Richard “Bows” Arrowsmith writes…
I have received from Paul McLeod, Australian DA in Beijing and CLS graduate, and my classmate from Point Cook in 1981, a copy of the Spring 2010 edition of the CLS newsletter. Memories of people, places and events were stirred, and I found myself smiling as my mind drifted back in a group of unconnected film clips and snapshots of the past. My playing Father Christmas at the CLS Christmas party in 1986 – and being unsure how to pronounce Ian Barrow’s infant daughter Siobhan’s name when her present was drawn from the sack (now I am just unsure how to spell her name!)…walking along a snow-covered Great Wall with Frances Adamson, Rick Whitney and Steve Dawson on our class trip to Beijing in November 1986; the sight of winter cabbage stacked up on the streets of Beijing, and the seemingly impossible task of booking a taxi. I recall also a Beijing taxi driver refusing to accept a tip at the end of the fare…oh how China has changed! Due to a trick of fate, or perhaps an administrative oversight, Rick and I were accommodated at the Joint Services Senior Ranks Mess in HMS Tamar, whereas Steve Dawson -having arrived in Hong Kong a short time later -was billeted at the Osborn Barracks Mess. I can’t imagine being able to afford rental of a 21st floor apartment on the waterfront overlooking Victoria Harbour today, but they were the cards dealt me then. Ah yes…it is wonderful to have memories, and the capacity to recall them still!
After leaving the Australian Regular Army in 1989, I completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree and entered the business world. In January of 1996 I was sent by my employer -BHP Steel -to manage their new steel roll-forming operation in the wilds of Nanhui District on the Pudong side of Shanghai. During the fourteen years following, I moved from Shanghai to Tianjin, then to Beijing and finally back to Shanghai as opportunities to manage Fortune 500 Corporation’s manufacturing businesses in China were offered by the “head-hunting” fraternity. I was fortunate also in being given the chance to serve on the boards of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Tianjin during my time in those cities. Fortune, of course, plays a major part in anyone’s life. Good fortune led me to being selected for training at CLS, and the education I received there allowed me to develop a China-based business career.
Forever is a long time, and to remain in China forever was never my intention. The next chapter has opened, and I am now enjoying the challenges of owning/operating a beach resort and scuba diving centre in the Philippines. Teaching scuba diving and enjoying the beachside lifestyle is balanced by the requirement to run a business profitably, but now the stresses are on a much smaller scale and the sense of relaxation and calm is the norm. It has been wonderful these past few months to have friends from China visit, and I would very much welcome any contact from other CLS friends and colleagues.
Richard (Bows) Arrowsmith Northern Samar Dive Center & Bobon Beach Resort Barangay Dancalan Bobon 6401 Philippines
Tel: +639395011685
arrowsmith.richard@gmail.com
www.bobonbeachresort.com www.northernsamardive.com