Photo Gallery
Immersive snapshots unveil the resilience, triumphs and defeats I encountered in this creative nonfiction narrarive.
Power
Possession of control, authority, or influence over others; political or physical might; legal or official authority, capacity, or right; mental or moral efficacy (which may not be apparent).— Merriam-Webster Search
Over time, I began to understand the intricacies of what Power meant …
Shiley
1976-1984
The best of times, the worst of times…
From the Big Apple to wondrous Australia, where my Far East Odyssey began, to the glamour of Tokyo’s Ginza to an upscale married life in Brussels when facing product failures and landing on the shores of Hawaii for a new start…
Joining Asia/Pacific Sales Director Gary McCord (middle) & Tony Yeykal as we "tackle" Asian sales strategy in Waikiki, late 1981.
Drs. S. Reddy, Nagarur Gopinath, Denton Cooley invite me to join them at Indian cardiovascular surgery meeting in New Delhi, circa 1982.
Pictured w/ Christina & Mr. Marian Ionescu enjoying a Geisha party after lecturing on use of the Ionescu-Shiley bovine pericardial valve in Japan, 1982.
St. Vincent’s
1985-1989
Dawn of a New Dream full of promise, with an unexpected ending…
Partnering in China to manufacture tissue heart valves, opening a facility in Singapore’s Science Park where the St. Vincent’s mechanical valves were made, and on to Australia and the St. Vincent’s VAD development program…
Company founders: Brij Gupta, Frank Tamru & Dick Martin at Singapore's Science Park, 1988. Not pictured 4th founding partner Dr. Victor Chang of St. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney.
From L: A. Nugent, Drs. C.X. Ye, V. Chang, R. Saldana, M. Umezu & Ms. M. McBride meeting on the Spiral Vortex VAD they developed using the St. Vincent's Mechanical Heart Valve, circa 1990.
St. Vincent's China Partner, Guangzhou Pacific Biomedical, had manufactured a porcine heart valve, the GDII, for years. Pacific Biomedical refined the process in Singapore and renamed it the St. Vincent's Porcine Xenograft, in 1987.
CarboMedics, ASIAN ANNALS
& TMR
1989-2002
The “Power of Change” with a new bi-leaflet heart valve followed by an innovative cardiac surgical laser TMR procedure. Both companies supported the idea of Asia having a credible heart journal of its own…
It was the “roaring 1990s” in the Far East as the 21st Century approached…
From L: Jack Bokros, pyrolytic carbon pioneer & founder of CarboMedics with John Ely, device regulatory expert & Ian Wagstaff all with MCRI (On-X Heart Valve) 1995...
Drs. Eugene Sim, Thomas Ferguson & David Cheung, key players in the life of the ASIAN ANNALS meeting in Hong Kong circa 2001.
"TMLR as an adjunct to CABG offers a new approach whereby total myocardial revascularization can be achieved in patients where diffuse disease in one or more coronary arteries precludes bypassing all the diseased arteries." - Trehan!
Snapshots of the Far East…
Chilis drying on rooftop, Lahore, Pakistan circa 1981
A peasant farmer in Guangdong Province taking a break from her afternoon toil, 1983.
A Pakistani rug weaver works her carpet magic.
Grand Hyatt Singapore, my home for 2 years at end of the 20th Century.
Luxury Shanghai Shop draws attention of English speaking customers with "catchy" name, 1998.
A Chinese junk cruises in Hong Kong Harbor on eve of handover to China, June 1997.
A monkey's eye view of Sydney's harbor from the local zoo, 1981.
Honk Kong Rickshaw runners taking an afternoon break outside of the Star Ferry, 1985.
A bamboo pipe brings peace to a Shanghai citizen late fall 1982.
Fujisan viewed from my cabin window on a Japan Airline's flight with my new bride.
Sun setting on Grand Mosque, Jakarta, Indonesia as smoke darkens sky, 1980.
Jakarta's Grand Istiqlal Mosque before the fire began, 1980.
Local gardener-businessman in Shanghai delivering his goods, 1987.
Those same Petronas Towers captured looking downward through a puddle of water, 1999.
Looking up at Malaysia's Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur at 452 m, tallest in the world at the time, in 1998.
Hong Kong's "Star" Ferry dropping off passengers on Kowloon side of Harbor, 1986.
Smiles abound with sales ladies at luxury jewelry shop in Shanghai, circa 2000.
Hyatt Hotel New Delhi, India: Room with a Bird's Eye view of a bird no less, 1997.
Batak Toba natives on Samosir Island, Indonesia, 1996.
Royal Nepal Airlines flight astride Mt. Everest, 1982.
Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in the 1600s to honor his wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
Sydney's Kings Cross, a reminder of 42nd St. in the Big Apple a year earlier.
Walking the streets of Shanghai marveling at the flow of massive crowds but minimal motor traffic circa 1980...
Few scenes compare to a Hawaii Manoa Valley rainbow uplifting spirits even for a brief moment, circa 1984...
No noise abatement program for Kai Tak's airport neighbors... dogs barked, dishes rattled and nerves were frayed!
Those white knuckles get soaked on this feared Kai Tak landing accident, circa 1993...
A Cathay Jumbo lands at the old Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong as passengers gaze into apartments. Exciting & scary for both all at once, 1983.
Picturesque Hong Kong harbor and "white knuckle" Kai Tak Kowloon landing strip...
Chinese merchant "on track" moving his goods the old fashion way, circa 1981...
Iconic "Mother & Child" Statue on Orchard Road in the heart of Singapore circa 1994...
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome in distance) was the only building standing after the attack on 6 August 1945.
FAT (Fareastern Air Transport) a regional Taiwanese Airline with a catchy name, Circa 1983...
Intense Chinese card game, Shanghai, circa 1981.
Shopping for a handbag Hong Kong style, circa 1986.
Chinese school-children in step as they head to lunch, Beijing, circa 1982.
Cave dwelling Sumatran mother and children, Samosir, Lake Toba, Indonesia circa 1995.
Sorry, not meant to be a Gaijin intrusion... circa 1983.
Forget the cave, bats hanging out on Sri Lankan trees, circa 1981.
A lovely, Javanese young lady, I was fortunate to encounter in Indonesia, circa 1982.
Mother nature's umbrellas demonstrated by young Chinese ladies...
APEX is born, June 1984…
After Oh, those Shiley Days, a new career began in Kailua, Hawaii - A Cardiac Newsletter for Asia was launched directly linking me back to Asia. In late 1986 I settled in Singapore with a new valve challenge to tackle…
Two decades in the Region…
Pacific Biomedical germinated in Hawaii in 1985. Thanks to my relationship with Dr. Roger White, Straub Clinic, and his annual Cardiology Update, links to Asia-Pacific continued to expand. A new challenge motivated me to launch the Asian Annals…
