So, steal a lot of money in Macao and go to jail for 27 years. Kill a little girl through reckless driving in Hong Kong and go to jail for 4 months.
Hmmmm; it makes me wonder what would happen if a minibus driver stole 10 million and a government official killed a little girl?
The justice system in Hong Kong is simply broken. We need to replace every judge. If we can't do that then we need some mandatory sentencing for crimes like murder or manslaughter (Which is what this was) and negligent homicide. But, I'd really like to fire every judge in Hong Kong, revoke any pensions they might have and make them move their sorry butts back to the UK.
Speaking of the UK did anyone but me see the story of the blogger there that is under threat of arrest for complaining that the UK is letting proven terrorist into the country to preach in a London Mosque? Honestly, some might find this guy a bit over the edge; but I don't see that he is saying anything that is deserving of jail or even arrest. People of all political stripes say much more controversial things in other countries all the time. Especially since what he is saying is more or less true.
The concept of free speech is an important one to me but then I was born in the US not Europe. I can't see that he is that far out of line. It also seems to me that there is some differential enforcement going on here. Why do they arrest him for saying an Imam who advocates suicide bombers is a terrorist and not the people who called George W. Bush the heir to Hitler? Does the UK government not think that at least some Americans might be really offended by that? I'm not Mr. Bush's biggest fan but I certainly find the comments made about the US, most of which by the way are nearly completely false, by many UK citizens to be highly offensive. Why don't they worry about offending me or my religion? After all, If the average American is really the knuckle dragging Neanderthal that the Manchester Guardian makes us out to be you'd think they'd be afraid to offend us for the same reason they are afraid offending Muslims. Maybe a few Americans need to start calling for a holy war against Europe.
Nuke 'em 'til they glow! Or better yet, move there and take over the place. Turn it into "Eurmerica." Now there is an idea that's time has come!
"Eurmerica" is a concept whose time has come. Then Anti-Americanism would be a hate crime and US citizens could freely immigrate to countries like the UK and begin agitating for American law, American foods and American culture to be enforced as a sacred part of our culture. Actually that might be a good thing.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who believe in Liberty, Justice and Free Speech for all
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
A clarification
I had a comment from an anonymous reader complaining about my last post. he/she/it/they seemed to think that I was wanting to punish the school leavers. Actually nothing could be farther from the truth. But, when I reread my post I kind of see what they meant. I did come across as harsh. Indeed, I was trying to be harsh but my harshness was directed at the ERB and its nearly useless legion of social workers not the people they they spend millions on not helping. I didn't state my point as clearly as I could of. I was simply trying to say that there are better ways of helping dropouts than teaching them how to be a foot massage therapist.
I believe that many of the school leavers, and if you don't think that such people are destined to be loser, thugs and welfare slackers for the most part I'm sorry, would benefit from being part of an organization that allows them to gain some direction in their lives. The military has, in many countries been a major way that children of the poor or disadvantaged acquired the skills and social status to move out of poverty. That Hong Kong does not have a military means that the poor here are denied one of the best ways that the poor in other nations have of escaping poverty. At worst it would get these kids off the street for 6 years and give them something useful to do.
Military organizations are much more than people with guns. For every soldier that is in a combat unit there is at least one more in a support role behind the lines, sometimes more.
Here are some of the careers that someone could receive training for in a military unit.
Pilots (Helicopter and fixed wing)
Mechanic (Diesel, aircraft, automotive)
Logistics (Warehouses, inventory control, accounting, purchasing)
Administration (office skills, supervising, organization, communication, computer systems)
Food Service (cooking preparing service, environmental hygiene)
Medical (EMT, Nursing, Doctors, and other areas of health care)
Weapons training (Useful for becoming a police office after military service is complete.)
Physical conditioning (instills a healthy lifestyle)
Even a light infantry brigade would need all or most of these things.
The men and women that I know who have had some type of military service also have a great deal of self confidence, exhibit professionalism in their demeanor and dress, know how to be team players, how to both follow and give directions and exhibit a great deal of reliability. In other words, they make good employees and even better citizens.
Now, compare that list of attributes and skills to what the ERB is offering?
Which would help more people? Which would provide employers with better employees? Given the huge, immoral salaries of the bureaucrats in Hong Kong which would be a better use of money?
Oh yeah, one more thing. One of my pet gripes is people who are not grateful for what they have. I get tired of hearing and reading about young people, who are by the standards of many places in the world wealthy complain about how life is so tough for them. There really isn't any poverty in Hong Kong; nobody here starves. Even the poor have enough to eat. Sending a plane load or two of complainers off to Ethiopia to guard people who are starving and need protecting from Arab slave traders might make an impression on these kids that needs to be made. They might realize that they didn't have it so bad.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who believes it would do most teenagers good to march through the mud for about four years
I believe that many of the school leavers, and if you don't think that such people are destined to be loser, thugs and welfare slackers for the most part I'm sorry, would benefit from being part of an organization that allows them to gain some direction in their lives. The military has, in many countries been a major way that children of the poor or disadvantaged acquired the skills and social status to move out of poverty. That Hong Kong does not have a military means that the poor here are denied one of the best ways that the poor in other nations have of escaping poverty. At worst it would get these kids off the street for 6 years and give them something useful to do.
Military organizations are much more than people with guns. For every soldier that is in a combat unit there is at least one more in a support role behind the lines, sometimes more.
Here are some of the careers that someone could receive training for in a military unit.
Pilots (Helicopter and fixed wing)
Mechanic (Diesel, aircraft, automotive)
Logistics (Warehouses, inventory control, accounting, purchasing)
Administration (office skills, supervising, organization, communication, computer systems)
Food Service (cooking preparing service, environmental hygiene)
Medical (EMT, Nursing, Doctors, and other areas of health care)
Weapons training (Useful for becoming a police office after military service is complete.)
Physical conditioning (instills a healthy lifestyle)
Even a light infantry brigade would need all or most of these things.
The men and women that I know who have had some type of military service also have a great deal of self confidence, exhibit professionalism in their demeanor and dress, know how to be team players, how to both follow and give directions and exhibit a great deal of reliability. In other words, they make good employees and even better citizens.
Now, compare that list of attributes and skills to what the ERB is offering?
Which would help more people? Which would provide employers with better employees? Given the huge, immoral salaries of the bureaucrats in Hong Kong which would be a better use of money?
Oh yeah, one more thing. One of my pet gripes is people who are not grateful for what they have. I get tired of hearing and reading about young people, who are by the standards of many places in the world wealthy complain about how life is so tough for them. There really isn't any poverty in Hong Kong; nobody here starves. Even the poor have enough to eat. Sending a plane load or two of complainers off to Ethiopia to guard people who are starving and need protecting from Arab slave traders might make an impression on these kids that needs to be made. They might realize that they didn't have it so bad.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who believes it would do most teenagers good to march through the mud for about four years
Friday, January 25, 2008
Hong Kong Needs an Army
Hong Kong maintains something called the Employees Retraining Board (ERB) which is sort of a semi-governmental organization that was, I think first set up several years ago to help uneducated former factory workers make the arduous transition into new careers as security guards and convenience store clerks. That mission was achieved, I guess sometime ago to a resounding yawn of applause.
While not officially a part of the government the ERB does receive a huge pile of money from the government from the tax on domestic helper's wages. The weasels who control that money, quite understandably don't want to see their cushy, immorally high paid jobs come to an end. Talk about corruption. The government collects a tax and then hands it over to retired civil servants who then spend most of it on their own salaries while collecting a pension that is already many times the average income and spend the rest on salaries of professional do-gooders with social work degrees from HKU. As far as I know, there is no oversight on how this money is spent or any accountability as to whether the ERB actually accomplishes anything.
Machiavelli said that the major purpose of any government is to perpetuate itself. This organization has just proved him correct because they've just expanded their client pool by announcing that they are going to start retraining 15 year old school dropouts since the out of work factory workers have moved on or died off. Excuse me, how can you "retrain" a 15 year old? I am assuming that the ERB isn't talking about potty training. These little punks don't need retaining. They need to get a life.
These are punks, probably drug users who dropped out of school to play mahjong when they were 14, worked in a dai-pai dong until they were 18 (the ambitious ones anyway the others played video games or sprayed graffiti under bridges) and then complain that they have no career opportunities when they are 20. No fake! And now I am supposed to pay a tax for retraining these little creeps?
I have an idea.
The government should start a military unit and put these little slackers in it. Any brat who drops out of school before form 5 or who gets 6 zeros on the HKCEE and has an IQ over 85 should be required to spend the next 6 years in the HK military. Once they get trained up then the HK government could volunteer them for duty as peace keepers in a UN force, perhaps in East Timor or Darfur. Hey, HK could even join the war on terror and send them to Iraq. Assuming they survive after 6 years of military service they'd be mustered out having learned to read, bathe and gained a job skill of some sort depending upon their assignment. More than that, the percentage of thugs who drop out of school would plummet to nearly zero.
I'd even be willing to have my tax dollars to pay for their unit tattoos.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who thinks every child should learn to march
While not officially a part of the government the ERB does receive a huge pile of money from the government from the tax on domestic helper's wages. The weasels who control that money, quite understandably don't want to see their cushy, immorally high paid jobs come to an end. Talk about corruption. The government collects a tax and then hands it over to retired civil servants who then spend most of it on their own salaries while collecting a pension that is already many times the average income and spend the rest on salaries of professional do-gooders with social work degrees from HKU. As far as I know, there is no oversight on how this money is spent or any accountability as to whether the ERB actually accomplishes anything.
Machiavelli said that the major purpose of any government is to perpetuate itself. This organization has just proved him correct because they've just expanded their client pool by announcing that they are going to start retraining 15 year old school dropouts since the out of work factory workers have moved on or died off. Excuse me, how can you "retrain" a 15 year old? I am assuming that the ERB isn't talking about potty training. These little punks don't need retaining. They need to get a life.
These are punks, probably drug users who dropped out of school to play mahjong when they were 14, worked in a dai-pai dong until they were 18 (the ambitious ones anyway the others played video games or sprayed graffiti under bridges) and then complain that they have no career opportunities when they are 20. No fake! And now I am supposed to pay a tax for retraining these little creeps?
I have an idea.
The government should start a military unit and put these little slackers in it. Any brat who drops out of school before form 5 or who gets 6 zeros on the HKCEE and has an IQ over 85 should be required to spend the next 6 years in the HK military. Once they get trained up then the HK government could volunteer them for duty as peace keepers in a UN force, perhaps in East Timor or Darfur. Hey, HK could even join the war on terror and send them to Iraq. Assuming they survive after 6 years of military service they'd be mustered out having learned to read, bathe and gained a job skill of some sort depending upon their assignment. More than that, the percentage of thugs who drop out of school would plummet to nearly zero.
I'd even be willing to have my tax dollars to pay for their unit tattoos.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who thinks every child should learn to march
Holland: Likely to Be the Next Target of Islamist Rage
I want to see this movie
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Of Cavemen, Spirinters, Rocketships and Nationalism
I find it odd how the Chinese seem to have an overwhelming desire to be able to trace every aspect of human history back to China. Every invention, every political, philosophic or political thought simply has to have been at least foreshadowed in China a thousand years before anybody else thought of it. I must admit that I don't really like racial interpretations of history or ideological ones either and it appears to me that often times the Chinese engage in a well stirred blend of both.
They've found a fossil of a caveman this week that is a prime example. It is supposedly 100,000 years old and according to the local news reports shows that ancient humans where in China long before anyone in the West thought they were. In other words, though not stated as such, everything started in China. They wouldn't care if this thing had been found in Canada. It might make a short blurb on the "Culture Express" program on CCTV9 but nothing more. But, because it was found in China it is all over the news. You'd think they'd found the signature of Slartybarfast on a rock and that it was in Chinese.
The manufactured excitement over the Beijing Olympics is also somewhat scary to me. I really wonder about people whose national identity is so shallow or fragile that they feel they must prove their national manhood by winning more medals than anybody else. I would expect wealthy nations with relatively large populations to do better in a setting like the Olympics than a poor and corrupt country like Chad or the UK. Make no mistake, China is a nation that is both wealthy and populous. They should, therefore, win their fair percentage of medals at the Olympics. But the Chinese I've talked to and those they quote on TV seem to want Chinese to finish with the top three spots in every sport to prove how superior China is to the rest of the world. "Zek Heil" anyone?
I lived in the US during the Atalanta, Lake Placid, LA and Salt Lake City games. I don't remember 30 minute TV mini-series on the Olympics airing every night after the news.
If I were the IOC I'd make every Chinese athlete pee into a cup three times a day and draw blood as well from now until after the Olympics and do a complete test for steroids or banned substances in every sample. Otherwise they could just ask those women divers on the Chinese team why they suddenly have all that hair on their legs and have started growing hooves, horns and tails and going "mooooo" when they pass a bale of hay. Herbal supplements? Yeah right.
Then there is the Chinese space program. Why are they so proud of it? The PRC is doing things that the US and USSR did nearly 50 years ago. You'd think they'd be embarrassed rather than proud. Especially since they didn't even do it by themselves. They simply photocopied the blueprints of old Soviet rockets.
I don't know. I feel that patriotism is a good thing generally. It is also true that the last refuge of scoundrels is patriotism. Too often those who are not scoundrels go along with the scoundrels for personal gain, out of complacency or out of fear. I think that the patriotic Chinese need to rid themselves of more than a few scoundrels in their government. It is time that the Chinese become able to separate themselves from their history and be able to look at their national flaws as well as their virtues. But that would require an amount of honesty and freedom that isn't present in China. Not yet anyway; maybe soon.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who loves China but doesn't always understand China
They've found a fossil of a caveman this week that is a prime example. It is supposedly 100,000 years old and according to the local news reports shows that ancient humans where in China long before anyone in the West thought they were. In other words, though not stated as such, everything started in China. They wouldn't care if this thing had been found in Canada. It might make a short blurb on the "Culture Express" program on CCTV9 but nothing more. But, because it was found in China it is all over the news. You'd think they'd found the signature of Slartybarfast on a rock and that it was in Chinese.
The manufactured excitement over the Beijing Olympics is also somewhat scary to me. I really wonder about people whose national identity is so shallow or fragile that they feel they must prove their national manhood by winning more medals than anybody else. I would expect wealthy nations with relatively large populations to do better in a setting like the Olympics than a poor and corrupt country like Chad or the UK. Make no mistake, China is a nation that is both wealthy and populous. They should, therefore, win their fair percentage of medals at the Olympics. But the Chinese I've talked to and those they quote on TV seem to want Chinese to finish with the top three spots in every sport to prove how superior China is to the rest of the world. "Zek Heil" anyone?
I lived in the US during the Atalanta, Lake Placid, LA and Salt Lake City games. I don't remember 30 minute TV mini-series on the Olympics airing every night after the news.
If I were the IOC I'd make every Chinese athlete pee into a cup three times a day and draw blood as well from now until after the Olympics and do a complete test for steroids or banned substances in every sample. Otherwise they could just ask those women divers on the Chinese team why they suddenly have all that hair on their legs and have started growing hooves, horns and tails and going "mooooo" when they pass a bale of hay. Herbal supplements? Yeah right.
Then there is the Chinese space program. Why are they so proud of it? The PRC is doing things that the US and USSR did nearly 50 years ago. You'd think they'd be embarrassed rather than proud. Especially since they didn't even do it by themselves. They simply photocopied the blueprints of old Soviet rockets.
I don't know. I feel that patriotism is a good thing generally. It is also true that the last refuge of scoundrels is patriotism. Too often those who are not scoundrels go along with the scoundrels for personal gain, out of complacency or out of fear. I think that the patriotic Chinese need to rid themselves of more than a few scoundrels in their government. It is time that the Chinese become able to separate themselves from their history and be able to look at their national flaws as well as their virtues. But that would require an amount of honesty and freedom that isn't present in China. Not yet anyway; maybe soon.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who loves China but doesn't always understand China
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Nina Wong's Husband Found Alive!!!!
He is living on Mars.
The link above takes you to a photo!
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who doesn't believe in space aliens
The link above takes you to a photo!
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who doesn't believe in space aliens
Missing cat found in Owner's Suitcase
This is CBS, so I'm not sure it is a credible news source.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who really doesn't like cats
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who really doesn't like cats
Monday, January 21, 2008
Shame on the Media
The link above is to an article by the blogger Iowa Hawk and it satirical in nature but deals with a serious subject, media bias. There have been a whole raft of articles in recent days about the level of violent behavior exhibited by US military personnel returning from Iraq. The reality is that returning military personnel are LESS likely to be criminals than the population at large.
Journalist who are generally the stupidest of the stupid and come from non-military families don't believe this because it doesn't fit into their preconceived prejudices. Indeed, as Iowa Hawk points out so well journalist are more dangerous than returning military.
Like most prejudice this one is wrong.
Until next time
Fai mao
The Blogger who comes from a military family
Journalist who are generally the stupidest of the stupid and come from non-military families don't believe this because it doesn't fit into their preconceived prejudices. Indeed, as Iowa Hawk points out so well journalist are more dangerous than returning military.
Like most prejudice this one is wrong.
Until next time
Fai mao
The Blogger who comes from a military family
Friday, January 18, 2008
Criminal German teenager sent to Siberia
Oh boy doesn't this look like a good thing!
Hong Kong ought to do this to that creep named Karsen or Karen that is slapping their name in graffiti all over Causeway Bay.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who really doesn't like graffiti.
Hong Kong ought to do this to that creep named Karsen or Karen that is slapping their name in graffiti all over Causeway Bay.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who really doesn't like graffiti.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Shanghai residents protest maglev train
I've been to Shanghai. It is so dirty and so polluted that I am amazed everyone there doesn't die of some dread disease by the time they are 35. I guess all those cigarettes protect them from the other air pollutants. It just seems to be a strange thing to get worked up about. But then these are the same people that call a Feng Shui master to tell them how far to open their windows.
Kind of reminds me of the chief justice in Hong Kong complaining yesterday that there has been too much public criticism of the amount of leeway given to judges in sentencing criminals here. (This has been a recurring theme on this blog and I have emailed every post to his office. I wonder if he read them?) He seems to think that judges are some sort of special persons whose opinions and work are above question. So, I guess that sentencing one man to years in jail for killing a cat and another to community service for running over two old people makes perfect sense to ho him.
This is a soapbox I've been preaching on for sometime. The justice system here isn't a justice system at all. When child molesters rape 10 or 12 little girls and receives about 18 months on average for each rape and a reckless driver almost no jail time for killing a cyclist in the regional triathlons then justice isn't served. I find it amazing that he can't see the problems with his own judges.
I wish that he would see the need for mandatory sentencing
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who thinks that no man or judge is above the law
Kind of reminds me of the chief justice in Hong Kong complaining yesterday that there has been too much public criticism of the amount of leeway given to judges in sentencing criminals here. (This has been a recurring theme on this blog and I have emailed every post to his office. I wonder if he read them?) He seems to think that judges are some sort of special persons whose opinions and work are above question. So, I guess that sentencing one man to years in jail for killing a cat and another to community service for running over two old people makes perfect sense to ho him.
This is a soapbox I've been preaching on for sometime. The justice system here isn't a justice system at all. When child molesters rape 10 or 12 little girls and receives about 18 months on average for each rape and a reckless driver almost no jail time for killing a cyclist in the regional triathlons then justice isn't served. I find it amazing that he can't see the problems with his own judges.
I wish that he would see the need for mandatory sentencing
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who thinks that no man or judge is above the law
Monday, January 14, 2008
Things from home
The link above is an article about the needs and desires that Roman legions expressed in letters home.
It is amazing to me how much somethings stay the same. I've been in Hong Kong a long time but there are still many things that I wish to bring back with me when I visit the US.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The only slightly homesick Blogger
It is amazing to me how much somethings stay the same. I've been in Hong Kong a long time but there are still many things that I wish to bring back with me when I visit the US.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The only slightly homesick Blogger
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Hey Ho, Hey Ho
Tomorrow is the beginning of the Spring Semester so I go back to work.
I am not by training, personality or desire a natural teacher though I have through effort and diligence become at least acceptable in the job. Indeed, I've come to really enjoy it in many ways but I did have to make an effort to do so. I guess it is sort of like learning to eat all those bitter, stringy, green leafy Chinese vegetables my really smart-good looking-hard working- looks twenty-five years young than she is wife introduced me to when we were first dating. I choked them down for several months before I got to the point where I could tell one from the other and for a couple of years before I actually came to like any of them. Now I actually look for my favorites in the wet-market.
I do like the holidays that teachers get. They are probably the my favorite part of the job. Wow!
Two and a half weeks at Christmas and New Year.
Twelve weeks or so in the summer!
Plus Spring Break.
Plus assorted other official holidays like Ching Ming and Buddha's Birthday and that many people do not get.
That has to be worth quite a bit as a benefit.
But now it is time get that nose back to grindstone.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who isn't as lazy as this post makes him sound.
How much would
I am not by training, personality or desire a natural teacher though I have through effort and diligence become at least acceptable in the job. Indeed, I've come to really enjoy it in many ways but I did have to make an effort to do so. I guess it is sort of like learning to eat all those bitter, stringy, green leafy Chinese vegetables my really smart-good looking-hard working- looks twenty-five years young than she is wife introduced me to when we were first dating. I choked them down for several months before I got to the point where I could tell one from the other and for a couple of years before I actually came to like any of them. Now I actually look for my favorites in the wet-market.
I do like the holidays that teachers get. They are probably the my favorite part of the job. Wow!
Two and a half weeks at Christmas and New Year.
Twelve weeks or so in the summer!
Plus Spring Break.
Plus assorted other official holidays like Ching Ming and Buddha's Birthday and that many people do not get.
That has to be worth quite a bit as a benefit.
But now it is time get that nose back to grindstone.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who isn't as lazy as this post makes him sound.
How much would
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Just when you thought it couldn't get any stranger.
Maybe they should have placed them in a big jar and urinated on them
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who sometimes gets outraged at the things people get outraged about.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who sometimes gets outraged at the things people get outraged about.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Auld Lang Syne?
I hope that my few faithful readers will have a good year.
In the twisted sense of my Hong Kong Christmas Carols here is one for the up coming New Year. I will probably revise this a bit so the chorus is a bit different every time
By the way. I make neither apology or excuse for my apparent hypocrisy in posting what may be seen as mean spirited social or political parodies on one day and peaceful religious meditations the next. It is just me.
To the tune (sort of) of Auld Lang Syne
Should old relatives be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should old classmates be ignored
Because they didn't pass the HKCEE?
Chorus
For the DAB's Ma Lik,
And Nina Wong
We will take a cup of finest cheer!
Neither will be mourned
We all have run about after a bus
And pulled the muscles fine,
But we also rode the KCR
Even though it was the very last time.
Chorus
For the DAB's Ma Lik
And Nina Wong
We wll take a cup of finest cheer!
Neither will we mourn
We two have Coughed in the street
From noon until dinner time,
From air so thick it looks like smoke
And hides the whole skyline
Chorus
For the DAB's Ma Lik
And Nina Wong
we wll take a cup of finest cheer!
Neither will we mourn
And there is a place called Tin Shui Wai
There you can live without hope
Or if you cannot find a job
Then maybe try and learn to fly.
Chorus
For the DAB's Ma Lik
And Nina Wong
We will take a cup of finest cheer
Neither will we mourn
And surely you will pay for your pint,
And surely I will pay for mine!
For they lowered the tax on beer!
For all us old drunks!
Chorus
For the DAB's Ma Lik
And Nina Wong
We will take a cup of finest cheer
Neither will we mourn
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who really isn't a good song writer
In the twisted sense of my Hong Kong Christmas Carols here is one for the up coming New Year. I will probably revise this a bit so the chorus is a bit different every time
By the way. I make neither apology or excuse for my apparent hypocrisy in posting what may be seen as mean spirited social or political parodies on one day and peaceful religious meditations the next. It is just me.
To the tune (sort of) of Auld Lang Syne
Should old relatives be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should old classmates be ignored
Because they didn't pass the HKCEE?
Chorus
For the DAB's Ma Lik,
And Nina Wong
We will take a cup of finest cheer!
Neither will be mourned
We all have run about after a bus
And pulled the muscles fine,
But we also rode the KCR
Even though it was the very last time.
Chorus
For the DAB's Ma Lik
And Nina Wong
We wll take a cup of finest cheer!
Neither will we mourn
We two have Coughed in the street
From noon until dinner time,
From air so thick it looks like smoke
And hides the whole skyline
Chorus
For the DAB's Ma Lik
And Nina Wong
we wll take a cup of finest cheer!
Neither will we mourn
And there is a place called Tin Shui Wai
There you can live without hope
Or if you cannot find a job
Then maybe try and learn to fly.
Chorus
For the DAB's Ma Lik
And Nina Wong
We will take a cup of finest cheer
Neither will we mourn
And surely you will pay for your pint,
And surely I will pay for mine!
For they lowered the tax on beer!
For all us old drunks!
Chorus
For the DAB's Ma Lik
And Nina Wong
We will take a cup of finest cheer
Neither will we mourn
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who really isn't a good song writer
Saturday, December 29, 2007
It's Over
Christmas is over!
The daughter and the boyfriend returned to the UK so the really-smart, looks twenty-five younger than she is wife and I have the flat to ourselves again.
However, to celibrate this my wife made me two appointments yesterday. I went to the dentist in the morning and to get my prostate medicine renewed in the afternooon. I cannot imagine a worse day than a dentist in the morning and a prostate exame in the afternoon.
Until next time
Fai Mao
The blogger who is finishing up his holidays
The daughter and the boyfriend returned to the UK so the really-smart, looks twenty-five younger than she is wife and I have the flat to ourselves again.
However, to celibrate this my wife made me two appointments yesterday. I went to the dentist in the morning and to get my prostate medicine renewed in the afternooon. I cannot imagine a worse day than a dentist in the morning and a prostate exame in the afternoon.
Until next time
Fai Mao
The blogger who is finishing up his holidays
Sunday, December 16, 2007
The Vine that Strangled Christmas
This is a really unusual post for me. First it is being composed in the evening on a weekend. Second I normally avoid speaking of groups, people or organization by name unless they are politicians. Third, when I write about religion I try to write about personal themes. Tonight I am writing about an identifiable group.
The really smart, pretty, looks twenty-five years younger than she is wife and I have been looking for a new church for the past couple of months for a variety of reasons. For a city with a fairly large number of prominent churches this has been harder than you might think. Part of that process took us to the Christmas pageant presented by "The Vine" in the HKCEC theatre 2.
This was one church that we can scratch off our list.
I can sum up the rest of this post in three words when I say that this Christmas pageant was: offensive, sacrilegious, and blasphemous.
I walked out after about 15 minutes but the wife, our daughter and her non-Christian boyfriend stayed for the whole performance in part because my wife and daughter didn't want to climb over the seats in the last row like I did to get out.
I can honestly say that they had a very good video presentation of the church announcements. I cannot recommend anything else about their service. If this was indicative of the theology that is commonly believed in their church I really wonder about that congregation's salvation.
They had disco dancing angels, God played by an overweight woman, idiotic angels. They made fun of the way God chose Mary and Joseph. They made fun not of Christians as fallen beings but of the invisible church eternal, the nature of God and displayed a shocking lack knowledge of basic Christian doctrine. Those were just the things I saw in 15 minutes or so. My wife told me that they basically disparaged and denigrated the entire Christmas story and that after I left it got worse. I went out side the theatre and sat on a couch not knowing whether to be angry or sad over a church that would do something like this.
Blasphemy is the sin of demeaning the nature of God. This program did that at almost every opportunity tonight. That is a horrible thing to say but I can find no other words.
The non-Christian boyfriend told me that his Anglican relatives would have walked out as well. Then he made another comment that I found profound. He said: "This looked like a spoof of the Christmas story that anti-Christians would have staged to make fun of Christians." Wow! How is that for a comment from an unbeliever. He was on the other hand almost amused by the event which in this case, isn't good.
We brought him to this service as an evangelistic opportunity. I'd hoped that he would see the wonder and awe inherent in the Christmas story. What he saw was poor almost beyond belief.
Great job guys! you're doing the devil's work better than he could himself.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who is still trying to celebrate Christmas.
The really smart, pretty, looks twenty-five years younger than she is wife and I have been looking for a new church for the past couple of months for a variety of reasons. For a city with a fairly large number of prominent churches this has been harder than you might think. Part of that process took us to the Christmas pageant presented by "The Vine" in the HKCEC theatre 2.
This was one church that we can scratch off our list.
I can sum up the rest of this post in three words when I say that this Christmas pageant was: offensive, sacrilegious, and blasphemous.
I walked out after about 15 minutes but the wife, our daughter and her non-Christian boyfriend stayed for the whole performance in part because my wife and daughter didn't want to climb over the seats in the last row like I did to get out.
I can honestly say that they had a very good video presentation of the church announcements. I cannot recommend anything else about their service. If this was indicative of the theology that is commonly believed in their church I really wonder about that congregation's salvation.
They had disco dancing angels, God played by an overweight woman, idiotic angels. They made fun of the way God chose Mary and Joseph. They made fun not of Christians as fallen beings but of the invisible church eternal, the nature of God and displayed a shocking lack knowledge of basic Christian doctrine. Those were just the things I saw in 15 minutes or so. My wife told me that they basically disparaged and denigrated the entire Christmas story and that after I left it got worse. I went out side the theatre and sat on a couch not knowing whether to be angry or sad over a church that would do something like this.
Blasphemy is the sin of demeaning the nature of God. This program did that at almost every opportunity tonight. That is a horrible thing to say but I can find no other words.
The non-Christian boyfriend told me that his Anglican relatives would have walked out as well. Then he made another comment that I found profound. He said: "This looked like a spoof of the Christmas story that anti-Christians would have staged to make fun of Christians." Wow! How is that for a comment from an unbeliever. He was on the other hand almost amused by the event which in this case, isn't good.
We brought him to this service as an evangelistic opportunity. I'd hoped that he would see the wonder and awe inherent in the Christmas story. What he saw was poor almost beyond belief.
Great job guys! you're doing the devil's work better than he could himself.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who is still trying to celebrate Christmas.
Monday, December 10, 2007
"Oh the monkies have no tails in Zam-Boanga"
I've been thinking about Christmas this week. We've got some preparations to make and some gifts to buy and the normal holiday stuff. A lot of people seem to find this a really stressful time of year but I never have. While Christmas in Hong Kong often defines the words "trite, cheap & materialistic" It is also a pleasant time in too many ways to count.
This year I have been thinking about how the holiday season has changed for me over time. Family traditions are a nebulous thing in my household. I guess that the nearest thing to a Christmas tradition we had was the concept of a Christmas trip. Whether that was going back to see my parents when we were in Austin or later family trips the Bahamas, Guam or Thailand, we've taken trips at Christmas several times. We also used to host graduate students from the mainland when we had a larger apartment. This was a really nice way to spend a holiday.
The really smart, very pretty, looks twenty-five years younger than she is, hard working and gracious wife and I will also spend several hours with a bowl of popcorn watching corny old Christmas movies. I can't stand "It's a Wonderful Life" but most of them I really enjoy. The Polar Express from a couple of years ago has moved up to the top of my personal list of Christmas movies but you are free to have your own.
I also try to read through the Christmas story in the book of Luke several times in December.
When I was a child my parents would drive us kids around to see the lights on people's houses. There was a competition in the town at that time and neighborhoods would compete for some sort of prize or trophy for best decorated neighborhood as well as individuals. This was a very simple thing for my parents to do. Just load the kids in the back of the 65 Chevy after dark and head off to where the lights were. Yet it was one of my favorite things and one of my most cherished memories. Sometimes we'd see lights that said "Happy Hanuka" and I found it pleasant to know that Jewish people could celebrate the holidays too. It made me aware of the fact that there were were people who believed different things and that is a good lesson for any child to learn. One year, a rather well known atheist in our town decorated his house for Christmas with the words "Bah-Humbug" and images of Scrooge and Tiny Tim on crutches. He didn't think that Christmas should be a holiday at all. He won the prize for the best lights display that year which may not have been his intention. I thought it was hilarious and laughed really hard when I read that he'd won in the paper. Something else that may not have been his intention was that because I didn't understand the meaning of his display, I read "A Christmas Carrol" by Charles Dickens. I have wondered at times if that man ever read the ending of that book? I can't say those lights changed my life but seeing them did improve my life.
In a similar vein my wife, who deserves the superlatives listed above, and I try to ride the Star Ferry across the harbor at this time of year to see the lights on the buildings. It is something that I always look forward to. I thought of that this week and I thought of those lights that said "Bah-Humbug" on that house so long ago. I thought of the strings of memory that tie us to what we were and shape us in unpredictable ways years later.
The existentialist in me has been wondering about these kinds of things lately. I don't know why, sometimes I just can't help myself. I asked myself, "When do silly things become a tradition and when do those traditions take on an importance beyond the actual deed?" When did driving around looking at Christmas lights on people's houses become more than entertainment for me and become a cherished memory? When did seeing the lights on Hong Kong buildings go from being something that happened almost accidentally into something intentional? When does the trivial, the small and the ordinary become special? When and how do we raise those special thing to an almost religious status? I don't know if I can answer those questions. If I could I don't think I would want to. I'm not going to try. Sometimes knowing the answer ruins everything. Sometimes I just have to sit back and marvel at how wonderful it is to be able to develop family traditions at all.
It occurs to me that family traditions like this are a very odd thing. They are personal yet occur in a group. The best ones also seem to just happen. They aren't forced or intentional but become intentional through the pleasure they give us. I can see this in one of the Christmas movies I watch which isn't really a Christmas movie at all as far as I know. It's Donovan's Reef, staring John Wayne, Lee Marvin and (I think) Maureen O'Hara. It is set on a Pacific Island just after World War II. It is a fairly typical romantic comedy of the 1950's, a "B" movie all the way but a fun one. It does have a Christmas scene, and that makes it a Christmas movie to me, that I laughed at as a child, thought was culturally insensitive as a university student and find profound today in a way that I don't think the people who made the movie ever intended.
In the movie the people of the island produce a Christmas pageant in a ruinous church with a leaky roof. The major part of the pageant is the adoration of the wise men who in the movie are represented by the King of Polynesia, the Emperor of China and the King of the United States of America. Besides the cheap laugh of seeing Lee Marvin dressed as the Statue of Liberty there is something going on in this scene that has parallels in my family. I see a group of people of mixed culture and race adapting and blending traditions from somewhere else into something that is meaningful to them. It is new but contains elements of things from somewhere else. I think of the foods my family eats on Christmas and how different those are from what we had when I was a child. It is different in every particular and yet exactly the same.
It is the same because it is the same love and joy, the same fellowship, it doesn't matter what we eat. It is, or so it seems to me, the Dickensonian Spirit of Christmas Present making merry with all who will make merry with him. It is the wonder of the Christ child, helpless in a manger. It is all things good, all things desirable and all things wonderful. It is no surprise to me that the best hymns, from a musical and theological standpoint, are often Christmas carols.
This blog averages about three hits a day. I can watch the number but don't have any idea who is behind the numbers. But, whoever you are, "Merry Christmas from me and mine to you and yours. May the love of the Christ child be yours this year and for many to come"
I may not be able to post much for the next couple of weeks.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Holiday Making Blogger
This year I have been thinking about how the holiday season has changed for me over time. Family traditions are a nebulous thing in my household. I guess that the nearest thing to a Christmas tradition we had was the concept of a Christmas trip. Whether that was going back to see my parents when we were in Austin or later family trips the Bahamas, Guam or Thailand, we've taken trips at Christmas several times. We also used to host graduate students from the mainland when we had a larger apartment. This was a really nice way to spend a holiday.
The really smart, very pretty, looks twenty-five years younger than she is, hard working and gracious wife and I will also spend several hours with a bowl of popcorn watching corny old Christmas movies. I can't stand "It's a Wonderful Life" but most of them I really enjoy. The Polar Express from a couple of years ago has moved up to the top of my personal list of Christmas movies but you are free to have your own.
I also try to read through the Christmas story in the book of Luke several times in December.
When I was a child my parents would drive us kids around to see the lights on people's houses. There was a competition in the town at that time and neighborhoods would compete for some sort of prize or trophy for best decorated neighborhood as well as individuals. This was a very simple thing for my parents to do. Just load the kids in the back of the 65 Chevy after dark and head off to where the lights were. Yet it was one of my favorite things and one of my most cherished memories. Sometimes we'd see lights that said "Happy Hanuka" and I found it pleasant to know that Jewish people could celebrate the holidays too. It made me aware of the fact that there were were people who believed different things and that is a good lesson for any child to learn. One year, a rather well known atheist in our town decorated his house for Christmas with the words "Bah-Humbug" and images of Scrooge and Tiny Tim on crutches. He didn't think that Christmas should be a holiday at all. He won the prize for the best lights display that year which may not have been his intention. I thought it was hilarious and laughed really hard when I read that he'd won in the paper. Something else that may not have been his intention was that because I didn't understand the meaning of his display, I read "A Christmas Carrol" by Charles Dickens. I have wondered at times if that man ever read the ending of that book? I can't say those lights changed my life but seeing them did improve my life.
In a similar vein my wife, who deserves the superlatives listed above, and I try to ride the Star Ferry across the harbor at this time of year to see the lights on the buildings. It is something that I always look forward to. I thought of that this week and I thought of those lights that said "Bah-Humbug" on that house so long ago. I thought of the strings of memory that tie us to what we were and shape us in unpredictable ways years later.
The existentialist in me has been wondering about these kinds of things lately. I don't know why, sometimes I just can't help myself. I asked myself, "When do silly things become a tradition and when do those traditions take on an importance beyond the actual deed?" When did driving around looking at Christmas lights on people's houses become more than entertainment for me and become a cherished memory? When did seeing the lights on Hong Kong buildings go from being something that happened almost accidentally into something intentional? When does the trivial, the small and the ordinary become special? When and how do we raise those special thing to an almost religious status? I don't know if I can answer those questions. If I could I don't think I would want to. I'm not going to try. Sometimes knowing the answer ruins everything. Sometimes I just have to sit back and marvel at how wonderful it is to be able to develop family traditions at all.
It occurs to me that family traditions like this are a very odd thing. They are personal yet occur in a group. The best ones also seem to just happen. They aren't forced or intentional but become intentional through the pleasure they give us. I can see this in one of the Christmas movies I watch which isn't really a Christmas movie at all as far as I know. It's Donovan's Reef, staring John Wayne, Lee Marvin and (I think) Maureen O'Hara. It is set on a Pacific Island just after World War II. It is a fairly typical romantic comedy of the 1950's, a "B" movie all the way but a fun one. It does have a Christmas scene, and that makes it a Christmas movie to me, that I laughed at as a child, thought was culturally insensitive as a university student and find profound today in a way that I don't think the people who made the movie ever intended.
In the movie the people of the island produce a Christmas pageant in a ruinous church with a leaky roof. The major part of the pageant is the adoration of the wise men who in the movie are represented by the King of Polynesia, the Emperor of China and the King of the United States of America. Besides the cheap laugh of seeing Lee Marvin dressed as the Statue of Liberty there is something going on in this scene that has parallels in my family. I see a group of people of mixed culture and race adapting and blending traditions from somewhere else into something that is meaningful to them. It is new but contains elements of things from somewhere else. I think of the foods my family eats on Christmas and how different those are from what we had when I was a child. It is different in every particular and yet exactly the same.
It is the same because it is the same love and joy, the same fellowship, it doesn't matter what we eat. It is, or so it seems to me, the Dickensonian Spirit of Christmas Present making merry with all who will make merry with him. It is the wonder of the Christ child, helpless in a manger. It is all things good, all things desirable and all things wonderful. It is no surprise to me that the best hymns, from a musical and theological standpoint, are often Christmas carols.
This blog averages about three hits a day. I can watch the number but don't have any idea who is behind the numbers. But, whoever you are, "Merry Christmas from me and mine to you and yours. May the love of the Christ child be yours this year and for many to come"
I may not be able to post much for the next couple of weeks.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Holiday Making Blogger
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
The Welcome Tyrannt
This is a scary, but well thought out article
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who is scared of Tyrannts
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who is scared of Tyrannts
Monday, December 03, 2007
Was that a (Y)Ip in Hell or a Hoot in Chan?
So Anson (Got her Fangs On) Chan won the election yesterday. Not really a surprise. And if the truth be know I couldn't give a hoot in Hell who won. None of the candidates except the Cecelia Ling had 1/2 a brain between them and I didn't like her that much either.Lets see we had a choice between:
1. A Running Dog of the British (Anson Chan)
2. A Running Dog of the PRC (Regina Ip)
3. A Welfare Queen activist with an IQ in the low 80's who probably graduated 1st in her class from HKU with a degree in Social Basket Weaving (Ho Loy)
4. A union leader who despite being Chinese bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Jimmy Hoffa. I'm actually surprised he didn't do better in this election. I guess the local union thugs haven't figured out how to buy votes like they do in France the UK and the US
5. Cecelia Ling (she seemed like a fairly bright and competent person except for her generic Hong Kong secretary style helmet cut hair)
6. Some old guy with a mustache who was I think a former district councilor but who looked like the manager of a Karaoke Bar behind Nathan Road
7. Another guy who did some sort of Tai Chi for some reason or another.
8. Does anybody really know who the eighth person in this election was? The skinny guy. I saw him on TV. He had no organization, no volunteers and evidently no clue.
Those ancient Greeks who thought up the idea of participatory government must be spinning in their graves. They assumed that the cream of society would rise to the top and thus good leadership would win out. I guess they never lived here
Anson Chan may have been the cream of Hong Kong society one upon a time but that cream soured years ago. What is really sad is that she was demonstratively the best candidate in many ways.
On a stranger note, the Franklin Graham evangelistic meeting ended yesterday. 120,000 in the Stadium and easily over 100,000 more on the infield of the Happy Valley race track. I guess if you didn't like the sermon you could place a bet. Maybe the Jockey club should have taken odds on the number of professions of faith.
They also had full venues at Yuen Long and in Macao. Not counting Macao there were probably over 250,000 attending this thing if you counted all the venues. I think it says something about the number Christians in Hong Kong or possibly the amount of spiritual hunger here.
What is strange is that TVB didn't report about this on the new last night. I don't know about ATV. However, I'm just a little curious, isn't 250,000 people attending an event a newsworthy topic?
I mean if 250,000 street sweepers decided to strike and march from Chai Wan to Chatter Garden on a Sunday afternoon to demand that the government give them bigger brooms wouldn't it make the news? It would seem that the TV stations here might have been able to run a short story on it. Maybe they though all those people were going to vote.
I guess that is why I am not a journalist. I'm not able to discern what is a big story from what is important.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who can't vote in Hong Kong
Friday, November 30, 2007
Sarko the Lady Killer
Take that Bill Clinton!
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger Who has never had a Chinese Pop Singer propose to him
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger Who has never had a Chinese Pop Singer propose to him
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