The Year 2018 : part VI of VI Year 2000’s
By the year 2001, I was 61 years young and I did notice that I was not half as strong physically as I was just two or three years ago. As an example, I found that my back spine was not as stable and by the later years of the 2000’s decade, I had several severe pains in the lumbar region. In one instance, it was so severe that I could not get up from the bed, nor walk to the car. The funny thing was that once seated inside the driver’s seat of the car, I could drive.
What could be the cause of my lumbar pains? Read the possible causes from the following website:
https://www.healthline.com/symptom/low-back-pain
The family doctor recommended physiotherapy and I did this - only temporary relief though. The family doctor then recommended acupuncture and I had to visit several acupuncturists before I could find the right one. This acupuncturist did say that there was no permanent cure for lumbar pains and did advise me of two important remedial activities that I kept faithfully until today. In fact, I have made this as one of my 2018 New Year Resolutions.
Remedial Activity No. 1: Always sit with the backs straight (even while driving a car) and avoid the comfortable couch where the back tends to relax to a bow-shaped bend.
Remedial Activity No. 2: Have daily exercises - walking with a straight back for an hour a day and/or do the Tai Chi Quan exercises - 24 and/or 42 forms.
Why Tai Chi? I did ask. He offered me five answers to this question which I find it useful to repeat here.
Answer # 1: Tai Chi, if practised correctly, strengthens the backbone.
Answer # 2: Tai Chi, if practised correctly, strengthens the knees.
Answer # 3: Tai Chi, if practised properly, helps us to develop our mental strength as we concentrate our minds on the order of the movements by memorizing and reciting the “menu” of the movements (口令）.
Answer # 4: Tai Chi exercises of lungs as we alternate from deep breathings, IN then OUT, during the movements.
Answer # 5: Tai Chi, if practised in a group, consolidates a mutual “mirror” effect in self corrections of the various movements.
Year 2004, What a relief! Yes, at 64, I might well be the oldest PhD graduate in the Assumption University’s history. My doctoral thesis was on Wilfred Cantwell-Smith’s Inter-religous dialogue “Towards a World Theology”.
” ‘The man or woman of faith living in today’s pluralist world must have a theology that will do justice to his or her own faith, and also to the neighbours’ - and to the differences between them. Similarly, humanists must have a theory that does justice to their own vision and also to the fact that for most of their fellows on earth the proper way of being human has been one or another of various ‘religious’ ways. Any interpretation of human history, both past and present, must take into serious account the self-consciousness of each major part, as well as the diversity and the dynamic of the whole. This exciting book, first published in 1981 and now also available in paperback, is perhaps our world’s first serious endeavour towards a theology in global perspective. Here is a wrestling with the demands of an authentic theology of the comparative history of religion.”
Quoted from “Towards a World Theology: Wilfred Cantwell Smith: 9780883446461: Amazon.com: Books”
The most satisfying aspect of the graduation was the fact that I graduated together with the first batch of Bachelor-degree students I taught at the same University. Thanks to Ajarn Patima for allowing me to help convince the University Council to establish a degree in Property Valuation as another department of the Business School. Together with him we trained several batches of Property Valuation graduates who are currently leading the Property Valuation field in Thailand.
While teaching at the University, I was involved as a Property Development Consultant to the Construction Industry in Thailand. One of the most notable successes in this area was the development of Le Royal Meridian Holiday Resort at Koh Samui Island, Surat Thani Province. There were only 40 hotel rooms on five levels and 41 exclusive holiday villas there located at a secluded spot at the mount of a small hill overlooking the sea - totally 45 Rai 0 Ngan 79.2 Square Wah (72,316.80 square meters). The total building area was 20,339 square meters and valued at US$28,150,000 at that time.
Take a look at some of the main features of this project and the photographs hereunder:
Koh Samui Island lies 35 km to the west of Surat Thani Township and 700 km to the south of Bangkok. Its total land area is 247 square mk.
Maximum Length from North to South - 21 km.
Maximum Width from East to West - 25 km.
Le Royal Meridian lies 30 km to the south-west of Koh Samui Airport and 10 km to the south of Nathon Pier.
Access to the Le Royal Meridian Holiday Resort is by Highway # 4170. The main 5-level hotel (with 40 rooms) is located at the mid-level of the land terrain overlooking the beach. There are 8 beach-front villas at the lower beach area and 33 cliff villas, 7 of these with individual sauna facilities at the upper hilltop area.
There is a tranquil swimming pool at mid-level located amidst forest-like surrounds.
Main Building (Hotel and Facilities): 8,057 m2
Cliff Villas: 6,900 m2
Beach Villas: 1,050 m2
Other Facilities and Sporting Buildings: 2,400 m2
Executive houses for staff: 450 m2
Restaurants: 1,482 m2
Valuation data:
Average Room Rate achieved in year 2004: 9,000 Baht a day.
Occupancy Rate: year-on-year: 43.6 % of room income.
Income from Food & Beverages: 45.6% 0f room income.
Internal rate of return (IRR): 15% (Government Bond Rate 5.12% for 10 years)
All-Risk Yield (ARY) 10.15%
Land Value: 9.77 million Baht per rai Total: 442 million Baht or US$ 11.05 million
Building Depreciated Replacement Value: 648 million Baht or US$ 16.20 million
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/asia/thailand/ko-samui/
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Back to Auckland in 2005, I went on to become a volunteer in organising activities for seniors at the St Andrews Retirement Village at Glendowie. I lectured in Property Valuaton, part-time, at Unitec at Carrington Road, Mt Albert and was additionally involved in the Continuing Education and Standards Committee of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). In this RICS role, I visited several Universities in the Asia-Pacific Region to help in the accreditation process.
In Auckland, I continued to do real estate, serving new Migrants to settle into their new and (to them) strange western environment.
In my working life to-date, I have now had four retirements as follows:
Retirement # 1: 1979 April from active property consultancy practice in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia to settle in Auckland, New Zealand.
Retirement # 2: 1990 January from active property consultancy practice in Auckland, New Zealand to teach at the National University of Singapore and later at Assumption University, Thailand.
Retirement # 3: 2005 March from active teaching and property consultancy practice in Thailand back to the quieter environment of Auckland, New Zealand to be involved in social community works, while still practising real estate.
Retirement # 4: 2016 April from real estate practice to über driver.