trailwalker 2008!

Dear friends,

It's November, and the annual 100km Trailwalker is upon us.

These are crazy times we are in - asian financial crisis, the internet bust, SARS, and now, the seemingly bottomless abyss of 2008.

Many of us have lost months or even years of savings. Personally, my portfolio seems to be rapidly becoming all cash, and unfortunately not of my own free will - just that there is not much left in the stocks!

Still.

We are by and large extremely lucky.

When hungry, we can grab a bite from the nearby 7-11.

When we're sick, the doctor is a cab ride away, not a day's walk to another village.

When it's typhoon #8, we stay at home and play mahjong, rather than worry about our homes getting washed away.

We complain about the weather, but we aren't really worried about dying crops and our families starving.

We like to think if we work hard enough, we'll enjoy a reasonably decent life.

But deep down, we know it really is not like that. We see and hear the news of poverty worldwide, and knowing myself, it usually simply floats by me. I don't usually think about those who aren't even at the starting line yet - they will not even be remotely close to our living standards, no matter how hard they work in their life times.

I keep getting asked - why am I doing trailwalker again this year? It's more than a physical challenge. It's my reminder that some causes are worth hurting for, and helping those in poverty is one of them.

Our race starts Nov 7 at 9am, and hopefully we will finish in about 30 hours. You can track our progress on that day at the oxfam homepage here, and our team number is 0056.

You can donate directly online at our Oxfam Teampage. More sponsorship details are below.

Thanks much for reading. Every bit does count.

best,

michael

PS Last year's trailwalker blog is here. Hopefully I will survive to write another one...

PPS Yes, my birthday is coming up. Your donation would be the best present!

Donation details:

1. Online donation can be done here at our team page. Please use Internet Explorer, unfortunately it doesn't support firefox.

This is the easiest way and you can print your Hong Kong tax-deductible receipt straight away.

1. You could pass me cash or write a check payable to "Oxfam Hong Kong"

2. You can pay into HSBC or Bank of China accounts. Pls let me know if you

want to do this, will send you the details.

And here's a pic of the actual 100km trail: