人民幣匯率 – 老少之爭 (張五常 & 薛兆豐)

薛兆豐 - 人為壓低人民幣匯率是賤賣中國

“你可以摆出你汇率观点的理据，但不要说你特别关心穷人，经济学上不存在这种理由，何况你的反对者也同样关心穷人。”

張五常 – 匯率之爭︰世界大亂矣！

“跟进国际货币话题半个世纪，没有见过今天那么热闹。克鲁格曼之流凶神恶煞，直指人民币刻意贬值搞跨世界经济，阻碍了地球转动云云。”

兩周一聚(三十五)：無盡鄉間路

幾年前拍攝”長毛革命“時，有一次跟了長毛跑了一整天。看的不是城市中的事物，而是鄉村耕田種植的生活。要處理的問題應該是農業用地附近有工業廢料污染水源。當時看見香港(“新界”)還有農地，是覺得有點意外驚奇的。小時候的不算，那是我近年來唯一一次在香港體驗到鄉村耕田種植的生活。

後記：那一整天拍攝的片段，在我剪片時給我”殘忍地”剪了。現在拿它出來寫一寫，可以回憶當時的感受，也是好的。

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其他「兩周一聚」網友同題作品。

阿一鮑魚的女侍應

你有過類似的經驗嗎？

開餐三要素 – 蔣芸 – 2010年03月28日 (sub required)

“[...] 約好了人，地方則隆重其事的選在阿一鮑魚，陪客中有位退休多年的韓老總，他一向與阿一相熟，壞在那一天一哥不在場，有位女侍應不知如何，大大聲說找不到韓老總的威士忌，找不到不要緊，還白了他一眼加上一句：我在這裡沒有十年也有八年，從未見過你……眼光掃到之處，好像來者個個是白撞客……這態度一直到遲到了的蘇周艷屏出場才換上另一副笑臉，啊哈，讀者諸君可曾見過這樣沒有規矩分寸的侍應？一哥一世英名，還說什麼如何訓練夥計、待客一視同仁，連好久不見這句都不能說，只能說歡迎歡迎……以免得罪了多心的客人，這些話都成了打誑語，最有意思的是後來老總說隨便拿瓶威士忌來，那女子也說沒有，還是我看不過眼，出外去替他打了酒來。

那餐飯最後是蘇周艷屏埋的單，但吃了什麼早已不記得，只記得裝了一肚子氣，連多謝蘇太都忘了說。”

十字路口

The following is a reply I wrote to a blogger who is in a crossroad and contemplating if a career change is needed. The blogger  has been working for almost two years since university graduation.

———

Hi,

I can’t and won’t give you any advice of what you should do or should not do. It is your life to live.

What I can share with you is my personal experiences and thoughts. I did, for 10 years, what I was trained in school to do (computer science) and I enjoyed those years and I can say I was involved in some cool projects. 10 years of working gave me some stability (financially and emotionally) to go on to try something different. Plus I was realizing I wasn’t aspiring to be my boss or my boss’ boss (both have more responsibility and must have been making really good money as well).

Now, for the last 10 years, I have been doing more of what my first career was not. Including going back to school to get a Masters degree in business and then went ahead to make a documentary (which I had no formal training in), etc. Some would say (including my loved ones) in the last 10 years, I was like a “rolling stone”, meaning I never quite stopped to do things in a “standard” or “traditional” manner.

For me, this process of explorations, trying new things, doing things that I “really” should have no business in doing, all these activities excite me, energize me, and I think better equipped me for the 21st century (I hope).

At the end of the day, we have one life to live, all we can do is to treasure it and use it well, as best as we can. Sure, we all want our loved ones (parents, spouses, friends) to be proud and be happy for us, but if we are not happy ourselves, it is harder to bring joy to others.

Speaking as someone who left school almost 20 years ago, it is good to be thoughtful and reflective and ask ourselves questions. To me, life is something too precious to set on “auto-pilot” and simply do things without asking what our hearts and what our heads think.

Good luck.

Take care,
Kempton
Calgary, Canada

———–

P.S. In my original email, I wanted to mention Frank McCourt‘s beautiful and insightful ‘Tis but ultimately decided against it. Because I promised I won’t give any advice plus I had previously recommended ‘Tis.

最後的五分鐘

“因為我常常干擾老師在課堂的教導，我的老師Henderson小姐曾經每課給我最後的五分鐘。她告訴我，如果上課時我可以冷靜下來，她會每課給我最後的五分鐘，讓我給同學們說笑話”
- Martin Lawerence

訪問”歸途列車”導演 范立欣, 2010 HKIFF – Interview with Lixin Fan, director of “Last Train Home”

Last week I reviewed the wonderfully made documentary “Last Train Home” and highly recommended it. To celebrate the film’s screening at the prestigious Hong Kong International Film Festival on March 26th & 29th, the following is my email interview with the film director Lixin Fan. My questions are in bold, his answers follow.

(note: 導演范立欣將出席3月29日之放映與觀眾會面。)

1) From what I could tell, the film was filmed, at least, in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Was I right? How many trips did you make to China and how many hours of raw footage did you end up shooting? What equipment did you use to shoot the film?

We’ve done seven filming in China ranging from a few months to a few weeks in the course of three years. We have roughly 300 hr of raw footage shot over three different cameras – DVCPRO 50, and then small handheld HD cameras Panasonic HVX-200 and Sony EX-1

2) How did you come to select the Zhang family to feature? Did you know them before? Were you worry, at any point, that they might pull out from the documentary project? Tell me more please.

I traveled to city of Guangzhou for my research where I visited many factories. I strolled around these factory neighborhoods and talked to the workers I met. I didn’t know the Zhangs before. When I first met the them, they were cautious about discussing their family lives, but I revisited them many times in the following weeks and we became friends. I wanted to film with them because I think their story of migrating for nearly two decades. Their story represents the lives of millions and also touches upon many complicated social issues that China is experiencing.

3) The scene where the parents fought with Qin was very hard to watch but ultimately very important to tell the story. Can you tell me what you were thinking at the time? Was it tough for you and the sound person to keep shooting?

The moment the father hit the daughter, I as in another room, my cameraman was shooting. I heard the shouting and came to the scene, and went into the frame to calm everyone down. A that point, I asked myself, shall I put down the camera or shall I capture this emotional moment to give the film a stronger narrative to reach a larger audience and eventually create changes? In such a conflict of ethics versus professionalism, everyone is challenged to make a sensible decision. I chose the greater good, but very importantly, not at the cost of creating harms. The Chinese believe that the world in which we live is not a world of black and white. As the Taoism’s yin and yang philosophy explains: every action creates a counteraction as a natural and unavoidable movement. Also, as the Taoijitu diagram shows, there is black in white, and also white in black.

4) Have all the family members in the film seen the film yet? If you have, what were their reactions? In particular, what was Qin’s reaction? If not, do you plan to show it to them?

I went back to Guangzhong at end of last year to show the film in Guangzhong Documentary Film Festival. The couple still works in that city. My crew member and I visited the Zhang couple again and wanted to show them the film (Qin is working in another province and I didn’t meet her.) The Zhangs couple is quite happy to see us coming back to visit, but they preferred to watch the film by themselves. I respected their choice and gave them a DVD of the film. After watching the film, the father told me it made him sad to watch three years of their life on the screen; and the mother told me till this day she still couldn’t understand why Qin hates them so much.

5) I understand your film will be premiering in Hong Kong International Film Festival and you will be attending the March 29th screening (which is sold out).
If my memory serves me, HKIFF will be your film’s Asia premiere, how do you feel about your film screening in Hong Kong,China?

I think it is a great honor to have Last Train Home to be premiered in the prestigious HKIFF. As a special part of China, freedom and democracy are more generously allowed than in mainland. HK is a city known as the financial power house for Asia therefor. It’s an important link in the global trade chain. I’m curious to see how would the HK audience find the film in their own context.

6) Do you keep in touch with the Zhang family? In particular, Qin? The film certainly ended on a note that the audiences are worried about Qin. And knowing how slippery that the slope she was standing, I am worried about her. Do you have an update on Qin?

Yes, I still keep a close relationship with the Zhang family. I often call the couple to ask about the updates in life and at work. The couple went back to the New Year this time. The mother told me that Yang (the boy) got a number one in his class this year. Monther spent eight month at home caring the boy and fields. The father told me business in their factory is picking up since the economic is bettered from last year. So, once again, both the mother and father are about to leave home for work after the New Year.

The mother also told me Qin called to say happy new year but she didn’t came back home. Apparently she found work in a hotel at a small city in Hubei province. She’s 20 years of age this year, and I think she is definitely claiming her independence from her parents now.

7) I may have other followup questions, but I will start with the above questions for now. Thanks a lot for answering my questions.

If I may add one small thing in the end, I’m working on my next film which is on environmental issues in China. China is currently building a Wind Farm on Gobi desert and aim to complete the project in the next 10 years. The wind energy produced by the Wind Farm is going to be exceed that of Three Gorges Dam, and therefore, named “Three Gorges on Land.” Besides documenting China’s effort to focus on and implement green energies, I want to explore the balance between industrial development and nature sustainability through the philosophy of Taoism; for example, how much control human should place on nature; how far we can go in developing our society as the expense of exploiting the environment, etc

Google.cn & Google.com.hk (蘋論：好馬．聰明馬．草泥馬)

今天讀蘋論的這一句，看後想對Microsoft說聲”草泥馬“。(After reading the following sentence in the March 24, 2010 Apple Daily editorial, I want to say “草泥馬 “Grass Mud Horse”” to Microsoft.)

“此外，北京高官透露，中國已私下和微軟達成共識，只要微軟的搜索引擎 Bing遵守中國法律，中國將會扶持 Bing取代谷歌在中國的地位。”

For the record,

蘋論：好馬．聰明馬．草泥馬 – 李怡 – 2010年03月24日

今年一月捲起的谷歌完美風暴，終於在昨天凌晨有了一個不少人料到的結果：谷歌宣佈將中國網站鏈接轉入香港 Google.com.hk的伺服器，而研發與業務仍繼續留在中國大陸。原因是谷歌和另外二十餘家美國公司在中國受到複雜的網路攻擊，加上去年以來中國進一步限制網路言論自由，使谷歌得出結論：我們不能繼續在 Google.cn搜索結果上進行自我審查。

這問題今年一月谷歌已提出，並即時取消谷歌中國對敏感字眼的屏蔽。這以後，谷歌與中國當局開始漫長的討論，中國政府對谷歌十分明確地表示：自我審查是一個不可談判的法律要求。除此之外，谷歌若有對其他利益的要求就都有商量餘地。

今年 3月 2日，全國政協發言人趙啟正，在記者會上被問到谷歌事件，他在回答中說：「中國民間有句諺語，『好馬不吃回頭草』，這句話有毛病，如果有好的草為甚麼放棄？好馬要吃好草，所以回頭的馬是聰明馬。」

好一句「聰明馬」，把中國民間智慧的「好馬不吃回頭草」的意義顛覆了。現在，谷歌就是不吃回頭草，不願在中國專權政治之下跪着吃好草。但做這個決定，谷歌聲言「是一個十分艱難的過程」。中國市場之大、網民之多及業務增長之快，眾所周知，國際輿論有認為谷歌此舉會對公司構成「長遠的戰略損失」。

中國國務院新聞辦即時對谷歌的聲明作反應，指外國公司在中國經營必須遵守中國法律，谷歌公司違背進入中國市場時作出的書面承諾，停止對搜索服務過濾，並就黑客攻擊影射和指摘中國，這是完全錯誤的。但國新辦和隨後的外交部發言人的談話，均沒有講到要在行動上制裁谷歌公司。此外，北京高官透露，中國已私下和微軟達成共識，只要微軟的搜索引擎 Bing遵守中國法律，中國將會扶持 Bing取代谷歌在中國的地位。

這也就是說，谷歌不吃回頭草，但回頭草還是大把「馬」要吃。

谷歌在進入中國市場時，確實承諾要遵守中國法律。然而，中國憲法也保證人民有言論自由，而中國法律中也沒有哪一條說禁止在媒體出現諸如「六四天安門」、「藏獨」這些詞語，因此，谷歌拒絕作自我審查並沒有違背中國法律。此外，儘管許多跨國企業都以「符合地主國的國際責任與承諾」為名，遷就中國對國內人權的約束，但聯合國廣被引用的《全球盟約》卻表明，企業應在影響範圍內支持和尊重國際公認的對人權的保護，同時不應成為人權侵害的「共謀」（ complicity）。因此，谷歌拒絕自我審查，正是為了貫徹公司的「不作惡」的企業行為準則。

好馬為甚麼不吃回頭草呢？也許是因為後面的草已被它的排泄物弄髒了，更大的原因則是好馬「志在千里」，看得遠，要奔向無邊寬闊的草原，而不會留戀身後的草，儘管那是一時的好草。大智若愚，小智取巧。吃回頭草的聰明馬是取巧的「小智」，不吃回頭草、志在千里的好馬才是若愚的「大智」。

不吃回頭草的好馬，會贏得中國網民的尊重。昨天已有人將鮮花和朱古力放在谷歌在北京的總部外了。日後上 Google.com.hk的內地網民估計不會減少。當然，中國的網路管制可能會給谷歌搜尋器製造困難，但谷歌也會不停地設計出破解的方法，更何況，大陸網民正通過破網軟件的翻牆術，繼續使用谷歌中文搜索呢。

網路時代，要封鎖資訊、限制言論自由，怕越來越難了。上網的人士，眼前都是廣闊的一望無際的草原，要他們放棄做好馬，做只顧眼前利益的聰明馬，他們只會回你一句「草泥馬」。

Google’s new approach to China

After weeks of waiting since,
“Google.cn decision (part 1)“
“Google.cn decision (part 2) and China’s Foreign Ministry & White House responses“
“More Google China photos“
“US diplomatic note re Google China“
“Sergey Brin on Google’s China decision @ TED“
Today, we finally have Google’s new approach to China.

So earlier today we stopped censoring our search services—Google Search, Google News, and Google Images—on Google.cn. Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong.

[...] Figuring out how to make good on our promise to stop censoring search on Google.cn has been hard. We want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement. We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we’ve faced—it’s entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China. We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services. We will therefore be carefully monitoring access issues, and have created this new web page, which we will update regularly each day, so that everyone can see which Google services are available in China.

即時翻譯？市場需求

This article is very insightful. For the record.

即時翻譯？市場需求- （古德明） – 2010年03月23日

問：中共總理溫家寶答記者問，引用古文「人或加訕，心無疵兮」，翻譯員張璐應聲就譯做 My conscience stays untainted in spite of rumours and slanders from the outside，先生認為譯得好嗎？

答：溫家寶這場所謂記者會，一問一答顯然早有安排，否則溫家寶固然不可能那樣一字不誤廣引經典，譯者更不可能一聽就胸有成竹，知道「加訕」不是同音的「嘉善」等。很多人把這樣的臺詞當做即時翻譯，把講者譯者奉為八斗高才，不是阿諛，就是幼稚。當然，真正幼稚的人今天很少。

而那句英文臺詞其實也不見得特別好，譯成中文，其弊自見：「雖然有外來的訕謗，我的良心仍無玷污。」 From the outside（外來的）三字，假如刪去，和原文意思會較為貼切。此外，訕謗可以玷污名譽，不可能玷污良心，張璐用 in spite of（雖然）三字，卻似乎是說訕謗一般會令良心蒙污。
我認為那句英文臺詞不妨改寫如下： Amidst all possible slanders, my conscience stays clear。

問：有英文評論說，香港環保團體不敢正視污染主要來自大陸的問題，又說 Green groups need to stay relevant in the eyes of their supporters. Make Hong Kong the issue and that market need is satisfied，意思是什麼？

答：那兩句是說：「環保團體所為，要令贊助者覺得和他們息息相關（ relevant）。以香港為題（ issue），正符合市場上這個需求。」

林燕妮的盛宴 – RTHK 品味人生「緣是世外人」

RTHK – 品味人生 – 林燕妮「緣是世外人」 (to be posted after Mar 20th, 2010, Sat night)

香江盛產才女，文采風流，爭妍鬥麗。佼佼者林燕妮(Eunice Lam)，常像站在前端，領導潮流，又彷彿位於所有人的身後，看透前面各人走向，代他們說出他們無法表達的心底話。她代表着過去香港的所有美好，更像一朵生於絕崖的鮮花，儘管歷盡雨打風吹，吐艷如昔；看似有點高不可攀，其實是要遙遙迎望才更能欣賞她的美麗。

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林燕妮的盛宴 – 嚴浩 – 2010年03月20日

我和林小姐從前是 TVB的同事，但因為不在同一個部門，所以沒有機會來往。 TVB之後，不知過了多少年，有一天，一班本來認識，但平時很少碰到的朋友忽然聚在一起，去澳門玩了一趟，然後又不知過了多少年，而在這些年中，這幾個朋友再沒有聚會過。一直到現在，我和其中的一位再次因緣而聚，這其中的一位就是林燕妮。講起往事，已經人面桃花，當年其他的人，還有黃霑、施南生、徐克、狄龍、林青霞。這個聚會，是不可能再重複了。這成了我與林燕妮的一個共同回憶。

「要知座上客，都是再來人」，再來人的意思，是上輩子已經認識，這輩子又重新相認；座上客者，宴席上的客人也。人說，生命好比一場盛宴。盛宴上的客人，都是你以前的故友，難得重逢，一定要好言好酒相敬，盛宴過去，即使再見，也是下一世了。林燕妮的盛宴非常多彩，她曾經是出色的廣告人，她自己與弟弟、前夫、戀人都是社會名人，她前夫的弟弟更是李小龍。她的小說、散文都有不少粉絲，她曾經一擲百萬去買一件皮草，也曾去過韓國的深山禪修，她在大學主修科學，她的專業卻是藝術與傳媒，她有藝術家纖細柔軟的心，但在近年，卻要接受親人在短時期中一個接一個去世的殘酷。去她的盛宴上做她的客人，聽她把一路上的風光細細道來，說到感人處，也很難不陪她鼻酸。
（註：林燕妮訪問今晚翡翠台七點半播出。）

Wavin’ Flag, 2010 FIFA World Cup anthem, sang by Canadian K’naan

It is cool to have Canadian K’naan (his name means traveler) singing the 2010 FIFA World Cup anthem Wavin’ Flag.

Here is a 14-minute CBC news report of the story of K’naan – Wavin’ Flag for the World Cup. I like to add this serious note that K’naan, in his youth after leaving Somalia and living in Toronto, has 8 of his friends died (5 of murder and 3 of suicide).

Here is a live performance of ‘Wavin’ Flag’ by K’naan (Official World Cup Theme Song) on QTV.

K’naan interview on QTV.

Here is a longer version of the song.

“Last Train Home” Review – The heart, soul & meaning of “Made in China”

The 2010 Sundance & SXSW screened and award-winning documentary “Last Train Home” is starting its screenings at Calgary Globe theatre tomorrow Friday March 19, 2010. The film will also be screened in the HKIFF on March 26th & 29th.

To me, Last Train Home indirectly exposed to us the heart, soul & meaning of those inexpensive “Made in China” goods and the human cost/impact of these goods through the eyes of one Chinese migrant family. Last Train Home is a film that I greatly enjoyed and found extremely touching and insightful.

In the beginning of the film, the viewers are informed that,

“There are over 130 million migrant workers in China. They go home only once a year, during Chinese New Year. This is the world’s largest human migration.“

Last Train Home is the debut film by Chinese-Canadian director Lixin Fan and he has done a wonderful job in telling an emotionally engaging story and the film was beautifully shot. As a documentary filmmaker myself, I watched the film three times over different days before I write this review. And I enjoyed the film more as I watched it.

I came away with the intense feeling that it is the Chinese migrant workers’ rights to improve their living standards, no matter how harsh it may seem to us Westerners. Yes, it came with a price, sometimes the prices can be very high. But, as I get older, I am reluctant to be judgemental and pronounce the western ways are the “best” for Chinese or other citizens of the world. There isn’t a single way to pursue a better life.

A great documentary makes us think and want to talk about the various issues discussed or not discussed in the film and it will make us care about the people in the film. Using these yardsticks, Last Train Home has succeeded and is definitely a great documentary. By chance, the film included one of the worst winters in recent Chinese New Years where train and bus services were seriously disrupted. And that added some urgency into the film.

There is one scene (when the parents had an argument with their child) in the film that shaken and touched me at the same time. As a documentary filmmaker, I kept asking myself, what would I have done if I were filming in the same situation? I finally came to the “uneasy” but “responsible” rationale that supported my instinct. I would have done the same thing and kept filming like Lixin. There was a story to be told and because of the trusting relationship that was built over months, it was ok to keep shooting.

By the way, please see the bottom of this blog entry where you can read an excerpted analysis/discussion by my economist friend Dr. Zhaofeng Xue (薛兆丰) about the problems associated with the Chinese New Year transportation nightmares (“春运综合症”).

Here is an excerpt from the synopsis of the film,

Every spring, China’s cities are plunged into chaos, as all at once, a tidal wave of humanity attempts to return home by train. It is the Chinese New Year. The wave is made up of millions of migrant factory workers. The homes they seek are the rural villages and families they left behind to seek work in the booming coastal cities. It is an epic spectacle that tells us much about China, a country discarding traditional ways as it hurtles towards modernity and global economic dominance.

Last Train Home, an emotionally engaging and visually beautiful debut film from Chinese-Canadian director Lixin Fan, draws us into the fractured lives of a single migrant family caught up in this desperate annual migration.

Here is a trailer of the film for the famous SXSW,

***

Economics analysis/discussion re chaos with train transportations around the Chinese New Years (“春运综合症”)

My friend Dr. Zhaofeng Xue (薛兆丰) has written for more than 10 years about the problems associated with the Chinese New Year transportation nightmares. In Feb 2010, he wrote about this topic again in this Chinese blog entry, “火车票低价造成了举国浪费“. Very insightful stuff if you read Chinese. Here is an excerpt,

“[低票价造成举国浪费] 火车票价不够高，其经济之恶，是那些用于排长队、拨电话、托关系、找黄牛、扫黄牛所耗费的努力，数以千万人的精疲力竭的努力，从整个社会上看，是被白白消耗掉的。如果这些人这段时间的努力，是用于通过他们的专业技能来服务他人，然后再把赚到的钱用以竞争火车票，那么这些乘客在争得火车票的同时，其努力也造福了其他人，也转化成了社会的财富。但现在的情况是，火车票以低价销售，人们靠排队来竞争。这种分配方式，必然引发利己不利人的资源耗散，而这种资源耗散只有通过提高票价才能消除。应该认识到，讨论火车票价问题并非“你比较重视效率就赞成提价、我比较重视公平就反对提价”的主观问题，而是一个如何消除社会浪费的客观问题。”

Zhaofeng received his Phd from George Mason University and is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Northwestern University School of Law. Here is a link to my congratulatory message to Zhaofeng when his book about antitrust was published in 2008.

良心一票？投以白票！

From “良心一票？投以白票！ – 林行止 – 2010年3月16日”,

筆者的簡單答案是：「投票日去投票！」補選名單中若有自己中意的人選，自然是投其一票，沒有的話，便投「白票」；假如在當局多方阻撓下投票依然熱烈，而「白票」又多於一切的話，那正好展示了港人珍惜投票權利，亦懂得發揮這一票的作用，即使當前迷霧重重，對變相普選弄得不湯不水又或對總辭五子都有不滿，港人仍會以白票方式表示我們重視投票的權利。我們希望政改步伐不再遠遠落後於港人的政治渴求和水平！

選民對手上的選票要當真，卻不能逼真；要藉投票擦出政改火花，卻要避免釀成火海！補選報名今天開始，希望有更多人加入戰團而選民稍後會積極投票，準備投白票的選民先要弄清楚怎樣才能避免要投的白票不會淪為廢票；謹慎投票，這回的白票是港人神聖而非神經的一票！

*******

The full article, for the record.

良心一票？投以白票！ – 林行止 – 2010年3月16日

一、

雖然內地近在咫尺，而香港也回歸有年，可是，香港人對北京政府的特性，似乎並未充分掌握；北京政府的特性是什麼？一句話，在中國共產黨的領導下，中國政府是全心全意地為人民服務。那等於說，政府所做的一切，都是為了人民的幸福着想，而政府集中全國精英所制訂的多元政策，全都出於良好動機和縝密部署，理應屬於無懈可擊。在這種「仁慈專制主義」理念之下，任何反對之聲均被「另眼相看」，老百姓在言文上關心本身的福祉、關懷社會的發展（遑論熱中於政治）而有各種各樣的意見，便已犯忌，因為那意味群眾對政府不夠信任、認為政府做得不夠好，站在「仁慈家長」的立場，那等於「受眾」不領情，反對之聲因而均被視為「搞事」、「破壞社會和諧」，輕者「犯禁」，重者「犯法」！

有個女人要嫁

“有幽默感”地 reposting the article for fun.

有個女人要嫁 – 林燕妮 – 2010年03月16日

且忍着笑，我想徵婚，要求的條件是：

1.身家以億為單位，後面越多圈圈越好。
2.全身能伸展行動自如。
3.脾氣好，對貧苦的人有愛心。
4.錢任由我用。我不會天天買手袋，但想有一、兩架私人飛機，一架不小於 747的，一架中型的，細小的飛機飛行之時噪音太大。停機、燃油、維修各種費用，丈夫得連機贈送。機師和空姐則由我挑選。
5.車子那麼濕碎，不用列明了。
6.要給我私人空間和時間。
7.要愛我的家人（幾個而已）。
8.愛好旅行。
9.要有朋友，損友則不可以有，韋小寶也不可以有，有也是只拍我馬屁的那種。
10.沒口臭，沒體臭，沒靈魂臭。

你可以說，你已經勁超齡，要求還那麼高？須知年紀輕的要求一樣的也未必嫁得到，那我何妨博一博？反正年輕的容易讓人包，我這個年齡，不會有人包的。所以，我要做太太。我有什麼好處？

1.心地絕對善良，大量，不計較。
2.受過好得不能再好的教育和禮儀訓練。
3.受過好得不能再好的家庭教養。
4.見過世面，不會丟丈夫的臉。
5.是個賢內助，亦是個賢外助。
6.我會接受他的子女。
7.我有幽默感，能夠自嘲和被嘲。
8.我允許他包女人，不過不能讓外間知道。
9.他想包哪一個？我代他說親說回來，我會視她如妹妹。她跟我的丈夫所生的孩子都要叫我做媽媽，叫她做姨姨。我會疼他們，姨姨要管教孩子，我則掌控最終管教權，孩子不能學壞，更不能寵壞。

鏗鏘集: 教育系列 (一) : 愉快地學習

I was mistaken in thinking ALL of Hong Kong schools are still following the old system that I was taught in many years ago.

For anyone who cares about education or education in HK, the following RTHK program is highly recommended. It is a hard warming story of how one primary school principal did it right in Hong Kong, a place where I least expect to have anything done right in education.

鏗鏘集: 教育系列 (一) : 愉快地學習

“教育系列

十多年來，香港教育政策經歷多次改革。由推行母語教育，建直資、殺舊校，以至新高中建議等，老師、家長和學生經歷前所未有的多變，但是教育的本質在那裡? 回歸教育的本質，他們對教育有什麼話要說呢? <鏗鏘集>推出一連四集的教育專題系列，探討各界對現今教育的看法及願景。

#1 愉快地學習

「思孩子所思，想孩子所想，一切從生命接觸開始」，在教育界工作36年，有「史諾比校長」之稱的英華小學校長林浣心，一直以這條信念帶領學生尋找愉快、有效的學習旅程。

林校長愛接觸學生，三十多年來維持與學生通信的習慣。不交功課的女孩子，充滿夢想的小男生，跟林校長建立了一生的關係。

近年，在教育界多談論「多元智能」，但是甚麼是多元評估?評估能促進學習嗎?林校長以小朋友好動、好奇、好玩的性格，每年為評估活動設計一個故事，來貫串全年的學習評估，為孩子製造難忘的學習經驗。學生搖身一變成為故事的主人翁，在比賽和遊戲中，透過獎勵計劃，努力學習。”

錯有錯着 – re: 文化事業掌權人 – 歲月神偷

I wrote a reply to 林夕’s insightful article.

文化事業掌權人 – 林夕 – 2010年03月14日

“《歲月神偷》如果有很好的票房，自是好事，可這好事同時證明了一個荒謬的現象，而我們已習以為常到不覺其荒謬。”

Here is my letter to him and I’ve enclosed his original article.

***

Dear 林夕,

I am writing from Calgary, Canada and I really enjoy reading your article “文化事業掌權人”.

I think it is easy to treat a surprise and unexpected praise from afar with excitement. At the same time, you are very right to point out that what the Hong Kong media and HK gov have done might have been too much.
“但成就要被認同，看來還是要得到外國人的青睞，沒有得到外國的獎座，即使在兩岸三地叫好叫座，都不能算數。”

At the end of the day, I am a practical man. Allow me this analogy, if the alcoholic is close to death because of a failing liver, and he/she is now trying to kick the habit by reducing his/her alcohol intake, well, I can overlook his/her misguide rationale for quitting.

Ultimately, you are right and wrong at the same time. If the idiots (the media and the HK government) need the foreign film festivals or “authorities” to tell them HK has good stuff before they will care about it, well, so be it. It is better than seeing those good stuff go away. I support rescuing the patient (some HK creative films) first before doing it the right way.

Regards,
Kempton
Calgary, Canada

***

For the record, the original article.

文化事業掌權人 – 林夕 – 2010年03月14日

《歲月神偷》如果有很好的票房，自是好事，可這好事同時證明了一個荒謬的現象，而我們已習以為常到不覺其荒謬。

《歲月神偷》在今屆香港電影金像獎早已有多個項目入圍，但沒有得到太多關注，直到在外國拿了個獎，忽然連永利街都大紅大紫了。出口轉內銷本屬小本電影的求存之道，荒謬不在於本地的金像獎推銷效力，比不上外國的頒獎典禮，而是一部純本土電影，有沒有看頭，成不成話題，竟然取決於一小撮外國人的喜惡。我沒有對任何電影節及頒獎禮有比較心，那管級數好像高一點的奧斯卡，一部港產片要靠拿了個最佳外語片，才倒過頭來證明這片有水平，本土電影有希望等等等等，是甚麼心理在作祟？要不，我們都瞎了，眼光與判斷力要靠外國人開光，否則就是我們不相信影評，我們只相信頒獎禮的評委。

跟紅頂白本是常態，其實是經濟及商務發展局在《神》片獲獎後的聲明突顯了這荒謬性。其中兩條獲獎聲明真夠聳人，一是證明電影發展局做對了，二是電影業是香港創意工業的旗艦。看來，決定水晶熊獎得主的評審團成員，才是香港文化事業的掌權人。本地那麼多不同範疇的文化人在努力，產品對象可以是港人，但成就要被認同，看來還是要得到外國人的青睞，沒有得到外國的獎座，即使在兩岸三地叫好叫座，都不能算數。荒謬在今天忽然像受到「保育」的本土文化產品，最有資格說行不行的不是本地人，而是，誰呢？無論是誰，我就不相信倘若《神》先拿到香港電影金像獎或金馬獎的話，政府會發言為日益兩制化的電影業打氣。

香艷日記

Real or not, this combination of farce seems unique to China.

香艷日記廣西高官遭雙開 (20:27)

備受輿論關注的廣西香艷日記主角韓峰3月13日被檢方逮捕後，今早被開除黨籍和公職。
廣西壯族自治區煙草專賣局有關負責人向中新社稱，經調查核實，廣西煙草專賣局卷煙銷售管理處原處長韓峰犯有嚴重違法違紀錯誤，廣西煙草專賣局黨組決定給予韓峰開除黨籍和行政開除處分。

今年2月至今，韓峰的香艷日記事件在中國各大網絡論壇蔓延，引起海內外媒體廣泛關注。曝光的日記中，這位時任廣西來賓市煙草局長的主人公詳細記錄了2007年至2008年間自己每天的工作和生活狀態，最引人注目的就是：喝酒、玩女人、收人錢財。日記被曝光後，各地網民展開人肉搜索，搜出日記主人和相關涉及的女性。(中新社)

當我們無法改變世界

Part of this article reminded me of this quote I love. “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” – George Bernard Shaw

For the record.

當我們無法改變世界（高慧然）2010年03月12日

幾個星期前，讀過一篇嘉芙蓮碧格露的訪問稿，這個外貌美艷不可方物的女人，有着男人一樣的高度，甚至比尋常男人更高大一些，身姿挺拔，體格健壯。許多矛盾的特質在她身上匯集，卻又得到美妙的和諧：精緻的五官、高大的身材、性感的金髮、強勁的臂彎、柔美的笑靨、硬朗的個性……外表如此女性化的她，卻一直在幾乎被男性壟斷的電影圈工作，而且鍾情陽剛十足的題材。我猜，她一直是漠視自己性別的。

但別人卻不肯漠視她的性別，我們知道，她工作的地方是男性天下，女性導演、女性編劇在荷里活的比例少得可憐，女導演要得到信任，取得資金比男導演困難得多。對此，嘉芙蓮碧格露淡然道，「既然我不能改變現實，又不能放棄拍電影，就只好不理它，無視這種現狀。」

置身強權世界，同為電影人，不同的人給出不同的答案，有人扭曲電影中主角的性格，借銀幕人物的口說，「當我們不能改變世界，就要改變自己的內心。」曲線諂媚。畢竟，改變自己比改變世界容易，從俗比堅持舒服。嘉芙蓮碧格露的做法是不在改變與否這件事情上糾纏，無視客觀環境的困難，專心把自己想做的事情做好。

一個奧斯卡金像獎女導演的誕生，當然不會改變電影界根深柢固的男強女弱現象。但是，當每一個人堅持自我，而不是急於改變自己從俗諂媚的話，世界終將被一點一點改變。受啟發的，應該不止電影圈。