How is this one?

Hi, Guys

 

I hesitated in telling you this one but it's a true story. About two years ago, a former client ("former" because I have changed jobs twice last year in search of greener pastures) wanted my blessing for him to sell a small parcel of blue chip securities. He owned quite a large investment portfolio and his reason for selling a small parcel was to raise some money so that he could go back to Hong Kong for a month holiday to catch up with his former school mates and former work colleagues. I gave him my blessing and strongly encouraged him to make the trip since he was still quite fit at the ripe old age of 82 albeit he needed a walking stick to steady his steps. His mind was sharper than yours and he was able to track his investments very well.

 

A few months later, he walked into my office and I asked him, "Mr Chan, how was your Hong Kong holiday and did you manage to catch up with your former school mates and ex-colleagues?" There was a minute of silence and an audible sigh from him before he answered, "No, I didn't get to meet any of my buddies." "Why?", I asked. With a choke in his throat, he answered, "They are all gone, every single one of them, no longer on earth."

 

Within months after his return from Hong Kong, his health deteriorated quickly and he nearly collapsed on Wickham Street in Chinatown while walking with me to have some yum-cha. I suggested there and then that we should skip yum-cha since he was in no condition to climb up to a "yum-cha-lau" (literally yum-cha in a tower where you would need to climb up a staircase). Shortly after that incident, his wife who was a few years younger, told me that he could no longer walk. His investments were slipping out of his control, and sadly, he couldn't trust any of his grown-up children who were residing in Hong Kong, America and Australia.

 

The moral of this story? Don't leave our reunion until we couldn't walk or couldn't eat too much because of our cholesterol level. You all remember how skinny I was in school. I'm still skinny and it doesn't worry me. What worries me is my rising cholesterol level which means I need to be very careful with my diet.

 

Cheers,

James