Surviving my 4th CEO Sleepout

Dear friends and readers

I am back at work now after surviving a cold night at the WACA for my 4th CEO Sleepout.

It has been a successful fundraising event, highlighting the plight of the homeless and how, we as ordinary Australians can help these unfortunate people.

WA had 108 CEOs participating. WA has raised a total of $1,097,610.

Australia wide, we have raised over $3 million.

I managed to raise $21,240 and was ranked 10th last night. Andrew Forrest from the Australian Children Trust has topped up any amount raised above $20,000 with a further $10,000.

My total funds raised is therefore $31,240 which is higher than the $25,000 target I set myself.

I was pleased that out of over 1110 CEOS Australia wide, I might have been ranked in the top 20.

It was hard work getting the funds in but not as hard as sleeping homeless last night.

I wonder how the homeless do it every night.

The night started with my usual lamb shanks and wine. This was enjoyed at Bravos in Victoria Park. However Annie and Tyzton could not join me as they were at badminton.  I had dinner just with my older son Jazton.

Lamb shanks at Bravos and a mandatory glass of wine.

  
After arriving at the WACA, I made the rounds chatting to the other CEOs. For some reason , by 8 pm I was hungry again as it was so cold.

Also, this year, there were no scarves given away by Vinnies. Maybe , they are trying to make the event more realistic. Luckily Mark Fitzpatrick gave a spare 1 that he had in his car to me. Mark is the CEO of St Vinnies.

 I had some soup and a roll and that must have helped me through the night.

We listened to the real life sad stories narrated by a few of the victims of homelessness including a mother with 6 kids.

It was heart rending.

At the end of the official event, all the CEOs walked to their selected sleeping spots.

Ming from WEKYSO was attending his first Sleepout after being harassed by me to take part. We went looking for my usual spot. Unfortunately when we got there, it was already occupied by a lady CEO. What a trespasser :)

Ming and I then went looking for another spot. We found the cricket player's room that had been left unlocked. The room was warm, carpeted and had power sockets, 2 televisions and even built in toilets.

We decided that it was not politically correct to use the rooms.

We then decided to sleep in the hall way.

We laid our sleeping bags on the floor and I must say, this year the back seems less forgiving on the cold concrete floor.

Ming looking forlorn

Me, not enjoying the cold floor

We scouted around and found some canvass advertising barriers which I thought if put together may make a nice mattress.

The idea worked and Ming and I quickly formed makeshift mattresses.

Yes, the night was looking much better.

Happy Ming with his makeshift mattress

Funny how a small comfort can make such a big difference for the night

By the time we settled down it was close to 130 am. After chatting for a while, Ming fell asleep and started snoring. The snoring of other participants sleeping in the area became more and more pronounced through the night.

The cold wind started blowing through the doorway and it became near impossible to fall asleep. I guess the 2 cups of coffee I had did not help.

I must have stayed up all night trying to sleep. Luckily I had my iphone and my music.

I must have gone in and out of sleep till 6 am before getting up and going for breakfast with Ming.

Breakfast was a quick affair while checking up on how the other CEOs fared through the night.

The morning after, the worse for wear

We said goodbye and returned home after being thanked by the St Vinnie's Trustee.

I managed to catch up on a couple of hrs sleep before going to work as usual. That is the end of the Sleepout for the year.

Yes, I will go through that all over again next year.

Cannot wait to get back to bed tonight. My warm and soft bed.

Raymond Tan

My 4th CEO Sleepout to raise funds for the homeless in WA

Dear friends and readers

Do you know what the temperature will be tonight on 20 June 2013? I think it is going to be about 3 degrees.

Why does it matter when you are in your warm bed?

It does matter because there are close to 100,000 homeless persons in Australia.

To help spread the word about homelessness, I am sleeping in the open as a homeless lawyer tonight.

The St Vincent De Paul Society organises the CEO Sleepout every year to raise funds to help the homeless.

This year, we have had a record 1111Australia wide. WA has 113 CEOs registered.

On last count, I have raised close to $20,710. Andrew Forrest from FMG will be topping up any CEO who raises $20,000 with a further $10,000.

So I have exceeded my target of $25,000 as I will raise nearly $30,000 plus. That is all thanks to my generous friends and clients. They have all stepped up to support the event.

This is a photo from the West Australian.

St Vincent de Paul CEO Mark Fitzpatrick, Benz Industries CEO Bob Bollen, Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi, ABN Group CEO Dale Alcock, CASE for Refugees chair, Mary O'Hanlon Creed and Tan and Tan Lawyers CEO Raymond Tan. Picture: Nic Ellis/The West Australian

It will be freezing tonight. Wish me luck.

Mandarin and Cantonese Podcast on family law issues

Dear friends

As many of you are aware, Tan and Tan Lawyers have been advising family law clients for years. I have been saying the same legal issues to my clients that I decided to make a podcast of the relevant family law issues. The English language podcast can be heard at

http://tanandtanlawyers.com.au/perth-asian-lawyer-family-law/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=perth-asian-lawyer-family-law

I recently created a Mandarin version for my Chinese client. Have a listen to the Mandarin version at:

http://tanandtanlawyers.com.au/perth-asian-lawyer-family-law-mandarin/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=perth-asian-lawyer-family-law-mandarin

I could not stop there and also created a Cantonese version which can be found at:

 http://tanandtanlawyers.com.au/perth-asian-lawyer-family-law-cantonese/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=perth-asian-lawyer-family-law-cantonese

There is also a Vietnamese version at:

http://tanandtanlawyers.com.au/perth-asian-lawyer-advice-on-family-law/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=perth-asian-lawyer-advice-on-family-law


We hope the podcast will be helpful for clients who are unable to listen to the podcast in English. If you have a parent who is going through a separation and they do not speak English, the podcast will definitely help.

Lion dance video

Dear readers

This is the video taken by Gwen with editing by myself of the Lion dance at Tan and Tan Lawyers. Enjoy.

Copied from the net:
 
The Lion Dance is a well known Chinese folk tradition and an important part of traditional kung fu school. It is an essential part of Chinese festivals/holidays and important functions such as weddings,business openings etc. Often performed by gung fu schools at such events to ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune, happiness and prosperity, that is if it is well performed. Traditional lion dance performances also include the lighting of firecrackers to scare away the evil sprits. Although this is not very common in many western countries due to the legal issues, it is still done in many parts of south east Asia.

Lion dance displays the spirit of the gung fu school and it is often performed by gung fu practitioners. No traditional gung fu school is considered complete without a lion dance team. Along with the style, lion dance has been passed down from master to student for centuries. The skills needed for lion dancing include strength, stamina, flexibility, balance, and the ability to visualize and improvise dramatic movements. The heavy lion head requires a dancer with strong shoulders and arms, and the performers footwork incorporates most of the various Kung Fu stances and kicks. The person portaying the tail is bent over most of the time, and needs a very strong back and legs. Many Hung Gar masters were famous for their lion dance performance. The legendary Wong Fei Hung was extremely well know for his excellent Lion Dance and was referred to as the "King Of Lions". During the long revolutionary resistance against the Ch'ing government the Hung Gar practitioners often used their lion dance to communicated with the other Chinese patriots.

History And Origins
Although no real lions ever existed in china, lion and the tradition of lion dance have existed in Chinese culture and history for thousands of years. Chinese lions bears very little resemblance to the real lion, which, however plays a important part in Chinese folklore. In traditional Chinese culture the lions are seen as peaceful creatures and widely considered as divine animals of nobility and dignity. Through out Chinese history the lion has been used to symbolic strength, courage and wisdom.Since the 3'rd century AD pair of guardian lion statues, can often been seen in front of official buildings and temple's to protect these premises. The pair is often made up of a male lion on the right and a female lion on the left. The right paw of the male lion rests on an ornamental ball and under the left paw of the female lion is a cup. The number of curls on the head of these lions depends on the rank of the officials whose premises they are guarding. Lion dance has a very long history. The first record of the performance of an early form of the Lion Dance dates to the early Ch'in and Han Dynasties (Third Century BC) However there are many different stories and myths about how and when the lion dance was originated, but sadly there are no exact historical records about its origin. This being the case it is difficult to place lion dance historically and state exactly how it started.

Chinese New Year Celebrations at Tan and Tan Lawyers

Dear readers

Yes, it is the year of the Snake. As per Tan and Tan Lawyers' custom, we organised a lion dance to usher in the new year. This has been a tradition since our days at Wellington St. We have had lion dancers for the new year celebrations every year except last year when my mother in law passed away just before the new year. God bless her soul.

She would have enjoyed the refreshments and entertainment we organised this year.

As usual we invited friends and residents of the Westralian. It was great to see quite a few neighbours come down to enjoy the celebrations.

We were lucky to have Cedric Ng take some great pictures. Cedric is a good friend who has taken up photography as a hobby recently. His pics are great.

The only thing missing is the sound. Gwen, my friend has promised to send me her video.

The video will show the sound of the firecrackers, the drums, the smoke and mayhem that is the Chinese New Year celebration.

 As usual Annie and the rest of the staff were great in organising the refreshments for the guests.

Photos tell the story.

Lucky mandarins

Guests and refreshments

Sticky mochi for good luck

Lady Justice waiting for the lions

Our Ming warrior getting into the mood

Lighting the crackers

A small guest

Brian, our big guest

The crackers and lions

Entering the office with lots of noise

Climbing for the angpow

Receiving the lucky lettuce

Feeding the lion with angpow

The staff and sons

I am glad that I can still practise the slowly disappearing art of celebrating a new Chines New Year. Good night.

Yet another family law issue?

Dear Readers

I have been preparing posters and brochures to market the practice. It is not surprising that family law seems to be coming up as a major part of the practice.

Separation is one of the most stressful periods in a married person’s life. At Tan and Tan Lawyers we know that this is a time of high anxiety, uncertainty and pain. Couples often find it hard to reach sensible decisions about their property and children and as a result experience a great deal of conflict.

Our approach in helping family law clients is to explore all options for settlement and to resolve, where appropriate, the issues arising out of the breakdown of the relationship without the emotional and financial strain of protracted court proceedings.

We give our clients a clear and timely advice from the onset of our relationship so that our clients can understand all the relevant legal issues and make informed choices about the pathway to be followed and actions to be taken during the course of their matter.

This article is aimed at readers who wish to know more about the systems that we have developed for managing our clients’ family law matters.


1) INITIAL CONSULTATION

Any family lawyer worth their salt will advise their clients only after an extensive and successfully completed fact finding mission. To streamline this process we have invested in the design of an advanced and extensive online questionnaire which our clients have an option to complete before their initial consultation. With all the required information on hand our lawyers are in a better position to discuss our client’s objectives and give comprehensive advice about property and children matters at the initial consultation. Why not check out our questionnaire online and see how easy it is to give us your instructions.

2) LETTER OF ADVICE


Our initial advice is followed by a letter of advice which includes, where applicable, the following information:


A) Confirmation of our client’s instructions – all details about the relationship and the children.


B) Information that will help our client understand the law as it provides for the living arrangements with children, entitlement for property settlement and issues relating to spousal maintenance and child support.


a. PROPERTY MATTERS – we explain the four step process adopted to determine our client’s entitlements in the division of the matrimonial assets.

i. Step One – the first step obliges the parties to identify all of their property. We advise on the need and methods of obtaining valuation of certain property where there is a dispute to its value. We also advise on the need to seek further guidance in relation to tax implications which may result from the disposal of property.


ii. Step Two – this step requires an examination of the contributions made by both parties to the acquisition, conservation and improvement of the matrimonial property, both direct and indirect, and both financial and non-financial during three relevant periods: at the commencement of cohabitation, during the relationship and after separation.


Our advice about step two concludes with our assessment of our client’s likely entitlement based on contributions alone.


iii. Step Three – depending on the future needs of the parties we advise about the likely adjustment in property division in favour of either of the parties. This step requires consideration of factors including age, health, income, care of children, commitments of the parties and a number of other factors.


iv. Step Four – the terms of any agreement or orders must be just and equitable. We advise about the practical effect of any proposed settlement.


b. APPLICATION BY OUR CLIENT’S PARTNER


i. Having regard to our client’s instructions we advise on the likelihood of our client’s partner making an application to the Court for property settlement. For example if the partner needs financial support and there has been no agreement yet the partner is likely to file an application seeking spousal maintenance and/or a lump sum payment.


ii. To reduce the likelihood of a court application by the partner we advise about the steps in putting forward a proposal to resolve the terms of the property settlement in line with our policy of actively promoting non-adversarial dispute resolution.

c. URGENT PROPERTY APPLICATIONS


i. Disposal of assets. Sometimes one of the parties may attempt to dispose of assets, without the approval of the other, before an agreement has been reached. If such risk exists (for example if the assets are owned in one of the parties’ names) we advise on a course of action to protect the assets from dissipation.

In the second part of these family law series we will discuss children’s matters and divorce proceedings.

Till my next blog, take care.

The New Year and getting access to the Westralian facilities

Dear readers and friends.

Welcome to the new year. I wish every one the best for the new year. Tan and Tan Lawyers are in the process of creating marketing materials to promote the services of the practice.

One of the posters being created has the proverb " Do not wait until you are thirsty to dig a well".

This proverb has resonated with my life and my legal practice. It is akin to one of the best books I have read called "Who moved my cheese?"

What is the point being made? You have to move with the times and adapt. If you do not, your business will die. Think about Kodak, the Pager machine, Filofax, the fax machine etc.

Another poster has a Taoist proverb that reads " Just remember, if you should grab something, grab it, if you should let go, let go". That was for a family law poster.

However I applied that to a personal situation. When I bought my office which was part of the Westralian complex of apartments, I was told by the council of owners that I could not use the facilities in the complex. The facilities included swimming pools, tennis courts, gyms etc.  This was despite  having to pay full rates for my strata levies.

I knew it was totally unfair and I commenced an action in the State Administrative Tribunal to clarify my rights under the Strata Titles Act. Well, after fighting my neighbours for over 1 and 1/2 years, the matter has settled with my family and I getting access to the facilities.

It is a classic case of fighting or letting go. If you believe you have the right, you just might have to fight for that right.

I will upload photos of the facilities I was fighting for.
 
If you have a Strata issue, do drop me a line to see if Tan and Tan Lawyers can help. Good night.