I would like to acknowledge, with deep gratitude, the following individuals, who taught me so much and/or opened new doors of experience and thought:
My mother
Abbot Nakamura, Shino-in Temple, Mt. Koya, Japan
Master Eishin Minagawa, Sansho-zenji Temple, Nara, Japan
Guru Raihana, Gandhi Ashram, Old Delhi, India
My wife, Marie-Thérèse
I would also like to express my gratitude to the following individuals for their friendship, and for their giving me the opportunity to share many things together and to learn much from them (listed alphabetically):
Asia Pacific
In Asia Pacific, I would particularly like to single out in Japan: Mayor Kagita, Master Murata Kanzo, Hideo and Keiko Ishihara, Tomomitsu Oba and Mitsuru Tajima; in Hong Kong: David Halperin and Andrew and Ruth Korner, in India: Hemendra Kothari, and in Thailand: Varin Pulsirivong, all of whom became members of my extended family and who added immeasurably to my appreciation of their respective cultures, and/or taught and/or gave me so much. In addition, my thanks also go to other friends in Asia Pacific:
Australia
Dorothy and Geoffrey Heeley, Barbara and John Ralph and Patricia and Philip Spry-Bailey, with all of whom I had a great affinity, no doubt partly because of my Rhodesian background, and all of whom allowed me to prod them unmercifully on the subject of why Australia should look north.
Hong Kong
Ronald Chao, David Halperin, Andrew and Ruth Korner, K C Kwan, David K P Li, Alasdair Morrison, Barbara Rust, Manfred Schoeni, Anna and Helmut Sohmen, Tang Kwok-Yew, France and Bertrand Viriot and Eric Winkler, who in their different ways, and from widely different backgrounds, helped give a fascinating kaleidoscope of perceptions into what makes up Hong Kong and how it relates both to the Peoples’ Republic of China and the rest of the world.
India
D Basu, S K Birla, R P Goenka, Vikram and Gutenjali Kiloskar, Biki and Mirjana Oberoi, S S Nadkarni, MJ Pherwani and S Venkitaramanan. As various members of my mother’s family had spent some 150 years in India, I was particularly interested in how it was evolving after its independence. So I was grateful to these friends for allowing me the privilege of giving affectionate and concerned criticism and suggestions as to how, and in which direction, India should evolve.
Indonesia
Arafin Siregar, Ali Wadana and Jusuf Wanandi, who so many years ago started me off in my attempts to learn more about Indonesia.
Japan (family name first)
I am grateful to have had the friendship of: Akimoto Minoru, Endo Shigeru, Hashimoto Toru, Hazama Kimiko and Koichi, Horie Tetsuo, Koizumi Takashi, Miyauchi Yoshihiko, Kogo Nobutsune, Kurosawa Yoh, the Miwa family, Owada Hisashi, Orita Masaki and Masako Shimamoto Reiichi, the Tsubomura family, Tsushima Yuji, Tsutsumi Yuji, Yamada Shohei and so many, many others in Japan. Individually, in so many different ways, they allowed me to explore their country and the hearts and minds of its people, as well as allowing me to encourage them to be more integrated with the rest of the world.
Korea (family name first)
Chang In-Yong, Choi Dong-Ik, Choi Won-Suk, Chung Yong-Eui, Ha Yong-Ki, Kim Hong-Suk, Kim Sang-Ha, Lee Phil-Sun, Song In-Sang, Suh Hyung-Suk, Min-Jong and John Wiesniewski, Yang Jae-Bong, Yoo Byung-Chul and Yoo Chang-Soon, who with many others, put up with my enthusiastic probing, and have guided me in my many decades long drive to understand what is Korea, who the Koreans are and where they fit into the world, in particular their relations with North Korea, China and Japan.
Malaysia
Tun Ismail bin Mohamed, my mentor and close friend. Tunku Tan Sri Dato, Seri Ahmad Yaha and Tan Sri Basir bin Ismail, Tan Sri Zain Azraai, who allowed me to dream wild dreams of an Asian Pacific community grouping; starting with ASEAN and the possibility of such grouping to include Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand to counterbalance NAFTA and the EU.
Myanmar
Brigadier General David Abel, who was a decent man, and in his various ministerial roles did his best for the people of Myanmar. He also did his best to help me with my Myanmar project, which was sadly torpedoed by the Asian financial crash.
New Zealand
Gillian and Roderick Deane, Vicky and Tony Ellis, Hugh Fletcher, Margaret and Ron Trotter and Judy and John Wrightson, who all made not only myself, but my family as well, so welcome, and who gave me over the years, interesting perspectives on both New Zealand and its relationships with the rest of the world.
Philippines
Caesar Virata, who was a paragon of virtue and who helped me understand the conflicting threads that have made this country’s history, and have led to to-day’s somewhat chaotic society.
Singapore
Ong Beng-Seng, who has had me on his listed company board for some 24 years, and for whom I have great admiration for his global perspective and reach. Ben and Susan Lim, Chris and Chantal Tan and the Ngoi family, who are an important part of our extended family.
Koh Beng-Seng, Tommy Koh, Sim Kee-Boon, George Yeoh and Patrick Yeoh, who have allowed me to have the same wild dreams about ASEAN leading the way to a regional grouping, all the while allowing me to tease them about the sometimes excessive rigidity of Singapore’s approach to managing its population.
Taiwan
Chen S Yu and W T Tsai and his sons Richard and Daniel, who enabled me to better understand Taiwan, its people and its difference from the People’s Republic of China, despite the infrequency of visits, and who gave me so much of their time.
Thailand
Varin Pulsirivong and his family who welcomed me into their midst. Nukun and Jane Prachuabmoh, Chatri and his son Tony Sophonpanich and Daeng and Vichit Surapongchai, who are still constantly educating me with great patience and affection into the subtleties of the Thai culture and its peoples.
The West
I have obviously some mentors and many friends in the West, who have taught me so much about Western value systems and the cultural differences between the countries that make up the West.
In particular, I wish to acknowledge the considerable influence and/or the help that Kevin O’Sullivan, Dr. Sydney Rolfe and Peter Luthy provided me with during this journey.
I would also like to emphasise the importance of the following individuals’ and family’s friendships, which have enriched me and oft-times helped me considerably, both to better understand myself and to have a better understanding of the world I was travelling through:
The three generations of the André and Dominique Barret family, Sir John and Julia Boyd, Elizabeth and Dick Bristow, Jeremy Brown, Father Raoul des Cielleuils, Michael von Clemm, Chiara de Bonnecourse, Anne-Marie and John Edwards, Michael von Clemm, Claudie and Jehan Duhamel and their two sons Augustin and Gauillaume, Duncan Davidson, Barry Friedberg, Maryese and Jean Gabriel, David Gemmill, Don Gershuny, Julian Hartland-Swann, Niles Helmboldt, Jayne and Rupert Hughes, Bruno and Francois Israel, Loula, Eric and Vasilis and Irina Kertsikoff, Dominique and Alain Langlois and their children, Annie and Georg Lennkh, Candace Luthy, Arlene and Reuben Mark, Boulie and Jim Marlas, Rogan McLellan, Samir Nahas, Babacar N’Diaye, Paul and Kathy Neff, Onno and Renee Ruding, Felicity Samuel, Bill Schreyer, Philip Seers, Charles Shanock, the three generations of the Manee and Michel Verdet family, Sir Peter and Felicity Wakefield,
Jim Watkins, Andrea and Jason Wilson, and last, but certainly not least, Dinny and Stani Yassukovitch.
It goes without saying that there are also a great number of other people throughout Asia Pacific and the West who have, in so many different ways, also been so generous with their time and support.
There is an excellent Japanese saying which very eloquently summarises my feelings: “Koko made marimashita no wa mina-san no o-kage-san de” which translates as “thanks to everyone’s help, I have been fortunate to arrive at this point”.
Finally, my grateful thanks go to Billy Sandlund and Simon Edge for their help in transcribing my stories and my description of my own philosophy, and to Simon Edge for his excellent research to ensure that my recollections as to certain facts were correct.