHRB’s Managing Director, Mr Sam Cohen, for lying to the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT).

One of the complainants was Mr Jonar Nader who said, ‘IHRB lures customers to pay thousands of dollars for a hair regrowth treatment that I am convinced is nothing more than a scam. I launched a dedicated website (www.IHRB-Story.com) to expose IHRB and to support other victims who are often too embarrassed to admit to being scammed out of $10,000 and $15,000.

‘IHRB makes wild claims that it cannot verify, while using misleading and deceptive advertising that plays on people’s ignorance about hair-loss treatments. Its Managing Director, Mr Sam Cohen, was given every opportunity by the Complaints Resolution Panel to verify his many statements, yet he was unable to prove a single one. The alleged scam revolves around Mr Cohen’s claims that he uses his own secret formula comprising 13 natural extracts that allegedly have never failed to help every client to regrow their hair. Mr Cohen offers a money-back-guaranty that he cunningly voids before his clients leave his office. His contract is so deceptive that clients find it impossible to receive a refund without taking legal action. In my case, while using the IHRB treatment, I lost more hair than ever before, suffered rashes and bruises, and was refused a refund. The matter went to CTTT, where it took 383 days of legal battles that ended unjustly, due to Mr Cohen fabricating evidence and lying to the Tribunal; as I have witnessed him doing to other victims as well.’

Mr Nader was one of the victims who pursued Mr Cohen for medical malpractice and for misleading and deceptive conduct. Mr Nader added, ‘Sam Cohen’s practices are so diabolical, that I felt it my duty to report him. I spent two years trying to unravel his scheme — for which I received death threats.

‘Mr Cohen is quick to point to some of his clients whose hair did grow back. However, those clients were either illegally sold non-approved and dangerous medications, or were lucky that they responded well to readily-available medications such as Minoxidil and Finasteride. If someone is predisposed to a positive response to these medications, then why go to IHRB and pay thousands of dollars, when Minoxidil retails for $20 per bottle that lasts a month.’

Mr Nader said, ‘The problem is that Mr Cohen’s starting price is $4,900, plus on-going product purchases. For example, one topical solution that Sam Cohen sells at $900, retails elsewhere at $70. When asked how he justifies these exorbitant prices, Mr Cohen says that his solution contains his own secret extracts. These secret extracts do not exist. His own pharmacists have confirmed that the extracts were never used. After my two-year investigation, I am convinced that his unlawful ads simply reflect his unlawful business.

‘In 2008, IHRB was Sanctioned for similar breaches, but Mr Cohen ignored those Sanctions for 18 months. I now wonder how long it will be before he pulls his ads and publishes the retractions.’