I am a person who grew up out of the Depression years of my parents in which Australians without social-services struggled for survival. It was a time in which jobs were limited, whilst the working class families were surviving generally through the commencement of many items of newly developed community products which were emerging, and our Grandparents played an important part in our family lives. They served in WW1, set the new community standards as they graduated out of the Depression years, and generally assisted their families into the new era.
When WW2 emerged we were all challenged to play our part, and as I a younger teenager on learning of the new British Empire felt I would not become involved with it as I expected it to be over before I could become involved and reached my 18th year, but having left my school for economic needs I elected to study Accounting via correspondence for a vocation, as well as taking employment in a Chartered Accountants Office. I enjoyed the role of Auditor, meeting and working with many clients, but above all it set me on a life of fiscal management. I spent that time not only working in the fiscal industry, but also studying in it for a financial qualification which hopefully would lead me into a future career, as it suggested it would lead me into a career which my mother, and grandparents believed was most suitable course for me in the future. Notwithstanding that period of my life, and seeing family members joining the services, I realised I was approaching 1944, and so I selected the newest service the RAAF, for my future.
I commenced training in Aircrew but with the time frame of VE day, my course was closed, and I was transferred into ground crew, and eventually in the British Commonwealth Occupation Force I was sent to serve at Hiroshima, Japan, immediately, now in a mustering of finance, and in 1948 returned to Australia for demobilisation. I did enjoy the opportunity of travel into the Asian world, and truly learned to say “YES SIR” when I was given orders in the Service. I never enjoyed observing the absolute disgust of the country of service, however I did enjoy the disciplined lifestyle, and friendship of my colleagues.
I returned back to Australia and in late 1948, joined IBM Australia as the Melbourne Accountant. We were a very small Corporation in those days. And I did enjoy my Accounting duties. During that time in Accounting at IBM, one of our sales staff retired, and I offered to add his duties to my Accounting duties, and found a way to support the sale of the Time Card Sales Department without hiring a replacement. Additionally I found that often a client would call into our office to push one of our Time Clocks, and after just a few short (untrained) sales discussions was soon learning what it was like to be a part time salesman, again as the Accountant.
At this same time, and because of the war in Korea had continued I volunteered to join the Citizen Military Service (in Pay Corps) in a part time capacity. By 1950, I finally was offered an opportunity to transfer into the Citizen Air Force as a Commissioned Accounting Officer. As it happened my services were note required after June 1956 but I was placed on a further 6 months of general reserve, bringing my service up to 12 Years.
In the last period of my life I had transferred from Melbourne back to Sydney and joined the IBM Business Machines there after a short break between my IBM Services in between Melbourne and Sydney. I had transferred into sales as a Representative in Melbourne, and again in in 1953 I again stayed in Sales.
After one year in Sydney in the Time Equipment Department, I married, and after on my return to service in sales was promoted to the New Electric Typewriter Division. I was then appointed to be the Public Relations Manager and shortly after that assignment I left the organisation. This after attending two internal 100% Clubs at Hong Kong and Tokyo. As it happened I had elected to Study Marketing at the Australian Institute of Sales and Marketing to support my future career in the field I had finally chosen to follow in the years to follow.
Not only did I commence that study under correspondence whilst working in that field I joined and rose from NSW Treasurer and later Manager and finally National President. It was a vital period of my career, and launched me into a vert broadened Australian presence. In late 1962, I was visited by the Owner and his associates from the Simplex USA Corporation, and I was offered the Australian Management of the new Simplex Corporation. Five years earlier they had purchased IBM’s American Time Equipment Division, and the Life Safety Division, and having spent five years in merging the US Company of Simplex and the IBM Divisions in the USA, they were now ready to expand worldwide.
In visiting Australia, it had been their intent to make a first outreach in Australasia, and I was Head Hunted. I accepted the new assignment, going to Gardner Massachusetts, USA for basic training and the company training for the new Simplex operations to be commenced. During my initial period in the USA I was asked to meet with my former colleagues of both Canada and the Philippine’s. Before the end of the year had finished we were advised that IBM was ceasing business in the USA, making it essential for the Simplex Corporation to immediately branch out worldwide. Accordingly we had to broaden our trust into countries as best we could. I was fortunate as the Asian Pacific, Middle Eastern and African districts needed vital business operations were commenced, so in a rushed sequence of events, I was required to commence business in the countries nominated. I did that but additionally to my countries of Asia, China, the Pacific and other specific countries. Incidentally during the early part of this period we had a visit from the Sales and Marketing Executives of USA to Australia, and before they left I was also asked to be the Vice President of their Asian Pacific Division of their US Business, and I accepted.
During my first excursion into that territory of the East, I spent time in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippine’s, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. It then started the need to continue into Indi, Sri Lanka and the commencement of many months of the year out in this territory, plus regular China visits, plus lots of Simplex Business visits in Europe and of course the USA.
We started out in 1963 pursuing an annual target of $37m and after I retired in 2003 our Corporation had reached a total of $1b annual turnover. The business was sold for its achieved total of One Billion Dollars.
During my business life I joined Rotary in 1968 and served three clubs. Firstly, the club I was invited to join was South Sydney. Then in 1972 I was transferred into the Warringah Club, and finally chartered the Brookvale Club in 1982, where I remain as a past District Governor. In 1988/89 I served as the District Governor D968 with some 70 Clubs in Sydney and the Central Coast. I enjoyed doing a lot of Charity Work and because of my extensive travel I spent a lot of time with other international Clubs and in fact I had the pleasure of representing as the Rotary World Governor at the Annual Change Over Conferences in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand. In Thailand I had spent excessive time achieving monies for an educational program names “Close Language Encounter” destined to replace the ROTE system, encourage migrant children from Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos etc. The process also involved fish farms to encourage students to come to school (s), helping in the farming, and generating scholastic schooling in country locations under management of Rotary Clubs. The success of those schools has been extraordinary and it had carried over into other Internationally Based schools in educational localities with limited facilities.
Another Rotary Program was in PNG where Rotary was asked to build a new hospital and facilities in Kokoda, PNG as a living Memorial at the home village of Kokoda. It was agreed to do so. It took a decade to perform, revamped the village providing lots village needs, cost in excess of $2.8m, engaged 6,000 plus Rotarians (man ex-servicemen) and provided a major facility to remember both the AIF servicemen, Militia servicemen and their colleagues the Fuzzy Wuzzy’s. This project helped us enjoy other programs for the Government who provided the finances, and gave great satisfaction to lots of Australians for generating such a major program. John had two roles first as Treasurer and then as Chairman. The project went from a start-up of zero to a major cost of $2.8m.
When I returned from the BCOF in 1948, I found the Banks were under threat of being nationalised. This infuriated me as I believed my service was to help save our country, not take us into the realm of law and socialism and so I joined the Liberal Party of Australia and became Branch Secretary in Melton, Victoria. Later in 1953 when I transferred to Sydney I joined the Mackellar Branch under William Wentworth’s supervision. Strangely years later, when I became involved in saving Redlands School, Mrs Bronwyn Bishop as a member of the Mosman/Cremorne Community visited a Redlands function I suspect around the mid-eighties when I was reporting publicly about the School, what we had done so far on our task, the Purchase, and our goal and I shortly after found myself and my wife involved more actively with her in Liberal party activities, and even further as her Conference Chairman. It was a most pleasant way of stepping up in the community, accepting new jobs and helping her in the Liberal Party and accelerated my presence at state council and other processes. This extra need added to my duties at work and home plus my extensive travel. However, it showed me community needs that were outside of my lifestyle.
I am grateful for that and my desired requirement to participate in community affairs and to some degree help in the community management with my colleagues. It also helped me broaden my lifestyle through my association with a broadened community and its needed input into same.
As I look back on my life I did have another experience which I counted on. It was my religious background firstly in Christ Church Moreland and the MCC Melbourne, with my Chaplain in the services. My association with St John’s Dee Why, Sydney and a further boundary was my entry into the military or ‘Hospitalar Order of St Lazerus of Jerusalem’. This occurred in early 1982 when my Rector Bill Weston became the first Chaplain of that Order and so Bill sought me out as one of the new group who had visited St Lazarus’s Tomb, was a member of his Churches Council Members as had my father-in-law, and my wife who had been an Organist at our Church.
What made me wish to be active in Charity activities? Generally it was to say thank you for helping me or my family achieve so much in our lives – and for graciousness in which you offer us that help. I want to recognise that there is a need to contribute to society, and that I will play my part.
I want to thank those of the Depression years for developing communities to achieve better lives than they enjoyed in the turn of the Century days, that our current lives deserve our current support “for those who have less” I am not motivated to wish for help – that I will try to generate myself. And “NOTHING IS IMMPOSSIBLE” if we place our minds on the task.
I regret sincerely that I am finding the Dioceses is not matching our mutual determination of 1976 and hopefully they will regret and bend to the honest determination of 1976 and Independence.
John Lang
Comentarios