Hobbies

Singing When my cousin Richard (UKIP member) and I went to school together, they tested our singing. I went in the choir. He went horse-riding. I thought he got the better of the deal. My annual holiday still involves singing. Languages I have tried to learn lots of languagages from Esperanto to Cantonese. I said to Dr Lau “I paid you £100 to teach me Cantonese and you have failed”. He replied “Mr Mak Go Wei, I have taught you a lot of Cantonese and you have forgotten it”. Squash When I interviewed for Jardine Matheson there was only one question “Do you play squash”. I passed. Only later did I realise they were all county players. Golf Back in London I interviewed for a job. “Do you play golf?” they asked. I told the truth. I said "no", I didn’t get the job. I never made that mistake again. At another interview I was asked “Can you do Excel on the Mac?” “Yes” I replied. I got the job. Next stop Tottenham Court Road to buy a Mac computer and Excel. When I started work in 14 days time I was their top expert on Excel. Skiing After a late start at age 37, I enjoyed twenty years of skiing, till the knees complained. Bridge As vicious as croquet without having to stand up. Nigel Farage played croquet in my garden once. Wow! Boats Water-skiing, while the knees lasted. Sailing. Canal boats. Punting was the only thing I mastered at Cambridge. I had a letter in the Telegraph once saying “Life is like punting. The rule is: only push when you are pointing in the right direction”.