Victor Hugo, 200 years ago, wrote Les Misérables to record the lives of the people in his day, showing his sympathy to the suffered and asking questions on the nature of law and justice. Because of his humanistic concerns to the problems, and his good hope to the world, he was also known as the first intellectual of mankind, that he used his knowledge to help the inferior people.
In present days, we can't need more intellectuals to reveal the problems that our city has. They do not have to dream about a utopia that God will save all of us in the end. However, at least, they have to uncover the stones that are full of germs underneath. And they have to guide our people to where we can be more hopeful and optimistic, showing us what good and virtue has to be.
We have a lot of writers to make their entries to the Facebook. Some of them are really famous to gather a lot of "Like" in a short period of time. But if we look closer, we should discover that their entries are but the ideas of the general public: full of mediocre complaints and lack of inspirational comments. Still, Facebook users like it. (An analogy comes to my mind: people like to have McDonald's rather than the local food restaurants but because McDonald's is better, but because they serve ordinary food.)
I used to post in Facebook for some thoughtful comments on current issues, but in return a lot more people would be interested in what I cook, despite that they never try them. Then I know: Facebook is also a collection of average peoples who deserve average attractions. Those people who are obsessed in getting Likes, let them become the average as well. They don't have to be intellectual like Hugo.
30 Jan 2013
25 Jan 2013
Gradbook
As the end is near, a group of enthusiastic colleagues has decided to make a graduation book to record everything fun in these five years. They are now recruiting photos as the content. I see how hard they are trying to make a fancy and splendid book, however, I am afraid that this would be futile.
Well, we have a good Facebook. If you have friends in this social network, where total privacy is almost impossible, there are thousands of photos describing our daily activities, from snaps during running, a movie ticket or a coffee cup. Moreover, albums about birthday parties, outings or even weddings are not in deficiency. The graduation committee should have known this very fact and they are supposed to have an easy task to complete, for the sake of filling in the book.
However, when it comes to volunteering photos for the lives that are joyful to our class, it is really a trouble. No one except our class representatives are all-rounded to please everyone. Indeed we don't have to. But in this very little population there are a few who just want to watch the world burn, developing hatred and evil. They are perhaps as displeasing as some other people in our class who want to play God, putting themselves as the judges all the time. It turns out we can have few close friends in the class, but many dudes that you never know or hate. In that case, how can a grad book to turn a really sad class to a happy class, without changing the facts?
At this moment, though not 100% appropriate to use poems that describe romantic relationships for the personal relationships between classmates, I can never stop myself thinking of my favorite lines from 納蘭性德《木蘭花令擬古決絕詞》:
人生若只如初見，何事秋風悲畫扇。
人生若只如初見，何事秋風悲畫扇。
等閒變卻故人心，卻道故人心易變！
驪山語罷清宵半，淚雨霖鈴終不怨。
何如薄倖錦衣郎，比翼連枝當日願！
Do you remember the first time when we met in the orientation camp?
Language
Where does our language come from? Human beings at the first place do not know English or Cantonese. It is perhaps until people have to communicate with each other, either for food or sex or anything else, they need to talk to express their need.
As languages build up, coincidentally our world and our brains becomes larger in capacity. Concepts develop and ideas arise. Agreements are made between people, so as conflicts. But anyhow, by definition, our world has become beautiful because of the language development, enabling us to describe it.
On the other hand, it has become ugly and evil with the language, as suggested by Cangjie (倉頡) who created Chinese words. Read the following:
龍顏侈侈，四目靈光，實有睿德，生而能書。於是窮天地之變，仰觀奎星圓曲之勢，俯察龜文鳥羽山川，指掌而創文字，天為雨粟，鬼為夜哭，龍乃潛藏。(春秋元命苞)
You see, my friends, many people in our history of human beings make tricks using the languages to control the minds of other people, making schemes for their own benefits. Languages are the tools of reason and truth when they are used by the people with righteous and just mind, but also the swords and guns when they are used by the devils. We should never give up our reason but just believing in what other peoples say. Instead, we always have to interpret what the external information, before deciding if they are true or false.
As languages build up, coincidentally our world and our brains becomes larger in capacity. Concepts develop and ideas arise. Agreements are made between people, so as conflicts. But anyhow, by definition, our world has become beautiful because of the language development, enabling us to describe it.
On the other hand, it has become ugly and evil with the language, as suggested by Cangjie (倉頡) who created Chinese words. Read the following:
龍顏侈侈，四目靈光，實有睿德，生而能書。於是窮天地之變，仰觀奎星圓曲之勢，俯察龜文鳥羽山川，指掌而創文字，天為雨粟，鬼為夜哭，龍乃潛藏。(春秋元命苞)
You see, my friends, many people in our history of human beings make tricks using the languages to control the minds of other people, making schemes for their own benefits. Languages are the tools of reason and truth when they are used by the people with righteous and just mind, but also the swords and guns when they are used by the devils. We should never give up our reason but just believing in what other peoples say. Instead, we always have to interpret what the external information, before deciding if they are true or false.
Timer
Tuesday I decided to run again, after a few weeks of hiatus.
Runners should have the same feelings in our little town. After all, we will have our yearly challenge of having the Hong Kong Marathon next month. If we are not to make the best preparation before the game, everything we have prepared this year would become undone.
In the last few weeks I had more football games than ever. But in a friendly match you did not really have a lot of chances to run. Sometimes you splint, sometimes you walk and most of the time you stand still and wait for the football. That's why my stamina did not improve a lot and I felt an urge to run again.
Setting the timer, I started my game from the hostel down to Ma On Shan and came back. It was entertaining and educational to listen to the recorded radio program. during the running, and the timer kept telling me the speed I ran. If I had asked friends out to run with me, then we would end up talking but not running, the training would become nothing.
Well, running was indeed a sole game. And I loved it.
Runners should have the same feelings in our little town. After all, we will have our yearly challenge of having the Hong Kong Marathon next month. If we are not to make the best preparation before the game, everything we have prepared this year would become undone.
In the last few weeks I had more football games than ever. But in a friendly match you did not really have a lot of chances to run. Sometimes you splint, sometimes you walk and most of the time you stand still and wait for the football. That's why my stamina did not improve a lot and I felt an urge to run again.
Setting the timer, I started my game from the hostel down to Ma On Shan and came back. It was entertaining and educational to listen to the recorded radio program. during the running, and the timer kept telling me the speed I ran. If I had asked friends out to run with me, then we would end up talking but not running, the training would become nothing.
Well, running was indeed a sole game. And I loved it.
20 Jan 2013
Pi
I had intended to write the story of what I had thought about my brother's marriage. But then, I found them so dramatic that no one will believe. So here I tell you, the couples came from a good family and they will live happily together forever. Best wishes to them, wholeheartedly.
15 Jan 2013
14 Jan 2013
Song
From my personal experience, comparing with the past, we indeed have more songs in recent decades to mention about the loss of a lover that we are never with. That is called Amour non partagé.
Having so many instant messagers and social networks available, people might really have thought that we will be more easily encounter another part of us, or even engage with them. But it fact it may not be the truth. Some people, having the deficiency in their communication skills, can merely talk, let alone making interesting messages to be attractive. The social network, again, is just a burden for this kind of people, for they can just watch other people to demonstrate their affection. But the chances never come to them.
As a result, the market for these sort of Amour non partagé has never been so huge. Everyone sings about it. They actually moan about it. The loss of one-sided love. The imagined love.
Anyway, in the past we did have masterpieces about this phenomenon. Have you ever heard of Dante's Divina Commedia?
13 Jan 2013
Formula
There are, apart from restaurants that serve meals of different styles, pâtisseries that sell various of cakes.
It is a different situation compared with restaurants. In fact it has been infiltrated by chain stores, notably Tony Wong.
Indeed the famous TW has been quite successful to dominate the high-class cake markets, with its artistic designs and marketing strategies. Women's eyes will light up whenever they see the cakes. Seeing is the first part of our sensation towards a piece of cake. So subsequently, we know that the cakes will be bought, and photographed, and eaten.
The salesgirl, not surprisingly, is a sweet girl in the store. Her appearance and her voice were perhaps above the 95th percentile of the Hong Kong population. In other words, you will love her in the first second.
But on the second thought I know it is just a strategy. The manager knows the tactics. Customers just project their images of lover towards the sales, and want to do her good. With that the cakes can be sold more efficiently. Therefore, her face is just part of the promotion that attracts customers. In other words, she is just a part of the plan and the formula.
It is a different situation compared with restaurants. In fact it has been infiltrated by chain stores, notably Tony Wong.
Indeed the famous TW has been quite successful to dominate the high-class cake markets, with its artistic designs and marketing strategies. Women's eyes will light up whenever they see the cakes. Seeing is the first part of our sensation towards a piece of cake. So subsequently, we know that the cakes will be bought, and photographed, and eaten.
The salesgirl, not surprisingly, is a sweet girl in the store. Her appearance and her voice were perhaps above the 95th percentile of the Hong Kong population. In other words, you will love her in the first second.
But on the second thought I know it is just a strategy. The manager knows the tactics. Customers just project their images of lover towards the sales, and want to do her good. With that the cakes can be sold more efficiently. Therefore, her face is just part of the promotion that attracts customers. In other words, she is just a part of the plan and the formula.
12 Jan 2013
KC
Seldom do I indulge in eating, for I think that time should be spent in a more meaningful way like reading or listening to music. But Kowloon city, a place full of wonderful meals, did catch my eyes and change a bit of my ideas.
This place was an old one, with short residential buildings around and a uncomfortable accessibility. But with these features Kowloon city remained its unique features: loads of restaurants that have their own characteristics that serve food that could not be easily found outside with sincere owners and staff with whom you can chat. True. It is all about the people.
The restaurants are plenty of customers but it is not crowded. People chat but they are not noisy. On a quite noon, it is hard to find a better place than here to enjoy.
What worries me is good time won't last forever. The tycoons have been trying to buy all the old buildings and planning to plant their empire here. What the throw to our old citizens are a loads of cash that can corrupt the hearts. No sooner people will give up on their lands, so as the little shops at the ground floor. What will replace them will be the spineless shopping malls(like the Kowloon City Plaza), where only chain stores can survive and no one will go.
Nothing is going to last forever. I just know it. But I am still thankful to the people here that give me a week of fantasy.
Self-harm
W is a sinner, but as Jesus Christ said we must not commit suicide, W dares not to kill myself. But in order to punish himself, he hurts myself.
If W do not hurt myself, how can the justice be done? Others will not know the dark side. The judgement has to be made on his own, so as the execution. There has to be someone to put the cross onto him to balance the right and wrong in this world. Yes. He is in the wrong side, and he has to do the right thing.
One day X (a friend of W) and W talked about a girl who was recently engaged. While X did not know that W used to love her, W knew X did. And then, they had the Roland-Barthes-sque discussion: described the girl from we knew and felt.
X said she was a simple-mind person and love the wisdom and virtue. Not only her appearance is beautiful but her soul is also the most adorable one. Losing her would be the part in his life that will never be recovered. He cursed the man who took away her. He was never a match to the girl, with the evil soul and the cold heart. Never. Never. Never.
On the contrary, W told X: It was the girl who picked up that man. If she was a person possessing the most wonderful character in the world, how could it be possible for her to choose a supposedly incompatible body part to fit her half-body? Therefore, she must not be that good.
X's heart was sunken. W knew it, because he had his heart broken before, only after understanding the logic. He kept this in mind, and cursed the girl instead.
If W do not hurt myself, how can the justice be done? Others will not know the dark side. The judgement has to be made on his own, so as the execution. There has to be someone to put the cross onto him to balance the right and wrong in this world. Yes. He is in the wrong side, and he has to do the right thing.
One day X (a friend of W) and W talked about a girl who was recently engaged. While X did not know that W used to love her, W knew X did. And then, they had the Roland-Barthes-sque discussion: described the girl from we knew and felt.
X said she was a simple-mind person and love the wisdom and virtue. Not only her appearance is beautiful but her soul is also the most adorable one. Losing her would be the part in his life that will never be recovered. He cursed the man who took away her. He was never a match to the girl, with the evil soul and the cold heart. Never. Never. Never.
On the contrary, W told X: It was the girl who picked up that man. If she was a person possessing the most wonderful character in the world, how could it be possible for her to choose a supposedly incompatible body part to fit her half-body? Therefore, she must not be that good.
X's heart was sunken. W knew it, because he had his heart broken before, only after understanding the logic. He kept this in mind, and cursed the girl instead.
6 Jan 2013
棋子
近日與友討論什麼是「收兵」。
其實我都不明白這是什麼意思，唯有用自身所見分析一下。大概是被愛的一方利用愛人的無私奉獻去滿足自己的願望。被愛的其實不想跟愛人相戀，但見對方十分誠懇，便叫他作很多事情，愛人見對象對自己有要求，便是上刀山落火海都要達成，以求芳心。
當然他是不會成功的。哈哈，因此這一種關係便如將軍士兵之關係，愛人的俗稱是當兵，被愛的就叫作「觀音」，「大元帥」，「將軍」云云。說來生動有趣，但當中之苦，當中的矛盾，怕不能為外人所能明白。
無論如何，這事情常有所聞，並非現代生活獨有。君應聽過落花流水之喻？人倫關係又豈是教科書所能解釋。我等只有經驗過才明白個皮毛，有人知多，有人知少。
送一首王菲的歌，叫棋子。俗語說的當兵，和棋盤內的卒士不是很相似嗎。
其實我都不明白這是什麼意思，唯有用自身所見分析一下。大概是被愛的一方利用愛人的無私奉獻去滿足自己的願望。被愛的其實不想跟愛人相戀，但見對方十分誠懇，便叫他作很多事情，愛人見對象對自己有要求，便是上刀山落火海都要達成，以求芳心。
當然他是不會成功的。哈哈，因此這一種關係便如將軍士兵之關係，愛人的俗稱是當兵，被愛的就叫作「觀音」，「大元帥」，「將軍」云云。說來生動有趣，但當中之苦，當中的矛盾，怕不能為外人所能明白。
無論如何，這事情常有所聞，並非現代生活獨有。君應聽過落花流水之喻？人倫關係又豈是教科書所能解釋。我等只有經驗過才明白個皮毛，有人知多，有人知少。
送一首王菲的歌，叫棋子。俗語說的當兵，和棋盤內的卒士不是很相似嗎。
Cloud
Orthopaedics is still frightening to me. In my junior clerkship I realized that I did not really know about the subject, despite being a important part of surgery. It is disadvantageous for me to be ignorant if I want to become a surgeon, but I remained a dumb after the senior clerkship.
As a result I could not easily pretend I know something in the examination. Though the result has not announced, I am convinced that I will fail this time--I am usually right when I know that I performed poorly, although when I felt that I performed well, I did not usually get it right.
The consequence is a mild one: I will be reassessed in a 30 minute session that a professor will ask me to perform another set of physical examination, asking me some questions to check if I really am that bad. In fact, I am.
I told some of my friends about this matter. Surprisingly, they showed me the positive meanings. First is I can really have a second chance to face up with an examiner. It is only in the pressurized atmosphere I can improve my speed and fluency of the examination. Another thing is of course, as mentioned by the coordinator, this module end examination is just a practice. It is not the end of the world (also known as the final examination).
The silver lining of the cloud smiles to me once again. Let me face up with the result. Thanks my friends for the encouragement.
As a result I could not easily pretend I know something in the examination. Though the result has not announced, I am convinced that I will fail this time--I am usually right when I know that I performed poorly, although when I felt that I performed well, I did not usually get it right.
The consequence is a mild one: I will be reassessed in a 30 minute session that a professor will ask me to perform another set of physical examination, asking me some questions to check if I really am that bad. In fact, I am.
I told some of my friends about this matter. Surprisingly, they showed me the positive meanings. First is I can really have a second chance to face up with an examiner. It is only in the pressurized atmosphere I can improve my speed and fluency of the examination. Another thing is of course, as mentioned by the coordinator, this module end examination is just a practice. It is not the end of the world (also known as the final examination).
The silver lining of the cloud smiles to me once again. Let me face up with the result. Thanks my friends for the encouragement.
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