Friday, February 09, 2007

Power drums his blues away

I got this from sat's (10 Feb) The Star national newspaper..
Wish that i could be like him in the future, high-flying job n still plays drums for leisure, n have a family & be a loving dad..

my dream..



Power drums his blues away

Gerry Power may be the boss of an international logistics services company but, during his leisure time, the “rocker” in him takes over.

The managing director of TNT Malaysia and Brunei has always been a rock music lover. He enjoys playing drums at home, especially after a very stressful day at work.

At leisure: Gerry Power lets his hair down by playing the drums
“Playing drums is a good way to relieve stress and get rid of frustrations,” he told StarBiz at his office in Petaling Jaya recently.

Power has a drum kit - for more than 15 years now - in a small room in his house.

“I tried to make the room sound proof so it would not upset my neighbours,” said Power who is a doting father to three children.

Born in London, Power learned to play drums when he was a teenager. He had a group of friends who shared the same passion for rock music.

In the 1960s and 70s, when rock music was very popular, he and some of his friends even believed that they could one day become rock stars.

“Obviously it did not happen to me and it's too late to happen now,” he said.

Power believes that music helps people relax. “I really love punk music. Although I am not a good drummer, I enjoyed the rock and noisy music that I played,” he said.

When there was an opportunity, he would play the drums with a band at the bars he visited.

“It was great fun, especially when playing with a live band,” he said.

He showed this reporter a photograph of him playing drums with a band few years ago at a jazz bar in Ho Chi Minh City.

Power also has a collection of hundreds of old vinyl records, including albums like “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and songs by punk group The Clash.

“All my vinyl records are still good and I still play them on my turntable,” he said, adding that his player might be very old but it had never failed to entertain him.

Power, 44, was appointed to oversee the TNT Express services in Malaysia and Brunei in April 2005.

Before that he was operations director for Asia, based in Singapore, and then as managing director for TNT in Vietnam and Indochina for a couple of years.

Despite his tight working schedule, Power tries not to fix any appointments on weekends.

“Weekends are for my wife and lovely children,” said Power, who has two daughters, aged six and four and a four-month-old boy.

He reasoned that no one should be too busy with work but should spend some time with his family as “life is short and time is precious.”

Thus, Power had stopped playing his favourite game - golf - about three years ago. “I found out that it took up too much time from my weekends,” he said, adding that he used to play the game at least once a month.

“Yes, my job is extremely important to me but so is family life.”

Power wakes up at 5.30am daily and tries, at least twice a week, to take his elder daughter to school. “Though it is quite difficult as my job requires a lot of travelling, I try my best to make it when I am around.

“I am very determined to have some quality time with my family, be there for them and care for them,” he said.

Power, who used to work until very late, now tries to be home for dinner with his family at least twice a week. He also reads to his children before putting them to bed whenever he can. “Sometimes after a bad day at the office, seeing my children makes me feel much better,” he said.

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