People I admire

What do Nelson Mandela, Terry Waite, William Wilberforce, Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie, Richard Branson, Jeremy Clarkson, Sting and Bono all have in common? Not much except that they are all people I admire!

Here I feel the need to insert a disclaimer: These people are all fail humans and so I am sure many have done things that I might find offensive if I knew. They probably have some characteristics or principles that I might oppose. However, it is too easy to criticise people and pull them down, I want to focus on what is good in these people.

In South Africa under the system of apartheid, people whose skin colour was not ‘white’ suffered a lot, some more than others. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned during this time and you would expect that when the apartheid system fell Nelson Mandela would be full of bitterness towards those in authority. You would expect that his anger towards those people would drive him to punish them severely. In fact you might expect some bloodshed as those who were persecuted took the chance to avenge themselves. However, the end of apartheid came about quite peacefully and Nelson Mandela is well known as a man who showed forgiveness not bitterness and vengeance. Forgiveness seems to be so important in today’s world; the desire to make people pay is so common.

Out of all of these people I have read a biography of just one – Terry Waite. He was the man kidnapped and held prisoner in Lebanon during the civil war there. He went there to try to meet some people who were kidnapped and see if he could get them released but he ended up being kidnapped himself. During that time a guard made the mistake of leaving his gun in the toilet, Terry Waite went in and found the gun. He realised that he had a chance to escape by shooting the guards. However, he held onto his principles and decided he could not kill these guards. He also had a wonderful attitude to his captivity, he decided from the start that he would not have any regrets and he would not allow himself self-pity.

Although it is hard to believe now, there was a time when many did not think slavery was morally wrong. William Wilberforce sought to persuade people that it is morally wrong and he campaigned against slavery at this time when it was a big business. Eventually a law was passed against slavery, but William Wilberforce did not live to see the release of slaves. This took the work of other men who campaigned for the release of slaves.

I am really impressed with Bill Gates, not because of his success in building Microsoft but in the huge amounts of money he gives away to help people in poorer countries. There are a lot of rich people who give money to the poor but Bill Gates seems to work very hard on making a difference. Similarly Angelina Jolie seems to sincerely care for the poor of the world. She seems to spend a lot of time trying to help as best she can and she doesn’t seem to be motivated by the desire to look good.

Richard Branson has a crazy boldness to do things that other people would say is very foolish. He has gone on wonderful adventures in balloons and speed boats but is also adventurous in business. He doesn’t follow the herd but he sets up businesses that challenge the conventional way of doing things. Added to all these things he has an amazing ability to get publicity and he always seems to be having fun!

Jeremy Clarkson is very popular because he produces such humorous and entertaining descriptions of cars. The format of a whole TV programme about cars was transformed by his style. I am truly inspired by his skill to entertain through writing. In fact, that is a challenge for me to make my blog entertaining too!

I think that the music and lyrics of Bono and Sting are outstanding, but I am also really impressed that they live a lifestyle different to many stars. Both these men have only been married once, they have stayed faithful to their wives. I am impressed that they are men of principle.

I am challenged by the examples of these people, I hope they encourage you too.

Introductions

Let me introduce myself to you in this first posting.

I am from England but now I am teaching English in Malaysia, a country that I find fascinating. I love the hot weather, blue skies and thunderstorms (and I still talk about the weather like a true Englishman!) Malaysia has some delicious food, I particularly enjoy the range of fruit. You cannot find the same fruit in England and the bananas are so much more tasty. I also enjoy the various types of curry, which might surprise you. Many people I meet are surprised that someone from England likes spicy food, but in England, these days, the most popular dish for many people is a curry. Almost every town has an Indian restaurant and I used to eat curries in these restaurants and cook curries myself. (Now I am talking about food like a Malaysian, so I have adapted a bit!)

When I was at school I had to learn the French language but I did not do very well. Later I visited Bolivia (in South America), where I had to use Spanish to speak to people. I discovered that language learning can be fun when you use the language. I have taken courses in the Malay language and I am still trying to become more fluent. The most important thing that I need to do to improve my language is to find someone to practise with, and to get into a good routine of language learning activities.

Now let’s move on to my likes and dislikes. Some of my favourite films are Lord of the Rings and Star Wars but I also enjoy films that make you think. I am watching “24” on DVD and I am thinking of getting into “Heroes” but I keep forgetting to record it!

As for music, I like listening to U2 and Sting but I also enjoy some jazz music, and worship music.

I hate cigarette smoke, rubbish at the side of the road and losing things. I love watching films, reading novels, sitting by the sea, gardening, eating special meals with my wife, playing games with my children and exercising. But I have not done much exercise for a while. I used to do a lot of fencing (sword fighting), I like swimming and sailing and going to the gym but I have not had a good routine of exercise for a long time.

All good writing needs a conclusion, so for my conclusion I will let you in on a secret. I never used to enjoy writing at school and I still try to avoid it. However, I am beginning to learn the joy of producing a piece of writing that communicates well. In a world where we have to write a lot, particularly emails, it is a delight to find something well written. I think a blog is an effective way to improve writing ability and that is my reason for writing.