Schuller sees best of both worlds
Market intervention of the divine variety may have been on the mind of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa when he met US televangelist Robert H. Schuller on Tuesday and was presented with a signed copy of the pastor's latest book Tough Times Never Last, but Tough People Do.
Mr Schuller, who presents a Sunday morning televised church service called the Hour of Power, is in Hong Kong for a 'Power of Possibility Thinking Conference'.
Possibility thinking is the belief that everything is possible if you have faith in yourself and your abilities, according to Mr Schuller.
Mr Schuller said Mr Tung was a fine example of the type of individual capable of bringing Hong Kong out of recession.
'His history as a businessman through tough times has shown he is a possibility thinker,' he said. 'He will not quit.' Mr Schuller said the power of possibility thinking would see Hong Kong and the region emerge stronger from the present economic crisis.
'When faced with a mountain say, I will not quit,' he said.
'Change is inevitable and not always desirable, but many individuals will be open to new ideas on creativity through change.' Mr Schuller's message is that if individuals have faith in their own abilities they can literally move mountains as Hong Kong has shown.
'You [Hong Kong] had to flatten a whole mountain to accommodate the new airport,' he said. 'So nothing is impossible.' Mr Schuller will visit Nanjing in the mainland to preach his particular brand of Christian capitalism.
'I encourage you to earn as much money as you can, invest as much as you can and give all that you can,' he said.
'I believe it is possible to have an economic philosophy that combines the best of capitalism and the best of communism.'
