茉莉花

For the record from EuroNews, “Chinese police clampdown on anti-government protests“.

PEACE at 2011 HKIFF in March

I am excited to find out the wonderful documentary filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda is screening his award winning new documentary PEACE at the 2011 The 35th Hong Kong International Film Festival on March 28th and March 31st! Check out the film if you have time. Highly recommended. Have a read of my film review and interview with Soda.

Here is a trailer and a brief synopsis of the film.

“Peace
2010. Japan/USA/South Korea. Directed by Kazuhiro Soda. Toshio Kashiwagi drives disabled and elderly people to appointments with his affordable taxi service. His wife, Hiroko Kashiwagi, is a professional caregiver who also runs a nonprofit home-helper agency for the elderly and disabled. While Hiroko visits 91-year-old cancer patient Shiro Hashimoto to help in his daily routines, her husband returns home to feed the hungry stray cats outside their door. As government funding for these services dwindle, the hungry stray cats encounter a “thief” and the elderly man recalls being drafted into WWII for the price of a postcard.”

蘋果日報

When I read this quote, “USA Today is a NEWSpaper? We are fucked.” I automatically think of 蘋果日報 !

一年一度講奧斯卡

一年一度好開心又有機會响電台講講奧斯卡提名電影及明星。今年我認為”The King’s Speech“好大機會拿最佳電影。而片中男主角Colin Firth更十拿九穩拿最佳男主角。有看過Tom Ford導演Colin主演的”A Single Man“嗎？最佳女主角雖然我覺得應該輪到Annette Bening(The Kids Are All Right)，但我知多數係Black Swan的Natalie Portman會贏，因為Natalie真係化咗幾多心機練舞(內行人雖然可能有不同意見)。

重有靚女靚仔主持人Anne Hathaway同James Franco。你未必知James以前唔肯讀書，但係現在叻仔到有幾個碩士學位，重响Yale讀緊博士學位！呢兩位靚女靚仔主持都應該幾好睇。不過應該就冇Ricky Gervais做Golden Globe主持人咁好玩好笑啦。

Feb 25, 2011 Update: Looks like Anne and James are really trying to be funny. See entry with videos here.

“自殺獲救”娛樂化: 新聞自由=你死你事? (致 蘋果日報 re: Fb讚女正被插 癡情男死畀你睇)

為情自殺的新聞令人讀時傷心。自殺幸而獲救的新聞，令人希望當中男/女，在死過返生之後，可以慢慢忘記不快樂的事，會珍惜生命。

讀完蘋果日報”facebook示愛遭圍攻　男子燒炭獲救“一文(見下)及看完蘋動”Fb讚女正被插　癡情男死畀你睇“動畫新聞片之後，我又一次對蘋果日報/蘋動新聞的記者和編輯感到失望及難過。現簡略地說明。

* 因為文中已經指名道姓，就不應再寫出街號及大廈名稱了(欠的只是層數及單位)。

* 如果說上一點是”小錯”，”Fb讚女正被插　癡情男死畀你睇“這一動畫新聞片便是大錯特錯。有些人可以接受將任何新聞，包括”自殺獲救”的新聞，好像B級電影一樣處理，加上靚女相、新聞片、動畫、及”攪笑配音”，製作成為娛樂性豐富的”新聞”。對不起，我的人性不容許我從別人的”自殺獲救”中享樂。

* 新聞自由是一個法治社會的根基。但新聞自由亦絕不等同你死你事。

* 因為蘋果日報在報導中已經提供了足夠資料，新聞中男女的個人相片及資料已經在”香港高登討論區”中的”娛樂台”有各種討論，而”人肉搜索”亦已被開動。

* 蘋果日報/蘋動新聞的記者和編輯們：能夠令新聞中人直接/間接受到傷害的私人資訊，可以不須保護地完全披露嗎？”新聞自由”真的是令你做事不須小心思考的”免死金牌”嗎？”新聞自由”真的等同”你死你事”嗎？新聞道德真的是可有可無嗎？

P.S. I love this Arthur Miller quote, ”A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.” I am going to try to rip off it. “An indifferent newspaper, I suppose, is a nation spreading superbugs to itself.“

Video: Fb讚女正被插　癡情男死畀你睇 (subscription required (except in Hong Kong?)) [update: Someone uploaded it onto YouTube.]

“facebook示愛遭圍攻　男子燒炭獲救 – 2011年02月24日

【本報訊】一名透過 facebook社交網站，向心儀少女示愛的男子，疑不堪遭網友嘲諷圍攻，指他變態。因此深感屈辱，前晚上載一張炭包相片，在網上宣佈燒炭自殺。直至昨晨，他的契媽看到「自殺宣言」，嚇得連忙報警，但又說錯地址，令警員及消防員撲空。大批友人網上發動尋找事主地址，警員終在兩小時後將他救出，送院搶救後情況穩定。

被指變態　留言自述屈辱
事先張揚燒炭自殺癡情男姓蔡（ 32歲），叫阿 Roy，任職電單車速遞員，亦是電單車發燒友，住北角春秧街 63號宜安大廈。警員在屋內撿獲遺書，暫列企圖自殺案處理。
據蔡在 facebook上的自殺宣言，他自稱正追求一名叫 Abby少女，並曾在少女每張的相片留言「正」字稱讚女方貌美，豈料遭少女的朋友圍攻指他行為變態，他深感屈辱，強調只想「吓」對方，並非變態，事件令情緒受困擾，友人及其 52歲姓莫契媽都留言相勸。
前晚深夜，事主在 facebook留言已買一包炭自殺，並附載炭包相片。至昨晨 10時許，友人及契媽看到其 facebook自殺宣言，有人留言「前面是絕路，希望在轉彎」鼓勵，其契媽並致電事主但無人聽，立即報警。

契媽報警　心急說錯地址
可是契媽心急說錯事主住春秧街 73號，警方登樓發現上址無人自殺，便找契媽核對住址，惟其契媽亦不清楚，其間友人亦自發找事主地址。至下午約 1時，親友終查悉事主住在宜安大廈，警員趕至，果然發現事主昏迷床上，立即送院搶救。”

見工 200次

I didn’t feel right/good when I read the original news articles. I read the following three articles and agree they do contain elements of truth/insight in them.

For the record.

“失敗乃失敗之祖宗 – （高慧然） – 2011年02月19日

一個人，見了 200份工，而被拒絕接納 200次，基本上可以斷定是那個人的錯，而不是社會的錯。正如一個人在世上活了幾十年，如果連一個朋友都沒有，也可以相信是這個人的錯，而不是他一生遇人不淑。
如果說人生像一面鏡子，你對它笑它也對你笑，你對它哭它也對你哭的話，一個見工時與見工者不作眼神接觸的人，人生這面鏡子回他一張冷酷的、漠然的、毫無表情的、「你死你的事與我無關」的臉，也就很容易理解了。
「失敗乃成功之母」不是必然的，對某些人來說，失敗是失敗的祖母、太祖母，甚至祖宗。失敗成為成功之母的先決條件是，失敗者必須從失敗中找尋原因。一個人，失敗了 200次，而始終把責任歸咎於社會，不肯從自己身上找出病徵，對症下藥，那麼，失敗的教訓永遠不可能轉化成成功的契機。
那個中大碩士綜援生把人際關係不好、溝通技巧欠缺歸咎於學校沒教。真奇怪，除非他求學的那麼多年是一個人坐在密室中，對着一大堆書，否則，站在講台上的是人，坐在他身邊一起受教的，同樣也是人，難道書本上沒有社交這一課，就拒絕跟活生生的人發生關係、建立關係嗎？一個人，生活在一個充滿人的社會中，而責怪課堂沒有教他如何與人打交道，已經不是高分低能的問題了，是對自己的人生缺乏承擔。這種人，即使見成了一份工，遇到每一個問題，也無法獨立面對和解決，最終仍會被炒。性格決定命運，信焉！ “

“是抱怨還是感恩 – （李怡） – 2011年02月22日

有高學歷，見工 200次都失敗，於是滿口抱怨社會。我在網絡上看到另一個見工被拒的真實故事，因採取不同態度，於是有不一樣的結果。
美國的史蒂文斯，是一個程式員，在軟體公司做了 8年。有一天公司突然倒閉。而他的第 3個兒子剛剛出生，急需工作。一個月後，他在報上看到一家軟體公司招聘程式員，他前去應聘。公司通知他一個星期後參加筆試。憑着堅實的專業知識，筆試中，他輕鬆過關，兩天後面試。

Chris Patten (彭定康) to be named new chairman of the BBC Trust

For the record. See Feb 20, 2011 UK Guardian “Chris Patten for the BBC? Good work, Jeremy. Now for Rupert…”, and “Chris Patten: The Tory Everyman returns to the top“.

See also Variety, RTHK, Mirror and ITV.

***

Feb 25, 2011 Update: Looks like it is almost official now, as the MP committee has not formal power to block the appointment. UK Guardian, “Lord Patten confirmed as ‘preferred candidate’ for BBC Trust chairman – David Cameron approves appointment and Patten now faces a pre-appointment hearing on 10 March“

22 Feb, 2011 Update: Here is an old video clip. Still interesting to watch. “Frost Over The World – Chris Patten – 29 Jun 07“

Imaginary Jasmine Revolution’s real consequence

For the record.

* An excerpt from WSJ, “Call to Activists Unnerves China“

“Ahead of the planned protests, more than 100 activists across China were taken away by police, confined to their homes or went missing, according to the Hong Kong-based group Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy.

The online protest appeal is likely to compound the apparent concern among Communist Party leaders that the recent uprisings against authoritarian governments in the Middle East and North Africa could inspire similar unrest in China. The lackluster popular response, however, demonstrates how much harder it would be to organize a sustained protest movement in a country with a well-funded and organized police force, and with the world’s most sophisticated Internet censorship system.

At one of the designated protest sites — a McDonald’s outlet in Beijing’s central Wangfujing shopping district — The Wall Street Journal saw a crowd of several hundred people gather, along with hundreds of uniformed and plainclothes police, shortly before 2 p.m.

十歲的加拿大女孩Maria Aragon與Lady Gaga合唱

For a young 10-year-old girl, sometime a “simple” tweet can be a life defining/changing event if the tweet was from Lady Gaga. CBC News is reporting that Maria Aragon will duet with Lady Gaga in Toronto on March 3rd. Maria must be so thrilled now. Twitter, YouTube, and social media tools have bring stars and their fans so much closer.

Read more about Maria Aragon in Winnipeg Free Press “Even the Lady herself is gaga over girl’s talent – Local student’s video viral, gets star gushing“ and Winnipeg Sun.

LADY GAGA – Born This Way (Cover)

Maria Aragon performs “Just The Way You Are” on Hot 103

P.S. On a personal note. I still remember only less than two years ago that many reporters don’t have Facebook account and don’t use social media tools. Now, traditional news media often report news initiated from the social media.

Lord Patten 彭定康 – BBC Trust chairman ?

Here is an excerpt from UK Guardian, “Lord Patten expected to be named BBC Trust chairman” (emphasis added). [Kempton: To some people, Lord Patten is known as the last governor of Hong Kong.]

“Lord Patten‘s pitch to win the job of BBC Trust chairman was simple – give me the job and I will stand up to both the government of the day and the organisation itself, if necessary.

It was exactly what the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, wanted to hear – evidence of strong-minded independence, which would allow him to say “this is not a political appointment” even though Patten is a former Conservative cabinet minister.

Now Patten’s name sits with David Cameron for approval – having been put forward by Hunt – and insiders said on Friday afternoon that the prime minister’s consent was expected to be a formality next week.

That would propel Patten into the £110,000-a-year, four-day a week role at a time when the public broadcaster has just asked for 20% cuts to meet the flat licence fee settlement imposed by the government last year.

Patten – aged 66 and currently chancellor of Oxford University – made it clear to both Hunt and an interview panel that he badly wanted the BBC job as the final act in a long career in politics and public life.“

Also see Guardian, “Chris Patten: the extraordinary career of an achiever who couldn’t retire
From Tory chairman to Hong Kong governor to academia – and now the expected chairmanship of the BBC Trust“.

玩死香港人的《芭比的盛宴》Babette’s Feast (1987)

蔡瀾私塾 (2011/02/11)
問題：請問你哪幾套關於飲食的電影最值得推介？
答：《芭比的盛宴》(Babette’s Feast (1987)) 為首選，再也拍不出比它更好的飲食電影。李安的《飲食男女》也不錯，其他的，參照我寫的《最愛夢工場》。

我認為很多香港人是不會欣賞或明白《芭比的盛宴》。特別是Babette的”所作所為”。你有看過電影嗎？你認為我說得有理嗎？

有人將《芭比的盛宴》上了YouTube。有part 1，part 2，part 3，等等，共 11 part。

以下是Part 1

P.S. After you’ve watched the movie, you may want to watch the following insightful New York Times commentary video: Critics’ Picks: ‘Babette’s Feast’

P.P.S. The feast starts at part 8.

@NHLFlames makes fan in Hong Kong happy

It is cool to see @NHLFlames using Twitter very well to make a Flames fan in Hong Kong (ryantoy) very happy by featuring his tweet! Judging from the following tweet, looks like Ryan really loves hockey,

“Took so long to get setup with a club and gear for hockey in HK, but now ready…and so much hockey in the next 2 days (3 diff practices)!“

Go Flames Go !!!

P.S. Go @NHLFlames Go !!! Keep up the good work with Twitter.

品味人生 – 李怡

For the record.

品味人生和細味人生 – （李怡） – 2011年02月14日

不久前接受港台電視節目《品味人生》的訪談 (with video)，播出後有曾被我婉拒過的電視主持人問我為什麼會接受訪問，我說不知道，許多事做或不做往往只是憑直覺，可能是因為看了去年同一節目的影響，也可能是我想看看電視上自己老去了的樣子，或在年輕主持人眼中我是否有一個「品味人生」。
主持盧敏儀沒有刁難我，似乎太客氣。講到一些理念，都是我多年文章中常說的；只是講到感性話題，我仍要強忍傷痛，卻把美麗的主持人惹出眼淚了。
你怎麼解釋品味？是盧敏儀提出而我從未想過的問題。品味，英文是 taste，應該是從味覺衍生的。 Bad taste，有粗鄙之意， good taste就有高尚、富鑑賞力之意。品味常跟人的富裕生活有關，紅酒，高爾夫球，看電視的 Discovery頻道，穿用名牌，衣着不凡，居處雅致，所謂雅皮生活也許被認為是有品味。但對我來說，品味與人的個性、愛好與人生追求有關。愛閱讀，愛親近大自然，愛看電影，都是品味；甚至愛去多人的地方看不同人的聚集，聽他們的世俗談話，從中得到樂趣，也是一種品味。
品味，只是生活方式，從不同的生活方式中品味不出人生。人生更需要的是處世，待人，生活節奏，理想與現實的權衡，在交叉路口的選擇，這時需要的不是品味，而是智慧。智慧不是知識，智慧不是 IQ，甚至也不是 EQ，是從對於人生的細味中得來的頓悟。它有時只是一句話，一個短短的故事，細細咀嚼，往往咀嚼出可能很受用的人生智慧。
《細味人生 100篇》，是我新出的一本書的書名，是從我近十年八年的文章中整理出的一百篇與人生智慧有關的小品文集。不是作智慧的說教，只是個人對人生的點滴細味。

人生最需要的是智慧 – （李怡） – 2011年02月15日

以下是我在《細味人生 100篇》自序中寫的文字，略作刪節。
許多人很聰明，但會突然做一件蠢事，而且是用他的全部聰明去證明他的愚蠢。因此，聰明，不等於有自知之明。
許多人讀很多書，知識廣博，談起問題來頭頭是道，但處理生活小事、人際關係，有時會手忙腳亂，往往不知所措。
許多人非常精明，很會賺錢，但卻忽然被一個沒有什麼見識的人施一小計就騙去大筆錢財。
許多人一世英名，無端做一件不必要的事而使英名盡付流水。
這樣的事，我一生見太多了。聰明，不等於有自知之明；有知識，不等於懂得生活；精明的人，往往也因過於精明而做出蠢事。許多人都會說，失敗是成功之母，但很少人能真正做到讓自己的失敗變身為成功。相反，我們常見到的是：成功是失敗之母──不知多少人因成功而忘乎所以，終導致失敗。
對於人生，知識、聰明、智商、甚至時運，當然都重要，但人生最需要的不是這些，而是智慧。
什麼是智慧？智慧是對人生的細味。它有時候只是一句話，或一段經歷，一個人的小小表現，一個小故事，但裏面往往蘊含着長篇累牘的書本中找不到的智慧，能細味的人就能從中得到一生受用不盡的頓悟。這些年我在許多書本或網絡上，常讀到這一類的故事、話語，引起我長久思索，我陸續把感受寫在這十年八年發表的短文中。本書摘出一百個有關的篇章，雖然都是別人的故事和話語，卻融入我個人的體驗，並已成為我思維與人生的一部分。
在這一百篇短文中，若你能找到一兩個故事或一兩句讓你頓有所悟的話，那麼你未來的人生也許會不一樣。

Why Asian firms are wary of social media ?

Interesting article for the record, MarketWatch “Why Asian firms are wary of social media – The reasons are complex, but at the root, they are cultural“.

祝大家情人節快樂！Happy Valentine’s Day, Everyone!

快樂，從心起，由心生。祝大家情人節快樂！

Happiness is a state of mind. Wishing you and your loved ones a happy Valentine’s Day!

 

Have a nice day – nowTV – hosted by 林珊珊

“Have a nice day” is another fun and insightful to watch nowTV interview series, this time is hosted by 林珊珊 (who happened to be 鄭丹瑞’s long time partner since the days of 三個小神仙).

Have a nice day 第6集嘉賓: 陳慧嫻

Have a nice day第4集 嘉賓:區瑞強

Have a nice day第5集嘉賓:盧冠廷

Home Sweet Home – nowTV- hosted by 鄭丹瑞

A fun and insightful to watch nowTV interview series “Home Sweet Home” hosted by 鄭丹瑞.

Home Sweet Home第3集 嘉賓: 林海峰、林曉峰、林珊珊 (excellent)

Home Sweet Home第2集 嘉賓: 張學友 (really good)

Home Sweet Home第4集嘉賓: 陳慧琳 (I enjoy getting to know more about 陳慧琳. And the interview is better than I expected but it contains some rather silly moments/questions.)

Citibank’s “knowledge transfer”

MarketWatch, “China staged ‘hostile’ audit of Citi: report“