Inspirational Men & Woman

Born in 1958, who doesn’t know who Michael Jackson is right..?? Even the aliens from Mars would know who he is.  Did he die in vain..??  Well, if i am half as famous as he was.. when he was alive and commanded so many ppl paying their last respect to him.. i wouldn’t think it was in vain.  Given that he died in such a manner.. but still this man inspired many.. and did many good.. as well as the weird.  But do one hold it against him..??  i donch really know.. but still in my humble opinion.. he did inspired and changed the world.

Mrs Wee was my Primary 4 form teacher in Marymount Convent Primary School from Singapore.  Although, it had been more than 35 yrs since i’ve last seen her..  i still think of her fondly .. and remember her with great respect.  I cannot remember Mrs Wee’s first name.. but she had short hair.. i remember.. and i think she is a Eurasian.  She was slim.. and tall and I doubt she had ever heard of weight loss pills at her time.  But this teacher inspires me.. to be a good person.. and never looked down on me.. for being a poor student from a poor family.  Because of her.. i came in 7th position in my entire class that year.  Something i never thought i could achieve.  Mrs Wee also allowed me to be the class monitress at a elite school .. which does not seems to be the norm for such school .. but i was .. and was very proud of myself .. that i had worn that monitress badge.. albeit.. i had volunteered for that position.

They said once you’ve heard Yanni in concert, you wouldn’t want to miss any of his concerts ever. Yanni Live at the Acropolis, made Yanni famous.  Born in Greece, he actually majored in psycology and was a self taught pianist and composer as well.  We were kinda lucky to have seen him played live once in Chicago becaus we had bought motorhome insurance and won a ticket for the concert. I was truly inspired by his music the Rainmaker, people just loved him and that also proves that if you put your mind and love for something, you can make something outta it.

I started reading Sidney Sheldon’s books/novel when i was in my early 20s. I was so in love with his novels/books, i never could let any books of his go .. without buying them as soon as i see them on the shelves.  He was such a hit in the 80s .. everyone knew who Sidney Sheldon was. Sidney Sheldon was an incredible human being, I met him once when he ate at a restaurant i worked in .. when i was seeing myself thru’ university - a chinese restaurant.  Although he was famous and won a few Emmy’s and an Academy award. he was the humblest guest i’ve ever served.  He was polite and very genuine and i was truly sadden when i heard of his death sometime in Jan 2007.  He autographed one of the menu from the restaurant and gave it to me.. and told me i can make it in life.. if i put my heart to it.  I’m grateful… forever..!

To all the girls I’ve loved before - Willy Nelson was the highlight of my Orlando vacations whenever I visit Orlando, Florida.  I never fail to go where he is performing .. and this country musician certainly mermerizes me to no ends. I am sure he is no stranger to anyone .. and yes.. he inspires me with his song.. and it was his songs that kept me trucking thru’ university.

After serving in the Air Force and dropping out of college, he worked as a Bible salesman and disc jockey, played in honky-tonks, and wrote a few songs of his own. He recorded his first single in 1956, spending his own money to press 500 copies of a song he had written, “No Place For Me”, and selling the records during his radio show in Vancouver, Washington. The station billed him as that “cotton-pickin’, snuff-dippin’, tobacca-chewin’, stump-jumpin’, gravy-soppin’, coffee-pot-dodgin’, dumplin-eatin’, frog-giggin’, hillbilly from Hill County, Texas.”

Marie Lacoste Gerin - Lajoie was not only a teacher but also a feminist in the early 1900.  Born in Montreal, Qeubec in 1867 and passed away in 1945.  Probably someone who have never heard of the ephedra diet pills but nonetheless founded the Federation nationale Saint Jean Baptiste, an organisation of francophone women, dedicated to achieving the right of married women to control thier own income.   Tell me she is not an inspiration eh..??  She wants woman to have rights to limit the husaband’s freedom to unilaterally give away family assets, to be guardians of minors, for separated women to manage their own properties. and that a fixed proportion of a husband’s estate go to the wife in the case of divorce.  Women all over the world has Marie Lacoste to thank that for.

Self made billionaire  with a net worth of 16 billion.  New York City mayor facing a fiscal crisis as banking chaos destroys Wall Street. Lucrative bonuses that came with working on Wall Street fueled spending on apartments, restaurants and shopping in recent years; as bonuses dry up, so does the city’s income. Forecasts predict NYC’s tax revenues will fall 28% - nearly $7 billion - in 2010. Law passed in October will allow Bloomberg to run for 3rd term later this year. Approval rating now 52%, down from 71% last summer. Becomes world’s 17th richest man after a transaction put a solid valuation on Bloomberg LP: he borrowed to buy a 20% stake in his company from Merrill Lynch in July for $4.5 billion. Today he owns 88% of the financial data and news outfit he founded in 1982. Boston-born son of accountant got engineering degree from Johns Hopkins, M.B.A. from Harvard. Became a trader at Salomon Brothers 1970s, quit with $10 million in stock. Created financial information services firm Innovative Market Systems to sell financial data, analytic tools to Wall Street. Renamed Bloomberg LP 1987; added news service, magazine, cable network, radio station. Has given away nearly $800 million to charity in the past 5 years.

Catchy songs and simple lyrics that everyone can identify with .. is what ABBA was all about.  These group of Swedish origin was a sure hit when i was a kid. And even today, I still love listening to them, even though it has been a long time since they performed or wrote another song.  In fact, they broke up .. and went off their own way.  I love the  heart jewelry that one of the girls wore during a concert I went to .. when i was much younger.

The music of ABBA has been re-arranged into the successful musical Mamma Mia! that has toured worldwide and had a movie version released in July 2008. All four of the former members of ABBA were present at the Stockholm premieres of both the musical (2005) and the film (2008). The film première took place at the Benny Andersson-owned Rival Theatre at Mariatorget, Stockholm on 4 July 2008. A new museum devoted entirely to the pop supergroup was scheduled to open in Stockholm in 2009, but the project was postponed as of September 2008.

I grew up watching Farrah Fawcett on tv in the tv show - Charlie’s Angel.  I grew up admiring her..  not only her beauty .. but also her no nonsense personality. Farrah died recently at the age of 62 after fighting years of cancer and I know she was fighting till the very last minutes.  For 29 yrs, Farrah was involved with Ryan O’Neal and had a son with him.  Survivied by her father and son,  Farrah was like any mother .. and cannot stop worrying about her son Redmond.

Born February 02, 1947 - American actress Farrah Fawcett was an art student at the University of Texas before she deduced that she could make more money posing for pictures than painting them. A supermodel before that phrase had fallen into common usage, Fawcett moved from Wella Balsam shampoo ads into acting, making her first film Myra Breckenridge in 1970.

The Kwok family is behind one of Hong Kong’s most storied real estate firms was thrown into tumult even before property prices tumbled. Eldest brother Walter stepped down from 18-year chairmanship of Sun Hung Kai Properties last May with  after disputing with custom software and his 2 younger siblings, Raymond and Thomas. Mother Kwong Siu-hing, 80, took over as chairman. Stock down 50% in past year. Firm still pushing ahead: opened a W hotel in Hong Kong in January and has plans to open another in Shanghai by 2010. In late-February sold 150 luxury apartments in its Kowloon residential development, generating $450 million in revenue. Family also owns interests in telecom SmarTone-Vodafone and city bus operator KMB.