Next Phase of Arpinum's Looking Glass

This is the last post for Arpinum’s Looking Glass. After today, this webpage will provide updates on my work as a civic educator – logging those modest attempts to follow in the giant footsteps of Cicero, the sage of Arpinum. Cicero has been an inspirational figure to me because of his political determination to challenge those who sought to amass and abuse power; his philosophical commitment to displace falsehoods by reasoned arguments; and his ethical concern with sharing the lessons on the pursuit of the common good.

Only Because ...

13.7 billion years ago the universe exploded into existence;
4.6 billion years ago a star went supernova in the Milky Way to form our solar system;
2 billion years ago, bacterial activities brought oxygen level up to 21% so that more complex life forms could develop;
65 million years ago, a meteoroid hit earth and wiped out the dinosaurs which had dominated our planet for the previous 160 million years;
35 million years ago, ape-like creatures began to evolve on earth;
250,000 years ago, Homo Sapiens developed their brains and spread out across the world;
During the 13th century my ancestors in China moved south and escaped the slaughter of the invading Mongolians;
In the 1940s during the Japanese occupation of Hongkong, father got away with just a slap in the face after refusing to bow to a Japanese soldier;
In 1959, despite the hospital’s assessment that I would have at best a 50/50 chance of being born alive, I made it;
On 7 July 2005, instead of taking my usual Circle Line train, I was on my way to a meeting in Harrogate when the bomb exploded on that underground train;
… otherwise where would I be now?