Welcoming Remarks at
the 2012 Summer Dinner at Beijing
Welcome to the Ninth Annual FTA “A Summer
Evening in Beijing with Very Special Friends”.
We gather in New York City spring and fall, and
annually at Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing,
Bangkok, Mumbai, Shanghai, Hong Kong and now as
well at Shenzhen and Saigon to recognize
hospitality excellence; in the names of those
whom we honor, provide scholarships at schools
of higher hospitality education; and to make
charitable contributions.
An industry is only as strong as the wisdom,
vision, compassion and actions of its leaders;
leaders who define excellence for the benefit of
all those who look to them to know the way to
realize their dreams and ambitions and not be
left behind. In the end we are judged not
by whom we include, but by whom we exclude.
Great leaders inspire and teach all those who
seek to be included, because serving the least
of us is truly the highest calling and the only
measure of service from the heart.
This evening we come together to announce the
2012 FTA Hospitality Awards for Excellence and
to donate to charity. This is truly a very
special evening for us all and I thank you for
joining us, because as I say at every FTA
dinner, YOU are the dinner.
But the deeper meaning of why we come together
is really at the very heart of why the
hospitality industry is so special to those of
us who have come to consider it our calling.
Hospitality is about SERVICE and in particular,
Service Excellence. Service is truly the
Highest Calling. It is not what we do for
ourselves, but what we do for others that are
the measure of our worth to humanity: And simply
because it is the right thing to do: Not for
personal recognition.
The truth is that we are free to dwell at any
given moment in as beautiful a place as our
hearts are open to loving others and our
willingness to serve them without regard to our
advantage.
Life is a series of micro steps from the time we
arrive to the time we depart and the quality of
our life is but a reflection of the quality of
our contribution to the peace and happiness of
others: It is not about pleasing ourselves or
collecting “things”: It is about serving others
and after one’s basic, personal needs are met,
allowing what remains of what comes our way to
pass through our fingers for the benefit of
those less fortunate. While I have nothing
against luxury goods, when it is your time to
pass from this life, do you want to be
remembered for your collection of Rolex watches
or your charity for those less fortunate?
I am confident if Mother Teresa or Mahatma
Gandhi was given a Rolex, they would have
honored the gift for 24 hours and then offered
it to someone they thought would cherish it.
So, why should we be any different? I ask
you to consider making charity your way of life,
rather than an annual after thought for a tax
advantage.
I ask everyone to please remember those less
fortunate, especially the estimated 500,000
refugees at the United Nations camps in Kenya,
which is running out of water and food; not to
mention the now 40,000 refugees in camps in
South Sudan who are without water. And the
poverty and suffering in Pakistan, India,
Bangladesh, China, the Philippines, Cambodia,
Vietnam and everywhere else; as well as the
massacres taking place in Africa and the Middle
East. A recent report by UNICEF and The
World Health Organization says that annually at
least 7.5 million children under the age of five
die from preventable diseases. The suffering of
so many continues, as does their need for your
compassion, including the recent natural
disasters in Japan. I ask you to consider
your comfortable lives and accordingly, open
your hearts, just a little bit more to those
less fortunate and in need.
I was born into an upper-middle class, American
family with both upper class society standing as
well as lots of money. My family had a
very prosperous food distribution business.
I was sent to the finest schools; we belonged to
the “old money WASP country club”, which quietly
discriminated against everyone who was not
exactly like us, because of their race,
religion, education, income and neighborhood.
We had a live-in combination maid & cook, plus a
cleaning lady who came on Thursdays to help with
the heavy cleaning. We vacationed at
fashionable resorts in Florida; my parents went
on luxury cruises around the Caribbean and from
the west coast to Hawaii. I was sent to
ballroom dancing classes; I attended all the
area society cotillions both charity and
debutant; I was sent off to prep school in
Connecticut beginning with the 8th grade.
I was taught that all of these advantages and
all of my energies should be spent towards
retaining and carrying-on the family name and
standing; and to selfishly hoard as much money
and possessions as possible to grow the family
reputation. It was all about hoarding
wealth, power and our social standing at the
expense of all others. Charity was to
appear generous and to seem to have a social
conscience; not to mention the tax benefits for
our annual charitable contributions. The
ego of the family and my own ego were to be
constantly massaged.
But today, I do the reverse. I do not draw
a salary from my consulting business: I have
converted my business into a social
entrepreneurship. We give away to those
less fortunate all our monthly and annual
company profits, leaving no reserves except just
enough to keep our business checking account
open at the bank. We help some families
and students weekly with funds for food and
necessities; we help others monthly; and others
at year’s end, depending on what remains upon
audit. And via our FTA dinners we now give
six USD$5,000.00 scholarships annually in the
names of those whom we honor; and a total of
USD$1,000.00 per FTA dinner to charity from each
dinner’s proceeds.
I no longer worry about my social standing: I am
simply a Soul temporarily residing in a body
vehicle; and just like everyone else, doing my
best to get by. I only replace clothing if
it can no longer be sewn or repaired, for
appearances mean very little to me now. I
would rather be judged by the openness of my
heart to all others; by my compassion for those
less fortunate than myself; and for my deeds,
rather than my words.
I will not be with you in years to come, for my
time is nearing its closure in this life in this
dimension. I already sense the call of
what is to come and I welcome it, for coming and
going is what we all must accept, if we are to
remain grounded: The only question is “when we
pass”; not “if we pass”.
But the Buddhists have a beautiful saying, “One
never knows which comes first, the next morning
or the next life”. I pray that as a result
of our coming together this evening for higher
purposes, namely recognizing human excellence,
providing much-needed scholarships for worthy
students of limited means and charity for those
less fortunate through the United Nations
agencies, UNICEF and UN-HABITAT, that we will
all be reminded that people are more important
than things and that we all wake-up in the
morning in THIS life; but rededicated to
devoting our lives to serving others, simply
because it is the right thing to do; and not for
others to praise us or to cater to our ego.
For Service with an Open Heart and Right
Intention is the foundation of our hospitality
industry: So, from this moment forward, let
“Service Unto Others” be your mantra, until it
is your time to wake-up in the NEXT life.
Thank you very much.
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