Over the last 30 years, we have been very fortunate to work with so many wonderful customers, clients and partners – some of whom have been with us since the beginning! We have collected a few memories from the early days that show just how much things have changed.
Brian Shek – Assistant Operations Manager, ClarityEnglish
When I joined Clarity in 1998, we were still selling physical products. We had many long days packing the CD-ROMs ourselves, going door-to-door hand delivering boxes to universities around Hong Kong.
I remember one crazy order for a customer in Canada. They ordered 2000 CDs in the morning, needed them as soon as possible and the cargo ship was leaving from Hong Kong to Canada that day at 5pm. The office turned into an assembly line: wrapping, packing, checking, loading, delivering the products in 10 trucks. That day, everyone in the office, and anyone who was visiting the office, was helping out. It was a great memory of that time.
Kima Huang – Managing Director, Winhoe Company Ltd
I have to say if there were no Clarity, there would be no Winhoe today. All the way till now, I just want to say a big THANK YOU to you Clarity.
Around 20 years ago, I won the bid for a big order of English programs for a school. I had worked really hard for this bid and I was sure Clarity programs would be the right fit for the school. Sadly, the previous Taiwanese distributor of Clarity products wouldn’t work with me so I couldn’t fulfil the contract. I had to a penalty of NT200,000 for not carrying out the case and it really knocked my confidence.
After some time, I decided to go directly to Clarity and I told them I could really sell their products all over Taiwan if they gave me a chance. I had good relationships with teachers, I knew the schools and universities well and I would work hard in our partnership. With Andrew and Adrian’s trust, I completed the contract and we began our new partnership. With the strong support and help from Clarity, Winhoe has grown so much. The partnership between Clarity and Winhoe, I feel, is like brother and sister and I always appreciate the justice, help and support.
Craig Fuller – Director of International Students, Cambridge High School New Zealand
Craig Fuller used Tense Buster in 1995 — and still does!
I know good stuff when I see it: Tense Buster is/was a gem. Thank goodness all online now as the computer admins always used to lose the floppy disks and then CDs. And yes, I remember when Windows NT came out in 1999, you gave me a free update which shows the benefit of good service. Now I’ve moved to Director of International Students, and we are still using Tense Buster, and also Active Reading and the Dynamic Placement Test.
All the best for the next 30 years!
Samuel Sheinberg – Managing Director, NAS Software Inc.
When I think back over the past 30 years or so my memories include the people and experiences I’ve had with the Clarity team much more than the technical aspects of the work we do.
One painful memory was a trip to the Philippines with Adrian and Andrew. On a day off ‘someone’ suggested going horseback riding. I was promised that it would be a walk in the park. My horse and I had a disagreement and I found myself on the ground. The physical pain and the bruises were nothing compared to my bruised ego.
Wan Zahrah – Senior Administrator ClarityEnglish
I remember when Andrew first talked about developing Tense Buster. It was the late 80s, while he was still teaching with the British Council in Malaysia, and he wanted to create something he could use in his lessons. He started writing the content in his spare time and enlisted his old friend, Adrian, to develop the software. Adrian flew to Malaysia and it took them three years to develop the program together. When they had one level up and running they both quit their jobs and started working on Clarity Language Consultants full time. It was very special to be a part of that time.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this post and those who have shared their memories of Clarity.
