同性 same sex

I recently got myself involved in a rather extensive and lengthy (may be TOO lengthy :) ) discussion about same-sex couple/marriage at Horace’s blog. I am going to excerpt some of my comments there (with minor edits) and reposted here. You see, I did the research and writing already, why not reuse them? (smile)

Seeing the intolerance expressed here about gays and gay marriages shows again why minority rights should not be subjected to the “tyranny of the majority”.

It is very easy to discriminate against the minority and the weak but resist we shall. Some times I will catch myself saying and thinking discriminating ideas which I will have to guard against.

May be it is unfashionable to mention here, but not long ago African-Americans didn’t have the rights to vote and inter-racial marriages were as taboo as gay-marriages today (and inter-racial married couples were harassed and even harmed/hurt as a result).

I am glad that in Canada our most basic human rights are protected by our Charter of Rights and Freedom and not by the wimps of elected politicians who will bend with the winds or even do things because of their own personal religious believes instead of governing for all Canadians.

And I even suggested some reading materials,

[...] a few things to read and consider. After all, they protect us all and they are rather short.

I highly recommend you have a read/scan of the Charter,
Canadian_Charter_of_Rights_and_Freedoms

劉皇發為香港求得下籤

My friend Daisann has an insightful observation in her post (emphasis added),

Now, if you wanted to stretch and spin-doctor a lot–a whole lot–I suppose you could transform that ominous warning about the dangers of arrogant, absolute power into a DAB-ready platitude for the Hong Kong People. Something along the lines of “We must stay united as a community and beware of dissent and disharmony within.”

At least, that’s what “Uncle” Lau Wong Fat did.

But nobody in Hong Kong is buying it. Chief Executive Donald Tsang’s popularity rating is not quite as low as George Bush’s was in the Final Days, but it’s heading to Tung Chee Hwa territory. [...]

Like Ah Wong, everyone is chuckling, because they know who pulled the bad stick, and it isn’t the Hong Kong public. Of course the pro-government spinners want to pin this bad mojo on Hong Kong and the community–that “we” are to blame for our “internal squabbles” (that is to say, for insisting on being able to actually elect our representatives, instead of letting the Emperors in Beijing call the shots).

“We” is a word that tends to get thrown about when uncomfortable realities are being avoided. [...]

Thank god Hong Kong people–no doubt sharpened by their love for chao dao fu– have a nose for that kind of smelly “we”.

That is to say, Hong Kong people understand that when politicians start throwing around the “we’s” you really have to take a close look to determine who, really, is “We”.

And in this case, the “We” is not us. It’s them. The really, really bad fortune stick Number 27 belongs to the un-elected officials of Hong Kong’s government.

Right on.

HSBC at CYVR, CYYZ, EGLL, RJAA (40+ airports in 17 countries worldwide)

Interesting to see HSBC created a program to brand itself at 40 airports worldwide including Vancouver (CYVR), Toronto (CYYZ), Heathrow (EGLL), and Narita (RJAA). I like the idea and the exposure this campaign will give HSBC. Nice job in giving us the impression that it is “the world’s local bank“.

As an aside, I think HSBC can be considered as one of the first banks that come clean about its mortgage loan problems as I blogged in Feb 2007 and they seemed to be willing to work with their suffering customers as I blogged in July 2008. It will be interesting to see what kind of results HSBC will report in early March, 2009.

Again, nice campaign to project the image of “the world’s local bank“.

長毛 LSD 一蕉不留

Read from Apple Daily,

各 政 黨 之 中 ， 社 民 連 可 能 最 有 企 業 化 潛 質 。 毓 民 掟 蕉 後 ， 一 於 食 住 條 水 ， 出 多 款 蕉 形 精 品 年 宵 擺 賣 ， 果 然 甚 受 歡 迎 ， 其 中 香 蕉 雙 截 棍 大 人 細 路 都 鍾 意 ， 據 稱 1,000 件 前 日 全 部 售 罄 ， 一 件 不 留 ， 其 他 吹 氣 蕉 形 玩 具 都 所 餘 無 多 ， 社 民 連 今 年 年 宵 可 謂 大 豐 收 。
存 貨 沽 清 ， 社 民 連 繼 續 擺 檔 ， 因 為 實 在 太 多 fans 慕 名 而 至 ， 長 毛 人 氣 最 勁 ， 八 方 現 場 所 見 ， 不 斷 有 少 女 要 求 合 照 ， 當 正 長 毛 係 天 王 巨 星 ， 其 他 政 黨 呢 方 面 ， 相 形 失 色 。 社 民 連 咁 積 極 撲 水 ， 因 為 想 盡 快 置 業 做 永 久 黨 總 部 ， 目 標 係 籌 款 400 萬 元 ， 初 步 會 舉 辦 三 次 籌 款 活 動 ， 頭 炮 係 2 月 22 號 山 頂 行 大 運 。

I think 社 民 連 (LSD Party) is more organized than many people thought they are. While they are expert in generating PR, their fund raising smarts and aspiration can’t be ignored. You see, people buying those 蕉 形 精 品 & 香 蕉 雙 截 棍,
is a sign of people’s support of the party and people’s displeasure against the government.

Shame to be a Canadian – Dziekanski’s death at Vancouver airport

I am a proud Canadian most of the times except a few rare instances. In the case of the death of Mr. Robert Dziekanski, Canada (many people and different agencies/systems) failed him. Robert was a new Canadian landed immigrant who died in the Vancouver airport before he had a chance to set foot in Canada while her loving & hard-working mother frantically try to find his son.

Retired judge Thomas Braidwood is heading up the public inquiry. See CBC report on the inquiry where Tina Zadravec, a Canada Border Services Agency officer, testified, and in my view, may have through her inactions and actions (failure to page Mr. Dziekanski and suggestions, includinjg heading home to Kamloops, B.C.) contributed to the ultimate death of Robert.

VIDEO: Raw footage of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver airport hours before death (Runs 10:01)

A Tale of Two Transparency – US vs. Canada

Not to give the impression that I think Canada is “perfect”. In fact, there are times (like now) I think Canada acts like a banana republic under the current Harper government.

A Tale of Two Transparency – US vs. Canada

Real Travel in Hong Kong

My friend Daisann McLane is a travel writer,photographer and essayist. Her “Real Travel” column appears in every issue of National Geographic Traveler, and her articles about Hong Kong’s food, culture and politics have been published in the New York Times Magazine, the International Herald Tribune and Slate.

If you or your Canadian or American friends need some expert advices in traveling to Hong Kong and Macau, tell them to contact Daisann if they want to

“… find the best Cantonese restaurants–not the over-hyped and pricey hotel restaurants in the latest Michelin Guide, but the word-of-mouth ones that only locals know. Or you want a deeper insight into the history and politics of Asia’s most multi-cultural, cosmopolitan city, and see how the “One Country Two Systems” relationship with mainland China really works.” And much more.

Check out Daisann’s Real Travel Hong Kong site where they can contact her for information and cost.

P.S. Daisann knows Hong Kong eateries well as I personally benefited a few times when she showed me a few good word-of-mouth restaurants. The food were inexpensive but very tasty.

華叔 寫書法 寫揮春

First time I met and chatted with 華叔 (Szeto Wah, 司徒華) has to be over 11 years ago when he (and Martin Lee and Cheng Kai Fu) visited Calgary to talk about HK before the 1997 handover. Since then, Martin and, in particular, 華叔 have both aged a lot.

Looking at the picture of a frail uncle Wah in this Apple Daily article, it makes me admire his fierce determination even more.

白宮 網誌 – White House Blog

Yes, believe it or not, White House (白宮) has a Blog (網誌)! Check out the Whitehouse.gov blog here. As their first post “Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov” indicates, their initial new media efforts will centre around three priorities: Communication, Transparency, and Participation which I’ve excerpted here for your reading pleasure.

Communication — Americans are eager for information about the state of the economy, national security and a host of other issues. This site will feature timely and in-depth content meant to keep everyone up-to-date and educated. Check out the briefing room, keep tabs on the blog (RSS feed) and take a moment to sign up for e-mail updates from the President and his administration so you can be sure to know about major announcements and decisions.

Transparency – President Obama has committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history, and WhiteHouse.gov will play a major role in delivering on that promise. The President’s executive orders and proclamations will be published for everyone to review, and that’s just the beginning of our efforts to provide a window for all Americans into the business of the government. You can also learn about some of the senior leadership in the new administration and about the President’s policy priorities.

Participation — President Obama started his career as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, where he saw firsthand what people can do when they come together for a common cause. Citizen participation will be a priority for the Administration, and the internet will play an important role in that. One significant addition to WhiteHouse.gov reflects a campaign promise from the President: we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it.

Now, I wonder when will the HK or Chinese governments be this open and transparent? One has to hope.

P.S. The big smile of Obama (奧巴馬) reminded me of Anson Chan (陳四萬)‘s smile. How’s 奧四萬 or 馬四萬 sound? (big broad smile)

交叉捐肝 = 有償捐肝 ?

My friend Ming made some insightful observations about this HK case of “交叉捐肝”. I have similar concerns after reading that news yesterday.

Will the ideal of “doing good” by donating organs be compromised in the future? And I think the bio-medical ethics involved in this case is less obvious than what we have been lead to perceive by the media.

You see, the hospital (the doctors) actually suggested this swap. Now, I am not cold hearted enough to suggest that the hospital/doctors should simply let the sick patients die, but this case fasttracks the needed discussions about the risks factors and ethical implications.

Some patients and their families may now want their hospitals/doctors to see if there are other “organ exchanges/deals” that can be arranged. Possibly turning doctors/hospitals into organs brokers.

Like Ming has observed, people in general feel repugnant about the idea of selling organs. But this organ exchange is still a barter, a trade, a quid pro quo transaction even money didn’t change hands.

While Apple Daily or other media may choose to glorify this “organ exchange”, doctors and hospital ethics committees need to seriously discuss and understand what they are getting themselves into. As the benefits/damages may not be as obvious as it seems on the surface.

股神 畢菲特 (Warren Buffett)

Many investors in Hong Kong have heard about Warren Buffett (畢菲特) and even call him 股神 (investment god) because he is one of the richest men and best investors in the world. Unfortunately, most HKers have no idea about him as a person nor his investment principles and methods.

Have a read of this Complete Transcript of Warren Buffett’s Dateline Interview with NBC’s Tom Brokaw. I find it very insightful and may be HKers can learn a thing or two. Here is an excerpt (emphasis added),

BROKAW:

A lot of people are gonna be looking in on this, and wondering how has it affected Warren Buffet? (UNINTEL) stock is down. Significantly. Has your lifestyle changed at all?

BUFFETT:

No. (LAUGHTER) I– I’ve never sold a share in my life. I– I– I’ve been through three earlier periods where Berkshire (PH) stock’s gone down 50 percent. I mean, it– it– it– you shouldn’t own stocks unless you can handle them going down 50 percent.

If you won a farm nobody tells you when it’s gone down 50 percent ’cause you don’t get a quote every day. But you really look to the farm and the– what it’s– its pro– what it produces to determine whether you made a good investment. Now if people look to the newspaper every day at the price of a stock to determine whether they made a good investment they’re making a mistake.

They have to look to the business, the asset itself. If you own an apartment house you wouldn’t get a quote on it every day. You’d just look at– the rent (UNINTEL) were, and what your taxes were and expenses were. And if they all came in with– in line with what you expected when you bought it you’d feel you’d made a satisfactory investment, and you’d never get a quote on it. So I don’t– I don’t look at quotes (UNINTEL). Mostly– I can’t tell you what Berkshire Hathaway is selling for today.

大狀 賣廣告

While I am not sure what he did during his term but I am happy to see 因 接 受 委 任 做 廣 東 省 政 協 而 引 起 一 番 政 治 風 波 袁 國 強 ， 終 於 卸 下 大 律 師 公 會 主 席 身 份 because “justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done“. After all, it seems very inappropriate for 袁 國 強 to be 大 律 師 公 會 主 席 and 政 協 at the same time. Glad to see that chapter finally over.

Now, I hope allowing 大狀 to 賣廣告 won’t lead to cut-throat ads. Will see. :)

噚 日 大 會 亦 以 大 比 數 通 過 修 改 專 業 守 則 ， 容 許 大 狀 賣 廣 告 ， 細 則 待 訂 ， 高 浩 文 話 大 原 則 係 不 能 自 吹 自 擂 ， 誇 大 都 唔 可 以 ， 有 人 投 訴 話 ， 公 會 會 做 紀 律 處 分 。

憤青 (糞青) Angry Chinese Youth

One day I will write more about my take on 憤青 (or as 陶傑 puts it in his Apple Daily columns, “糞青”), the so-called “Angry Chinese Youth”. For now, I will quote from this blogger (emphasis added),

“… 當然不夠祖國憤青（尤以一群男人）群情激憤，罵聲四起。崇洋媚外不夠還扣上「喪權辱國」的帽子。真不知哪來的權哪來的國。說到底不過是眼紅人家在外國混得如魚得水。

中國人有股驕傲症狀群。甚麼事情發生，大家都彷彿要進行政治表態：京奧？我為自己是中國人感到很驕傲！傳聖火？很驕傲！回歸、國慶、閱兵，以致改革開放四 川震災任何相關，都有一票人出來發表其驕傲宣言。更別談憤青行文字間那對祖國之滿腔自信、自大。中國人在人前顯得如此驕恣自大，源於其意識底層的自卑。驕 傲和自悲是一顆硬幣的公和字。“

[...] “「新中國」國人看待問題時，動不動就將全十三億華人騎劫。彷彿放個屁都會有辱國體、「給中國人丟臉」。就當章子怡媚外，又如何？沒聽過歐人美帝對醉心中國 文化的洋教授叫罵、亦沒聽過洋人父母以同樣理由阻止兒子學中國功夫。當中分別，仍在中國人揮之不去的自卑。新中國沒有言論自由，亦沒有媚外的自由。憤青在 這些政治正確的地方群情激憤，吐一口沒有言論自由的烏氣——章子怡倒做了一件善事。”

While I can’t agree with the nationalistic takes of these 憤青, I harbour the hope that a minority of these youth is also using these chances for open and reasoned debate. At the same time, I am not naive enough to ignore the harm these attacks have caused to the majorities of these 憤青.

戰爭與和平 (War and Peace)

Is it because Hong Kong is too small and not a country, therefore the politics of 戰爭與和平 (War and Peace) is never much in the hearts and minds of HKers? Should narrow self-interest, national-interest, or personal-gain/loss be the only factors determining our concerns, cares, and attentions?

Lets talk about ongoing genocide in Darfur for a moment. I haven’t heard much about protests (by the public or university students) in HK to try to stop the ongoing genocide in Darfur. Why?

Sadly, I think many of the students have no idea where Darfur is. And even the students who know, may think that Darfur is too far for them to care. Or worst, those that are “HK smart” knew enough that China has oil interest in Darfur, Sudan and it is “unwise” to protest on an issue that the mainland government will be unhappy about. For those supposedly educated HK university students, I suspect, sadly, it is ultimately their narrow self-interest, national-interest, or personal-gain/loss that stop them from protesting against the atrocities and ongoing genocide in Darfur.

Not to put myself above the “HK smart” or “HK minded” students/people, I reviewed and spotlighted the book “DARFURDARFUR LIFE/WAR” and also was involved in organizing and bringing the Darfur/Darfur multi-media show to Calgary.

P.S. It was my great honour to meet a true hero when Senator Roméo Dallaire visited Calgary in April 2008. In my view, Dallaire is not only a Canadian hero, he is also a world hero as he tried his best to stare down evil when the world governments stood idly by and did nothing.

Here are some videos of Dallaire speaking in Calgary. Including this one,

Are all humans – Humans? Or some more humans than others? The legacy of Bill Clinton’s decision.

Let me be clear, while I have the greatest respect for Senator Dallaire, I think about what he said carefully and think about them critically using my head. So I recommend you do the same and use your own critical thinking to think about the various hard issues. Trust anyone blindly is, in my humble opinion, a tricky business.

陳太 Anson Chan

陳太 (Anson Chan) is someone that I have great respect of. In June 2008, I was fortunate to meet her twice when she visited Canada (shortly before she made her final decision to not run for re-election in Legco). To me, her analysis are usually clear and insightful and she is widely respected in HK. I had a nice but brief encounter with Ms. Chan in Banff and then me and my better half attended a cocktail featuring Ms. Chan as guest speaker. Ms. Chan talked about issues in HK and also gave the attending guests chances to ask questions and better understand HK.

Note: The lanyards and badges around my neck were my media credentials for attending NextMedia and Banff World Television Festival (see my reports here).

中英文低落

While I don’t read 陶傑’s articles regularly (his writing style and his tone sometimes just tick me off), I do think he has some insightful things to say once in a while. For example, in his Jan 13, 2009 column “梅毒語文“,

別 的 不 說 ， 先 看 看 政 府 新 聞 處 新 聞 稿 的 頭 一 段 ：
「 育 局 建 議 ， 微 調 中 學 學 語 言 框 架 」 。 這 一 句 ， 就 不 是 人 話 ： 「 微 調 中 學 學 語 言 框 架 」 ， 跟 街 道 上 拾 紙 皮 的 那 個 老 婆 婆 說 一 遍 ， 跟 牛 池 灣 到 西 環 的 小 巴 司 機 說 一 遍 ， 向 建 築 地 盤 的 工 人 說 一 次 ， 猜 猜 他 們 會 不 會 明 白 ？ 他 們 的 子 女 ， 也 在 受 育 ， 他 們 也 是 家 長 ， 「 以 人 為 本 」 ， 拾 荒 婦 和 小 巴 司 機 不 明 白 的 語 文 ， 就 是 劣 貨 。
因 為 這 句 話 ， 不 是 中 國 的 人 話 。 短 短 十 個 字 ， 就 已 經 有 兩 個 英 文 強 行 移 植 的 詞 彙 ！ 微 調 ： fine-tuning ； 框 架 ： framework 。
首 先 ， 「 微 調 」 不 是 中 文 。[...]

[...] 「 學 語 言 框 架 」 ， 框 架 是 英 文 framework 的 直 譯 。 即 使 在 英 語 中 ， framework 也 是 官 僚 的 詞 彙 ， 變 成 中 文 ， 更 顯 其 僵 硬 ， 令 人 想 起 中 國 古 代 犯 人 擔 戴 的 木 枷 。 木 枷 是 一 塊 板 ， 不 是 戴 上 ， 就 是 卸 下 ， 沒 有 「 微 調 」 。 這 不 是 中 國 的 語 文 ， 像 抽 一 滴 血 ， 可 以 驗 全 身 的 毛 病 ， 從 特 區 政 府 新 聞 稿 隨 便 抽 出 來 的 一 句 華 文 ， 看 出 面 有 大 腸 癌 ─ ─ 長 期 消 化 有 問 題 ， 衍 生 的 一 堆 癌 細 胞 ； 還 有 梅 毒 ， 是 給 劣 質 的 英 文 強 姦 了 之 後 ， 染 上 的 頑 疾 。
英 文 強 姦 中 文 ， 自 所 謂 「 五 四 運 動 」 以 來 ， 一 直 沒 有 停 過 ， 因 為 中 國 人 以 語 言 享 受 英 文 強 姦 為 樂 。 對 比 之 下 ， 國 寶 章 子 怡 在 加 勒 比 海 ， 享 受 洋 人 咬 股 推 油 的 按 摩 ， 網 民 又 亂 抓 狂 什 麼 ？

“微 調 ： fine-tuning ； 框 架 ： framework 。 ” What a precise and insightful observation. When the purpose of a press-release is to communicate, the easier it is to understand, the better it will be for the public to judge and decide if government policies are good or bad.

P.S. As an aside, for a business venture that I was doing some due diligence, I dug into the field of Chinese/English translation a little (plus it has been an area of interest of mine for some years now since I had read a ton of writings by the late Mr. 林語堂, whose 林語堂《當代漢英詞典》 網絡版 Chinese-English English-Chinese dictionary is trusted by me, online and free). I think there are business potentials there but it is a lot harder to do well then some business people might have thought.

黃毓民 Wong Yuk Man

On top of Long Hair, I see 黃毓民 (Wong Yuk Man) as another political figure in Hong Kong that is worth a closer look at even you may disagree with tactics. So when 毓民 visited Calgary in May 2007, I took time to interview him in English. Why English? I wanted people outside of the Chinese-speaking world to have a chance to understand what Yuk Man’s views are. Plus it will be fun to interview 毓民 in English as I bet there aren’t too many video clips of 毓民 speaking English. (smile)

P.S. In my opinion, 毓民’s fairly good and understandable. Here is an interview video clip in Chinese. And the following is part of his standup comedy bit in Chinese,

*******

Jan 15, 2009 Update: A blogger linked to an interesting audio clip of 毓民評論家暴條例. Worth listening to.

長毛 Long Hair 梁國雄

To me, 長毛 Long Hair (梁國雄) is a misunderstood man/rebel/politician in Hong Kong. Many HongKongers’ impression or understanding of Long Hair is that he is simply a noisy rebel and that view is mostly based on what they read in newspapers and watch on TV news. To me, the noisy rebel is just one side of Long Hair.

To understand Long Hair better, I tagged along him for a month in 2004 (shortly after he won his first seat in the Legco) and made a documentary film about Long Hair. You can read more and watch the full length documentary online here.

Check out this official film website for more info about the documentary.

P.S. Over the years, there has been a few documentaries made about Long Hair but I am surprised there aren’t a few more balanced look at Long Hair. Documentaries that are able to see pass the superficial surface of Long Hair should be interesting to watch.