If you've never met me, my name's Derek Tom and I'm glad you had the curiousity enough to find out who I am. Getting to know others on the Net, especially if they are from another country and/or share same interests with you, can be quite fun and rewarding! Wouldn't you agree?
Well, now that you know my full name and what I look like, I'll tell you a bit about my background, interests, and work and leisure activities which should give you a good idea of what I'm like in person. In one, long, run-on sentence, I would describe myself as: an American-born Chinese and Macintosh and Internet fanatic working at J. Walter Thompson Advertising in Hong Kong and in love with girlfriend, Gwen!
Born and raised in Hawaii, I have resided the last almost 3 years in, of all places, Hong Kong. Surprising to many friends back home, I absolutely love it here! I love Hong Kong because it's an entirely different country with an entirely different culture. Compared with Hawaii, the Hong Kong lifestyle is much faster paced and the business marketplace is totally international, versus very local. It's funny how in Hong Kong when people talk about the "mainland" they mean China and in Hawaii, they mean the continental United States!
Here in Hong Kong, I'm called an "ABC", or "American-born Chinese". Incidentally, there are "BBCs" or "British-born Chinese" and "CBCs" or "Canadian-born Chinese" too! Regretfully, unlike many of my ABC, BBC or CBC friends here, I only speak English. I can say a few words or phrases, order food and get around in a taxi but that's about it! My excuse is that my parents were born in Hawaii and they only speak English, and that Cantonese, the most popular Chinese dialect in Hong Kong, is very difficult to learn. Well, over the next few years, I guess I'll either try learning Mandarin (what most of China speaks and supposedly an easier dialect to learn) or head back to the United States!
I work at J. Walter Thompson Advertising Hong Kong as "Technical Manager, Macintosh Systems and Internet Services" and "Business Manager, JWT Studio". Although my educational background is in Marketing, I am hired for my technical expertise in Macintosh computers, digital prepress, networking, telecommunications and my familiarity with the advertising industry. I enjoy my job -- ensuring that J. Walter Thompson continually gains work efficiency and improves work quality through technology -- particularly through Apple Macintosh technology.
Yes, I'm a genuine Macintosh fanatic and have been since I bought my first, a Macintosh SE/30, when I was a junior at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. I spend most of my money on Macintosh-related gear and have over the years collected a Macintosh Quadra 700 [20/850] with Apple 16" monitor, a PowerBook 520c [8/160] with Apple 15" monitor, SyQuest 44Mb drive, Iomega Bernoulli 90 MacTransportable drive, Ricoh 128Mb magneto optical disk drive, USRobotics Sportster 28.8 fax modem, and Connectix QuickCam. Heck, I even own an Apple PowerCD which has never really worked and an Apple Newton 110 PDA which I now almost never use! The excuse I give to myself (and to my girlfriend!) for buying all this stuff is that it's an investment in my career! I'm holding off buying a new Power Macintosh because at work, where I spend 9 to 10 hours a day during the weekdays, I get to use the latest and greatest Power Macintoshes.
The most exciting thing for me at work has been my involvement in the Internet and JWT Dialog's Interactive Team. I had been on the Net for about a year before wanting to do more than just surf and absorb it's content; I wanted to provide some of the content and services. Well, I just happened to be in the right industry to allow this involvement in the Net! In early September I helped setup a dedicated leased line to the Internet with Macintosh-based Internet servers for JWT.
I'm so "in" to the Internet, I'm investing in (with personal funds!) a Silicon Graphics WebFORCE Indy workstation to use at work. I've already put down a deposit for the machine which should be delivered in 3 to 4 weeks. I can't wait! Yes, I know it's not a Macintosh and I've already started reading up on UNIX (ick!).