October 26, 2007, 8:42pm

My advisor asked whether I'd be in the office tomorrow. I said, no, I'll go to a pumpkin farm to get a pumpkin.

He asked because we're supposed to put together a dataset for analysis. Then he said, go, go to pumpkin whatever.

He meant it. Because I have been working in the lab seven days a week I cannot remember since when. So, it's time to do something else tomorrow.

***

I cannot shake off my memories of those times I worked until 11pm in Hong Kong, or Saturday afternoons and more. Those bosses probably believe they paid me to work and they bought my life.

***

Got this children's book from the public library. It's a simple, humble book. Nothing extravagance.

Maynard, T. (1999). Working with wildlife: A guide to careers in the animal world. New York: Franklin Watts.

Here's the foreword by Jane Goodall.

p. 8
"When I first dreamed of living with animals in Africa, people laughed. It was half a century ago. Africa was known as the 'Dark Continent.' It was far, far away, wild and primitive and savage. You went there by boat. Moreover, my family didn't have much money -- enough for food and some clothes, but not enough for a bicycle, let alone a car.

"'Dream of something you can actually achieve,' people said. Except for my mother. Her message was different: 'If you really want something and work hard and take advantage of opportunities and never give up, you will find a way.' Well, I did! And so can you. If you have a dream of working with, of helping animals and their world, don't let anyone tell you it is impossible. Just remember my mother's advice -- it is mine: 'Follow your dreams.'"

***

Somehow, this makes me think, do people ever learn this when they're small? Do people believe when they hear this? Do they remember this throughout their lives? Or at some point in time, they forget what they've learnt? Or at some point when they are growing up, they unlearn this because it seems naive to believe?

***

More from the book, p. 14-17.

Do not wait until you win the lottery to do what you want to do. You would be amazed at how many well-educated people who have all the options in the world open to them waste their time waiting for something to happen.

The worst thing that would-be wildlife workers can say to me when I ask what they most want to do, is that they wish they could win the lottery so that they would then have the freedom to pursue their dreams.

[T]he simple fact that you are holding this book in your hands means that you've already won the evolutionary lottery. It took billions of years of evolution just for humans to appear on the scene a few million years ago. Since that time we people have changed the environment around us dramatically, but we have not changed all that much ourselves. There is one thing for certain, though -- when your mom and dad got together and created you, that was the real lottery worth winning. You are one in 6 billion (the current human population on Earth), and there is no other like you.

***

Just wonder, what kind of books do children read in Hong Kong? What books do parents read to their children?