Sunday, October 25, 2009

林奕華 《男人與女人之戰爭與和平》

Going to watch this.
Tickets were gone crazily (in less than 50min for the original 4 shows and in 15min for the 2 additional matinees). Anyway, it's fate, very lucky that 'cos of an unplanned event, I was able to get tickets... yeah!

http://www.eldt.org.hk/


文匯報 2009年10月
25日
專訪 林奕華男人與女人 的 戰爭與和平

之前因為《華麗上班族之生活與生存》訪問林奕華,他鬼馬地笑,說自己的新作品,將是「一個男人與八個女人的故事」,而且發生在法庭界(沒有記錯的話)。害得我好長時間在猜想,哪八個女演員會中選,甚至在 facebook 上追覑他八卦。

這次正式節目公佈了,名字變成《男人與女人之戰爭與和平》,好沉好重的「世界名著」架勢,故事也主要變成一男二女之間的角力:「電視談話節目《男人真心 話》(王耀慶主持)與《女人不說謊》(何韻詩主持)各出奇謀爭取收視率,二人的刻薄抵死不相伯仲,卻沒料到張良計與過牆梯均敵不過從天而降的林依晨 - 以無間道及和平使者的雙重間諜身份遊走於戰場兩端。到底表面一臉清純的她,是其中一方投降時所舉的白旗,抑或是展翅起飛象徵偃旗息鼓的和平鴿?」(節選自節目宣傳單張)。

在記者會後見到林導演,忍不住追問他這「戰爭與和平」到底搞甚麼。他一臉認真嚴肅地說起男人與女人,社會發展和價值的變遷,說起每個人的孤獨,說起為甚麼這個時代還是那麼地妨礙我們的幸福……

宣傳單上明明印覑「大喜劇」- 事實上,林奕華的作品鮮有不讓人捧腹絕倒的 - 但背後思考的嚴肅還是震懾了我。突然想起之前讀到邁克在內地雜誌上寫林奕華,說他寫字時多半是嚴肅的(思考時恐怕更甚),文中林搶白說:我向來不是以活潑取勝的。

男人與女人不只是小情小趣

舞台劇故事乍看好像是電視劇,一對歡喜冤家之間的戰爭與和平。林奕華的作品,向來關注兩性之間的議題。《水滸傳》,將男人剖析得淋漓盡致;《華麗上班族之 生活與生存》,又讓一個女強人張艾嘉舞得虎虎生威。不同的題目之下,男人與女人,在舞台上留下萬花筒般炫目的身影,在觀眾心中,卻每每如明鏡,讓各人不小 心窺探了自己。這部作品,自也不會是一部「肥皂劇」那麼簡單。

「男人和女人的題目會觸痛很多的傷痛,因為我們在這兩個性別上有很多的期許和落差。先前有記者問我:你的戲好像總和男人女人有點關係。其實,哪有戲是和男 人女人沒有關係的?不過是放在不同的議題下就有不同的焦點。我總覺得,既然我們要談男人和女人,就不需要任何的前景或者背景,他們本身就是前景又是背景。」

男人與女人的故事講得不好,就變成俗爛的愛情故事。林奕華覺得這個題材難處理,因為「不應該只停留在小情小趣的層面,而應該回到一個有人文關懷的地方。」從男女關係入手,仍是要講人、人與社會,以及人的孤獨。最後,仍然是那個問題:為甚麼我們不快樂?

「這個戲,除了表面的笑之後還是有很多重的東西。」林奕華說,「男人有男人的孤獨,女人有女人的孤獨。排戲的時候,當觸痛到演員的孤獨的時候,那種無助, 他們的情緒就會崩潰。依晨就有一次,那是我們在做一個 Workshop,只有兩個演員,一個說:我希望你對我說…… 另一個則用自己的方式來回應。依晨到第 二句就有些激動,第三句就哭了,第五句就破涕為笑了。」

其實,哭泣的不只林依晨一個,何韻詩就曾說,排練時,導演一問問題,好幾個人都哭起來。與對覑鏡頭表演不同,舞台演出迫使演員真誠地面對自己,不斷把自己 趕出那習以為常的 "Comfort Zone",逼到邊緣,爆發出的情感才能日趨飽滿。更何況,這次諸位主演面對的,是「男人與女人」這麼一個「殺到埋身」的話題。

男人女人的下世紀寓言

演出是很有時代感的,這從卡士的選擇、演員的時尚造型,以及討論的話題上都可以看出。請看下列宣傳詞:

「下世紀預言,男人與女人的明天:男人將變回男孩,女人將成為男人,愛情,將從地球上消失。想要男人,得到男孩+想要女人,得到男人=想要愛情,得到戰爭。」

記得剛看到這段文字的時候,我簡直在心裡壞笑:怎麼說得那麼「啜核」,那麼「中」。然後忙不迭放上 MSN 讓各位同事一起欣賞。所以,在劇場中,不必期望林奕華會為你陳列兩性角力的社會歷史,也不必害怕他會語重心長地教育你我們的傳統愛情觀如何被這個快速前進的社會所輾碎,而我們又是如何在社會與媒體的重塑 中變得越來越面目全非。舞台上,是「鬥智、鬥力、鬥美麗」的世紀大喜劇,一場熱鬧又混亂的兩性 War Game。

「戰爭與和平,(男人和女人)甚麼永遠的對立和緊張?是社會造成的,還是基因造成的,還是……?在戲裡有一個情節,何韻詩和王耀慶在競爭的時候,互相攻陷 對方的死穴。何韻詩找到王耀慶的一個弱點,就是把他的媽媽請上節目去。為甚麼對於一個男人,他的媽媽是死穴呢?媽媽是男人第一個接觸的女人,他能不能愛女 人,能不能認知女人是甚麼,都是從媽媽開始。而且很多男孩子慢慢不知不覺『成為』了他的媽媽。我們總認為,男孩子會像爸爸,其實他只是壓抑了他媽媽的那個 部分,這個部分甚麼時候出來?在他選擇女朋友的時候,可能越是要逃避媽媽,越是會選擇他媽媽那樣的。男人和女人都不大意識到自己的身體裡還有異性,以及這 些因素怎麼發酵。你永遠不能低估家庭在建構男人和女人的自我認同上的角色。就好像『戰爭』:媽媽和女兒永遠很多戰爭,女兒和爸爸相對很多和平。而兒子和爸 爸媽媽,又有各自的戰爭與和平。」

從社會關係的入手去看,原來每個人的背後也都有他們的過去,這過去的背後,還有過去。林奕華說,他想要看到的,是這些人壓抑了些甚麼,害怕些甚麼,想要去逃避的又是甚麼。

難以定位的何韻詩與「裡外不一」的林依晨

「男人和女人現在的處境,是時代變化得很快,而我們的倫理傳統跟不上時代的價值觀變化的結果。我的作品,不管大家喜不喜歡,都是我對社會的一種關注,一種 評論。我追求一種現代性,要揭示時代和傳統的差異在哪裡,才會讓問題更加突顯,更加尖銳。」林奕華說,「我們越來越進入一個『中性』的時代,很多讓男女極 端分開的因素已經越來越淡。女性的地位和社會權力越來越高,可以享受到男人所擁有的『自由』,但也越來越明白男人的不快樂。這個劇是屬於當代的,放在五年 前或者十年前做都不會是這樣。以前,要說男人和女人,女人一定是劉嘉玲吧,現在,大概是何韻詩這樣的吧。」

的確,在演員的選擇上,除了已經合作了好幾次的「百變小生」王耀慶,林奕華找來香港唱作偶像歌手何韻詩與台灣偶像劇女王林依晨同台,這個組合有點出人意料。

「就像王耀慶所說,她們兩個有一個對比:依晨好像脆弱,裡面卻很堅強;何韻詩表面堅強,但是裡面有很敏感的地方。再說,你不覺得他們三個在台上一站,還挺好看的嗎?」

「何小姐是一個你越去相處就越喜歡,很想去親近她、抱抱她的人。她是個很真誠的人,是很有使命感的偶像。過去這兩三年,除了唱歌、娛樂外,她還在做很多值 得做的事情,比如說去拍那個關懷精神病患的紀錄片。這些東西對她來講有種與生俱來的同理性,她很像一個容易同情別人的小孩子。這次排戲,她像海綿一樣,很 願意去吸收。我曾經問她:你希望在這個裡面得到甚麼?她說:我常覺得我的個性不見得完全認同女人,也不完全認同男人,而是在中間,我想知道這個中間有多 大。有這樣的一個基礎,我們合作起來溝通得更好。」

「至於依晨,她的那種堅強很吸引人。我第一次見到她,她去韓國做宣傳,用韓文介紹完她的戲,之後就分析自己為甚麼對韓國文化有興趣等等。我覺得她是很有想 法的人。我的演員,要能做到平常把思考當成是呼吸、當成喝水,這樣他們才不覺得是你在帶覑他們遊花園,而會有講不完的話,問不完的問題。」

正如林奕華所說,何韻詩在女性氣質上的不能被隨便定位,以及林依晨在性格上的「裡外不一」,都將為這部舞台劇帶來更多的驚喜。

在戰爭與和平的背後,我們要看男人與女人的本來面目;在男人與女人的符號背後,我們要看的還是自己,「壓抑了些甚麼,害怕些甚麼,想要去逃避的又是甚麼。」

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Sunday, October 18, 2009

做個好人

有認識不久的同伴既驚訝又不以為然的為何我會睇何韻詩 (其實佢只係知道我去了最近的concert, 還不知道我真的是很欣賞她的).
固然, 在傳媒喧染及選擇性創作之下, 有很多不求甚解的人云亦云, 自有一套"哦..."想當然的觀點, 我也懶得費力袋錢入人家口袋 (我知...其實係會發老脾).
真的有心了解的新知舊雨, 不妨參考以下兩篇(老)人家的文章... 雖然有點長. 我是真心的希望有更多人可以欣賞這個人整件事.
很同意第二篇文章的結尾: 一個人之所以被尊重被懷念,一個人的人生與事業之所以有意義,那個決定性的因素,最後原來不是有多少才藝有多少成就,而是這個人有多善良。

蘋果日報 2009年10月18日
做個更好的何韻詩 (名采 - 畢明)

"You make me want to be a better person"。別看輕它,恭維感恩讚美的說話,很多太多,情人朋友師徒臣君父母子女兄弟姊妹之間,可能沒有一句話比這句,更珍重深重:你令我想做一個更好的人。
坦白從寬,認識何韻詩,真正聽她的歌,始於去年尾,看過她的慈善紀錄片《十日談》之後。一個歌星,有偶像唔做,有 ball 場不去,走去落區,出錢出人出心,關注社會問題、關懷精神病患者,幾癲。世上 talk the talk 的人多, walk the walk 的十個救火。看後我這樣寫:「記錄在菲林的,是背負著「精神病」標籤的真人真話,一些被忽視、歧視的人,有人被世界拒絕,有人拒絕世界……我看見 和現實這怪獸搏鬥得傷痕累累的人,有的落得孤身走我路,連夢都沒有伴……我記得《浮生六劫》響起時那位大叔比枯樹更深的寂寞,我記得一位樣甚賢妻良母的亞 萍說,人生的快樂都在結婚之前,我看見何韻詩走入一個個生命,拖過他/她的手、給過擁抱。」沒有十面埋伏的鎂光燈和嗜血嗜黃擇肥而噬的攝影機替她搖旗,只憑善良信念替自己吶喊,沒有為她賺多幾個獎、叫價多幾個零、撈多幾斤人氣。
相信梅艷芳令何韻詩想做一個更好的人。人一直在做,相信師傅一直在看、在點頭。

我不年青,一個三張幾嘢(正奮不顧身邁向 40)的老餅,我是個很介意時間怎樣花的人,不害羞開始聽起何韻詩來。我就是有這點自以為適當的不害羞,害羞,框框來,危害創作,棄之吉。她那張《 Ten Days In The Madhouse》大碟,非 K歌非情歌,着墨於精神病患、青少年問題、貧窮問題,曲和詞的況味,竟叫我想起南美文學的魔幻寫實風格,叛逆了市場。要做得更好,就不能因循,就需要叛 逆。
在香港這個磨人又老土的城市,替人打氣給人鼓勵遑論讚美,都沒一個正能量的真心十卜風氣,怕煩、驚唐突、似多事、又恐「唔知博乜」,顧慮太多連拍掌 bravo 都不能心安理得,對領導的唯諾訶諛卻永遠海獅上身。反正何韻詩做了不少隨時被指「唔知博乜」的「行為善事」,我何妨陪她「唔知博乜」地給她加加油?
尤其看過她剛功成的演唱會後。聽她的歌、聽她的話,主題是 Superhero的演唱會其實不是在販賣超級英雄,是在 salute 平凡英雄。人人英雄,只要你願意擇善固執。看電影,在意它有沒有一顆噗噗跳動的真心,有沒有信息思想溫度;聽歌,也一樣。平凡英雄,不是力拔 山兮一戰定江山,沒那麼戲劇沒那麼有型,是愚公移山,更難。對世界對社會的感知承擔, Beyond 的家駒成絕唱之後,還有誰?對精神病患、性取向、貧窮等的歧視,政府及超級英雄難救,在這片滾滾萬惡紅塵中竟有個傻歌手彈着結他對風車唱歌, 就像希臘神話中 Sisyphus 頑強地推巨石上山一樣。鹿橋在《未央歌》說:「聰明、熱腸、勇敢任事方有資格成為瘋子」,在那抗戰的年代。我永遠 salute 野蠻的誠心。台上何韻詩自信、自我,儘管選擇走的路難行令人累,我期待她再進化,能夠更自在、忘我。
先申報,否則搞出個慳電膽就不 好,因緣際會,現在我和何韻詩是朋友,不很熟,她的私事……如喜歡吃雞髀還是雞翼、擦牙大不大力,我不知。如果有利益輸送,她的確輸送過三張她的演唱會門 票給我,去年我們還未認識時我還寫過:「《十日談》片末,有梅艷芳 crossover 何韻詩的《似水流年》,留下的不止思念,還有另一個靈魂的淬 錬,一個徒弟把自己長進成一個值得師傅驕傲的人,用她的力量,向世界付出。」仍然生效。

http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/template/apple_sub/art_main.php?iss_id=20091018&sec_id=12187389&art_id=13324087


澳門日報 2009年10月15日
真正的Legacy - 梅艷芳與何韻詩 (演藝專欄 - 李展鵬)

“你有甚麼想跟梅艷芳說?”在一個電視節目中,陳志雲這樣問何韻詩。

“我想跟她說,在她去世的幾年來,我一直努力做一個好人。對她來說,這比起當一個好的歌手更重要。” 何韻詩這樣回答。

梅艷芳,如何扮?如何學?

在何韻詩的 “Superhero” 演唱會中,我一直想起她的這句話。多年來,有人批評何韻詩扮梅艷芳,時至今日,事實已經很清楚:她沒有在“扮”梅艷芳, 從音樂到舞台形象,她很有個人風格,跟師父大有不同。不過,可以肯定的是,她一直想“學”梅艷芳,又或是更精確地說,她受師父啟發,傳承了一種精神。如果 說在上次的演唱會中,劉培基設計的服裝襥的令她有幾分梅艷芳影子,那麼,這次演唱會則一方面全無任何造型令人想起梅艷芳,但另一方面則處處瀰漫著梅艷芳的 精神。

時間回到2007年初。當時,何韻詩在商台的叱耢頒獎禮打低了容祖兒,首次獲得女歌手金獎。雖然現今的音樂頒獎禮已是兒戲之極,但一個叱吒女歌手金獎卻多少仍有點指標性;再加上其時容祖兒式的K歌已走不出一套公式,因此,“何韻詩要上位了”、“何韻詩要問鼎女歌手皇座了”之聲不絕於耳 - 這樣期望的人,絕不只是喜歡何韻詩的人,而是很多覺得香港流行歌壇太悶太保守太需要新意的人。

但出乎意料地,她沒有乘勝追擊。得獎後的她,反而放慢手腳,慢工出細貨,甚至更專注於她的非主流路線。最叫人驚訝的,是她去年年底推出的《Ten Days In The Madhouse》,全碟幾乎沒有情歌,十首歌竟然是十個社會議題,寫精神病患者、青少年問題、貧窮國家的兒童。一張年底推出的唱片,沒有一首有潛質在K 場走紅、在電台熱播,完全不利於頒獎禮的遊戲規則,這分明是跟自己過不去。這張唱片別說在今天,就是與樂隊創作風潮鼎盛的八十年代相比也一點不會被比下 去。當年 Beyond的《Amani》質疑上帝、控訴戰爭與飢餓,達明一派的《馬路天使》等歌曲書寫迷途青少年,那時流行樂壇好景,市場容得下不同類型與 題材,但在今天,在困難的市場環境中,何韻詩幾乎是置銷量與人氣於不顧,為的是叫樂迷思考嚴肅問題。

何韻詩也一直做善事。她去年推出的紀錄片《十日談》以“瘋狂”為題,探討精神病患者的世界,收益作慈善用途。她帶著這套片作校園巡迴播放,啟發年輕人關心社會弱勢。她又在金融海嘯中舉辦免費演唱會《快樂是免費的》,希望在社會逆境中傳達正面訊息。

雌雄同體的 Superhero 今年,何韻詩舉行演唱會,主題是 “Superhero”。她在演唱會中呼籲,只要為所愛的人、為所相信的事而努力,每個人都可以是 Superhero。這個演唱會很大膽。在十月初這特別日子,一片大大的紅旗在舞台上升起飄揚 - 但那不是國旗,而是她的“光明會”會旗。這光明會一方面代表她的音樂,一方面也標誌了她多年來宣揚的對不同性取向的尊重。在演唱會中,超過五十人的儀仗隊浩浩蕩蕩上台,仿如國慶盛典,但同時又有一群妖氣衝天的紅衣性感男舞蹈員同台演 出,隆重氣氛加上妖媚特質在光明會的旗幟下並置,這是整個演唱會對時代的最大反諷,也是對異文化的最熱烈歡慶。

至於何韻詩則繼續雌雄同體,繼續深情地唱出她的異色愛情故事。她的其中一個造型是戰士裝扮,她的臉上畫上了鬍鬚,配上她的超短髮,陽剛氣十足。故意被編排 在一起的《查理淑儀》、《露絲瑪莉》及《勞斯萊斯》正訴說男女、女女、男男的三種愛情。何韻詩對大家說,無論是哪一種愛情都應該有美好結局,然後唱出一首 《我找到了》。流行文化其實是個很複雜很不統一的大體制,當中有很多的保守意識,也有不少的叛逆因子,而無論是梅艷芳與何韻詩的流行音樂,都肯定是令世界更開明更多元。

特別挑選在十月十日前後舉行的這個演唱會,為的是紀念梅艷芳。演唱會末段,草蜢出現與何韻詩大唱《愛將》及《夢伴》等金曲。不過,更重要的似乎不是舊歌翻唱,而是何韻詩的一段表白。她說,是梅艷芳令她找到她內在的 Superhero,令她知道她的路要怎麼走。就如她在演唱會前的訪問中談到的,她看到師父一 生中從不間斷的幫忙別人,令她意識到要用歌星的身份為社會做一點事,因此才有了Superhero 的演唱會主題。

“不必記住我這個人,只要記住我做過的事就好了。” 梅艷芳生前這樣說。如果看到何韻詩的演唱會,以及她這兩年做的事,梅艷芳應該可以安慰。這個小徒弟追隨師父的方式,不是要當一代天后,不是在頒獎禮上爭勝,而是用音樂感染大家關心社會。她是真的記住了師父做過的事,包括在八九年之 後成立四海一心基金會、在華東水災及台灣大地震等大事中第一個站出來、在自己身患重病時發起“茁壯行動”為當時的沙士患者及死者親屬籌款。香港做善事的藝人不少,但沒多少人像梅艷芳一樣身體力行,無怨無悔支持社會公義,甚至曾因此於八九年後賠上她的內地市場及演出機會。

何韻詩這次演唱會可說有里程碑意義。她宣示了她傳承了梅艷芳的甚麼,又沒有傳承梅艷芳的甚麼。她沒有在歌曲與舞台方面效法梅艷芳,她從來無意做舞台上的 “梅艷芳第二”,但她卻肯定傳承了師父的關心社會與為善最樂的精神。這有時不只是花點錢與時間做善事那麼簡單,有時那是需要膽量的,因為社會公義常牽涉敏感話題。演唱會中,她唱出一首為梅艷芳而寫的新歌,名為《妮歌》。歌詞的最後一句,是 “願我會有她一半善良。” 黃偉文寫的歌詞為過去的梅艷芳 - 同時為今天的何韻詩 - 下了最好的註腳:一個人之所以被尊重被懷念,一個人的人生與事業之所以有意義,那個決定性的因素,最後原來不是有多少才藝有多少成就,而是這個人有多善良。這一點,是梅艷芳留給何韻詩、留給世界的真正的 Legacy。

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Friday, April 10, 2009

Love

Read this today, so touched.
每次聆訊都風雨不改陪伴愛子出庭的史媽媽,昨在庭外指自己對審訊過程「一嚿雲」,但她不論負擔大小或勝算高低,都會親身支持兒子「自己細路,就算跌倒撞親,滴一滴血,做媽媽都好緊張關心。」

Suddenly could relate why mom worries so much when I'm sick these few days.
Of course I know that she cares about us all the time, I just thought it's quite 'unnecessary' (don't want her to be worried) 'cos I'm a grown-up and can definitely take care of myself, and she should know that...
Thanks mom :* I love you (and dad lah)

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Sunday, February 15, 2009

Sharing is Happy

Pictures of HOCC's free outdoor show "快樂是免費的"
@ Diocesan Boys' School 2008.02.08
Thanks Seven and Bernard for taking the shots and allowing me to share here.

Nice weather. Everybody sat under the sky and on the grass.
The opening with
天空之城 under such sky, a little breeze, and a very attentive crowd was very touching.


The stage was formed by 4 (only!) table tennis tables.



(L) Guitar for the song 風見志郎 tributed to environmentalists, including Dr周兆祥 who also attended the concert;
(R) HOCC brother the music director


Mr Ho the dad


Big bite Eason


Great guitarist Ellen


Very nice and clear voice as usual Eman


Spokeperson Wyman


Gang on stage having fun




Party till sunset. The closing with 美空雲雀 was very powerful and moving.


Some more by 杜汶澤 (!)
http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/tochapman1999/article?mid=35976
http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/tochapman1999/article?mid=36120

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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Fortune Favours the Brave

I was there. It was indeed impressive, not only on the music but the messages and of course, the amazing fact that this did happen in HK, and in such best of times worst of times.
People may say this is not that uncommon in the foreign lands. This is HK, and we know what it's like.
There are always passionate few. So we see all sorts of indies, arts groups and minority interests groups carrying with them their mission and passion. Still, it is very encouraging to see someone who is already in the club but still care as much. How many could resist striving for more when they are shelthered in the comfort zone and enjoying privileges in the epic centre?
This is HK, and we know what it is like.
But do we know what and how it is liked?

Too bad the news below was only THAT narrative. I didn't take pictures as usual, but I wish I could source some to share here. I wish and I bet all can feel it.

快樂是免費的音樂會 Rundown
01 天空之城 (二汶哼唱)
02 青山黛瑪
03 安妮寶貝
04 楊子經書
05 Smarty Pants
06 少年維特
07 破曉 (原唱林憶蓮)
08 共享陽光。Sing (原唱蔣慶龍 / The Carpenters)
09 快樂 (原唱許冠傑)
10 愛多80年 (原唱顏福偉)
11 The Best is yet to Come (at17)
12 Goo Vibration
13 夕陽無限好 (陳奕迅)
14 戰友 (劉浩龍 清唱一段)
15 畫出彩虹 (原唱陳百強)
16 愛德蒙多
17 Over the Rainbow (at17)
18 查理淑儀
19 Hero (原唱 Mr. Children)
20 風見志郎
21 地球大合唱 (HOCC at17 陳奕迅 劉浩龍 周柏豪 梁祖堯 湯駿業 胡蓓蔚)
22 明天會更好 (HOCC at17 陳奕迅 劉浩龍 周柏豪 梁祖堯 湯駿業 胡蓓蔚)
23 海闊天空 (HOCC at17 陳奕迅 劉浩龍 周柏豪 梁祖堯 湯駿業 胡蓓蔚) (原唱 Beyond)
24 美空雲雀
Encore
25 真情細說 (原唱李樂詩)


香港經濟日報 2009.02.10
何韻詩抗海嘯 免費快樂正能量

何韻詩於剛過去的星期天,在旺角拔萃男書院運動場草地舉行免費音樂會,是其新碟《Ten Days in the Madhouse》 另一波推廣活動,用意是以音樂傳遞正能量,符合主題「快樂是免費的」。當日天公造美,陽光明媚,阿詩的好友以至觀眾,均能快快樂樂過了一個下午。

一提起免費搞騷,經濟掛帥的香港人第一時間會問:「如何有錢賺?」,實際上這場演出的經費,原本已計算在何韻詩新碟的宣傳費內,只是她寧願少賣幾個廣告,省下來的錢正可用來製作這音樂會。選擇位於旺角亞皆老街的拔萃男書院,何韻詩有其個人理由,她本打算在女拔萃舉行,可是對方未能提供場地,而阿詩的父親曾在男拔萃任教,最終透過父親幫忙免費借用該校的草地運動場。

簡單看世界音樂會於下午三時開始,很多樂迷中午已開始排隊,人龍蔓延整條上男拔萃的山路,估計有數千觀眾入場。事後阿詩表示:「其實我們預計不到會有幾多人來,曾擔心會太多人,不過依照這場地來看,容納一萬人也沒問題。」今次的演出是新碟《Ten Days in the Madhouse》的延伸宣傳,之前還有一齣紀錄片《十日談》,探訪了多位精神病康復者,片中亮相的數位受訪者也有來看是次演出。「這張碟是我的起點,之前我一直在認識自己,繼而知道自己想要甚麼。我覺得《青山黛瑪》中的黛瑪就是我,希望用簡單的心去看世界。也許社會上有很多令人擔心的事情,但只要人能放開懷抱,就可以忘掉不快。」

音樂會主要演唱新碟歌曲,除了一曲《唐吉訶德》,其餘作品皆有出現,而為符合開心、陽光的主題,阿詩亦挑來幾首別人的歌來掀動氣氛,如林憶蓮的《破曉》、許冠傑的《快樂》,又有重新編曲的《畫出彩虹》以及《愛多八十年》,同是主題清晰信息直接的勵志歌。充當客席結他手的 at 17,也送上自家的《the best is yet to come》及《Over the Rainbow》作為回應。幾位好友如陳奕迅、胡蓓蔚、劉浩龍、梁祖堯等,全都即興上台,本來只唱一首《地球大合唱》,愈玩愈起勁,最後 encore 了《明天會更好》和《海闊天空》,原定 5 時完結的音樂會,最終接近 6 時才正式結束。

Eason 自任宣傳大使全程捧場的 Eason,就指何韻詩是他的學習對象。「她是近一兩年頗能影響我的人,她有很多 wild thinking,而且能付諸實行,這張新碟可說是海陸空進行,包括去海邊錄音、上天台拍 MV,以及這個空地音樂會,都讓我十分佩服。」Eason 來的時候,看見觀眾整齊有致地排隊入場,莫名感動。「觀眾一心來享受快樂,參予的過程已很難得,阿詩有如此號召力,很替她開心。」Eason 笑指自己就像何韻詩的宣傳大使。「早前我買了十隻《十日談》DVD,兩隻留給自己,其他就派給朋友,因為覺得值得推介。」

觀眾之一的 Alina 及 Chloe,對此騷的評語是:「很 simple,很 strong」;「與一般音樂會很不同,快樂是免費的信息,肯定已經表達到。」不論觀眾或嘉賓,均明白何韻詩搞這個騷的意義,讓快樂繼續蔓延中。

始作俑者阿詩曾表示,免費音樂會念頭參考自冰島樂隊 Sigur Ros,他們在 07 年,花上一個夏季,走遍冰島舉行免費音樂會,回饋家鄉的歌迷,整個旅程拍成《Heima》(冰島語意謂homeland)的音樂紀錄片,以 DVD 形式上市。除了免費 Show,在上月31 日,英國獨立報(The Independent)更隨報附送 Sigur Ros 的 CD《We Play Endlessly》。

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Friday, February 06, 2009

不知所謂

Apple Daily today -
賭王何鴻燊昨被問及電盈事件時再三稱讚:「李生(李嘉誠)個仔好醒目,搵好多錢,賺好多錢,買好多物業,佢係叻仔,我好佩服佢,我唔係咁易讚人!」

Was chatting about the PCCW/ Richard Li deal lightly with Bjie last nite.
Conclusion: what a bandit. a thief. a shame.
When I was in shower this morning, I was thinking how would the father (superman Li) feel, for all the good deeds his son has been doing. Thumbs up?
I naively wish he would at least raise his eyebrows a little.
I wish he does have a heart. Or a mirror.
Then I thought of the Taiwan Chens family. You don't need a second thought on what you do, whether they are ethical or something close, if your whole family or close circle or whose expectation you care about is behaving and championing just the same.
Maybe I'm naive. Sometimes too simple.

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Sunday, October 26, 2008

大慈善家

http://appledaily.atnext.com/template/apple/art_main.cfm?iss_id=20081026&sec_id=4104&subsec_id=12731&art_id=11767125

Apple Daily 20081026
捐 錢   贈 糧   送 生 果   各 方 響 應 停 不 了
海 嘯 即 景   愛 心 粥 食 到 09 年 都 仲 有

「 食 唔 食 瑤 柱 粥 呀 ? 有 人 送 包 瑤 柱 呀 。 」 自 何 文 田 愛 民 「 冬 菇 亭 」 粥 檔 檔 主 李 松 興 的 贈 粥 善 行 經 報 道 後 , 三 天 以 來 員 工 「 做 到 無 停 手 」 , 不 少 市 民 特 意 來 幫 襯 支 持 , 來 食 粥 的 老 人 家 也 增 多 , 本 來 贈 粥 活 動 是 在 檔 口 貼 上 「 假 日 暫 停 」 , 現 在 亦 加 多 兩 個 字 變 成 「 假 日 暫 停 不 了 」 。 不 少 熱 心 人 士 及 街 坊 捐 錢 捐 貨 迄 昨 共 有 15,900 元 給 檔 主 , 糧 及 肉 類 等 貨 物 「 食 到 09 年 都 仲 有 」 。 李 松 興 感 謝 各 界 支 持 , 承 諾 公 公 婆 婆 「 長 食 長 有 , 一 日 有 得 做 都 會 繼 續 做 ! 」

昨 早 9 時 多 , 粥 檔 座 無 虛 席 , 檔 主 李 松 興 形 容 顧 客 及 吃 免 費 粥 的 公 公 婆 婆 「 排 山 倒 海 咁 」 , 更 有 一 些 特 意 以 行 動 支 持 贈 粥 善 行 的 熱 心 人 士 。 截 至 昨 晚 6 時 , 李 松 興 已 收 到 捐 款 5,000 元 及 糧 雜 貨 10,900 元 , 當 中 包 括 罐 頭 、 肉 類 、 米 、 花 生 、 廁 紙 等 ; 亦 有 人 送 上 3 個 大 果 籃 , 李 松 興 立 即 把 水 果 分 給 長 者 。 中 午 時 分 , 又 有 人 送 了 一 包 瑤 柱 到 粥 檔 , 李 松 興 隨 即 問 長 者 「 食 唔 食 瑤 柱 粥 呀 ? 」 有 婆 婆 表 示 , 來 光 顧 是 因 為 自 己 是 熟 客 , 「 自 己 畀 得 到 就 自 己 畀 」 , 讓 有 需 要 的 長 者 先 享 用 免 費 粥 。

粥 檔 平 日 約 3,000 多 元 生 意 額 , 假 日 約 5,000 多 元 , 昨 晚 6 時 李 松 興 點 算 後 , 生 意 額 竟 比 平 日 多 4,000 元 。 他 說 很 多 熱 心 人 士 專 誠 前 來 捐 錢 , 有 顧 客 吃 粥 後 放 下 5,000 元 捐 款 , 而 前 兩 天 另 一 顧 客 看 過 新 聞 後 , 感 動 得 哭 起 來 , 並 到 粥 檔 光 顧 , 「 佢 飲 半 杯 豆 漿 , 就 放 低 二 千 幾 蚊 」 , 又 有 不 少 食 客 光 顧 後 留 下 找 續 的 零 錢 , 希 望 以 金 錢 支 持 粥 檔 營 運 。 李 松 興 向 顧 客 一 一 表 示 不 想 接 受 現 金 捐 款 , 當 顧 客 不 肯 收 回 金 錢 時 才 建 議 他 們 到 雜 貨 店 購 買 物 資 支 持 粥 檔 營 運 。 「 有 時 人 放 低 幾 百 蚊 , 太 忙 時 候 根 本 唔 切 叫 佢 收 番 。 」 李 松 興 認 為 粥 及 油 器 的 成 本 不 高 , 粥 檔 的 盈 餘 及 自 己 的 積 蓄 也 可 繼 續 支 撐 贈 粥 活 動 。

李 松 興 表 示 十 分 感 謝 市 民 的 支 持 , 粥 檔 現 在 還 有 七 千 多 元 的 贈 貨 未 取 , 「 食 到 09 年 都 仲 有 」 , 而 且 有 很 多 糧 雜 貨 囤 積 在 檔 內 , 故 呼 籲 善 心 人 士 停 止 送 贈 貨 物 及 金 錢 , 「 太 多 煮 食 材 料 放 晒 度 , 都 變 得 唔 新 鮮 啦 ! 」 他 亦 承 諾 長 者 免 費 粥 「 長 食 長 有 , 一 日 有 得 做 都 會 繼 續 做 ! 」

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Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Newsletter

I've never asked what a Newsletter is, or what is it meant to be.
Guy Browning says in Never Hit a Jellyfish with a Spade, Newsletters...
fill the gap between newspapers and letters.

Another gap newsletters fill is the bin...
The only way to guarantee readership of a newsletter is to make sure that everyone who gets one is in it somewhere. This is so important that you should always have a little column listing people whose names haven't been mentioned elsewhere in that issue.

Why not?
Now I know what to recommend to boss.

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No3

It's so windy outside - so loud that I can't listen to any music in a decent manner.
Or, listen to decent music in any manner.
And I've been using my in-ears pretty much today, so should plug nothing more in my ears tonite.
Sleeping quality was bad last nite, with dream after dream.
While I'm reading this stupid book called Never Hit a Jellyfish with a Spade. Am not recommending this book, can skip, honestly.
Just now it says, dreams are...
like low-budget British films in that they're generally badly plotted, packed with gratuitous sex and violence, and very sloppily edited.
Plus, on average, one person sees them.


I don't have an opinion with this loosely defined statement, not to say British films.
But I like the 'one person sees them' bit.

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Tuesday, July 22, 2008

致潮女

在地鐵有意無意間看到別人手上"無料報"的一宗新聞, 標題大致為:
汽車撞牆冒煙
潮女醉駕被捕

不是說笑, 就是想起那個傻婆, 不由得心頭一震不安起來.
當然, 是因為"潮女"二字 (先不要 objection, 要知道傳媒的水準是差差差不多的了, 我只是代入那個水平去 interpret).
當然, 想必妳不會"醉駕"這樣不負責任幼稚.

立即就 eye-ball 一番希望盡快找到蛛絲馬跡去推翻這個念頭, 終於發現照片中的不是妳的小辣椒, 也就放心了.

喂, 總之快啲補鐘啦.
熟能生巧.
千萬要小心.

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Friday, July 18, 2008

Before but not After

Sorry comrade, we have a free press in Hong Kong
18 July 2008
(c) 2008 South China Morning Post Publishers Limited, Hong Kong. All rights reserved.

Sorry comrade, we have a free press in Hong Kong
Talk about closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.
Fifteen minutes after the China Banking Regulatory Commission's international department director-general Han Mingzhi had delivered his speech to a Hong Kong forum yesterday, journalists were told they could not report it.
Sorry comrades, we know it was called the "Thought Leadership Forum", but that's not the way things work here. With cable television and newswire services covering the event "live", the CBRC instruction was doomed to fall on deaf ears.
As one wag put it: "You're meant to use a condom before, not after."
Check out our report on the speech on page 4. We don't think you'll find anything too sensitive in it.
Our only explanation for the gag order is that Mr Han may have been worried about his speech, having been called upon at short notice to stand in for his boss, CBRC chairman Liu Mingkang, at the event organised by the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers. Our own monetary authority boss, Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, was also a no-show at the forum yesterday.
But it's a fair guess that those two gentlemen are preoccupied with extremely sensitive financial matters at the moment.

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Wednesday, July 09, 2008

走這一遭

走這一遭,真糟!
林行止

9 July 2008
(c) 2008 信報財經新聞有限公司版權所有


身兼港澳協調小組組長的國家副主席習近平,周日至周二「旋風式訪港」,隨他而來的,不僅是連場豪雨,其言行對本地投機市場、政治生態及意識形態亦造成相當大的衝擊。
習氏來港前,坊間流傳此行的官式任務在視察奧運馬術賽的籌備工作,實際是要了解香港情況、指導特區管治班子,為他兼管香港事務留下烙印。習副主席巡視了馬術奧運現場,又如樣板戲般走訪二個港人家庭,完成視察業務及親民活動;可是,這種鳥籠式活動,加上一個親疏有別的酬酢場合,並無促進與建制派遑論泛民主派人士直接溝通的安排,其對香港實際情況的了解,與下屬所呈報告又有多大區別?
有一點習氏應該知道而其下屬不一定將其反映的是,此地炒家對其訪港已予充分利用—首先是傳他會有諸如「北水南流」(內地資金來港「自由行」)之類「令人振奮」的公布,恆生指數因此於周一升近五百點;當周一晚他在晚宴致辭時強調時機成熟時推出的一項「好消息」是「商務部稍後(相信最快可於本月內公布)將與港府簽署有利服務業進入內地的安排文件」,「北水」並無「南流」的蛛絲馬跡,周二股市遂挫近七百點。有人利用國家領導人訪港在證券市場上下其手,是彰彰明甚的。
五十四歲的習近平,是黨國元老習仲勳的幼子,去年十月在上海黨委書記任上當選中共政治局常委,在統治梯階上三級跳,被「中國問題觀察家」視為「胡錦濤接班人」;事實上,撇開他在掌管福建省時獲得法學博士學位不談,從昨天練乙錚在「香島論叢」的陳述,習氏的確是「太子黨」中少有的受過高等教育、具備完整地方行政歷練的實幹派。可是,看他在本港的幾次公開談話(說「訓示」似乎較近實情),雖然不是態度囂張,也沒有擺出權威的架勢,但是內容了無新意,不僅空洞無物,說句「大眾化」的話,習氏所言,與提示港官「阿媽是女人」有何不同?
內地官場禮儀要求(或命令)港官排排肅立(為什麼日本四川救援隊代表可以坐對胡主席)聽訓示,如果訓話內容紮實,有新穎觀點或具體指示,不習慣這種「排場」的港官還能勉強接受、「甘之如飴」。可是習氏所說,真是幼稚兼無聊,他強調「保安工作是奧運重要一環,要結合香港特點,借鏡其他國家和地區奧運安保工作的經驗……要保證馬術賽期間,人員安全、馬匹安全、社會安全……」。這些「道理」,肯定所有不是白癡而是行政精英、負責此事的官員們早已瞭然並妥善部署(但絕不敢保證不會生意外),習氏所言,不但侮辱港官的智慧和能力,連旁觀市民,亦覺反胃!他還說要令市民感受馬術的歡樂氣氛,看來愛國學校學生屆時恐怕又要「走課」走上街頭搖旗歡呼一番了。
煞有介事的指導,是擺中央大員的官威?是向北京交代他有履行敦促港府提高管治效率的任務?還是刻意侮辱港官、港人的智慧和能力?令人不解的是,對著連篇廢話,行政長官曾蔭權亦要點頭稱是並且筆錄如儀。這是向其權力來源表示絕對效忠的表演嗎?
令人震驚的是,比過往訪港的國家領導人江澤民、曾慶紅和胡錦濤要行政部門及立法機構合作更進一步,習近平竟然公開鼓吹「三權合作論」,他指出:「管治班子應『通情達理、團結高效』,團隊要精誠合作,行政、立法及司法機關要互相支持」。真是乖乖不得了,行政和立法要起制衡作用,怎能合作?目的在監察行政機構以免其濫權枉法於有意無意間破壞法治精神的司法部門,怎能和政府部會及民選機構合作甚至互相支持。如果這是習氏「說漏嘴」(Freudian slip),日後京官不重提,亦就罷了;如果這是政策性改變,那便大大不妙。
眾所周知,內地所以法治不彰,上海所以極難(不管當局投放多少資源)成為國際或區域性金融中心,便是因為「三權合作」,令法官、律師、會計師及其他各種專業人士都無法依書直說、各本其「專」,結果是法理不彰,國際商家因而擔憂遇上商務糾紛時法庭不能公平公正地處理,因此不敢在當地尋求法律仲裁,上海因此不可能是什麼國際金融中心。假如香港真的走上「三權合作」之路,香港作為金融中心的地位肯定不保○得益的是新加坡和日本(如果東京亦成為日、英文並重的城市)。
從回歸後的連串事故看,筆者有這樣的感覺,北京以為香港的硬體設施不變,香港一制便完整無缺,「一國兩制」便得以保持;可是,假如軟件變質,則香港有別於內地一制,徒具軀殼,虛有其表,甚至可能是掛羊頭賣狗肉……。若干年後,香港特區必然要和內地合體,在此前提下,硬體不變軟件蛻變,也許是香港與內地無縫結合的應有工程,而且緩慢有序地變總勝於突然巨變,內地官員對香港各項軟件的微調,因此可以接納,可是,若把司法獨立變掉,那是開倒車,中國少了取「法」乎上的借鏡,香港作為在一個法治國際城市的地位亦化為雲煙!
許多殖民者遺留下來的陋規陋矩都要變,但是獨立的法治不可變!

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Thursday, April 24, 2008

vanderKamp

I like this guy. He makes me smile. Disclaimer: not that I agree with whatever he says.

High-speed rail a costly joke for sake of national pride
Jake van der Kamp

South China Morning Post, 24 April 2008

"Hong Kong will become the southern gateway to the nation's high-speed rail network with the approval yesterday of a HK$39.5 billion plan to build an express rail link to the border."
SCMP, April 23
This project had a cost figure of HK$15 billion when first mooted. It is now HK$39.5 billion, even before the detailed surveying gets under way. Any takers on HK$60 billion before the first concrete is poured?
Let's do an item by item review of some of the things said about this white elephant in our report on the news yesterday:
"Services will begin in 2015, halving the journey time to Guangzhou to 48 minutes."
Well, not quite to Guangzhou. The existing rail link may take you to the centre of the city but the terminus for this new one will be the Shibi station, well south of the city centre.
And not quite to Hong Kong either. The terminus on our side will be somewhere in West Kowloon, at present the site of much compacted mud and little else aside from government promises of a transport hub. This it will indeed have to be, as there is no reason to stay there. When you get off this new train, you will want to find something else to get on again immediately.
"'We are optimistic about this line as we expect users of the line to include patrons of the West Kowloon arts hub.'"
That was Transport and Housing Secretary Eva Cheng speaking and I am now obviously compelled to withdraw, retract and take back my previous comment that there is nothing to do in West Kowloon. Within just a few years, West Kowloon will be the featured site of Brazilian pottery exhibitions and shows of Romanian modern art.
I can't wait and neither, obviously, can millions of mainland tourists. Our transport facilities in that part of Kowloon will be inundated, just swamped, you hear me, by the throngs waiting to get through the turnstiles of those art museums. We need that new rail link now. Thank you for seeing the need in time, Ms Cheng.
"Trains will operate at an average speed of 200 km/h."
Elsewhere we have that as a maximum speed and I also see a reference to a maximum speed of 160 km/h within Hong Kong, which isn't really very high at all for a train.
But you know the sudden ka-pop you feel in your ears when the Airport Express gets to the tunnel at Tsing Yi. This new line will be mostly tunnel and I wouldn't mind hearing what aerodynamics engineers have to say about energy bills, leave alone sore ears, when a train pushes a column of air through a long and narrow tunnel at more than 200 km/h.
Oh, but of course we don't need to build it as a narrow tunnel. We'll build it big and wide, Chunnel style, with cost overruns to match.
"The MTR is expected to pay HK$28.1 billion for the operating rights."
Well, of course it was the
MTR Corp that got stuck with this one. In case you hadn't realised it, our bureaucrats have long given up on even the pretence that the MTR is a joint stock company with obligations to give its private shareholders a proper return on their investment.
As another joke, the government assumes there will actually be a profit from this line. They haven't even come up with a fare structure yet. They first have to negotiate it with mainland authorities, which will mean low fares, particularly as mainland authorities don't care about petty things like cost and Hong Kong is committed to it anyway.
Eva, I have a question for you. If the government is to take most of the profits (hah-hah), is it also prepared to compensate the MTR for net losses? And, by the way, madam, have you taken into account that the MTR's existing East Rail service makes all its money by stinging passengers outrageously when their final destination is the border?
If this new line undercuts the East Rail fare structure with its stop in Shenzhen, you will have another financial drain on the MTR to take into account. If not, you will have to take account of rising competition from much cheaper cross-border bus services. Have you thought about these conundrums?
Let's be frank about it. We are to build this line because Beijing wants a high-speed rail network across the country. This has more to do with national pride than with economic sense, but we in Hong Kong are happy to fall in line because our government needs to keep functional constituencies sweet, which is done by wasting taxpayers' money on otherwise pointless infrastructure projects.
We have the money, however, as we have the obligation to be obsequious to Beijing bureaucrats and the need to keep political factions with crucial votes quiet this way. I understand it. I only wish that just once it would be billed for what it is.

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Monday, April 21, 2008

Whose Fuels

Reminded me the cover story at TIME 2 issues back, about biofuel and crops production.

Food price surge a blessing, not a curse
Tom Holland
South China Morning Post, 21 April 2008

To most people, the current surge in global food prices is a disaster in the making. Just last week, for example, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for urgent international action to tackle rising prices. Meanwhile, Premier Wen Jiabao ordered his government to step up efforts to fight inflation after food prices on the mainland rose 21 per cent over the year to March.
But despite the widespread air of panic, not everyone agrees that higher food prices are a bad thing, at least for China.
According to Stanford University agricultural economist Scot Rozelle and his collaborator Huang Jikun of the Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy, rising food prices represent nothing less than "an opportunity for China to eliminate rural poverty completely".
Dr Rozelle has no doubt at all why Chinese food prices are rising so steeply. He blames the US government's misguided subsidies for biofuels.
With the price of oil at a record high of US$117 a barrel, as much as 40 per cent of the US corn crop is now being used to produce ethanol, says Dr Rozelle, crowding out food and animal feed cultivation.
As a result, prices are going up. "What happens to the oil price happens to food prices," he says (see the first chart below).
And what happens to international food prices happens in China. Dr Rozelle has little patience with the often cited argument that because China only imports 1 per cent to 2 per cent of its food, domestic prices are not affected by international fluctuations.
He points out that although the state interferes in the pricing of some staples such as wheat and rice, most food prices are set by the market and there are few barriers to international trade. As a result, prices in China closely follow global food prices (see the second chart below).
With energy prices expected to remain high indefinitely, that means China had better get used to more expensive food for the foreseeable future. Unlike most observers, however, Dr Rozelle and Dr Huang believe higher food prices have positive implications - provided Beijing can resist the temptation to tinker with the market.
Although higher food prices are not popular with city-dwellers, with wages rising at close to a 20 per cent annual rate, few urban workers have been left substantially worse off by the recent increases, says Dr Rozelle.
In contrast, the structural shift to more expensive food driven by rising energy prices will encourage investment in the agricultural sector and significantly raise rural incomes.
So far, Beijing has sought to keep a lid on grain prices by selling from reserves. But that is short-sighted, argues Dr Rozelle. For one thing, the policy cannot continue indefinitely and, for another, by artificially holding down the price of grain, the government is encouraging farmers to switch to other crops such as soya bean, which risks creating a grain shortage in the future.
If Beijing would just butt out and leave the market to do the work, the fundamental structural shift in global agricultural markets driven by energy prices will help narrow the income gap between China's cities and countryside and go a long way to alleviating rural poverty. Now that would hardly be the disaster so many observers are predicting.

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Friday, April 11, 2008

愛國

信報, 11 April 2008
左派愛國人士對李柱銘的攻擊有欠公允
練乙錚

信報財經新聞有限公司版權所有

左派及愛國陣營喜歡罵李柱銘是「漢奸」、「賣國賊」,有欠公道,這點早有論者指出,原因當然是中共自身從起家第一天到立國之後,很大程度依賴蘇俄領導及其人力物力支援,就是直到今天,黨國最高領導人還是稱幾位西方共產主義運動之父為「老祖宗」。中共這一切言行,在在說明它本身並不反對「裏通外國」,只要對它有好處,它是隨時願意接受外國領導、按照外國指示進行政治和武裝活動的,唯其如此,中共的革命才能成功,新中國才得以建立。以此比照李柱銘到外國呼籲支持香港民主運動,後者簡直是小巫見大巫。左派愛國人士對李的攻擊,是對自己歷史的選擇性失憶。
筆者花了一些時間搜集有關歷史資料,今天選擇一部分與左派愛國人士重溫一下,希望大家有所反省。為了取信主要讀者,這批資料,全部來自國內或蘇俄,一些是內地學者研究所得、另一些則是九八年莫斯科前蘇共歷史檔案解封後披露出來的,都很有價值。
下面按歷史時間順序,列出中共與蘇俄及其指揮的「第三(共產)國際」的關係中的若干大事:  
一、中共創黨初期:一九二一年七月,中共召開第一屆創黨大會,決議文中首度提出「聯合第三國際」;翌年召開的第二屆全國代表大會,通過了《中國共產黨加入第三國際決議案》,成為共產國際的「中國支部」。這一決議,非同小可。去年九月,中共中央黨史研究室的姚金果撰文指出:「中共加入共產國際同時,也就接受了《第三國際的加入條件》,其中包括(一)共產國際與各國共產黨之間是上級與下級,領導與被領導的關係;(二)共產國際對各國共黨的指示必須得到執行;(三)共產國際有權將違反紀律的政黨、團體和個人開除;(四)共產國際派往各國的代表有權監督各國共產黨的工作。」這種關係,今天看來,無疑駭人聽聞,但中共始終甘之如飴。姚金果續說:「通過加入共產國際,中國共產黨得到了聯共悉心指導和大力幫助;可以說,中國共產黨探索的每一個步伐,幾乎都伴隨著共產國際的足跡,中國共產黨書寫的每一頁歷史,幾乎都有共產國際的烙印。試想,如果中共當時拒絕加入共產國際,那麼它有可能被反動勢力消滅,被國民黨吞併,或者因內部矛盾而分裂。如果沒有加入共產國際,就不會有中國共產黨的今天。」(註一)。中、蘇共六十年代反目成仇,中共罵蘇共以「老子黨」自居,如今回味當年歷史,「父子之情」卻又油然而生!
二、「大革命時期」的上海工人武裝起義:一九二六年十月到二七年三月,上海工人在中國共產黨領導之下先後發動三次武裝起義。長期以來,人們不知領導後面的推手是誰;莫斯科檔案提供了答案。上海師範大學徐剛撰文指出:「(共產國際特派員)維京斯基確定借助浙江省省長夏超起義(宣布獨立),提出『上海地方非有一次民眾暴動不可』;中共中央遂決定組織上海聯合暴動。」可惜,這次起義失敗了。接下來的第二次暴動,又失敗了;第三次暴動,配合了當時由國民黨領導的北伐軍進入上海,卻成功了。徐剛續說:「上海工人暴動成功後,共產國際和蘇聯作了大量的宣傳報道。三月二十二曰《真理報》頭版(標題說)『上海是我們的了』。上海特別市市民政府成立了,可以說是圓了共產國際的夢。上海工人連續舉行的三次武裝暴動,是得到共產國際的直接指導和具體幫助的,中國共產黨是共產國際的一個支部,中共領導的暴動決策是根據共產國際的指示進行的。」(註二)
三、一九二七年的「秋收起義」:與上海工人武裝起義幾乎同時發生,有湖南、江西一帶的「南昌暴動」和「秋收起義」,前者失敗而後者成功了。黨史說,起義是毛澤東、朱德、周恩來領導的。湖南省瀏陽市文物管理局的何春平指出:「南昌暴動得不到共產國際的支持,相反,共產國際及其代表羅明那茲幫助中共起草了《最近農民鬥爭決議案》,為「秋收起義」的具體實施提供了前提條件。共產國際還專門派出代表馬也爾來長沙,具體幫助湖南省委發動起義。」(註三)  
讀者有必要知道,當時蘇俄對中國有領土野心,根本不懷好意。一九二一年六月,也就是中共一大召開之前一個月,蘇俄未經中國政府允許,派軍進入當時仍為我國領土的外蒙古,與前沙俄支持成立的「蒙古自治政府」簽訂《俄蒙條約》,承認其獨立權利,外蒙古從此脫離中國版圖。蘇俄此舉,比今天西方各國的行徑壞多了,但中共還是在一年之後甘心成為蘇共在中國的一個支部。(註四)  
四、抗戰時期:此期間,中共與蘇共一度失去正常交通管道,後來還因斯大林為了與西方國家聯手對付德國,解散了第三國際,中共幾乎失去後盾。儘管如此,由於有中共中委伍修權在新疆、甘肅一帶成立了與第三國際交通線,及時爭取到一些軍事物資和情報,運往延安;此交通線亦是中共高級幹部往返中、俄之間的安全通道,周恩來當年受傷到蘇俄醫治,便是由此線往返。(註五)  
五、建國之初:二次大戰之後,駐在中國東北威海衛和長春鐵路線上的蘇軍賴著不走,四九年解放後,毛澤東即往蘇京見斯大林,二人於十二月十六日的一段對話,亦在莫斯科檔案中曝光。斯:「我們表面上(遵守雅爾塔協定)維持蘇軍駐守威海衛,事實上可由中國政府提出要求撤軍。長春鐵路駐軍也一樣處理。中國同志不滿意的話,可提異議。」毛:「我們對目前的威海衛和長春鐵路駐軍狀況是滿意的,駐軍符合中國利益;不要修改雅爾塔協定的駐軍條款了,威海衛等地撤軍事不急。」毛真是心領神會。然後二人就談中國向蘇俄借款三億美元的事,斯氏欣然同意。(註六)  近年中共領導人對馬、列的提法包括鄧小平尊稱馬、列為「老祖宗」(註七);胡錦濤去年在中央黨校重要講話中亦重複:「我們說老祖宗不能丟,就是馬克思主義不能丟,馬克思主義科學方法和世界觀不能丟。」可見從思想上看,中共至今仍然是一個「外來政權」!
筆者並不完全反對中共當年接受蘇俄領導和援助,因為有些行為是有益於中國反帝、反封建的。同理,中國今天仍有很多人權問題難以解決,個別人士在國際上找尋聲援,只要沒有違反法律,都應該受到保護和尊重;提出反對或批評當然可以,但動不動就罵「漢奸」、「賣國賊」,就不僅有欠公允,而且是「數典忘祖」,雙重標準了。左派愛國人士,是不是都應該反省一下呢?

註:(一)《上海黨史與黨建》二○○七年九月號姚金果文章〈充分認識中國共產黨加入共產國際的意義〉;(二)《上海黨史與黨建》二○○一年九月號徐剛文章〈共產國際和上海工人三次武裝起義〉;(三)《湘潭師範學院學報》二○○七年五月號何春平文章〈論秋收起義與南昌起義之區別〉;(四)《史學月刊》二○○四年二月號河北大學劉敬忠文章〈蘇俄佔領外蒙古及對華外交活動〉;(五)《蘭州學刊》二○○○年五月號龔成瑾文章〈伍修權與第三國際交通線〉;(六)加州大學洛杉磯分校亞洲研究所「冷戰國際歷史計劃」資料;(七)《鄧小平文選》第三卷369頁。

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Thursday, March 27, 2008

黑夜不要來

What the...? 死人冧樓又要第二朝先講?
知唔知個問題喺邊度??!!

From SCMP 20080327
Education chief vows that school closure orders will be in daytime

The education chief pledged yesterday that any further school closures would be announced in the daytime, avoiding the confusion that surrounded the sudden late-night announcement two weeks ago.
Michael Suen Ming-yeung made the promise as he announced that schools closed two weeks ago because of a flu outbreak would reopen on Monday.
"We certainly will make the [class suspension] announcement during the day," Mr Suen said, admitting that the government statement - made shortly before 10pm on March 13 - closing all primary schools, special schools, nurseries and kindergartens, had been rather late.
The 11th-hour decision attracted heavy criticism from parents left scrambling to make alternative arrangements for their children's care during the day and teachers dealing with pupils who showed up at school because they didn't know of the closure order.
"Some parents and students might have been asleep already [when the announcement was made] and they might not have heard the news," Mr Suen said. "There will not be a repeat of the same situation in the future."
But the minister defended the decision to close schools.
"We were facing an emergency situation. And depending on the severity of the situation, I thought we made a very prudent move to ensure that the health of the schoolchildren was protected."
Asked if the government overreacted, Thomas Tsang Ho-fai, controller of the Centre for Health Protection, said: "There might be a distance between scientific figures and the sentiment of the public."
This echoed a remark by health minister York Chow Yat-ngok in announcing the closure.
Insisting there was no cause for alarm, Dr Chow said: "This is not just a decision on public hygiene, but also one concerning public sentiment."

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Monday, March 24, 2008

心意何價

心意何價 I
清理 Junk mailbox 時發現這個 Sotheby's 寄給的賀年卡. 查看一下這個心心是什麼東東, 可以成為'卡面' ~
Jeff Koons Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold)
Sold for US$23.6mn at Sotheby's, New York on 14 November 2007.
哦... 又如何.


心意何價 II
剛巧日前在星巴巴又讀到這個. Starbucks owes staff US$106m in tips.

Extracted from cnn.com, 21 March 2008
Judge orders coffee giant to pay up after barista files suit over supervisors sharing in employee tips
A Superior Court judge on Thursday ordered Starbucks Corp to pay its California baristas more than $100 million in back tips and interest that the coffee chain paid to shift supervisors.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Patricia Cowett also issued an injunction that prevents Starbucks' shift supervisors from sharing in future tips, saying state law prohibits managers and supervisors from sharing in employee gratuities. Starbucks spokeswoman Valerie O'Neil said the company planned an immediate appeal of the ruling, calling it "fundamentally unfair and beyond all common sense and reason."
The lawsuit was filed in October 2004 by Jou Chou, a former Starbucks
barista in La Jolla, who complained shift supervisors were sharing in employee tips.
The lawsuit gained ground in 2006 when it was granted class-action status, allowing the suit to go forward for as many as 100,000 former and current baristas in the coffee chain's California stores. It was not immediately clear how many current and former employees are affected by the ruling.
"I feel vindicated," Chou said in a written statement released by attorneys. "Tips really help those receiving the lowest wages. I think Starbucks should pay shift supervisors higher wages instead of taking money from the tip pool."
California is Starbucks' largest US market, with 2,460 stores as of Jan. 8, the latest count available. The Seattle-based company has more than 11,000 stores nationwide. Starbucks employs more than 135,000 baristas in the US. The company did not immediately respond to a request for a head count in California.
The judgment comes as Starbucks is struggling to revive its US business, where store traffic has slipped amid a sagging economy, rising energy and dairy costs, and growing competition from cheaper rivals.
The company's stock has slid more than 50 percent since late 2006, when it was trading close to $40 a share. Starbucks shares rose 3 cents to $17.53 Thursday. Starbucks earned more than $672 million on revenue of $9.4 billion during its 2007 fiscal year, which ended Sept 30. The judge ordered Starbucks to pay $87 million in back tips, plus interest of $19 million, bringing the total judgment to about $106 million.
The company said it planned to ask the court to stay the ruling while the appeal is pending.
"The decision today, in our view, represents an extreme example of an abuse of the class-action procedures in California's courts," O'Neil said. The coffee company also took issue with the brevity of the judge's ruling, which was only four paragraphs, saying she failed to address the unfairness to shift supervisors. "This case was filed by a single former barista and, despite Starbucks request, the interests of the shift supervisors were not represented in litigation," O'Neil said.
But attorney Laura Ho, who tried the baristas case, said the court's verdict follows state law. "Starbucks illegally took a huge amount of money from the tip pool to pay shift supervisors, rather than paying them out of its own pocket. The court's verdict rightfully restores that money to the baristas," Ho said.



還是waffle咖啡貼心. 跟媽豆@UCC.

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Wednesday, February 27, 2008

如果

先旨聲明, 我不是陶先生的fan, 然而很同意"如果是你的子女" 這條邏輯線 - 正是我常常跟媽說的. "如果係你個女/仔, 就唔會係咁啦..."
btw, it's now 1120, and I'm still here...

Apple Daily 20080227
淫照的邏輯 - 陶傑

一個閉塞的社會鬧出性風暴,就像抽驗一滴血,發現有肝炎、大腸桿菌、血糖過高,有太多病理問題。

淫照上網,傳媒轉載,是傳媒有問題嗎?或許是。但一干道德批判家的腦袋,更有問題。
香港育,自小沒有邏輯,小孩到了中五的數學,在學或然率的時候,才學到一點點邏輯,但一來不夠,二來太遲,三來邏輯是古希臘的學問,中國先秦時代,有一 點點,但略一萌芽,沒有滋長,這就導致中國文化的大腦,孕育出不少混混的小聰明和黑社會 大蠱惑,就是沒有大智慧。
淫照風暴的道學陣營,大轉載淫照的傳媒「推波助瀾」,傳播淫賤,又網民沒有遵守孔子「非禮勿視」的條。他們有一條很幼稚的問題:「如果淫照中的人,是你的子女,你會有何感受?」
這個問題,好笑在哪?在於把「如果淫照中人」這個假設,鎖框在「是你的子女」這個特定的命題,然後,他們引用孔子「己所不欲,勿施於人」的道理,來批判傳閱淫照的網民和報刊。
但這個命題的邏輯錯誤在哪?在於「如果是你的子女」這一點上。提問的人,沒有想過:「如果你的子女」的這個「如果」,還有許多其他的可能,例如:
一、如果是你的子女,你根本不會讓子女進入香港的娛樂圈。他長大了,可以是律師、醫生,也可以是清道夫,但一定不會當「藝人」。
二、如果是你的子女,即使他進了香港娛樂圈,當了藝人,他只會是劉德華。劉德華是不會淫亂女性而又自拍上網的。
三、如果是你的子女,即使進娛樂圈,也做不成劉德華或莫文蔚,她也不會愛上陳冠希。只要沒跟陳冠希上過,只要跟李安或吳宇森拍戲,就不會裸淫上網。天下雨,地一定濕,但如果地濕了,不一定是天下雨。這就是「如果淫照中人是你的子女」此一邏輯的幼稚之處。你的子女,關淫照叉事?
警務處那位姓黃的副處長說:「如果你的朋友有一輯照片,我沒有,咦,正喎,傳給我看好不好?得,沒問題」,黃長官的這個「如果」,反而合乎人性的邏輯。
因此,不要理會中國的道德家,他們有時是文人,有時是「學者」,有時是師奶,共通點是讀書少,尤其缺乏邏輯訓練,一個社會,科學落後,缺少創意,衍生獨裁,因為這閉塞而愛拋浪頭的一群,很可憐。

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Saturday, February 23, 2008

Colors Without Colors

Colors #72 Without Colors. A black-and-white only issue dedicated to the blind and visually impaired.

From the Colors#72 Press Release [http://production.investis.com/ben_en/releases/2007-11-06/]
This issue brings up the sightless side of the world and found out how it is to be part of a minority in a world order designed for the majority. A world without colour but rich in nuances, just as losing your sight doesn’t mean losing the meaning of things. For example, we discover that to Cecilia, a young world swimming champion, the water changes according to her mood and the rituals she performs before the race. And Michael, a corporate executive, describes how he and his co-workers survived the 911 attach by walking down the stairs from the 78th floor.

This issue includes a 4-language CD with gypsy music by the blind violinist Tcha Limberger. There is also a special audio version on a USB drive to be shipped to institutes and foundations for the blind.

Was quite surprised when I found the Editor-in-Chief and the Creative Director for this issue were 2 Chinese names (locate in Beijing and Changsha). Then I found it saying that in addition to the original 3 bilingual editions in English with Italian, French or Spanish, this was the first issue to have a Chinese edition on sale in China. May be that's why. Didn't notice that or would have looked for the version with Chinese.

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Friday, January 18, 2008

Police stand by speeding tickets

即係點先

South China Morning Post, 18 January 2008
Police stand by speeding tickets There can't be an error of 20km/h to 30km/h with lasers used by HK force, says professor

Police insisted yesterday that all pending prosecutions for speeding using laser guns were valid despite the reduction last week of a charge against a leading tycoon during which procedures for using the guns were questioned. The police also explained the confusion in the case had been caused by the use of a training manual that differed from the manufacturer's guide, but said the distance over which the gun's scope-alignment test was carried out was not the problem.
The statement from the force last night came as taxi and minibus operators facing speeding summonses were preparing to challenge them in the wake of the case, in which Lai Sun Development chairman Peter Lam Kin-ngok had a speeding charge reduced below a level that would have cost him his licence. It also followed a defence of the equipment by physics professor Tam Wing-yin, who advises police on use of the guns and has been testing them for nine years. Professor Tam said the devices were accurate to within 7km/h and "there is no way there will be an error of 20km/h or even 30km/h". Mr Lam had allegedly been clocked in his Ferrari at 114km/h in a 50km/h zone, but in the end admitted to 79km/h. Last night, a police spokesman reiterated the force had confidence in the guns' "undoubted accuracy and reliability" and would keep using them. "All other prosecutions for speeding remain valid as the accuracy of the laser gun is not in dispute," he said.
Explaining the change in the Lam case, the spokesman said that during the trial an internal training manual from another traffic formation had been used that differed in some respects from the manufacturer's manual. "As a result the prosecution felt it was unsafe to pursue the original offence." He gave no further details, but said anyone who felt aggrieved about a fixed-penalty speeding ticket could call the prosecutions division's hotline on 2860 6349.
Michael Clark, a British expert who testified for Mr Lam, said after the case that it was clear the machine had not been set up properly. At the hearing against Mr Lam in Tsuen Wan Court, Senior Constable Chan Tak-cheung admitted he had conducted a scope alignment test of the laser gun - to ensure it fell on the right target - from 60 metres, rather than the required 200 metres, "for the sake of convenience". In another test, he recorded the wrong distance. In an English court, a case would be thrown out for either of those reasons, Dr Clark said.
Professor Tam disagreed. "During the scope-alignment test, there is no requirement on the distance {hellip} [The officer] simply needs to point the gun at various targets at different distances and confirm the gun can receive different signals." The police spokesman said a distance of 50 to 60 metres was acceptable, and the 200 metre test was done only by the manufacturer during maintenance and repairs.

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