Yau Yat Wok!!!!! Hong Kong Hong Kong

Yau yat wok (another wok)?

Yup, Hong Kong is back to the health limelight YET again. After battling avian flu 1, SARS, avian flu 2, 3 and now the Swine Flu, the government should, theoretically, be well equipped for action. I don’t know about you but at the very first confirmed case, our Secretary for Health has invoked Chapter 599 of the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance. With all that experience in dealing with deadlier infectious disease, we should ‘try’ other alternatives but certainly not 599 which is to be invoked in the event of HK being badly hit! This to me, is not difference to taking draconian measures to contain the spread of the disease.

Are we over-reacting?

Have we thought more thoroughly?

Why only in Hong Kong?

After years of hospital blunders, mislabelling of medicine, misdiagnosis, mishandling of corpses, inter-departmental finger pointing, inefficient government bureaus......yeah, it is as if we are prepared for it!

Come day 1, everybody has their surgical mask on. I really wonder if we have over-reacted, or the government have declared emergency rather prematurely.

Postscript: Why is it always MetroPark Hotel? SARS = MetroPark Hotel Kowloon and now Swine Flu = Metropark Hotel Hong Kong. Can anyone tell me why?

Err....Say That Again

When you are in power, you can say the dumbest thing and still command absolute respect. Here is the silly quote by the US President over the news today on Chrysler’s rescue plan by the US government.

“I am satisfied with the future but I am not contented today.” What is this silly cow trying to convey? You are not contented today, but how sure are you on the future? Is he a fortune teller or a president?

Here is another stupid blunder. Pointing to President Kennedy's challenge to put a man on the moon, Obama said: "I will set big goals for this country as president - some so large that the technology to reach them does not yet exist." Are you sure?

Nah, we may be a small nation and may be some of our leaders lied or have been lying but we are not fortune tellers. We don’t predict the future, we say the present!

We Don’t Talk Anymore

I don’t know if it has something to do with technology advances or a matter of generation gap. But I suspect it is the former, for I am as usual, a cool daddy. And cool daddy usually can do virtually everything that you may care to imagine in this world. I must have met my Waterloo when I ‘hit the wall’ and ran out of ideas. I have been trying since last night and I tried, exhaustively, all means to copy a song out of a CD. I am not in the habit of making pirate copy but to save the convenience of putting a CD every time I want to listen to the dreadful song, 别问我是谁.

Contented that I lacked the technology advances, or to put it bluntly, nearing techno illiteracy, I SOSed my daughter for help. Melody don’t talk to me the way she would when she was a toddler, we now ‘chat’ over SKYPE or MSN. In other words our relationship is distanced by the advancement of technologies. We don’t talk, we merely type. And after a few liners, she discovers her cool daddy is some 100 giga minutes behind advancements, she stopped the entire chat. “Wait, I will prepare a PowerPoint to show you the correct way”, she said. A PowerPoint? I don’t want to sound negative but is there any feeling in this fast lane of changing time anymore? Anyway, this is what she came up in just under 3 minutes.

Whilst I may think this is cool way to teach an “illiterate dad”, I believe the real danger is not that computers will begin to think like man, but that man will begin to think like computers. My daughter clearly not being an exception. I remember reading an article saying “I like my new telephone, my computer works just fine, my calculator is perfect, but Lord, I miss my mind!” Technology can be very seductive, and it is certainly changing the way things are designed, made and taught. The problem arises when technology has seduced you away from thinking about things as deeply as you should.

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means from going backwards. That being the case, I rather junked my desk-top……now can we talk, Melody?

A Reflection

I am not sure if it was the food they served, or the person sitting next to me, or even the persistent cries of a toddler but I soon found myself drooling into the emptiness of the night sky. I can’t say I was drooling over certain objects because there simply isn’t anything on that moon-lit evening. But I am sure my mind was captivated subconsciously by my own imagination, or if you insist, drowned into my philosophical world. I could subject myself in total engrossment for hours if not for the occasional clicking of the mouse by my neighbouring fellow flyer. Which, in a way, begs another question…….how is that some people have this notion of working in sandwiched condition, 40000 feet above the ground and in an environment where the oxygen level is constantly deprived by my organic farts. It amazes me to see people, of all sizes, clicking happily and submerged themselves over the 10 inches monitor. You think better? You write better? Or is it because it’s the norm! I don’t have an answer to that question but I suspect it has something to do with bad time management. Whichever way we may care to interpret their ‘busy-ness’, incompetence is not far from the answer, I think.

Anyway, piercing deep out of the aircraft’s tiny window, I cannot help but to think how big the world can be. There is the calmness of the night sky and there are the constant flickers of light to remind me the clusters of the inhabitants some 40000 feet below. I asked myself what life can be in this remote part of the world. What do they do for a living? Do they know the world beyond the comfort of their own hermit? Were they there by their very own choices, or was it their fates and destinies to remain in the realms of sleepy townships? I can’t help but to remind myself that I too came from a sleepy township. As I said to my nephew earlier in one of our many nonsensical chat over MSN, it wasn’t our choice to be born and bred in the hinterlands. The only comfort, so to speak, was the fact we tried, within our means, to make tomorrow a better day. Ironically, it is also by the same token that many of us sought to find the peace and tranquility within our soul, in this bustling world, through the isolation of sleepy old towns / countryside. So you tell me……..who in this world is leading a happier life, you or them? This incidentally leads me to an interesting story about a fisherman and a businessman.

There was once an American businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Mexican village. As he sat, he saw a Mexican fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore and noticed that the fisherman has caught quite a number of big fishes that is known to be a delicacy. The American was really impressed and asked the fisherman, "How long does it take you to catch so many fishes?"
The fisherman replied, "Oh, just a short while."
"Then why don't you stay longer at sea and you could catch even more?" The businessman was astonished.
The fisherman simply does not agree. "This is enough to feed my whole family," he says.
The businessman then asked, "So, what do you do for the rest of the day then?"
The fisherman replied, "Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fishes, then I would go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I will take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I will join my buddies in the village for a drink, we play guitar, sing and dance throughout the night. My days are ever so complete and carefree."
The businessman does not agree with his way of life and offered a suggestion to the fisherman.

"I am a PhD holder graduated from Harvard University, specialising in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you have to spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fishes as possible. And when you have saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fishes. As you go on, you will be able to afford to buy more boats, recruit more fishermen and lead a team of your own. Soon you will be able to set up your own company, your very own production plant for canned food and do direct selling to your distributors. At that time, you will have moved out of this village and to Mexico City, and then expand your operation to LA.

The fisherman asks, "So, how long would that take?"
The businessman reply, "About 15 to 20 years."
The fisherman continues, "And after that?"
The businessman laughs heartily, "After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, by then you will be rich, your income will be coming in by the millions!"
The fisherman asks, "And after that?"
The businessman says, "After that, you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning and catch a few fishes, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!"
The fisherman was puzzled, "Isn't that what I am doing now?"

So, what does one really hope to achieve in life? Do we really need to work so hard in life? What do you hope to accomplish in the end? I don’t have an answer to that but looking at the world below me, I can only say “once people make it big, they are anxious that ordinary people don't have the chance to follow in their footsteps. That's why they are called conservatives; they want to conserve the status quo, people who have money and power keeps it, people who have neither will never get either.”

Looking more closely into the window is the reflection of my own face. It may not be as clear as a mirror but nonetheless featured pronounceable lines of wrinkles. Guess it is time for me to go home, and be a fisherman. How about you?

It's part of Chinese culture?

Election or by-election fever can sometimes make a person think and talk utter nonsense. Day before yesterday it was the banning of a certain unmentionable woman’s name. Quite rightly, but it is hard to forget that name. Yesterday, it was a certain accusation of bribery for some independent candidates. Ok, so anti corruption is not completely independent, we understand. And now, part of Chinese culture? I have lived, worked and traveled China over the last 20 years, and I can assure you this is not part of Chinese culture. It is the western culture and if the dancers are yellow skinned, it doesn’t necessarily translate into Chinese culture!

You remember how often it was said that if you wish to learn Chinese thoroughly it will take you all your life. So do not have too short a view. Do not think that when you begin to observe, your can make a judgment on other’s culture!

How can you say three scantily clad women donning blue tank-tops, hot pants with fish net stockings and boots part of Chinese culture? Can you? Enlighten me, YB! It is like Madoff telling people he was going to invest their money in a certain way but didn’t actually use it in that way. Cream-de-la crème, my foot!

This is Chinese culture, my friend and you need it most! Next time around, you may need to change face again! Indian culture, perhaps?

I Believe

Come Thursday, herds of youngsters will be flocking through their school gates to receive another milestone report of their academic life. Faithful parents will form the other group of people waiting anxiously in their cars whilst the off-springs jump with joy or cry in sorrow, the next time they exit their school gates. I am not too sure to which group my nephew and my sister will belong. But I do know my father will keep a fair ‘tap’ in anticipation of his ‘lost’ fortune, yet again.Life is strange, bizarre and irrational sometimes. Why is a person crying when he or she managed 8As and why is another bloke (usually a bloke, I don’t know why) jumps with joy for a simple PASS. Why do people react differently or indifferently when it comes to examination results? More precisely, it is the parents and not the students themselves. That’s not irrational, it’s perfectly logical insofar this rat race is concern.

I had a few liners with my nephew this afternoon, and he vehemently avoided the date of result announcement. I can only think of a handful reasons for his behaviour in what was probably his darkest hour.

a). Teenagers these days behave differently, fact is, to them life is full of questions, be it big or small. An ‘A’ less is an ‘A’ lesser, you just cannot afford to live with one ‘A’ lesser. Or for that matter, a gundam lesser!

b). Expectations from parents. Parents never want to admit this but they have been harbouring such expectations since the child’s first cry, my sister included.

c). Expectations from relatives. Particularly for an insidious uncle who never fails to bring up the cruel example of Waterloo. Will he emerged a victor like Lord Nelson or will he vanquish like Napoleon……..that’s rather a bit too harsh.

I say no more. But here’s something for you. Never stressed out the light, it can be a source of depression if you constantly fret about how the wait will turn out. Get it out of your system, do something you love and more importantly have fun. Buy another gundam or write another blog. The less time you spend thinking about it, the faster it gets to you. Enjoy the once in a lifetime journey. Understand that in life, there are corresponding lessons we need to master to help you navigate for the future challenges…..not finished yet, young man. Waiting is sometimes uncomfortable and painful and yet it proves to be the only way to advance to your next milestone in life, don’t ask me. Try asking your mum.

Last, but not least, stay optimistic. Life goes on. Simply believe that all things turn out better than you expect.

PS. Zee-boy, I still expect you to score 11As!!!!!!!! Amen.

Wisdom May Not Be the Virtue of Some

I can’t believe the Year of the Ox started with the unfolding of a new state government in my home country. How bad can it be at the time when the Year of the Rat saw the Opposition reeling with confidence into the Parliament and further substantiated with two more victories in two by-elections.

What a reversal in fortune and one can only say, “In politics, nothing is impossible.” One moment, you have an opposition defecting to the incumbent government, and then the next instant two of your very own lieutenants jumped ship on imminent corruption charges. And then, without knowing it…….someone joined the bandwagon on a ticket to the state exco. Now you have two state ‘excos’, each claiming its respective legitimacy. I can’t imagine how the ‘excos’ operate but I can be doubly sure of their car park occupancy. That is a case of……. “You can’t get in, and I can’t get out!” Bravo! Kita memang boleh. Nobody wants to be responsible for a hush-hush decision through a series of mumbo jumbo. Now everyone is in a deadlock. Or shall we say……Sink the Titanic?

But then of course, the rakyat is always there to suffer and the expense of their own ADUNs. I am sure we will continue to see the perils of temptation in this state. They say that “money talks”, but it doesn’t. It is kind of lies there, political lies if you want to find the exact word. Wasting some of your money on silly projects is not really important but wasting a lot of your hard earn monies (from the treasury) IS of tantamount foolishness. It is a matter of principles, friend.

This brings me to the moral of the story “What is Politics”.

This little boy goes to his dad and asks, "What is politics? " Dad says, "Well son, let me try to explain it this way:I'm the breadwinner of the family, so let's call me Capitalism.Your Mom, she's the administrator of the money, so we'll call her the Government. We're here to take care of your needs, so we'll call you the People. The nanny [babysitter], we'll consider her the Working Class. And your baby brother, we'll call him the Future.Now, think about that and see if that makes sense." So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said.Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to his parents' room and finds his mother sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room.Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed.The next morning, the little boy says to his father, "Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now." The father says, "Good son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about."The little boy replies, "Well, while Capitalism is screwing the Working Class, the Government is sound asleep, the People are being ignored and the future is in deep shit."

And I have this absolutely flawless plan for the government to implement, as opposed to the current "tricks’ and ‘troubles" they have in mind.

a. Back off and let those men who want to marry men, marry men.

b. Allow those women who want to marry women, marry women.

c. Allow those folks who want to abort their babies, abort their babies.

d. In three generations, there will be no more PR!

Damn - I love it when a plan comes together!!!

And I also believe this holds for all political fiasco. No political stories tales starts with “once upon a time….,” they only holds for fairy tales and no fairy tales is possible in today’s politics. Which means to say our politicians are an honest, moral, ethical and outstanding group of people? I like to say this but I've just spent a week testifying the fallacy within. They are no better than your car salesmen. The amount of promises they say is never the amount they are going to deliver. Whether you get more, less or none of it depends on how well you choose your own ADUN, and keeping your fingers crossed that they never jump ship on personal gains!