About the author

Folker Krueger was born during World War II in Berlin. In the aftermath following the hostile activities he had to learn at an early stage to fend for himself. His mother had to work to provide some food on the table for her three sons, the father did not return from the war.

He became a “Key-Child” as so many young kids were called. That meant he had the house key around his neck and had to make it to Kindergarten and return on his own as there was nobody to look after him during the day.

The urge to travel came early. After he finished the apprenticeship as a “Freight Forwarder”, he moved to Switzerland at the age of barely 20 years to take on a position with a local company. Having missed out on learning English in school (too lazy), he managed to get a transfer to London for 18 months to pick up enough of the language to be able to communicate.  That brought him in contact with some Australians who wet his appetite to visit that country. Some planning and saving money had to be done back in Switzerland but Folker and his friend Alan finally departed in an old VW Beetle to drive towards Australia via the Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.  After nearly four months they arrived on a ship in Sydney in 1966 and a new life beckoned.

Whatever work was available had to be considered to pay rent but through some hard work and some luck his career in Schenker Australia made some modest advances.  Through various circumstances he ended up as the Country Manager for another large freight forwarder in Taiwan for four years followed by another assignment of nearly four years in Singapore. He went back to Australia for two years trying his luck as an independent operator but had to close shop when his marriage finally broke down. Once again a new assignment in Hong Kong was obtained but that ended after nine years due to yet another company merger.

Indonesia was the next task to head the joint venture operation of Schenker in Jakarta. The political turmoil during the years between 1996 and 2000 created many challenges privately as well as in the business but had to be dealt with.

His second wife Rosita from Hong Kong provided strong support over all these years and when the decision was finally made to move back to Australia after nine years in Indonesia life became a little bit more stable and less stressful.

After 50 years actively involved in the freight forwarding business in many countries retirement was a bit of a shock. The opportunity to act as a consultant gave a new aspect to the new life and further travels and challenges kept the brain active.

Finally Folker decided to sit down and write about some of the events he experienced in his years which he considers of interest and somewhat typical to describe different people, places and cultures. The “Lottery of Life” represents his experiences, his views and feelings and gives the readers a humorous insight how to deal with the different numbers any Lottery can dish out.