First-time blood donor

I donated blood for the first time today. To be honest, I was a bit more nervous than I thought I'd be, especially when I saw dozens of people lying on cots and looking rather dazed. I must also confess that I requested localised anaesthetic. Also, I couldn't look at the needles and the tubes and stuff. Next time, I promise I'll experience the pain and to have a glance at the procedure. The nurses were very friendly, and their sense of humour helped. I was a bit disappointed that we were served soda crackers rather than cookies, though. The prospect of enjoying a nice cookie at the end was one of the big motivators, you know?

It's suddenly gotten cooler in Hong Kong. Just two days ago, it was 30 degrees in the daytime and 25 or so at night, but tonight, it's a cool 23 degrees. For the first time since I arrived in Hong Kong, I've been able to turn off the air conditioning. I hope it won't get hot again, except for the days I want to go swimming.

Karaoke and karaoke etiquette

Karaoke is something that some people absolutely love but yet others utterly utterly hate. It's something that I used to absolutely despise, but I absolutely love it now. Those of us who live in Asia know that it's an inescapable part of life here.

For those who are clueless about karaoke, it involves a room, a microphone, a TV screen, and music videos with the singing blocked out and with the song lyrics displayed on screen. While this phenomenon is not a particular popular pastime in North America and Europe, it is extremely popular in most Asian countries, and still is after being introduced here a couple of decades ago. Having lived in Taiwan, China, and now Hong Kong, I've determined that Taiwanese karaoke parlours are the best. Partyworld, the karaoke chain formerly known as Cash Box, is the best chain I know of. The branches in Beijing even have 24 buffets!

I was first forced to endure karaoke in the ninth grade when a bunch of Taiwanese girls invited me to join them . It was TORTURE! I chose a song and waited with dread as it moved closer and closer in the queue. After torturing myself with dreadful anticipation, I tortured the Taiwanese girls with my off-key rendition of "I Just Called to Say I Love You". Stevie Wonder would not have been pleased. The experience was so embarrassing that I was put off from karaoke for YEARS. The second and third times I was invited to karaoke, I lost my nerve and made hasty exits within a few minutes of arriving, always coming up with not-so-ingenius excuses.

Ten years after my ninth grade "I Just Called to Say I Love You" disaster, I was working for the Canadian government in Taiwan. My Taiwanese coworkers invited me to join them in singing KTV, as it is known in Taiwan and Mainland China, and I happily agreed. Why? A very tall and beautiful coworker (but an older woman) invited me to go. I didn't have the guts to ask her out on a date (probably because she was unavailable at the time), and here she was, inviting ME!

A funny thing happened at Cash Box that night - I didn't bomb! I chose songs that included Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable"， 如果这都不算爱 by 张学友、and 浪人情歌 by 伍佰, and I pulled it off! I also picked "Yesterday Once More" by the Carpenters, but learned not to pick certain songs sung by women, and also "Vincent" by Don McLean, and learned not to choose slow songs that can bore peoples' pants off.

Since my karaoke rebirth, I've been going to karaoke parlours more and more often. When friends invite me to sing with them, I do not hesitate (except when they choose to go during the most expensive hours). I've learned that it's much much cheaper to go in the daytime, usually around 40-50 yuan for 3 hours of singing in the afternoon. It costs more or less the same in Hong Kong.


Now that I'm a karaoke veteran, I've learned a thing or two about proper karaoke etiquette. It's okay to laugh WITH mediocre singers, but not AT them, even if they're really really really bad. Everybody in the room MUST sing; otherwise, what are they doing there? But the most annoying rule, the rule I find that is most often broken, is that people shouldn't select more than one song at a time. I'm furious every time I have to listen to one person sing two, three, sometimes four or five songs in a row! Why can't they be more considerate and let other people select songs first? What pisses me even more is when these people sing several songs, then complain and say, "oh, I'm so tired.." THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU PICK SO MANY GODDAMNED SONGS, YOU GODDAMNED SONOFABITCH??!!

Hong Kong: land of the androgenous

When I see some people in Hong Kong, I honestly can't tell whether they're male or female. They're certainly not boys or girls or men or women in the social construct sense, but even when I try really hard to figure it out, I may still have no clue of their biological gender.

For every 100 people in Hong Kong, there are 52 women and 48 men. With the way some people dress and with their haircuts and figures, it's really really hard to tell if this statistic is true.

More and more girls, for example, really look like boys. They may wear baggy pants or pants with a billion pockets. They may cut their hair short, sometimes as short as mine. Some Hong Kong women may have boy-like figures even in their adult lives, not like their curvy cousins in the north.

Boys, on the other hand, are starting to look more and more like girls. It doesn't help that not too many guys here grow much facial hair, and it helps even less that a lot of guys here use sophisticated cosmetic products to maintain beautiful facial skin. A lot of guys in Hong Kong also grow their hair quite long and often keep a "just woke up" look. Unfortunately, a lot of girls have exactly the same haircuts.

I don't know why guys here don't want to look more serious and professional and why they don't get a more cleaner-looking haircut. I also don't understand why so many heterosexual girls here cut off their beautiful locks and hide their figures in very loose-fitting clothing. Are they interested in men at all? Do they expect men to be attracted to them? Are Hong Kong men attracted to them? Am I that out of touch with today's styles and tastes?


At the very least, I'd like to know whether someone's male or female. One way to find out is to hear their voice. However, I don't necessarily always want to talk to these people, and I may just want to know their gender out of my curiosity. Perhaps another test is to look at their chests. However, many women are not very well-endowed in that particular area; on the other hand, there are more and more obese men in Hong Kong, so a lot of men ARE well-endowed in that area. I've found that it's much more effective to look at someone's back rather than their chest. Yes, the bra-strap test. To see if someone is male or female, simply look for the all-telling bump on the person's back. Of course, there are flaws with this test. For one, it can't be done when a woman wears more than one layer of clothing. Secondly, not all women wear bras, so some "men" who pass this test may actually turn out to be flat-chested women. Thirdly, perhaps some men like to wear bras, or "mansieres", according to Frank Constanza from Seinfeld. Oh, I guess the bra-strap test isn't that effective after all.

Feeling lousy

I feel really really lousy today because I've inconvenienced my parents. The couple whose wedding I attended in Beijing asked me for a favour: they asked me to ask my parents to pick up some of their belongings in Vancouver, including a bicycle and a few boxes, and to store it for a couple of months. My parents obliged, but were shocked to find that there was not one bicycle, but two, and there weren't just a few boxes, but 14 boxes! My dad wasn't pleased. My mom isn't amused either. I feel like shit because space is already at a premium in my house. I also feel terrible because my parents, who are almost 60, had to load and unload these boxes.

Why do I feel like people are taking advantage of me and my family at every turn? Oh yeah, I've been clearing out my inbox, and found a week-old email from the married guy in which he asks me to proofread his CV and cover letter. I can't believe this guy. He earns 18,000 yuan a month PROOFREADING financial statements and reports for a Big Four accounting firm and he asks ME to proofread something for him? Oh yes, he's asked me to proofread things for him before, and I must say that his English SUCKS! Yes, I'm jealous. Very very jealous. The People's Daily offered me 4,600 yuan a month for the same kind of work. At Ruder Finn, I started out proofreading, and I was paid far far less than 18,000 yuan.

Don't get me wrong - I'm more than happy to help people in need. However, I don't like it when people expect me to help them out. I just don't like the feeling. Lately, I've been asking myself, "why should I help them?" Sometimes, I just can't convince myself. I ask myself, "are they being reasonable?" "Do they really need my help?" "why don't they ask someone else?" "What have they done for me?" "What can they do for me?" Hey, don't give me any crap for feeling this way. I've gone out of my way to help a lot of people, and most of the time, no questions asked, nothing expected in return.

This couple HAS been quite nice to me. They've been keeping a box of my books and DVDs and my guitar, but come on, 14 boxes? Geez..

ABS: Another Boring Seminar..... zzzzzzzzz.....

I just got back from a seminar arranged at my department, the Centre of Asian Studies. My department arranges Asia-related seminars about 3-5 times a month. In lieu of taking courses, students in my department are required to attend these seminars. This way, even the most boring and irrelevant speakers are guaranteed an audience of 6 postgraduate students. Oh, that's not necessarily true. The only way we can get out of attending these seminars is if we have a scheduling conflict. The two girls in my department have managed to miss most of these seminars because one has classes to teach during these hours while the other wisely scheduled her required Graduate School courses on Tuesdays and Thursdays - most seminars are scheduled for Thursdays. Very very smart.



I hold the dubious record of managing to fall asleep during every single seminar. It doesn't help that most seminars are held in Putonghua, a.k.a. Mandarin. You can't expect me to listen to academic language in Chinese and to ask intelligent questions and make critical comments in Chinese too. It also doesn't help that the speeches are never on topics related to my own research area. So far, I've had to go through the ordeals of "The Japanese Economic Development Model Revisited" (in Chinese), "Print Culture and Department Stores in Republican Shanghai" (in Chinese), "The Textile Industry in Shanghai in the 1930s-1940s and its Relation to Hong Kong" (in Chinese), "ICT Policies in Central Asia: Best Practice, Good Practice or Malpractice" (in English, but very boring), and "Financial Secretaries: Their Trials and Triumphs" (also in English, but somewhat less boring). Financial Secretaries? I prefer the kind of secretaries who wear skirts!

I understand that the point of requiring us to attend these seminars is to broaden our horizons, to expose us to research of different disciplines and of different geographical areas, and to learn to think critically and to formulate intelligent questions on the spot. However, I would much prefer to have regular coursework, the kind I had at UBC, even if they're courses without classrooms, i.e. they consist of a reading list/reading schedule and perhaps essay assignments. Instead, my four-year PhD program will consist of three months of required coursework (e.g. "Intro to Thesis Writing" and "Logic and Critical Thinking"), the aforementioned seminars, and my PhD thesis. Swell. At least I'm getting paid. A lot.

My neighbour is a New Age quack!!!

I mentioned my neighbour at Graduate House, a nice ethnic-Chinese Canadian guy, in an earlier entry. It turns out he was born in northern China and moved to Canada with his family when he was 9, so he's not a CBC like me. Overall, he's a nice guy, generally quite clean, but I must also say that he's a bit strange too.

Will is in his mid-thirties and was a successful white-collar professional in Calgary until two years ago. He quit a good job at a Big Four accounting firm to.. well.. you can read this:

"William XX is a seasoned devotee of various bodyworks. He holds accreditations in fitness consulting, rock climbing, yoga and Pilates. He has spent the last two years travelling through Canada, India and Thailand, teaching yoga and studying with many masters."

(Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to indent, so I had to italicise instead. Then again, this is a blog, and I guess we don't need to be so strict when it comes to formatting)

That's right! Old Willy is a yoga teacher! He quit his job and his life to learn and teach yoga and fitness. In fact, he's teaching a yoga class at the fitness centre at HKU. Oh yeah, this guy is in great shape. Taller than me, shoulders not as broad as mine, but very well-defined muscles. He and I are the beefcakes of Graduate House. Well, he's the exotic and muscular beefcake, while I'm the bear-like funny guy beefcake. The funny thing, though, is that he told me he's looking to stay single AND he isn't looking for "fun". It seems he likes girls, but he hasn't brought anyone home (yet).

I think I'm relatively lucky to have Will as my neighbour. As I mentioned earlier, he's usually quite clean and is also quiet. He's usually not intrusive, though I do wish he'd tell me how he feels about certain things, e.g. my noise levels, whether or not he's bothered by my mess, etc. Oh, a couple of days after he moved in, I asked him when he usually goes to sleep, and he told me 10pm. When I asked him if I made too much noise when I shower at 2am, he said, "a bit." Well, to hell with that. I still shower at 2am, and he's gotten used to it. I guess the walls aren't exactly thin, but these rooms aren't exactly soundproof. As a result, Willy knows of my sins. Actually, he's quite proud of me, or at least he doesn't judge me. Well, I'm sure he does quite well as a handsome yoga teacher. Have you SEEN yoga chicks? OH MAN!

Will and I both ran for the Graduate House Residents Committee Executive Committee, and we both won seats because no one else (other than a Japanese girl) wanted to run. Anyway, he seemed a bit jealous when I won more votes than he did. When we were given some responsibilities, he said, "why don't YOU do it, since you're Mr. Popular?" Sigh.. of the 3 members of the GHRC, he's the laziest. The Japanese girl always helps out, always shows up at the events, always helps me prepare, and always shows up for meetings. At the meetings that Will DOES attend, he comes up with ambitious but unfeasible ideas and ideas that would create more work for me, work that he'd be unwilling or unavailable to do. I wonder why the guy ever ran for this committee in the first place.

Oh, earlier tonight, Will cut either his toenails or his fingernails (or both) in the bathroom. He KNOWS Monday is cleaning day. Why not cut them on Sunday? It's inevitable that some stray nail will not get into the rubbish bin/sink/toilet bowl. Silly.

Oh yes, Will sometimes burns incense in his room, and it's not Chinese incense, but some stange stuff from India. I honestly don't like the smell. It seeps into the bathroom, then into my room, though in trace amounts.

Oh! I had to buy a toilet brush because of him! I just couldn't wait until Mondays for the bowl to be clean. On at least one occasion, he even "polluted" the bowl on a Monday, AFTER the cleaning lady came!

Oh, and by the way, Willy is studying Journalism. Hmm.. a very interesting life.

But yeah, overall, a good neighbour and toilet-mate, so far.

I'm no pushover!

I can't believe the gall of some people. Just last night, a fellow resident of Graduate House, a girl from China I barely know, asked me for a favour. She asked me to help her re-write an ESL student's single-spaced page of writing, saying that it should take me 20-30 minutes. She offered absolutely nothing in return.

How could this girl ask me to do her this favour? Why didn't she offer me something in return? What could she possibly do for me? If there's anything she could do (e.g. cook me dinner sometime), why didn't she suggest anything? Why would I possibly want to expend 30 minutes of my precious mental energy to help her?

This is a girl I bump into while taking the lift once in a while, and whom I may see on the badminton court or in the canteens on the HKU campus. Until yesterday, we didn't know each others' names, though she probably knows who I am because of the whole Resident's Committee thing.

Some of you may think that 30 minutes isn't a big deal, and re-writing a single-spaced page isn't that much work, but I was quite shocked and quite insulted when she asked me for this favour. Honestly, did she think she could take advantage of me and my good nature? She gets the exact same amount of funding that I get. Didn't it ever cross her mind to offer to pay me? Or take me to lunch? Or buy me a drink? Actually, I'd rather just have the money. Why spend any more time with her than I need to? Anyway, her friend, the one who gave her my contact information (the Japanese girl who got the fewest votes during the RC election), asked me to proofread her work, and has offered to pay me. When I was in Canada, I helped one of my dearest friends proofread the chapters of his PhD thesis, and he paid me a very generous rate.

Anyway, I told her I'm not experienced in paraphrasing, insisted it would take more longer than just 20-30 minutes, that I've been getting busier and busier, and that I don't want to waste 30 minutes of my precious mental energy.


Oh yeah, two Fridays ago, I lent my pirated copy of the movie Closer to another resident from China. I barely know him, and can't even remember his name, but this guy attends the Friday night movie screenings regularly. He returned the DVD to me last Friday, and when I took a quick look at the DVD, I noticed that not only was it a bit scratched, it was dusty and had what seemed to be splash marks on it. I usually contain my disappointment and/or fury, but I gave him a scowl and asked, "what the hell did you do to my DVD, man? Did you just leave it out in the open all week? And what the hell are these? Splash marks? You've got to be kidding me. You've got to take better care of my DVD's, buddy." Believe it or not, he just shrugged and gave me this indifferent "I don't know what happened" look and said, "Actually, I also lent the DVD to my friend." MY GOD! I don't know what's worse: him lending my DVD to his friend without my permission, or one or both of these guys showing absolutely no concern about my DVD. I've decided not to lend my DVD's to anyone aside from my very close friends. Oh yeah, I noticed something else about this sonofabitch: he sat on the couch closest to the snack table, and he HOARDED the snacks. I suppose it was my mistake to forget to buy smaller plates. This guy filled his plate with Lays several times! FILLED! Lays are damned expensive in Hong Kong, by the way.

I'll still keep trying to be a nice guy, but I'll make it clear that I will not let people take advantage of me. In fact, I'll humiliate such people whenever I can. Some people may ask me to do them unreasonable favours and may think I'M the asshole for refusing them. If necessary, I'll make it clear to them and to others that THEY are the assholes. And of course, I'll warn my friends about such people. Shall I post pictures of these two scumbags?

Bad student reading an interesting article

I'm a bad bad bad bad student. I spend my days reading things totally unrelated to my research topic. I tell myself I'll change in a couple of months, after I finish my required courses.

Today, I woke up at 10am, had a brief breakfast at 10:40am, went to badminton class at 11am, went to the weight room at 12pm, had lunch at 1pm, went to my "Intro to Thesis Writing" class at 2pm, then finally went to my office at 4pm. After reading newspapers for a couple of hours, I fell asleep at my desk at 6pm, woke up at 7pm, then read a book related to my research topic for 1.5 hours. I then bought take-out fried rice for dinner, which I ate in my room while watching a Korean movie that I'll screen for the residents here on Friday night. I went to a nearby supermarket at 10pm, and now, I'm back in my dorm reading more stuff unrelated to my research topic.

Like this: http://www.culturecult.com/art_notes.htm. I must warn you, it's really really really really long.

But I LOVE IT! The guy is so bold! It's certainly the first time in quite a while I've seen anybody justify Eurocentrism. I'm only 1/10 through the article, though. The guy says, "frankly, as civilizations go, the Mayan civilization in Mexico didn't amount to much," and does a convincing job of it! I guess I shouldn't evaluate an article until I finish reading it, but this is just way too long and it may take me a couple more hours to finish, and I doubt I'll be in the mood to write by that time. Anyway, this article is a real departure from academic writing, which can be so technical, full of jargon, wishy-washy, and just plain boring. This guy makes strong assertions and backs it up with examples. I can't say that I totally agree with the guy, but I find it hard to disagree. Perhaps that has a lot to do with my ignorance, though.

Okay, back to the article.


UPDATE: Oops! It turns out I was 80% finished the article at the time.

THANK YOU, New York Times! DAMN YOU, Koizumi!

That sonofabitch has done it again, but this time, the New York Times isn't letting him get away with it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/18/opinion/18tue3.html?th&emc=th

If you STILL haven't registered for the online version of the Times, it's really about time for you to so. But if you insist on NOT registering (or if you don't click on that link within 7 days), then the editorial is about Japan's Prime Minister Koizumi's visit to the Yakusuni Shrine, which not only honours Japan's 2.5 million war dead, but also 14 Class A war criminals. This editorial is quite important because the NYT is more credible than rags like the People's Daily, and even the editors of the NYT believe that "The shrine visit is a calculated affront to the descendants of those victimized by Japanese war crimes."

(UPDATE: here's the same article from the International Herald Tribute - no registration required: http://www.iht.com//articles/2005/10/18/opinion/edjapan.php)

To hell with you, those of you who tell me to forgive and forget about the atrocities that Japan committed during the Second World War. PM Koizumi is complicit in the distortion of historical facts and historical memory. Imagine how Jewish people would react if Chancellor Angela Merkel were to pay her respects at the graves of the likes of Herman Goring or Heimlich Himmler, or if members of her coalition try to whitewash Nazi atrocities.

My biggest fear is that future generations of Chinese and non-Chinese will forget about the crimes that Japan committed in the early 20th century. Too many young Chinese people today are devotees to Japanese culture (pop and otherwise) while sometimes showing disdain for Chinese culture (at least in part), and are too forgiving of Japan's war crimes. Too few young people, Chinese or not, care much for history. Vince and Henrietta, I'm not talking about you, okay?

It's not that I encourage hatred towards individual Japanese people. I don't even think about war reparations. All I ask for is the acknowledgement that Japan committed nasty deeds several decades ago, and that Japanese people are made aware of these deeds, as every German knows of Germany's Nazi past. It's that simple. The war criminals are mostly dead, including the ones who got off scot-free and became top politicians and corporate executives, so there's no need for Mossad-style arrests and assassinations. The danger is the right-wing politicians who downplay Japan's crimes against humanity. They must be stopped. They should be expelled from the Liberal Democratic Party. If not, Japan's corporations should stop funding this party's campaigns. If not, we should boycott their goods. We Chinese people need our Simon Wiesenthals.

And yes, I'm aware that Mao Zedong and Chiang Kaishek were responsible for many more deaths than Japanese troops were. I never said I was ever a fan of those sonsofbitches.

Laundry theft!

Damn, there's a thief living in Graduate House. Last week, I bought a new polo shirt, a cheap one from Baleno ($39 HKD). I didn't want it to shrink, so I hung it up on the clotheslines on the roof rather than put it in the dryer. Okay, I guess I forgot to retrieve it until today, Saturday, which seems to have become my regular laundry day. Sigh.. I've looked all over and still can't find it!

I know, I know.. EVERYBODY in Hong Kong owns something from Giordano, Bossini, G2000, U2, Baleno, Crocodile, etc. However, very very few people here wear XL or XXL. I guess I should suspect the fat guys who live here, or girls who have fat boyfriends. Then again, XL in Hong Kong is usually like a medium or large in North America.

I don't know what's worse: losing a shirt to which I have an emotional attachment, or losing a shirt I had yet to wear. Because I never wore this shirt, I didn't get a penny of value out of it. By contrast, if I lost a $10 shirt I've worn 50 times, then at least I got great value for money. On the other hand, I remember which shirts I've worn on which occasions, which shirts have followed me to different countries and continents, and which ones make me looked damned good.

Sigh.. I hope your new owner loses his/her shirt, and in more ways than one...

Chinese spacemen and their challenges

China has sent more astronauts into space, this time, its second and third. Quite admirable, but mostly, quite foolish. First of all, what do these space missions achieve that fourty years of American and Soviet/Russian space exploration hasn't achieved. Secondly, China has a lot of social, political, and economic issues that are more pressing than the prestige of sending people into space. Yes, this is about pride and prestige, but I think China has plenty of reasons to be proud.

Well, at least the Chinese space program has made SOME contributions to space exploration.
http://english.people.com.cn//200510/14/eng20051014_214307.html
I really do wonder about the "soft plastic hose and air-pumping device," though.

Oily face, oily pages

I'm required to take a class on thesis writing. Though it can be a bit slow at times, it's a very helpful class.

We're required to buy a textbook that costs about $20 CAD. Not everyone has bought the textbook, so those of us who HAVE bought the textbook are often forced to share with the people sitting beside us.

Today, I shared my textbook with the cheapo who sat beside me. He's a local Hong Kong guy doing a Masters degree in Sociology. This kid is nice, but.. it's not pleasant to sit beside him or chat with him. I met him during an activity during the first lesson when we had to describe our research interests to some of our classmates. The first thing I noticed when he first opened his mouth was his pungent breath, which was stinky enough to peel the paint off of cars! We were standing face-to-face, but I tried to discreetly turn so that we would face the same direction. This tactic did work, to some extent, though I could still smell SOMETHING.

Anyway, this guy sat beside me in class today, and as I mentioned earlier, we had to share my textbook. The thing is, I normally mangle my books, but I don't like it when other people damage my books. When two people are forced to share a book, they're often forced to open the book more widely, opening up the spine to 180 degrees, sometimes more. I'm normally okay with this, but not when he has a hand in it. What's worse is that he kept touching his face and neck once in a while. This is a guy who has an oily face, and who doesn't wash it as often as I do. Those of you who know me know that I was my face after every meal and every once in a while, perhaps hourly. Anyway, all I could think about was the amount of facial oil that was getting soaked into the pages of my textbook. I couldn't concentrate in class!

I don't mind sharing with girls. Next time, I'm going to sit between two girls.

Farewell, grandma...

My grandma passed away in her sleep yesterday morning. The cancer she has been battling for almost 4 years has finally claimed her. She's a tough woman - in December 2001, her doctors told us she had only 6-12 months to live.

My grandma was a very pleasant person. She immigrated to Canada when my brother and sister were born, and lived with us until my younger cousins were born. She raised all of my siblings and cousins on my dad's side of the family, showering us with her love and concern whether we were naughty or nice.

My family has been coping well, so my dad says. My dad is a respected scholar of Buddhism, and he tries to help my relatives and my family understand death better. He has made me understand the Indian notion of death - that death is a part of life, is natural, and is not a bad thing. We've all seen my grandma suffer in the last few years of her life, particularly this last year, so we're happy to know that she suffers no more.

I will not go back to Vancouver for the funeral. My dad told me not to. He and my mom have always said that as long as I treat people with respect while they are alive, I don't have to make empty gestures to them when they are gone. Often, it is those who have reason to feel guilty who make the grandest gestures after someone dies.

My grandma would want me to continue to live my life happily. I will miss her, but all I can do is remember her as an important person in my life and to try to be the kind of person that she has always wanted me to be.

People going home

My ass doesn't hurt so much from badminton, even though I played singles for an hour and a half the other day. Singles is more physically demanding because there is no partner to help cover half the court.

I'm starting to find some direction in my work and have thought of some possible topics for short papers. I've also been starting to put in more productive time every day and wasting less time on administrative matters.

I've been reading a book on Thucydides account of the Peloponnesian War. It's an interesting read, and it indeed demonstrates the value of Thucydides' work as an example of how understanding history can help us understand ourselves.


I left campus on Monday, something I still do once or twice a week, to have dinner with a friend. We went to Stanley, a very nice area on the south side of Hong Kong Island, to eat German food at Murray House, a building moved brick-by-brick from its old spot in Central. Great choice, Man. Yes, his real name is Man!

Man and I had to meet up in Causeway Bay to catch a minibus to Stanley. Causeway Bay is busier than usual this week, and will be as busy the first week of May, and possibly during Chinese New Year. Why? It's Golden Week! One of three, actually. While Hong Kong people still have to go to work and school this week, students and office workers in China get the whole week off. For Hong Kong and Macau, this means a huge boost in retail, tourism, and gambling revenues. For Hong Kong people, it means that the already crowded streets are even more crowded with slow-walking people with their hands full of shopping bags, sometimes even towing suitcases full of merchandise, gawking at the huge signs, gleaming skyscrapers, shiny luxury cars, and swarms of people.

While some people who enjoy Golden Week go on vacation and others stay home to relax, yet others go "home". By home, I mean either their ancestral homes or where their parents live. Chinese New Year is when migrant workers, students, and transplanted professionals usually return home. I don't know why, but I do know that it's a tradition, and everyone is expected to go home. Anyway, a handful of Mainland Chinese students from my residence have gone home for at least part of the week, maybe the whole week, to join their friends and families who have the week off.

A lot of people ask me when I'll go back to Vancouver. I honestly don't think I'll go back for at least two years. I went back home for two weeks this past June and regretted it. One week would have been sufficient. It was nice to see my family, relatives, and a few of my friends, but they don't really need to see me for that long. And though I still have many good good friends in Vancouver, my very best friends aren't there. What's worst is that Vancouver no longer feels like home. My sister has annexed my bedroom and has turned it into her office - I had to sleep in my brother's room, in my late grandma's old bed, or on a couch. My parents sold my car, and if you live in any Canadian suburb, you'd know you more or less need a car to get around. Also, I'd rather spend my leftover scholarship money and very limited 14 days of vacation time per year exploring places I've never visited. Cambodia, Egypt, Turkey, and Brazil are very high on my desire list, but perhaps Cambodia is more realistic. Thailand will be a compromise destination, but not a disappointing one, I'm sure.

On the Nordic countries

I really admire the Nordic countries. For their sizes and their relatively low profile in history compared to their more illustrious neighbours (e.g. France, Britain, Germany), they now enjoy relatively high profiles, and are faring better than their Iberian cousins in southwest Europe in the modern world. Though Spain has been bouncing back since the Franco era came to an end, Portugal is still in many senses a developing country.

As with Canada, people don't hear much about these countries. Perhaps this is because very little bad news comes out of these places. Aside from news of the rare political assasinations (e.g. Anna Lindh), we really don't hear much bad news. On the other hand, we often hear about how these countries consistent rank near or at the top of different indices/indexes, such as competitiveness, transparency, life expectancy, human development, etc.

What really impresses me is the economic clout that these relatively tiny countries have. It's a little known fact that Denmark is home to the Maersk, the world's largest shipping firm. Most people know of Nokia, the world's leading cell phone maker, but few know that it's a Finnish firm. As for Norway, there may not be any high-profile Norwegian firms, but I'm sure most people would be surprised to know that Norway is the third largest oil exporting country after Saudi Arabia and Russia. Iceland also doesn't have any globally famous firms, but they are world leaders in renewable energy technology, especially geothermal energy. Sweden, of course, is home to global powerhouses such as Ikea and Volvo. Not only does Sweden produce the world's safest cars, but they also provide stylish but affordable furniture to people of all income levels all over the world. Sweden, with its small size of 9 million, is also a major exporter of athletes such as hockey players (e.g. Markus Naslund and Peter Forsberg) and tennis players (Stefan Edberg and Bjorn Borg), as well as superbands like ABBA.

While Canada has some big and prominent firms such as Bombardier and Nortel, I've always felt that we rely too much on the export of our natural resources. Perhaps having so many natural resources is actually a curse. I don't think we will be able to develop and utilise our human resources as well as Hong Kong and Singapore do, and I think we will remain behind a lot of people in innovation. While some of us cut down trees, others of us catch fish (but only for a couple of months per year), and most of us sit on our fat asses, Nordic people produce very fine things, Hong Kong people produce money out of thin air, Koreans design the world's most stylish electronics, and Taiwanese design and produce the world's microchips and laptop computers. Even when it comes to the export of human capital, the Philippines is known to be an exporter of maids and nurses, India and China are exporters of technicians and engineers, but Canada is an exporter of obnoxious singers like Celine Dion, obnoxious comedians like Jim Carrey, and obnoxious backpackers that sew Canadian flags onto their backpacks. I suppose the latter doesn't really count as human capital, though. All the same, we export our obnoxiousness and our stubborn and arrogant belief in our superiority. If we truly want to be superior, we should stop patting our own backs by that the UN has rated Canada the Most Livable Country in 1996 or whatever year it was and start working harder and being smarter.

The funny thing is that the Nordic countries seem to have short histories, despite the prominence of their ancestors during the Viking Age, though it is true that they have been relatively marginal players on Europe's political and economic scenes. The Viking Age seems to be a forgotten chapter in the oft-forgotten Medieval period. While the Vikings didn't leave behind monuments like the Classical civilizations of Greece, Rome, and Egypt left behind the Parthenon, the Colosseum, and pyramids, I'm sure they did more than raid and pillage. The Normans, for example, were descended from Norsemen, and we all know the role of the Normans after the Norman Invasion in 1066. I suppose, though, that the role of the Vikings are not much discussed because the dominant English and French intellectual discourse on history attempt to draw a straight line from the Classical civilizations to the powerful English and French kingdoms, ignoring all that happened in between. Perhaps the fact that Vikings have nothing to do with Christianity and democracy is also a factor.

I must say that as a Canadian, I really envy the Nordic countries for prominence despite their small populations - they have a combined population of 25 million, while Canada has about 32 million people. Despite my jealousy of Nordic success, I do hope that these countries, as well as France and Germany, succeed. I feel there are two fundamentally different currents in political and business culture. On the one hand, some countries are trying to keep the welfare state intact and treat each citizen as an investment and a valuable resource. On the other hand, there are countries that have a culture of cutting costs and turning workers into bare-bones commodities, as both white and blue collar workers live without access to quality health care, where quality higher education can be prohibitively expensive, and job security is a thing of the past. Since I enjoy my weekends and vacation days and I value my access to quality health care and my privilege to pursue higher education, I really hope that the welfare state model/culture will persist.

The elderly are invading the campus!

Since I woke up uncharacteristically early today (after sleeping particularly late - at 7am - the day before), I managed to make it to the canteen for breakfast today, and even managed to order the "glutinous rice wrap" that always run out as early as 8 or 9am. While eating breakfast at 7:30am, I didn't see a single student there, but instead saw dozens of elderly people.

It turns out that HKU is a popular spot for the elderly to do their morning exercise. Elderly Chinese people are surprisingly active - some do stretching exercises, some practise Tai Chi, and others practise internal exercises such as qigong. Yesterday morning, as a friend and I chatted on a bench outside my residence, we noticed people exercising as early as 5am.

For many elderly people, morning exercise is about more than just keeping fit; it is also a social activity in which they meet their friends, exchange gossip, and chat about their everyday lives. Even in Canada, both of my grandmothers did morning exercises. My late maternal grandmother did some stretching in her room at around 6:00am every morning, while my ailing paternal grandmother, until quite recently, went on morning walks, usually with friends she managed to meet during such walks.

After exercising, it's quite common for groups of friends and for individuals to eat breakfast. Eating breakfast is quite inexpensive in Hong Kong; both Western and Chinese breakfasts cost about $2 CAD at local fast-food joints and small cafes, and under $1.50 CAD at campus canteens. As soon as fast-food joints and campus canteens open, elderly people quickly fill them up. As electricity isn't cheap in Hong Kong, many people here escape their homes to enjoy the air conditioning at restaurants. If shopping malls had benches, they would hang out there, but they're forced to buy drinks or meals at restaurants. The elderly and unemployed eat their meals, but would nurse their drinks for several hours. That's why tables at such places are usually occupied, if not full. Whenever I eat breakfast at such places, I'm usually forced to share a table with people, and can usually overhear elderly people brag or complain about their children or grandchildren.

If I make it past retirement age, perhaps I'll be one of the old men who exercises in the morning and sits in the canteen for hours.

HAPPY NATIONAL DAY! Long Live Chairman Ken!

It's too bad my friends in China can't read this blog. Anyway, today is the 56th anniversary of the "liberation" of China. I'm doing absolutely nothing to celebrate. It's not that I don't love the People's Republic of China, but I just don't feel like going to the fireworks. Actually, even my friends who are Communist Party members aren't doing much to celebrate.

There was an election at Graduate House, and I was the big winner, with 123 of 154 votes. The Graduate House Residence Committee, which organises social events and acts as a link between management and residents, holds elections once a year. This year, three candidates ran for seven positions. All three of us won by a landslide. Since I got 123 votes to my Canadian neighbour's 99 and to a Japanese girl's 81, will I be the GHRC chairman by default?

I feel a bit bad about the Japanese girl getting the fewest votes, since she took the campaign most seriously. At the "Meet the Candidates" forum the night before election day, she answered serious questions rather seriously. I, on the other hand, knew that I had nothing to lose, and would rather have a fun-loving and informal committee, so I cracked jokes and answered serious questions bluntly. I couldn't believe that the other candidates would answer questions like politicians would. I, on the other hand, brushed off their lofty goals and ambitions by saying things like "we don't need to re-invent the wheel here" and "why do we have to do something that the ______ Students Association already does?"

One thing I get to do as a member of the Residence Committee is that I get to select movies for the weekly Friday night movie viewings. Which movie should I screen first? "Closer"? "A Clockwork Orange"? "Caligula"?