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….. knowing your audience is the most important thing but I miserably failed to adhere to this principle, at least on 23^rd September 2014 at the CPA Australia Hawkesbury Nepean Discussion Group which was held at Penrith RSL Club.

When Duke Wolfgramm, an associate of Hall Chadwick, and the convenor of the CPA Australia Hawkesbury Nepean Discussion Group contacted me on 9^th September 2014 to invited me a guest speaker, I asked about the target audience. Apparently most of them have their own accounting practice and they are close 40 years old. Based on that counter intelligence, I reluctantly decided not to alter the content/tone of my presentation. Needless to say neglecting to identify the profile of my audience was a huge mistake and I paid for that price dearly on 23/09/14.

I arrived at Penrith RSL on time and had an ample time of reviewing the presentation material. Duke greeted me at the front gate and he took me to the room where the discussion group will be held. As soon as I entered the room, I thought I was going to suffocate. Why? Because the discussion group members appear to be at least close to my mother’s age (close to 60)! As I have been invited as a guest lecturer for several occasions by universities, the targeted audience is usually around 20 years old (and 37 years old for MBA students) hence the content is designed to suit this particular age group, certainly not for my mother’s age group. Honestly there was nothing I could do hence I decided to improvise.

My commencement speech began in a very humble tone – “I should not be standing here in front of you because you suppose to impart wisdom of yours. I am probably half of your age hence half wise than you or perhaps less. I will be saying something you already know but please bear with me till the end. I would be delighted to hear any feedback that you may have for me”. I thought it was relatively a good start until I used the movie ‘Matrix’ as an example – my mother did not watch the movie and she has no idea about the ‘Blue Pill and Red Pill’.

Luckily later stage I was able to regain my momentum and ended the presentation at a high note. Apparently using some modern examples on CSR (corporate social responsibility) has stimulated them to engage more in sharing different ideas. Duke told me that he has not seen the members proactively involved in a discussion like this before. For that I was relieved.

I recall the memory of my first guest lecturer experience at University of NSW in August 2012. I thought it was the most difficult teaching experience in my life because merely it was the first time. However, being the guest speaker of the CPA Australia Hawkesbury Nepean Discussion Group contacted me on 23rd September 2014 was the most difficult teaching experience in my life because of violating my own rule – knowing your audience is the most important component of being a good guest lecturer/guest speaker.

I better get the list of AGSM MBA students so the same mistake won’t be repeated in Hong Kong on 13/12/14.

While my children are watching a TV since 7:30am this morning, I thought I would take a moment to review my to-do-list for today. One of the actionable items is ‘Making a list of my recent achievement’. This has been always a routine exercise for myself to calculate an ‘efficiency ratio’ – what I did Vs. what I didn’t do. It seems the past two months have been unusually productive, making such list would boost my moral, if not perhaps my ego.

What I have achieved in August 2014

1. The 5th annual concert of KOZY Symphony Orchestra & Choir on 9th August 2014 @ Sydney Conservatorium of Music – I have been the principal sponsor since 2012;
   
2. Invited as a guest lecturer by Dr Yue Wang @ Macquarie University to teach BUS303 International Business Project on 18th August 2014;
3. Working with HyungSuk Bae, an exceptional cellist graduated from The Julliard Music School, Artistic Director of Musica Intima Ensemble to organize the 1st chamber concert on 24th August 2014 @ North Sydney Lavender Bay Art Gallery; and
4. Confirming the lecture schedule with Dr Chung Sok Suh @ Australian School of Businesses, University of NSW – I will be teaching AGSM (Australian Graduate School of Management) MBA students in Hong Kong on 13th December 2014.

What I have achieved in September 2014

1. Invited as a guest speaker by Duke Wolfgramm, the convenor of the CPA Australia – Hawkesbury Nepean Accountants Discussion Group to speak about the ‘Dark Side of Corporate Social Responsibility’ on 23rd September 201 @ Penrith RSL Club;
2. Having a talented mentee, Juanita Jamsari from Lucy Mentoring Program @ Macquarie University and progressively helping shape her professional development;
3. Invited by Macquarie University for an interview with two professors for a course development and making an online learning material;
4. CPA Australian has granted an exemption for two subjects of Foundation Program.

Perhaps in the eyes of extra ordinary people, the above achievement seems insignificant. Nevertheless other’s opinion isn’t repugnant enough to have my defiant spirit easily compromised anyway.

Just like another I say this to myself – “Doing more things today than yesterday and doing things better today than yesterday, and tomorrow will be better than today”.

정말 보람되다 – the most rewarding experience in my life라고 해도 과언이 아니다.

현재 나에겐 4명의 mentee (제자)가 있다.

한명은 18살의 천재 바이올리니스트. 현재 시드니 음대 장학생으로 2학년 재학중이며, 바이올린 연주 실력 만큼 높은 이상과 훌륭한 인성 그리고 성실함을 갖추었다. 어제 켄달 콩클에서 대상을 받았다.

한명은 22살의 말레이지아에서 온 유학생. 2014년 5월 내 모교 멕쿼리 대학교에서 주최하는 Lucy Mentoring Program을 통해서 만났고, 현재 actuary (보험 계리 전공) 학사과정 졸업반인데 지난주에 아주 파격적인 조건으로 취직 확정 됬다.

한명은 23살의 천재 첼리스트. 14살때 처음 첼로를 시작했고 줄리어드 음대를 전액 장학생으로 2014년에 졸업을 했고, 지난달에 나와 함께 현악 4중주 실내악 공연 프로젝트를 성공적으로 마치고 뉴욕 줄리어드 음대로 돌아가 전액 장학생으로 석사과정 공부를 시작 했다.

한명은 27살의 연세대학교 세브란스병원 사무국장님 아드님. 졸업후 프랑스 계열의 보험 회사에 특차로 취직하고 내년부터 정식직원이 되고 엘리트 과정을 밣고 있다.

내가 그들의 나이때 잘못 했던것들을 그들이 범하지 못하게 이런저런 사회경험을 전수할때 부족했던 내 자신을 되돌아 보고 나도 그들에게 모범이 되도록 더 잘해야겠다고 여러번 다짐한다.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, my name is Brendon Cho. I am the principal sponsor and a friend of these four young talented and good looking musicians in front of you.

First and foremost, thank you very much for coming to tonight’s concert. Considering tomorrow is Monday which many of us probably are not looking forward to, I really appreciate your time and effort of being here tonight to congratulate the first concert of MIE.

I would like to share how I decided to be a part of this new venture. In early May 2014, the cellist HyungSuk contacted me via Facebook because he wanted to discuss about forming a string quartet in Sydney. I did research on him – graduated from the Juilliard School of Music in New York with a full scholarship, he has achieved significantly more than any ordinary 23 years old man could, and every note his plays has a soul. However, I was not convinced because what if this is just another man with a fancy credential who talks a lot but delivers nothing or little.

However he proved me wrong. One day he told me that he was going to look for a venue for the 1st concert – he traveled from Redfern to Town Hall on foot, while carrying his cello on his back, the whole journey took 6 hours. I believe that a man who understands the value of perseverance can achieve anything. Hence I decided to take a part of this new venture.

I also did research on James, Carl and Arne. For James, he looks calm and quiet like a breeze but when he plays Mendelssohn violin concerto, his music is powerful enough to force an early retirement of Anne-Sophie Mutter and Gil Shaham. Both of them will playing in Sydney with Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2015, if I were them, I would be worried.

For Carl, if he does not hold his viola, I would mistakenly recognize him as either an Australian SAS trooper or a Hugo Boss model. Carl is a fellow of 2014 Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellowship and he also may force an early retirement of Roger Benedict. I am relieved that he is not here with us tonight)

For Arne, I decided to gamble. If I find a video on YouTube that he plays my favourite Dvorak Violin Concerto, it is our destiny. Undoubtedly the first video I found was Dvorak Violin Concerto, I believed in love at first sight.

I would like to conclude my opening speech with a serious note. There are 3 essential ingredients of a chamber music that I learnt

1. Harmony with balance,
2. Collaboration with intimacy,
3. Articulation with precision

You will find them all here tonight.

I promise you that you will find tonight’s concert is one of the most exhilarating, energizing, and invigorating concerts that you ever been in 2014.

Once again thank you very much for coming tonight and please give them another warm welcome to these talented musicians.

어제 아침 오래간만에 거래처 사람들과 만나면서 쓴 커피 한잔을 마시면서 이것저것에 대해 애기를 했는데 그중 ‘에볼라 백신 개발’에 대한 애기가 나왔다. 한번 간염 되면 치사율이 90%이나 되는 이 무서운 바이러스에 대한 치료약과 백신이 아직까지 개발이 되지 않았냐는 것이다. 여러가지 의견이 나왔는데 그날따라 마음이 분주하고 cynical한 상태여서 난 이렇게 애기했다 – “돈벌이가 않되기 때문이다”라고. 많은 사람들이 고개를 끄떡이며 동의했다.

만약 에볼라 바이러스가 뉴욕이나 싱가폴에서 발생 했다고 가정하자. (unofficial) capital of the world라고 불리는 뉴욕에서 그리고 해운/항공 그리고 경제의 hub인 싱가폴에서 outbreak가 일어났다면 많은 제약 회사들이 치료약과 백신을 개발에 박차를 가할것이다. 왜냐하면 수요가 높고 또 구매자들의 경제력이 높기 때문에 돈벌이가 되기 때문이다. 신약 개발에 투자금 회수 기간이 짧아지고 먼저 개발한 제약회사가 특허를 받고 약값을 마음데로 조작(?) 가능하다.

하지만 지금 에볼라 바이러스가 퍼져 있는 아프리카를 보면 경제의 중심지도 교통의 중심지도 아닌 동떨어진 대륙이다. 아프리카에 있는 대부분의 나라들은 빈민국이고 교육과 삶의 수준도 질도 상당히 낮은편이다. 이런 나라에 사는 가난한 국민들을 위해 거액의 자본을 들여가면서 치료약과 백신을 개발하고 그들에게 무료 공급을 해서 회사에 막대한 손해를 끼치면 주주들이 과연 그 결정을 좋아하겠는가? 아마도 임시주주 총회가 소집되고 대표이사 해임 안건이 상정될것이다. 사회지도층의 양심과 도덕성, 윤리관도 자기들이 손해 보지 않는 범위에서 허용하는 것이 껄끄러운 자본주의의 원리원칙임을 우리는 알면서도 우린 그냥 묵인할수밖에 없다.

또 다른 사람들이 이런 애기를 했다. 에볼라 바이러스는 감염에서 사망으로 이르는 평균 시간이 7일정도라고 한다. 감염된 환자들을 철저히 격리시켜 관리함으로써 어느정도 전염을 막을수 있다고 한다. 만약 감염된 환자들의 사망하기까지 오랜 시간이 더 걸리고 또 호흡기로 감염이 된다면 제약 회사들이 치료약과 백신 개발에 투자에 관심을 기울일것이라는 애기다.

우리는 그다지 유쾌한 기분으로 자리를 뜨지는 못했다. 자본주의에 사는 우리들은 결국 경제적 가치창출 (수익성)의 가능성에 따라 투자 계획을 세운다. 서방에서 멀리 떨어진 아프리카, 힘없는 소수집단, 늦어지는 대처방안, 소극적인 제약업체들… 어느새 사회적지위, 출생신분, 성장배경, 교육수준, 경제력이라는 매트릭스를 사용해서 한 인간의 생명의 가치를 결정하는 시대에 나는 살고 있고 나도 이런 사고를 가지고 나이를 먹어가는것은 아닌지….. 노블레스 오블리주, 프랑스러오 “귀족성은 의무를 갖는다”라는 말은 자뻑용 punch line으로 사용하는 내가 아닌지…. 약간 우울한 금요일 아침이다.