OFTEN PEOPLE ASK ME Why do I love China?
Here is my reply :
When I was a child my parents told me that love has no boundaries, we should love all the people no matter what country, what color, what belief!
They told me the purpose of life is to serve people and contribute to the betterment of our society no matter where we live.
When Nokia sent me to China, after few months living in Suzhou, I realized how pure and warm-hearted Chinese are!!
I remembered what my parents had told me!!! I found out there are so many areas that I can contribute to the betterment of the society in China.
I started to show my love in action, sharing with my Chinese colleagues my 30 years of experience in Nokia, teaching the latest technologies to my students in Suzhou University free of charge, arranging moral education classes for children and parents, assisting sick children by giving financial aid, turning our home to become a hospital and let villagers to come for a free eye check in cooperation with Suzhou Eye Hospital, sending money to disaster areas, opening Happy Home Club for my students to improve their English and learn how to become useful members of the society .
I love to learn Chinese culture and also introduce Finnish and Iranian culture to our Chinese friends through music and food.
I started teaching African drumming to poor children in cooperation with Engma company to bring happiness to their hearts. I learned Chinese songs and performed in many occasions and TV programs. I composed 2 songs, one for Suzhou, one for China, the latter won the best prize in Jiangsu TV song contest. I set up a musical band with 4 artists to promote Chinese instruments and Iranian drumming. We performed in World Expo 2010 in Suzhou, Finland and Iran pavilions. I and my wife cooperated closely with Suzhou government to promote Suzhou among the foreigners, that is why I was called the Ambassador of Suzhou.
With the help of my Chinese friend, I opened Finland Home Cafe to introduce our culture through food and music. Our cafe serves also as Suzhou Tourism Center to help tourists, specially foreigners find their ways in Suzhou.
Suzhou is a beautiful place with beautiful gardens and more than 2500 years of history.
Today Suzhou is one of the most prosperous cities in China and offers a wonderful infra-structure and environment for foreigners to enjoy life here.
I and my wife love to live in Suzhou, because people love us and we love them, because we feel we are doing something meaningful and thus fulfilling the purpose of our life, which is to share our love with people and build a better society for the future generations!!