Many of us remember our classmate Richard Ma as the “high tech” guy at Kaimuki back in the days of film strips, reel-to-reel recorders and film projectors. Those interests were the reason for his membership in the Science and Electronics clubs. Little did we know that Richard’s passion for technology would provide the 21st-century skills for keeping our Class of ’69 connected 50 years later.
After graduation, Richard attended the University of Hawaii with an interest in a degree in electrical engineering. Although he loved technology, he says he struggled with math classes. Like many of us, Richard abandoned his original plan and changed his major to communications with a focus on broadcasting. That was the perfect match!
After graduating from UH Richard got a job at Hawaii Pacific University where he managed the school’s learning center, but he really wanted to be in broadcasting. Richard landed a job with an agency that produced television commercials. As a member of AD 2 Honolulu, an organization for young advertising professionals, Richard did pro bono work for Hospice Hawaii, People Attentive to Children, and the Honolulu Zoo, and his work won national awards.
In 1980, Richard started his own company which assists companies in developing professional presentations. He has worked with banks, hospitals, public agencies and nonprofit companies. He has also served on the boards of Honolulu Executives and Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame. Richard enjoys his work and has no plans to retire.
At the 35th Reunion Recap meeting, Richard volunteered to be the co-chair, along with Andrew Nomura, of our 40th Reunion. He sensed that if we could improve our communications systems, we would increase attendance of our Reunion events. And he was right! Using his 21st-century technology skills, Richard set up our email system and constructed our kaimuki1969.com website. According to Andrew, “Richard is the communications ‘glue’ for our class. We could not have achieved what we have done without Richard’s creative contributions. He is also a great idea man.” Richard has been the person who has been sending out email updates and reminders for committee meetings. He has also been the one who has posted the tremendous amount of information on kaimuki1969.com, and has kept the site up-to-date for the past 10 years.
We thank Richard for his service to our community with a very special thanks for being the brains, eyes and ears for our Class of ’69 communication network. His technology smarts, endless hours of web work and contribution of ideas to our class activities have been invaluable! KAIMUKI SHOUT OUT to Richard Ma!
