K K TSE’S FUTURE FUNERAL

May 22, 2021

ENROL HERE

DON’T BE ALARMED

K K is not going to die any time soon.

But he would like to design his future funeral and rehearse it when he could still do it.

INNOVATING DEATH ?

No, there is nothing to innovate about.

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The act of dying (stop breathing) is simple and universal.

But, what to do before and after death could vary greatly according to the cultures, economies, religions, technologies, traditions and conventions.

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These would naturally change over time and there could be much room for innovation.

FUNERAL IS A CASE IN POINT

LET’S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT FUNERALS

When to hold it?

Before or after death?

If after death, the deceased would have little say about it.

If before death, then the person could design it.

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Who to tell the life story?

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If funeral is held after death, designated relatives and friends would tell the story.

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If held before death, the person concerned could tell the story in person.

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Who’s in a better position to tell?

MORE ABOUT FUNERALS

Sharing by others

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Assuming these are genuine and sincere, wouldn’t the deceased like to hear them as well?

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Why should they be said only when they could not be heard by the person concerned?

SO IN MY FUTURE FUNERAL…

• It will be held before my death. If there is another one after my death, so be it. It can model on the one before my death.
• I will be designing my Future Funeral.
• I will be telling my own life story.
• I will be hearing whatever others would like to say about me.
• I will be very happy at my Future Funeral.

A THREE-PART PRESENTATION

1

How I come to be what I am

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2

How I have lived my life up to now

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3

What I will be doing between now and my death

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HOW I COME TO BE WHAT I AM �

八感交集

Eight ideas to share

八感之一 CHARLES DICKENS

Opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…

(written in 1859)

八感之二 THE SHEPHERD STORY

I heard this story in New Zealand:

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There was a shepherd who had 200 sheep. One day, a sheep was missing. He searched and searched and could not find it.

He then drove the remaining 199 sheep to a cliff and pushed them down to death.

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End of story.

八感之三 WANT TO BE HAPPY? BE GRATEFUL

Like most of you, I watched a lot of TED Talks.

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There is one which has the most impact on me:

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Want to be happy? Be Grateful.

I might as well let you watch it.

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https://www.ted.com/talks/david_steindl_rast_want_to_be_happy_be_grateful?language=en

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WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL GRATEFUL

When both of these conditions are present:

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1. You desperately want to have something
2. You acquire it without any cost

What can this be?

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TIME

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You desperately want to have time, and it is available to you with no cost.

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But why are most people still do not feel grateful?

BECAUSE….

Time is not simply time; it represents opportunities.

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Only when you see time as opportunities will you feel grateful about having it.

八感之四 CIRCUMSTANCES VS YOU

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• Man are products of circumstances.
• Man are also creators of circumstances.
• Some people allow themselves to be driven by circumstances all their lives.
• Some people rise to shape circumstances when opportunities arise.

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八感之五 THE UNREASONABLE MAN

George Bernard Shaw

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man persists to adapt the world to himself.

Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

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HOW UNREASONABLE ARE YOU?

Learn from this young man:

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Daniel Epstein, founder of the Unreasonable Group, one of the most influential social innovation companies in the world.

八感之六 TOP REGRETS OF THE DYING

What will be your greatest regrets?

八感之七 ROLE MODELS

My definition of Role Model:

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A role model is someone who inspires you so much that you want to exceed his (her) achievements.

WHO IS YOUR ROLE MODEL ?

• Yunus is my role model
• I told him about it when I met him in HK ten years ago
• I also shared with him my definition of role model and that I would like to exceed his achievements.

If I continue to do my work in promoting social innovation, and if one day within my life time, someone in Greater China region directly or indirectly inspired by me receives the Nobel Peace Prize, I would consider I have exceeded Yunus’ achievements.

八感之八 TELL YOU LIFE STORY

"The universe is made of stories, not atoms.”

“Why stories?

Because they combine history and context, critical events and results, both good and bad, expected and unexpected all linked through causal explanations.

Stories emphasize that life is an interconnected system.”

Muriel Rukeyzer

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Tell your life story.

You owe it to yourself.

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Before you ‘tell’, you first need to reflect and write your life story.

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Do it at different stages of your life, such as

• Right after school
• 10 years working experience
• Mid-career
• Approaching retirement
• Mid-retirement
• For your Future Funeral

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SUMMING UP

My life story up to this moment has been shaped by these ideas.

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You could also reflect on what dominant ideas have been shaping your life story.

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You are the creator of your destiny.

MY LIFE STORY IN SEVEN 10-YEAR INTERVALS

1948-1960 九間小學 基礎雄厚

Attended 9 primary schools, possibly a HK record

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• Broken family
• Moving around frequently
• Five brothers and sisters in a boarding school in Macau for two years

Solid Foundation

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• Blessing in disguise
• Easy time in high school

1960-1970 學生領袖 文采飛揚

• With plenty of time in my hands, I plunged into Chinese history and literature
• Read like mad, untypical of students of my generation
• Started to publish in local newspapers before finishing high school

• Over-age had its privileges
• Set up over ten student organizations
• Training ground for leadership and startups

1970-1982 學不停蹄 四個學位

• 4 degrees in 12 years
• B.Soc.Sc., MA, Ph.D., MBA

• Entered Chinese University of HK in 1970
• Active in student movement for first two years
• Back to study in last two years
• Awarded First Class Honors 1974
• MA (1975) and Ph.D.(1978) in sociology from University of Manchester
• MBA from Cranfield (1982)

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1982-1992 商界打滾 追求卓越

• 10 years with Shui On Group
• 7 different positions
• Excellent learning experience
• Contributed to making Shui On one of the best managed companies in HK

Why leaving Shui On

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• Chairman active in Basic Law consultation
• Exposure to world-class management consultancy that didn’t work
• Founded K K Tse & Associates

1992-2000 顧問出色 提早退休�

• First-generation local management consultants
• Total Quality Management, Business Process Reengineering, Leadership Development
• Excellent business, but no meaning

‘Did I come to this world just to help companies make more money?’

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• No answers
• Early retirement at 52
• A shock to colleagues, clients, and peers

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2000-2008 井底之蛙 海闊天空�

• Looking at the sky from the bottom of a well
• I was well educated, worked for large corporations, been around the world, but had never heard of social entrepreneurship

A SECOND CAREER IN SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

• Founding Chair of Hong Kong Social Entrepreneurship Forum
• Mission: To create and sustain a civic movement of social entrepreneurship

• Co-founded five social enterprises, including Education for Good and Dialogue in the Dark (HK ) Ltd.
• Edited Social Entrepreneurs Newsletter for over 200 issues
• Co-authored/co-edited over 15 books on social entrepreneurship
• Supported dozens of social ventures

2008-2020 社會創新 屢創高峯

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• Paradigm shift: use of private capital to fund social ventures
• Active in promoting social innovation in HK and China
• Leveraging the B Corp movement to transform mainstream businesses
• Co-Chair, B Lab HK & Macau

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• Future CV crafted at 70

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• Awarded Social Innovation Thought Leader of the Year 2020 by Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship

2021 ….

• May still be active for another ten or more years
• ReWirement in action
• Peak of my life might not have arrived

WHAT I WILL DO BETWEEN NOW AND MY DEATH

• 一代人做一代事
• Very difficult, if not impossible, to translate into English

Some attempts:

• Each generation has its tasks to accomplish
• Each generation has its mission
• Each generation presents its own challenges

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All not too accurate

一代人做一代事�HOW I WOULD INTERPRET IT

• Every generation is confronted with their unique challenges
• It is up to us to decide how to confront these challenges
• Different people will have different choices

• We could not impose our views on others
• We could make our choices and share with others
• We could inspire others with our actions

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LET ME DO THE SHARING

BUSINESS PEOPLE OF THIS GENERATION

一代企業人做一代企業的事

Enterprises of this generation have their shared mission

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Become a B Corporation

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• Why? Global capitalism is in deep crisis. It will not be ‘overthrown’ – at least not yet. But it has to reinvent itself, before it is too late.

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• There is a global B Corp movement transforming businesses as a force for good.

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• It is urgent, vital and achievable.

SENIOR CITIZENS OF THIS GENERATION

這一代長者:

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要 <進優>(ReWirement), 不要<退休>(Retirement)

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• Go for ReWirement, forget about Retirement
• ReWirement means readjusting one’s thinking about what could be done after one stops working for a living
• Let ReWirement mindset displace Retirement mindset

INTELLECTUALS OF THIS GENERATION

這一代的知識份子:

推動社會創新

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• Nowadays few people talk about intellectuals
• It’s time to rethink and redefine the role of intellectuals
• With knowledge more widely distributed with revolution in information technology, there are now more intellectuals than ever
• The challenge is to redefine their role
• My proposition: the most important task for intellectuals in today’s world is to promote social innovation

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EDUCATORS OF THIS GENERATION

這一代的教育工作者:

用<綫上結合綫下>去巔覆傳統教學

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• A unique opportunity and challenge for educators
• Online-Merge-Offline mode of education and learning offers great promise to disrupt and revolutionalize education
• Likely to come from outside established educational institutions

CLIMATE ADVOCATES OF THIS GENERATION

這一代的環保推動者:

帶領下一代拯救地球

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• We are not sure which generation is taking the lead
• Younger generations are providing the impetus
• Imperative for cross-generation effort to create breakthroughs
• Leveraging bamboo as an iconic tool
• Bamboo Generations Movement
• Children’s Bamboo Park

PATRIOTS OF THIS GENERATION

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這一代的愛國者 :

開展另類愛國教育

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• Patriotism has become a politically loaded term
• As a Chinese we have an obligation to understand and love our country
• Loving the country does not mean we have to love the ruling power at the same time
• It has become dangerous that many of the younger generation are distancing themselves from the Motherland because of their political position towards the ruling party
• It is a big challenge for this generation’s patriots to come up with innovative ways to educate our younger generation

CLOSING MESSAGE

• I would like to urge you to design and host your own Future Funeral
• Reflect on, and tell your life story
• Think about what 一代人做一代事 means for you

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See you at the coming gatherings

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ENROL HERE