唐樓倒塌：在關鍵的時候，選擇沉默

Here is an excerpt “大災難（陶傑）- 2010年02月01日“,

唐樓倒塌，不止是一場災難，還是一場所謂「深層次矛盾」。

不是沒有預警，建築工人早就知道要塌樓了，先行衝離現場。有整整十五分鐘，一幢五層高的房子，最多只十伙人家，完全有時間趕快逃生。

有一位「鳳姐」，已經驚覺，探頭慌問，發生了什麼事？另一個女住客就在「鳳姐」面前溜掉，沒有通知她跑。

為什麼，因為這位「鳳姐」的敏感職業，一幢房子的住客是知道的。逃生的人，會不會鄙視她，根本不予答理，就此多送一條人命呢？

[...] 在關鍵的時候，選擇沉默，在不適當的時候，偏偏最八卦而愛管閒事，會不會是一個群體走向墮落的根源？

留下的懊悔，纏繞終生，對於一個有良心的生還者，還是很痛苦的，怎樣「吸收教訓」？記住，一張嘴巴，該叫喊時叫喊，該閉上時閉上，樓還是會繼續塌下去的，生命會省回許多，雖然，一個妓女，不，性工作者的生命價值很卑微，這，就是另一卷悲劇了。

The Line is Drawn in Hong Kong

My friend Daisann and Long Hair (Leung Kwok Hung) went up the stage to sing Bob Dylan’s song, “The Times they are a’Changing“. Here is a link to Daisann’s insightful blog entry “The Line is Drawn”. Here is an excerpt,

“Wednesday night, 6:30pm, the phone rings: it’s Long Hair. “Can you play guitar for me at the rally tonight? I want to sing Bob Dylan’s song, “The Times they are a’Changing”.

My first reaction: Uh oh. Leung Kwok Hung loves music, loves Bob Dylan and loves to sing. But keeping him in rhythm and in tune is like trying to steer a sailboat through a typhoon.

“I have the lyrics already!” he urges. “Come down to Chater Garden, bring your guitar, okay?”"

I have been trying to track down a YouTube clips of the performance without success until this morning. My friend is humble in talking about her performance. Let me put it this way, the sound system/the camera’s mic magically turns Daisann & Long Hair’s performance into something even Bob Dylan can’t do a better job. (smile)

On a more serious note, I deeply admire their and others’ willingness to standup and fight for Hong Kong.

兩週一聚 (30): 番鬼

我不喜歡鬼故、恐怖電影及其他鬼怪東西，所以就讓我鬼五馬六地寫一番。

初來到加國時，自己有時都會說”番鬼佬”這樣”番鬼佬”那樣。但後來發現”鬼”來”鬼”去，有點貶意，所以就不用”鬼”了。現在，因為大家都是加拿大人，就免了鬼鬼聲了。

小時候，不喜歡看恐怖鬼電影，每次看時，都有點怕怕。(例如好怕The Omen.)所以最近一次看午夜場恐怖電影是因為有朋友在戲中演出，所以才去看。

請看其他兩周一聚網友文章。

“潮州” 卥水鴨

最近在朋友家中吃了很好味的潮州卥水鴨，之後請教了朋友怎樣去做，我就膽大大的跑去做。”潮州”不”潮州”，很難說，不過C$8一隻的”utility”鴨(朋友解釋 “utility duck” 是身體不全的鴨，買之後才知道)，做出來的卥水鴨，味道還不太差。

I’m sure it will look and taste better after a few more tries.

保衛加拿大、國會和民主

Source: “Explaining the danger of an unjust and partisan prorogation to Chinese-Canadians“

As a steering committee member of the Calgarians Against Proroguing Parliament Facebook group and organizer of the Calgary anit-prorogation rally, and a Canadian with the ability to communicate in Chinese, I felt it was my responsibility to explain to my fellow Chinese-Canadians the danger of an unjust and partisan prorogation (shutdown) of Parliament.

Now, allow me to first sink to mr stephen harper‘s calculating and manipulating level for a moment. stephen harper is a good strategist that has been courting the Chinese votes for years. So it is extremely important to let Chinese-Canadians understand the danger and seriousness of a prime minister that is willing to shutdown Parliament to avoid being held accountable by the Parliament.

The prime minister is accountable to the Parliament, NOT the other way around. harper may be the prime minister, but WE are his BOSS!

The sad irony is that many Chinese left mainland China and Hong Kong where they had no way to hold their governments accountable. In a sad and twisted irony, even the Hong Kong government DID NOT dare to shutdown the Legislative Council to avoid being held accountable by the legislators. In the last few days, some HK legislators have been challenging the rotten core foundation of the Hong Kong political system. And YET the HK Legislative Council is open for business!

It breaks the hearts of many Canadians with Hong Kong and Chinese connections to see our beloved Canada, thanks to stephen harper, is now even LESS democratic than Hong Kong.

The following is a video of the OMNI news report of Jan 23rd, 2010, rally in Calgary (more blog entries about the Calgary and other protests here, here, here, here, and here).

And a video of the Calgary rally,

給老板的生日禮物

老板今年大壽，心想老板對物質的東西不會缺小，所以我特別寫了這一篇文章作為老板生日禮物的一部份，希望老板看到後會笑一笑，那我便心滿意足了。

*******

我跟老板搵食有幾十年了，老板是個英明又話頭醒尾的人。每每客人說一句走一步，老板就已經可以幫客人想要做兩三步的工夫，可以話老板辦事你放心，個個客人都滿意那種。辦事絕對有交帶。同現下所謂”讀過點書”的年青人冇得比。

老板有時也很有火氣，我和其他同事如果”馬馬夫夫”了一點，老板便會疾惡如仇地拿我和其他”馬馬夫夫”的同事教訓一大吓。久而久之，現在如我有事要辦的話，我也練成有做到一百五十分的習慣。像是怕老板聽到我”馬馬夫夫”的話，又會被教訓一大吓似的。

除了辦事之外，老板更可以算是半個”外交高手”，廣結天下各階層的朋友。我跟老板多年，看得多，老板對待人從來是對真心相待的。久而久之，我也學得知道如何真心相待別人的一招半式。對，我在別人網誌上留言，便常常出發於老板的間接教誨。如我可以容易地幫其他網友一吓的話，何樂而不為呢？

祝老板福如東海，壽比南山，生曰快樂，年年有今日，歲歲有今朝，長命百千歲，讓我和其他人可以從你身上多多學習學習。

祝老板生活愉快，身體健康！

中、英、瑞典文翻譯、傳譯、編輯

幫朋友貼的廣告。

找周游。”廣告文案、配音、宣傳撰稿、專題訪問，任何以文字向貴客戶群伸手者。[...] 中、英、瑞典文翻譯、傳譯、編輯。”

HK Democracy: The Siege of LegCo

My friend Daisann has an insightful first hand account and commentary of The Siege of HK Legislative Council on Jan 16, 2010. The HK government and some HK citizens may not realize it yet, but this protest and rally may be the turning point of the road to democracy for HK. Here is Daisann concluding comment (emphasis and link added),

As the dust settles, it’s looks like the pan-Democrats won’t have to struggle to make the argument for real political reform in Hong Kong when they resign in the five district referendum scheme later this month. The Siege of Legco–and the inspired, tactically savvy troops of the baat sap hauh [Post-80s] –have done the heavy lifting for them.

The following two videos are in Cantonese, for the record.

「兩周一聚」(30): 三件事情

“今天曾令你快樂的三件事情，再寫明天你最期待的另外三件事。”

今天已經是一月十六日了，所以這次寫原定十五日刊登的文章，寫上來易了一點。

一月十五日(星期五)令我快樂的三件事情：

1. 每晚回到家中的感覺。
2. 在圖書館借了very sweet的Miss Potter DVD來看，從而認識到The Tale of Peter Rabbit的作者Beatrix Potter.
3. 與一班相識十多年的朋友pot luck大食會，東西好吃。特別喜歡滷水鴨，請教了朋友怎樣制作，我會找機會試試做。另再見到其中一位早前病了的朋友，身體開始健康得多了，為他高興。

一月十六日(星期六)令我快樂的三件事情：

1. 好味早點(公仔鮮蝦腸粉)。
2. 找到Beatrix Potter的The Tale of Peter Rabbit(早期版本)來看。
3. 寫「兩周一聚」(30): 三件事情。 :)

其他「兩周一聚」網友同題作品。

谷歌重拾骨氣

As a result of Goolge’s decision and likely exit from China, some people decided to deliver flowers to Google.cn.

For the last few years, I have little respect for Google’s way of operating in China. Today, Google has regained a portion of my lost respect. It is probably to early to draw a conclusion. Lets see what happen in the next few days.

Google attacked and likely to exit China

Here is an excerpt from an entry posted by David Drummond, Google Chief Legal Officer on Google’s official blog (emphasis added),

First, this attack was not just on Google. As part of our investigation we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses–including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors–have been similarly targeted. We are currently in the process of notifying those companies, and we are also working with the relevant U.S. authorities.

Second, we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective. Only two Gmail accounts appear to have been accessed, and that activity was limited to account information (such as the date the account was created) and subject line, rather than the content of emails themselves.

Third, as part of this investigation but independent of the attack on Google, we have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties. These accounts have not been accessed through any security breach at Google, but most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on the users’ computers.

[...] We launched Google.cn in January 2006 in the belief that the benefits of increased access to information for people in China and a more open Internet outweighed our discomfort in agreeing to censor some results. At the time we made clear that “we will carefully monitor conditions in China, including new laws and other restrictions on our services. If we determine that we are unable to achieve the objectives outlined we will not hesitate to reconsider our approach to China.“

These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered–combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web–have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. [*****] We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China. [*****]

The decision to review our business operations in China has been incredibly hard, and we know that it will have potentially far-reaching consequences. We want to make clear that this move was driven by our executives in the United States, without the knowledge or involvement of our employees in China who have worked incredibly hard to make Google.cn the success it is today. We are committed to working responsibly to resolve the very difficult issues raised.

An excerpt from WSJ “Google Warns of China Exit” (emphasis added),

“For Google to withdraw from China would be an extremely rare repudiation by a Western company of what is almost universally seen in business circles as one of the world’s most important markets. The country has 338 million Internet users as of June, more than any other country. Even the public suggestion that it is considering such a move is likely to infuriate Chinese authorities. Google’s statement could complicate matters for other tech companies sensitive to being seen as [****] accomplices of the Chinese government. [****]“

More reports in Wired, CNet, ZDnet.

Congrats to Google for regaining its backbone in China! And I also agree with ZDnet in saying “Bravo! Google takes a stand for human rights in China”.

80後 – 鏗鏘集: 反叛有理

看到鏗鏘集: 反叛有理的80後年輕人，突然令我感受到香港的年輕人不再只是將自己利益放在其他人之上了。他們的行動和想法未必全對，未必全能令老一輩的人所接受。但關心社會始終是改進社會的第一步。

祝願80後、70後能開始一步一步的建立一個更美好的香港。

鏗鏘集: 反叛有理

過去一年，在媒體眾多示威遊行報道之中，多了批新面孔：他們會操上政務司司長官邸抗議司長在立法會就政改發表的言論，他們亦會攻佔政府總部通宵靜坐反對興建高鐵，直至警方武力清場。他們反權威，不依附政黨。他們年青、二十多歲、活躍於互聯網討論社會問題、以至組織行動。

「我不認為太激進，我們只是表達訴求。」
「我不是反社會，我們要的是全民直選。」
「我們不耐煩。」
「我不要權威。」
「我有我的看法。」
「說到底，我要的是自主。」

年青的一輩在說話，社會可會聽？

君自故鄉來，應知故鄉事

黄宏發先生翻譯了王維的詩

1 君自故鄉來
2 應知故鄉事
3 來日绮窗前
4 寒梅著花未

成為英文，很有趣味，值得一讀。

蘋論：以晉惠帝思維怎樣了解 80後？

For the record, including a link to “財政司司長曾俊華在他網誌發表的文章“.

蘋論：以晉惠帝思維怎樣了解 80後？(李怡)
2010年01月06日

「 80後」是目前香港的熱門話題。元旦遊行少了許多一家三口溫和示威的中產人士，卻多了許多激進年輕人。這些年輕人都是 1980年後出生，有的更是 1990年後出生的「 90後」。人數比主辦單位估計的一萬人多得多，達三萬多人。他們多是無組織的每天上網的年輕人，憑一條訊息就聚集共同行動。

政黨中除了社民連對這些年輕人予以認同之外，其他政黨多批評他們不理性，衝動，民主黨還忙於要同他們劃清界線。據聞內地主管香港事務的人已向香港政界收風，關心這些 80後年輕人的訴求以及他們是否背後有政黨操控；曾特首據說也關心這一股年輕怒火在升溫，指令對 80後的出現背景、面對的困境展開研究。

這時候，財政司司長曾俊華在他的網誌發表文章，說香港 80後的第四代人「最關注的可能是物業會所有甚麼設施，泳池有多大，私隱度是否足夠等等」，指 80後的一代並非沒有機會，而是要求過高。

曾司長的話，無法不令人想到一千七百多年前的晉惠帝，在聽到臣下報告天災連連，百姓沒飯吃活活餓死時，他說，沒有飯吃，怎麼不吃碎肉粥呢？這句「何不食肉糜？」就成了當權者嚴重脫離民情的千古名句。

要了解 80後的一代，必須易地而處地去想想這些年輕人的處境，他們並不是如高官的子女，可以出國留學，並且回港有門路進入大機構任高職。 80後的一代，受學校教育的比例是多了，但並不等於有更多出路，

科學精神

讀到朋友湯先生一篇說儒家思想的文章，雖不同意其中一些論點，但其中一段說到”科學精神”，很有意思，這裡節錄與大家分享，

科學精神，有它應用的領域，但不是隨處可用。人情不能說科學精神；藝術欣賞不能說科學精神；科學書籍可以說科學精神，但文學作品便不可說科學精神。如果人的生活只有科學精神，則這人只是一個機械人，或一堆腐肉而已。它只有物質的特性，那有甚麽精神？作者稱「科學講求的是絕對精確」。這證明作者絕對沒有科學思想，只是充作行家而已。事實上，所有科學家與及稍有科學頭腦的人，都知到任何量度，都不會絕對精確，最多只是相對精確而已。例如作者所崇拜的牧師，準八時出席主人宴會，他只是在七時五十九分半，至八時零半分之間 (Correct to the nearest minute) 到步而已。那裏是絕對精確！假如人客有十人或百人，排隊入門也要很長時間，怎能絶對精確準時？太空船回地球，它的飛行速度、角度和高度，在某一誤差範圍內，仍可返回地球。最多這誤差範圍是縮小了，卻非絕對精確。科學精神，絕不求絕對，也無法求絕對；是容許一點差錯的。世界最準確的電子鐘，千萬年後，也有差錯呀！那能絕對？

給香港的信 – 余若薇：劉曉波事件最大啟發，港人將失言論自由

Ms. Audrey Eu, Hong Kong Legislator, shares her insight about the harsh 11 year prison term of Liu Xiao Bo, the pending “de facto referendum”, and the implication of Liu’s sentence in Jan 3rd, 2010 RTHK radio program “Letter to Hong Kong” (audio program with text).

*******

I am enclosing Ms. Audrey Eu’s letter to Hong Kong here for the record. Emphasis and comments added.

*******

It was especially cold last Christmas, not because the Copenhagen conference succeeded in halting global warming, but because the well known dissident Liu Xiao Bo was given a harsh 11 year prison term on charges of inciting subversion of the State, and stripped of his political rights for 2 years.

The fact that he was held for a year and then dealt a harsh sentence on Christmas Day, a day traditionally for peace and celebration, seems like a cruel joke that China is intent on playing with the rest of the world. [Kempton's note: This is China's way of saying "F*** You" to the world. Or "財大氣粗", a rich man's ability to ignore the world.]

Liu was charged with co-authoring the 08 Charter and disseminating 6 articles. The 6000 words judgment mainly consists of evidence which is not in dispute, namely he wrote and disseminated the documents in question, but it carries no explanation as to how this contravenes the Criminal Code. The critical part of the judgment is but one tenth of its length. It mentions 4 provisions of the Criminal Code without stating what they are, let alone explain how they apply. [Kempton's note: To those who claim China has a good legal system, I don't know how can they kid themselves.] It says the writings spread quickly and widely on the internet and thus goes beyond the bounds of freedom of speech and amounts to a serious crime that justifies a heavy sentence. There is no explanation of where lies the boundary of freedom of speech, who has been incited to do what or what harm the State has come to, or how Liu’s act is different from the tens of thousands who have co-signed the Charter. Anyone who has illusions that a strong China means a modern China should wake up.

女人錢容易賺的心理科學解釋

“女人錢容易賺”這句老生常談，用的人多，真正說話有事實或科學根據的小。

我試試將”The Gender Surcharge“原文的一部份用Google加小小人腦翻譯如下，以方便愛睇中文的讀者。

*******

“在2010年1月的消費者報告(Consumer Report)有一篇肯定會導致一些人憤怒的文章。 “走進任何藥房，你會看到除了一分別就似乎是雙胞胎的：一種是女人用的，另一樣是男人用的。我們發現，針對婦女的產品：通過包裝，盒上的說明，或名稱，費用可能較同類男士產品貴了百分之五十以上。“

例如，男士Barbasol剃鬚膏費用 1.69美元。 較小較輕的女士版產品售價為 2.49美元。妮維雅(Nivea)沐浴露，男士版為 5.49美元，同樣大小的容器女士版產品為7.49美元。四包裝的男性錫克(Schick Quattro)剃刀是$ 10.49，女性10.99美元。消費者報告(CR)發現，最大的差別是為 Neutragena眼霜，男士版9.99元和女士版14.99美元。

即使價格似乎一樣的，其實也不是。男士和女士Degree牌止汗用品售價為3.59美元- 但男士版含2.7盎司而女士版則只含2.6盎司。甚至當產品似乎是不同的時候，其實也未必。Excedrin Menstrual Complete (埃克塞德林月經止痛藥)同普通裝Excedrin具有相同的active ingredients(藥性成分)。但20粒裝Menstrual Complete(Excedrin月經止痛藥)賣6.49美元，相對有同一藥性成分的普通裝Excedrin止痛藥賣5.99美元。

[...] 心理學家懷疑，性別在我們出價時起著很大的作用。

[...] “最後通牒遊戲”是一個最引人注目和簡單的討價還價實驗。一人收到10元要與另一個人分。拆分可能是“我收6元，你得到4美元。”只要對方同意分錢的提議，錢就依照提議分配。但是如果對方拒絕這提議，兩個人就一分一毫也得不到。

[... 實驗結果顯示]：當分錢的人不知道對方的性別時，他們平均會10元中給對方4.68元。但當分錢的人知道對方是一個男人時，他們平均會慷慨地10元中給對方4.89美元。但當分錢的人知道對方是一個女人時，平均就只有4.37美元。

[...] 一如往常，消費者報告對購物者有一明智的建議：不要理會gender marketing (性別營銷)，買就要買較便宜的一種。”

Happy 2010 ! Happy Beginning !

A romantic way to end 2009 and begin 2010! Happy 2010!

From New York! Now, I don’t know how much Toshiba paid to be right up top, but whoever decided to give the giant NIVEA blue hats out deserve a bonus for the free ad. :)