Loyar Loyar

If ever I was young again. If ever I was given a second chance in my life. If ever I were to re-live the good old days again, I will brace myself for a law degree. How nice if life were to grant me another chance to do it all over again. How very nice that I will be paid to speak my heart’s content, even when it is complete utter nonsense and still be paid to shut my mouth as well!
And yes, I am proud to say my nephew graduated with a double degree, BA and B. Law, this Wednesday. He is the first in the family to have undergone the law course, and I am sure he will not be the only one. There is another one emerging over the horizon. Which begs the question, what does it take to be a lawyer? Will the square nerds in your class make it to be the very top barrister? Or, could it be the lot that tell lies, brags and make unimaginable excuses that will eventually end up as a lawyer? I will leave it to your imaginations and opinions. To me, you need to be gutsy enough to tell a lie and then live with the lie without any guilt in your own conscience at all. I am not saying my nephew belongs to that category but I suspect he is near enough to be admitted.

Or, should I say, they are 'willing to distort' the truth and gives everyone a perception that they have argued within the context of the law of the day, 'twist the punctuations' to validate their argument? To be fair, they are being paid to confuse ordinary folks like you and me. And to be even fairer, with a fee they can make your day. Cool, isn’t it?
Having said all these, lawyers do ask the dumbest and obvious questions. It is according to the law, they argued, but when you look at it as a layman, hey presto it sounds pretty stupid!

a. Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
b. The Washington Monument, is it in Washington DC?
c. Your youngest child is twenty one, how old is he?
d. Were you present when your photo was taken?
e. Were you alone, or by yourself?
f. Was you or your friend who was killed in the backstreet that evening?
g. You weren’t there at the time of the murder, is that true?
h. She had two children, both were boys. Were there any girls?
i. The suspect is medium height and had a beard, is he male or female?
J It is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law somewhere.

Guess I have made my points. I am not a sour-grape, and it never crossed my mind to belittle them. As I said before, they are being paid to speak utter nonsense, at least it sounds like it to me. I mean, really, these are the same people who are pass their “Inns of Court” and henceforth could really sound contradictory, especially when what they are saying now may go completely opposite in another case.

And my dad would probably say, “One of my grandsons is a liar …errr…..loyar now.” Haizzzz…….I wished I too was a lawyer…….in my dreams, perhaps. Or, should I say I leave this unfulfilled dream to my son. How does it sound to you, little Abel?

有空來坐坐

I have only one word to describe my life over the last two weeks, and that is, TIRING. I was zipping in and out, working over the weekends to fit my schedules, and without a day’s break. I must really be getting old because the once young body is beginning to feel the tiredness creeping. And it was over dinner, in Cambodia, that my close friend asked this simple question…. “Do you have any regrets in your life so far?” I don’t have an answer to his rather innocent question, but I do know, for sure, I will never win the British Open Golf championship no matter how hard I may try. And I also know I will not become the Prime Minister of my home country, ever! Not that I am hard-up to become the First Citizen, I simply know I will never achieve it come what may.

As I board on the plane to Hong Kong that quiet evening, and after the initial scrabbling and commotion of seats by fellow travelers, I knew I found the answer to my friend’s simple question. It was found in the lyrics of a Mandarin song. I may not be Chinese educated but having stayed in Hong Kong for 17 years; I can claim to have achieved a certain proficiency in understanding and reading the characters.

And here is it, to the many others like me out there, finding an excuse of what to do with life and what the journey usually entail.
朋友越來越多　但是寂寞並不因此而少一點
屋子裡如果沒有朋友來
就好像感覺自己孤伶伶的　站在十字路口一樣
窗外車水馬龍　我的朋友們
想必也在裡面穿梭不息吧
而生活又不情願只有一種感覺而已
上班　只是另一種舞台
平凡　但真實的

當然　寂寞並不代表空虛　
在某些時候　避免不了的寂寞
可以讓自己赤裸裸的面對自己
想一想 我曾經獲得了甚麼？
失去了甚麼？正在追求甚麼？
而答案　往往是在朋友來了之後
在開懷暢敘之間　浮印得更清晰
而心情　也往往在朋友走了之後
才莫名的安定下來

大家都忙吧
連彼此真誠的相互關懷一下　也要抽個空
也許這就是我們共同的悲哀吧
朋友　真的希望　有空來坐坐

朋友你是否還寂寞
有甚麼傷心話還沒有說
請你有空來坐坐　來坐坐

朋友　明天要往哪走
我們都把作夢的時間　用的太久
沒有空執著　沒時間掌握


一杯紅茶　幾句實話　勝過那穿腸烈酒
歲月不曾改變甚麼　只能夠盡興的生活
朋友　煩惱 是這麼多
我們　每個人都在承受請你
有空來坐坐　有空來坐坐

朋友　你是否還執著
有甚麼心事讓你不敢說
請你有空來坐坐　來坐坐


朋友　明天要往哪走
我們都把作夢的時間　用的太久
沒有空執著　沒時間掌握

一杯紅茶　幾句實話　勝過那穿腸烈酒
歲月不曾改變甚麼　只能夠盡興的生活
朋友　夢想 是這麼多
我們　每個人都在追求
請你　有空來坐坐　有空來坐坐

Enough said. I like to borrow James Frey's A Million Little Pieces to sum it up. The perspective of how things look through different colored lenses and how one person's reality may be another person's fairy tale. To me, it is "我曾經獲得了甚麼？失去了甚麼？正在追求甚麼?"

Oh...my love, my darling........

This is not my imagination. It was actually from a close friend of mine. Interesting, outrageous, subtle but every inch of it paints a true picture.

(1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.
(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.
(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!
(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)
(6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake. (7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say you're welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says 'Thanks a lot' - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say 'you're welcome' . that will bring on a 'whatever').

(8) Whatever: Is a woman's way of saying F**K YOU!
(9) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to # 3.

But whatever woman you may choose to share your life, please do not forget what you have promised her. In case, you haven't caught the whole picture, perhaps a word or two from old Shakespeare will refresh some of your old promises.

Did my heart love till now?
Forswear it sight. For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night ==== "Romeo and Juliet"

Bring Your Own Bag

The future of waste disposal has finally arrived. And it stinks. I asked myself this simple question, since when is Hong Kong so environmentally conscious? I am not so sure the general public is prepared to embrace the government calls to support the trend. I say this because many many years ago, my mum used to bring a bamboo basket to shop in the market. Everything included, you will find vegetables, fish and meat all in her Pandora’s basket. Yes, in those days people use to wrap everything with old newspaper. Now if you look back, people then have the notion of shaping a better world. You have a basket to be filled with the day’s food. You also have newspaper undergoing the ‘recycled’ phase, you read, and then you use it to wrap meat or fish. Sounds good, isn’t it? That was well before the damn western world invented PLASTIC.

And, as if without any of us noticing it, plastic inventories dominate the mummy’s market. Think about it, you have to use plastic for almost everything you do these days. And then, just when we got used to using plastic, the damn western world made another amazing discovery. Yes, plastic are non bio-degradable. Which in theory will still remain plastic, (ok, dirtier plastic) in the landfill sites.
What I don’t understand, and I always have this puzzling thoughts, is why Hong Kong has taken so long to react? I remember the supermarkets in UK were charging me 4 penny for each bag I used then. Then, meaning 20 years ago! And 4 pennies is roughly equivalent to 50 cents Hong Kong. Today the same charge will be applied come 7th July 2009. I am not so sure if 50 cents per plastic bag will deter anyone from using them. I certainly won’t. Not that I couldn’t care about the extra 50 cents, but more on the issues of how the community will react to just shopping bags. What about the plastic wrappings of foods? Aren’t they the same type of plastic? Aren’t they non bio-degradable as well? If you are going to push for something, you make sure you go for the limit. What’s the point of limiting to supermarkets when the next confectionary you encounter will have plastic wrappings for your daily breads!
What about our daily lunch-box? Are they bio-degradable? What about the many other forms of plastic? Polyethylene, polythene and polystyrene….you name them.

Start counting, one person per lunch box. Is this more or less than the number of shopping plastic bags?

Not forgetting Char Siu Fan plus soup as well!

When will we learn? Perhaps going back to the days where everything is reuseable seems a better idea, Mr. HK government.

You just cannot do one and forget about other main issues. It is what we call "Some days you get the rubbish, and some days the rubbish gets back to you!"