"....---- has commented there are many religious references...."
that was kinda weird. i was chatting with a friend, and she tells me that this one dude, our anderson classmate, was like - commented i have many religious references [in my blog]. hmmmm... i had to step back a bit. religious references sorta implies that it's a subtle implicit persuasion in whatever i write. personally, i think it's more like an explicit expression of my person. like andy g talked bout at 180 (AT THE FRINGE!!!), why am i here???? i'm kinda glad i've got that part figured out, and this silly blog thing would reflect what i have on my mind. well - the bible does say 'out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth overflows'. in this case, i guess it would be the keyboard overflows. so if i'm to be characterized in anyway - i guess a person of 'religious reference' is kinda a'ight.... it's good to live a life with absolutely no doubt as to where i'm gonna end up after they put my physical body 6 ft under. thank the lord for that tho.... not much good this broken body doing me nowadays anyway!!!!! :)
i'm finally home my 9 tonite!!!! wooooohoooooo.... it's kool to be home early and relax. altho i'm butt tired now. i also wanted to change the skin on my blog, but it'll take way too much time. i'm prolly gonna do that as i move out and get into my own apartment. if you can remember - just keep that in your prayers! rental prices are like climbing again - so i don't wanna get jacked in pricing... oh wells. i know something good will come. so why waste time worrying, eh?
well - it's gonna be off to bed soon anyway.... tom'w is another day of painstaking infrastructure building at the ol'office. i'm so lost still, altho it's getting better as some deals are starting to come in. i guess after i complete my first one, it'll be easier. just a pain setting up all the tedious mktg stuff to make it all happen... we need production peeps, so send me u'r resume if u'r interested!!!!!!!
so sad - so many peoples going away:
mandy - the fils till mid-sept
koryl - n.car for the forseeable future
matt - taiwan for at least a year?
gabby - for like half a year in dts in hawaii (wooooowweeeeeee)
mark nam - for at least a year back to uk (you best come back boy)
sarah l - left already to canada
kim - back to the 51st of america... er... canada [?]
ann - going next feb [or so] to oz
kinda exciting at the same time. it's always fun to go on another life adventure. i've been around that so often that i'm so used to it by now. more often than not, it's me embarking on some crazy new thang - but i'm hoping that this time i'm pretty planted here in hk - and maybe even get to grow some roots somewhere for a change. i haven't been in any one place longer than 4 years or so... in fact, i think the longest stint i've ever done was my working time in indonesia - 4 years 4 months!....
time to go.. i've spent enuf of my precious time on this dastardly box.
lates
Jul 26, 2003
i have absolutely nothing to say.... blech
looking for an apt this afternoon - i hope i find one.... anyone got a 700sf apt for under 10k? hk is getting crazy prices again
diamonds are a girl's best friend.... especially after you commit adultery on her!
so does it come as a surprise that kobe got his girlie a $4 million 8-carat purple diamond ring?????? i mean... WOW.... they say that for every 10,000 'regular' diamonds, there's 1 colored one. but 8-carats.... geez.. that's a mighty BIG 'sorry for cheating on you hon... please don't divorce me and take half my money!'... guess who's gonna be the whipping boy for the next 5 years? he's gonna put doug christie to shame!
looking for an apt this afternoon - i hope i find one.... anyone got a 700sf apt for under 10k? hk is getting crazy prices again
diamonds are a girl's best friend.... especially after you commit adultery on her!
so does it come as a surprise that kobe got his girlie a $4 million 8-carat purple diamond ring?????? i mean... WOW.... they say that for every 10,000 'regular' diamonds, there's 1 colored one. but 8-carats.... geez.. that's a mighty BIG 'sorry for cheating on you hon... please don't divorce me and take half my money!'... guess who's gonna be the whipping boy for the next 5 years? he's gonna put doug christie to shame!
Jul 23, 2003
uncle joe
you gotta check it... uncle joe is an incredible hk indie band... great music, and a great group of guys.
weatherpeoples (in my pc efforts)... confusing...
HO made me write this..... i've never understood hk's typhoon rating system. i mean - why choose a 1,3,8,9,10 scale? what happened to 2,4,5,6,7? i've actually never seen a 9 or 10 come up. but right now, we are at a 1, with typhoon imbudo coming from the fils. then you have the yellow, red and black rainstorm warnings, scaling bad, badder (shaddup), baddest... i mean.. how racist is that? being that this was prolly devised by some anglo-saxon white supremist - i'm not surprised. the implications are clear: yellow=bad=asians are the least bad of the non-caucasion lot; red=badder (shaddup)=indians (of the native american variety) are slightly badder in that they just drink and gamble (according to the caucastion american propaganda); and black=baddest=isn't it obvious?????? why isn't there a white rainstorm warning???? i smell an opportunity for a spike lee movie here....
tongue me
this guy in america just got a tongue transplant. the wonders of medical science... i'm very impressed...
growth...
i'm challenged to really start to grow in my capabilites and potential. what exactly that means i don't know. i just feel it. it's kinda like that feeling you get when your opponent hits you a short ball, just at the service line, and you charge, already planning your shot - short angle cross-court, deep down the line, hard drive straight down the middle to eliminate angled return, drop shot.... it's that kind of rush. another analogy could be kobe bryant - you know... seeing that fresh high school grad - he's in colorado, wife's back in cali; he's rehabilitating after knee surgery, and wife not there to comfort him; he's big bad basketball player, why should he be held back by such things as morality or decency... ok - well - that's judgemental, but still - it's just a confirmation that even the best of characters will come up strongly against temptation, where the godless are likely to fail, but at the same time, the godly are not necessarily immune...
working in any capacity is a good thing. i've recently been led to do more than just be an example through work or deeds. going to church, volunteering my time to help out w/180, going to plus group/bible study, attending church functions like alpha, fellowship w/the peeps, making that effort to get more involved... that's all fine and dandy. but that doesn't define holiness. james talks about faith vs. deeds. that would be one thing that separates us from say the catholics or muslims, or any other religion. many people will go to church, do 'good deeds', more so that they can feel good about themselves - like the weekly cleansing ritual... then on the off-days - they be free to do watever they wish. god knows hearts, and therefore motives. there's no hiding from that. that's why i've been re-thinking what it is i want to accomplish through my association with church (a church, the church, )... again - i have no idea what it really means yet, but i just know that something great is in store for those that want to ride god's wave.
it's kinda cool cause this has taken me outta my recent funk... so easy to be critical about everything - and judging by my past posts - i been venting A LOT! well - must-try-to-reeesist! hehehe i love jabbing at peoples, especially the hk govt/peoples. oof - it's gonna get me in trouble someday.
yeah... stevie... just remember kobe.... remember kobe....
you gotta check it... uncle joe is an incredible hk indie band... great music, and a great group of guys.
weatherpeoples (in my pc efforts)... confusing...
HO made me write this..... i've never understood hk's typhoon rating system. i mean - why choose a 1,3,8,9,10 scale? what happened to 2,4,5,6,7? i've actually never seen a 9 or 10 come up. but right now, we are at a 1, with typhoon imbudo coming from the fils. then you have the yellow, red and black rainstorm warnings, scaling bad, badder (shaddup), baddest... i mean.. how racist is that? being that this was prolly devised by some anglo-saxon white supremist - i'm not surprised. the implications are clear: yellow=bad=asians are the least bad of the non-caucasion lot; red=badder (shaddup)=indians (of the native american variety) are slightly badder in that they just drink and gamble (according to the caucastion american propaganda); and black=baddest=isn't it obvious?????? why isn't there a white rainstorm warning???? i smell an opportunity for a spike lee movie here....
tongue me
this guy in america just got a tongue transplant. the wonders of medical science... i'm very impressed...
growth...
i'm challenged to really start to grow in my capabilites and potential. what exactly that means i don't know. i just feel it. it's kinda like that feeling you get when your opponent hits you a short ball, just at the service line, and you charge, already planning your shot - short angle cross-court, deep down the line, hard drive straight down the middle to eliminate angled return, drop shot.... it's that kind of rush. another analogy could be kobe bryant - you know... seeing that fresh high school grad - he's in colorado, wife's back in cali; he's rehabilitating after knee surgery, and wife not there to comfort him; he's big bad basketball player, why should he be held back by such things as morality or decency... ok - well - that's judgemental, but still - it's just a confirmation that even the best of characters will come up strongly against temptation, where the godless are likely to fail, but at the same time, the godly are not necessarily immune...
working in any capacity is a good thing. i've recently been led to do more than just be an example through work or deeds. going to church, volunteering my time to help out w/180, going to plus group/bible study, attending church functions like alpha, fellowship w/the peeps, making that effort to get more involved... that's all fine and dandy. but that doesn't define holiness. james talks about faith vs. deeds. that would be one thing that separates us from say the catholics or muslims, or any other religion. many people will go to church, do 'good deeds', more so that they can feel good about themselves - like the weekly cleansing ritual... then on the off-days - they be free to do watever they wish. god knows hearts, and therefore motives. there's no hiding from that. that's why i've been re-thinking what it is i want to accomplish through my association with church (a church, the church, )... again - i have no idea what it really means yet, but i just know that something great is in store for those that want to ride god's wave.
it's kinda cool cause this has taken me outta my recent funk... so easy to be critical about everything - and judging by my past posts - i been venting A LOT! well - must-try-to-reeesist! hehehe i love jabbing at peoples, especially the hk govt/peoples. oof - it's gonna get me in trouble someday.
yeah... stevie... just remember kobe.... remember kobe....
Jul 18, 2003
small world
just to highlight wat a small world this is (or at least shanghai).... last nite i was at dinner w/my buddy/colleague steve, and another colleague, at the hong kong plaza... so as we eating - this real familiar looking girl walks by, and i just stared at her for the longest time trying to place the face. then she goes sits down, and steve was like - uh ok... i guess u know her? anyway - i wasn't sure if i did or not - but he was just like - go ask her... so i did... and it turned out to be linnet's li'l sis rebecca! hehehe - so weird. she just got back from hillsongs too - and was meeting someone at that place fer dinner. so small world... i was glad to find out in the end that it wasn't just me - cause she couldn't place my face either.. so, as koryl once told me in all seriousness - "it's good to have a face".....
small world - guess i was lucky i was behaving at that time.... :p
well, i leave shanghai tom'w. it's been such a fun week. you know when something is so god-ordained when you can have long talks at nite with your buddy/colleague/biz partner about biznass n strategy, about life, and most importantly about god. we've done that the past couple nites, and really been able to focus our efforts into furthering the kingdom of god through this opportunity. it's an exciting biz, and on top of that, our faith is growing stronger just through our working together and seeing god's hand in our lives. we've also had the opportunity to pray - which has been great, cause one thing i really wanted to seek was work based on god first. so yeah - life is good, and i know that we aren't just working for the purpose of working and picking up a check.
i mean - how can i argue about a position that's paying me to hang out and learn from one of my good buddies, and in shanghai?????? there's gonna be tremendous challenges ahead, which i will be the first to admit that it's shaking me up a bit. sometimes the insecurities and the lack of confidence in how to proceed can be quite tough to bear. but u know - talking about and praying over these things the past couple nites has done wonders. alls i can says is - god is good! keep the blessings coming pleeeeeaaaaaaaazzzzzeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!
just to highlight wat a small world this is (or at least shanghai).... last nite i was at dinner w/my buddy/colleague steve, and another colleague, at the hong kong plaza... so as we eating - this real familiar looking girl walks by, and i just stared at her for the longest time trying to place the face. then she goes sits down, and steve was like - uh ok... i guess u know her? anyway - i wasn't sure if i did or not - but he was just like - go ask her... so i did... and it turned out to be linnet's li'l sis rebecca! hehehe - so weird. she just got back from hillsongs too - and was meeting someone at that place fer dinner. so small world... i was glad to find out in the end that it wasn't just me - cause she couldn't place my face either.. so, as koryl once told me in all seriousness - "it's good to have a face".....
small world - guess i was lucky i was behaving at that time.... :p
well, i leave shanghai tom'w. it's been such a fun week. you know when something is so god-ordained when you can have long talks at nite with your buddy/colleague/biz partner about biznass n strategy, about life, and most importantly about god. we've done that the past couple nites, and really been able to focus our efforts into furthering the kingdom of god through this opportunity. it's an exciting biz, and on top of that, our faith is growing stronger just through our working together and seeing god's hand in our lives. we've also had the opportunity to pray - which has been great, cause one thing i really wanted to seek was work based on god first. so yeah - life is good, and i know that we aren't just working for the purpose of working and picking up a check.
i mean - how can i argue about a position that's paying me to hang out and learn from one of my good buddies, and in shanghai?????? there's gonna be tremendous challenges ahead, which i will be the first to admit that it's shaking me up a bit. sometimes the insecurities and the lack of confidence in how to proceed can be quite tough to bear. but u know - talking about and praying over these things the past couple nites has done wonders. alls i can says is - god is good! keep the blessings coming pleeeeeaaaaaaaazzzzzeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jul 16, 2003
shanghai baby!
coreans..... hmpf... hehehe (yeah YOU stevie n charlie).... so today and yesterday i met with some potential corean partners for our commercial division. they were sooooooo... corean (!>@#>!@). this is their first time in shanghai, and only one of the three speaks english. so when they meet my boss (the owner of the firm) - they said - "wow - you are a woman!". they are so old school that they cling to the male chauvenistic role of yester-eon. so they didn't just stop there. they were like - 'how can you own company?' 'you are woman?' 'we thought you were man from name' (HER NAME IS BEVERLY!).... they were so shocked.... anyway - that aside - they were good people. smart and capable, with a good platform to build business. so tonite, they off to visit our HK office, and when they were told a woman was going to take them around.... AND, that this woman was the head of commercial division.... oooohhhh booooyyyy - they started cracking up in the car. some people... some societies.... got a lot to learn....
otherwise - i gotta say shanghai is great. i wouldn't quite say it's as glamorous as some have said. i've been around these past couple days to quite a lot of sites. the highlight today was going to the grand hyatt atrium that runs 30 floors up the core of the jinmao building (currently the tallest in china)... it's so spectacular - you can sit and have a coffee at the lounge and just stare up 30 floors to the top. what would have been cooler would have been a glass ceiling... but oh wells... anyway - the coreans were impressed with that... hehehe
one thing weird about china - i can post blog, but i can't see it. how weird? censorship gotta wake up! all told - our office is pretty nice here - it's in the shanghai center at some port(uh)man hotel, which everyone one and their taxi drivers seem to be real familiar with. and - the weather opened up nice too... nice as in not hot! it's actually chilly out - and NO sun during the day.
oh - another corean thing... last nite after dinner - we were headed to the trendy spot in town @ xintiandi for a drink. in the taxi, the english speaking dude was like - 'so... wat's this place.. blahblahblah'. and i was like- just a trendy spot - have a drink, relax.... then he's like.. 'ughhhhh - it's been a long day - i really would like-uh massage'.... 'yes - that would-uh be relaxing'..... 'and then ... maybe some-uh thing after'.... 'yes... some thing would be good'... so i'm sitting there in the front like.... 'ok... watever dude'... i ended up taking him to have milkshakes (and then home!).. hehehe - oh wat a sense of humor i have!
coreans..... hmpf... hehehe (yeah YOU stevie n charlie).... so today and yesterday i met with some potential corean partners for our commercial division. they were sooooooo... corean (!>@#>!@). this is their first time in shanghai, and only one of the three speaks english. so when they meet my boss (the owner of the firm) - they said - "wow - you are a woman!". they are so old school that they cling to the male chauvenistic role of yester-eon. so they didn't just stop there. they were like - 'how can you own company?' 'you are woman?' 'we thought you were man from name' (HER NAME IS BEVERLY!).... they were so shocked.... anyway - that aside - they were good people. smart and capable, with a good platform to build business. so tonite, they off to visit our HK office, and when they were told a woman was going to take them around.... AND, that this woman was the head of commercial division.... oooohhhh booooyyyy - they started cracking up in the car. some people... some societies.... got a lot to learn....
otherwise - i gotta say shanghai is great. i wouldn't quite say it's as glamorous as some have said. i've been around these past couple days to quite a lot of sites. the highlight today was going to the grand hyatt atrium that runs 30 floors up the core of the jinmao building (currently the tallest in china)... it's so spectacular - you can sit and have a coffee at the lounge and just stare up 30 floors to the top. what would have been cooler would have been a glass ceiling... but oh wells... anyway - the coreans were impressed with that... hehehe
one thing weird about china - i can post blog, but i can't see it. how weird? censorship gotta wake up! all told - our office is pretty nice here - it's in the shanghai center at some port(uh)man hotel, which everyone one and their taxi drivers seem to be real familiar with. and - the weather opened up nice too... nice as in not hot! it's actually chilly out - and NO sun during the day.
oh - another corean thing... last nite after dinner - we were headed to the trendy spot in town @ xintiandi for a drink. in the taxi, the english speaking dude was like - 'so... wat's this place.. blahblahblah'. and i was like- just a trendy spot - have a drink, relax.... then he's like.. 'ughhhhh - it's been a long day - i really would like-uh massage'.... 'yes - that would-uh be relaxing'..... 'and then ... maybe some-uh thing after'.... 'yes... some thing would be good'... so i'm sitting there in the front like.... 'ok... watever dude'... i ended up taking him to have milkshakes (and then home!).. hehehe - oh wat a sense of humor i have!
Jul 14, 2003
xtc
yesterday i had xtconice.... that's this gelato place... wow it's good stuff. it's dangerous that there's one near my office, cause now i'll be tempted every day to go n get me somma dat yum-yum.
france, tour de
after stage 8, can u believe lance armstrong is in the lead once again???? and they only just entering the mountains... he's in good shape for his 5th in a row - tying miguel indurain's record. amazing... and all this after suffering testicular cancer too....
not fair
shaq, kobe, payton, malone now a reality. devean george will be making more than payton, and close to what the lakes pay payton & malone combined .... how unfair is that?????? GO KNICKS!!!!!! *sigh*
kenny kenny kenny kenny
3 Vs in '03... wow.... before this year, it was kenny who? u know, back in the pre-tiger days, two would been considered a banner year. a victory was considered an extremely successful year. the 125th person on the money list (the cut line to keep your tour card) was roughly $135,000 for the year. the $2 million mark was considered unreachable for a year's earnings.... now? tiger's 3 wins in the 1st half of the season was classified as a slump by the media. 125th place currently lies at $266,000, and the top money earner's at $4.2 million - half way thru the season .... if you ever had any questions as to the 'tiger effect' - the proof is in the pudding. dude's made many peoples much mooolah, and upped the playing level so much - forcing people to get in shape, and to be more serious about their games. so hats off to kenny perry - man - 3 wins this year... how awesome....
off to shanghai
i'm off to shanghai today/nite! woooohooooo - first time there, so should be fun. however, i'll have to make it thru the plane ride first... ugh...
yesterday i had xtconice.... that's this gelato place... wow it's good stuff. it's dangerous that there's one near my office, cause now i'll be tempted every day to go n get me somma dat yum-yum.
france, tour de
after stage 8, can u believe lance armstrong is in the lead once again???? and they only just entering the mountains... he's in good shape for his 5th in a row - tying miguel indurain's record. amazing... and all this after suffering testicular cancer too....
not fair
shaq, kobe, payton, malone now a reality. devean george will be making more than payton, and close to what the lakes pay payton & malone combined .... how unfair is that?????? GO KNICKS!!!!!! *sigh*
kenny kenny kenny kenny
3 Vs in '03... wow.... before this year, it was kenny who? u know, back in the pre-tiger days, two would been considered a banner year. a victory was considered an extremely successful year. the 125th person on the money list (the cut line to keep your tour card) was roughly $135,000 for the year. the $2 million mark was considered unreachable for a year's earnings.... now? tiger's 3 wins in the 1st half of the season was classified as a slump by the media. 125th place currently lies at $266,000, and the top money earner's at $4.2 million - half way thru the season .... if you ever had any questions as to the 'tiger effect' - the proof is in the pudding. dude's made many peoples much mooolah, and upped the playing level so much - forcing people to get in shape, and to be more serious about their games. so hats off to kenny perry - man - 3 wins this year... how awesome....
off to shanghai
i'm off to shanghai today/nite! woooohooooo - first time there, so should be fun. however, i'll have to make it thru the plane ride first... ugh...
Jul 12, 2003
what the #*$)(#@$#@ is happening in HK?????????
hong kong is going crazy. ok - i can accept the july 1 massive demo, and even the subsequent one the following wed on the day of legco's vote on article 23. but, to maintain a vigil last nite (fri nite), and then to organize another rally on sunday???? i mean, c'mon! this is the major problem of what's going on. still - hong kong'ers do not know the meaning of democracy. there is NO REAL democracy in the world, other than india, and under that rule, they're approaching 30 years of stagnation. rule by alliances (like HK is headed), also do NOT work for the betterment of the populace. india can never decide what to do, cause all the alliances are forced to appease their own constituents and therefore no major decision can be made or implemented. that is what democracy really is. empowerment to the people you say? i say.... what???? how dumb is that idea? would i trust decisions to any joe-blow monkey on the street? what about 500,000 of them???? you would have to be extremely naive (or just plain dumb) to believe that even half of those people knew exactly what they were marching for. fact is - that's what government is... what legislature is... it's implied that as a populace, we just cannot allow the masses to dictate policy and procedure. not only would nothing get done, but it would be inevitable that power struggle would ensue and in the end, you have a government that works not for the good of the people, but rather for the good of saving his/her own seat in power. just look at the 'greatest democracy in the world' - america.
the precedent being set in hk has already been manifest in some developing nations as they attempt to implement a 'democracy'. it's a dangerous precedent where the people, thinking now that they have some kind of 'power', can just take to the streets whenever they disapprove of government actions, and in turn, demand resignation of the head of state. higher educated people will contend that that is not so - but they almost certainly are viewing from an all too egocentric (and predictable) perspective. The common person (like the majority of the 500,000 that day) will start to think that they can effect change - that ultimately, 'they' are in charge of what should be rule in hk. this scenario outcome is not likely to materialize, but the possibility is there. even the vaunted democrates - like james tien - are apt to change views in light of the situation. it's well documented that at the handover time, he was a bandwagon follower for the person in power - then when that power shifted (people power), he also moved sides. now he's like some kinda hero... whatever... anyone who thinks his act was selfless and self-abasing is just a product of the media hype. all the democratic party has ever done in and for hk is to play the devil's advocate to the tung regime (i'm in NO WAY a tung-supportist!)... that's great and all - but what we need is constructivism. if democrats EVER get into the big seat - they'd find that they would need much more than words and public support to implement some serious changes.
just consider japan PM koizumi. when he came in - man, he was hailed as some savior. he was regarded as japan's new youngblood generation, reform minded and defiant to the old keiretsu practices of the establishment. that was what, like 4-5 years ago? what has happened? yep, absolutely nothing. he found that all his reform plans, which rested on the shoulders of an overhaul of the banking system, has gone nowhere near his promise. the same goes for hk. the hk people have been blindsided by the popular press (SCMP, and ALL local pubs) - that the measure of tung's effectiveness is solely on the people. i agree that he has not been the best leader. he has not even come close to a good leader. however - the job is so immensely difficult, as you rely so much on china for your mere existence, but yet, you stuggle with a population that rejects any ties to them. so while it is easy to criticize - how would you do things differently? and if you can't even lay down some simple answers, which most of the people in hk are implying the solution is just that simple, then shut up!! maybe when i hear some of the democrats come out with solutions then i'll pay attention to them. it's so easy to pontificate, especially when you're some momentum riding, self-serving, public do-gooder with a soapbox and loudspeaker. it's another to take the reigns and assume total responsibility for all your actions and words.
that's it..... i'm just venting.... me? i have some ideas of what might be good for hk. we need good, clean business leaders (like my boss?) - anson chan-like peoples, that truly love hong kong, but yet realize the importance of mainland ties. someone that has the rapport with the people, and not afraid to flaunt it. keep donald tsang - that guy is good and well respected in the global finance circles, but fire antony leung and make a public denouncement that we the gov't and people do not tolerate that kind of overt dishonesty and abuse of power. allow this art 23 thing to ride itself out - but better educate the people (i.e. - the PRESS) about what the bill means, what other nations use it, is hk's version diff?,... to build up credibility of the government. no need to rush it - but it starts a process that gains trust, and over time as this process is repeated a couple times, once you have trust, you don't need to approach the monkeys. in other words, manage the expectations of the people - put out simple laws to the public, stuff the people would be sure to approve. start to build on the finances/economy of hk. money talks. when people make money in hk, they'll be happy (unfortunate as that may sound)... but that will also once again make hk the shining star of asia pac. how to do this? first start with the markets - keep transparency in the stock exchange, and keep it independent! control the quality that goes on the main board. this gives investors confidence! maybe start up consultant arms to the mainland.... the key of hk is it's brainpower, and the main need in china is good management... start to export the hk ideals to the motherland, and start to develop that rapport. a dependence on hk will be created, thereby releasing hk from china's iron hand. there is yet hope for hk....
hong kong is going crazy. ok - i can accept the july 1 massive demo, and even the subsequent one the following wed on the day of legco's vote on article 23. but, to maintain a vigil last nite (fri nite), and then to organize another rally on sunday???? i mean, c'mon! this is the major problem of what's going on. still - hong kong'ers do not know the meaning of democracy. there is NO REAL democracy in the world, other than india, and under that rule, they're approaching 30 years of stagnation. rule by alliances (like HK is headed), also do NOT work for the betterment of the populace. india can never decide what to do, cause all the alliances are forced to appease their own constituents and therefore no major decision can be made or implemented. that is what democracy really is. empowerment to the people you say? i say.... what???? how dumb is that idea? would i trust decisions to any joe-blow monkey on the street? what about 500,000 of them???? you would have to be extremely naive (or just plain dumb) to believe that even half of those people knew exactly what they were marching for. fact is - that's what government is... what legislature is... it's implied that as a populace, we just cannot allow the masses to dictate policy and procedure. not only would nothing get done, but it would be inevitable that power struggle would ensue and in the end, you have a government that works not for the good of the people, but rather for the good of saving his/her own seat in power. just look at the 'greatest democracy in the world' - america.
the precedent being set in hk has already been manifest in some developing nations as they attempt to implement a 'democracy'. it's a dangerous precedent where the people, thinking now that they have some kind of 'power', can just take to the streets whenever they disapprove of government actions, and in turn, demand resignation of the head of state. higher educated people will contend that that is not so - but they almost certainly are viewing from an all too egocentric (and predictable) perspective. The common person (like the majority of the 500,000 that day) will start to think that they can effect change - that ultimately, 'they' are in charge of what should be rule in hk. this scenario outcome is not likely to materialize, but the possibility is there. even the vaunted democrates - like james tien - are apt to change views in light of the situation. it's well documented that at the handover time, he was a bandwagon follower for the person in power - then when that power shifted (people power), he also moved sides. now he's like some kinda hero... whatever... anyone who thinks his act was selfless and self-abasing is just a product of the media hype. all the democratic party has ever done in and for hk is to play the devil's advocate to the tung regime (i'm in NO WAY a tung-supportist!)... that's great and all - but what we need is constructivism. if democrats EVER get into the big seat - they'd find that they would need much more than words and public support to implement some serious changes.
just consider japan PM koizumi. when he came in - man, he was hailed as some savior. he was regarded as japan's new youngblood generation, reform minded and defiant to the old keiretsu practices of the establishment. that was what, like 4-5 years ago? what has happened? yep, absolutely nothing. he found that all his reform plans, which rested on the shoulders of an overhaul of the banking system, has gone nowhere near his promise. the same goes for hk. the hk people have been blindsided by the popular press (SCMP, and ALL local pubs) - that the measure of tung's effectiveness is solely on the people. i agree that he has not been the best leader. he has not even come close to a good leader. however - the job is so immensely difficult, as you rely so much on china for your mere existence, but yet, you stuggle with a population that rejects any ties to them. so while it is easy to criticize - how would you do things differently? and if you can't even lay down some simple answers, which most of the people in hk are implying the solution is just that simple, then shut up!! maybe when i hear some of the democrats come out with solutions then i'll pay attention to them. it's so easy to pontificate, especially when you're some momentum riding, self-serving, public do-gooder with a soapbox and loudspeaker. it's another to take the reigns and assume total responsibility for all your actions and words.
that's it..... i'm just venting.... me? i have some ideas of what might be good for hk. we need good, clean business leaders (like my boss?) - anson chan-like peoples, that truly love hong kong, but yet realize the importance of mainland ties. someone that has the rapport with the people, and not afraid to flaunt it. keep donald tsang - that guy is good and well respected in the global finance circles, but fire antony leung and make a public denouncement that we the gov't and people do not tolerate that kind of overt dishonesty and abuse of power. allow this art 23 thing to ride itself out - but better educate the people (i.e. - the PRESS) about what the bill means, what other nations use it, is hk's version diff?,... to build up credibility of the government. no need to rush it - but it starts a process that gains trust, and over time as this process is repeated a couple times, once you have trust, you don't need to approach the monkeys. in other words, manage the expectations of the people - put out simple laws to the public, stuff the people would be sure to approve. start to build on the finances/economy of hk. money talks. when people make money in hk, they'll be happy (unfortunate as that may sound)... but that will also once again make hk the shining star of asia pac. how to do this? first start with the markets - keep transparency in the stock exchange, and keep it independent! control the quality that goes on the main board. this gives investors confidence! maybe start up consultant arms to the mainland.... the key of hk is it's brainpower, and the main need in china is good management... start to export the hk ideals to the motherland, and start to develop that rapport. a dependence on hk will be created, thereby releasing hk from china's iron hand. there is yet hope for hk....
Jul 8, 2003
boldness
after 180 on sat nite, mark, sarah and i were on our way to crc via mtr to get my car. when we got to the tunnels at the pedder street entrance, we had a brilliant idea to just drop everything, get out mark's guitar, and start singing praise right there! at least it seemed like a great idea [in our minds], so we debated it for a li'l bit, but in the end, were just like - just do it! it was so awesome! some people just stopped and listened, one group of girlies stood next to mark to take pictures (canto star!), some were a bit drunk, and one person even gave us some change! we were there for an hour, ended up missing the train (they stop at 1am), so we cabbed it to crc and made our way home. what a way to end the nite. the next day, when we were doing lunch at pret a manger, the counter guy recognized mark from the nite before (guess he walked by...)...
koryl's last sunday in hk (for now....)
work
work's been so busy. however - last nite i managed to come home early.... PRAISE GOD!!!! hahhaah i left like 7pm to go look at an apartment in causeway bay. this place is the block right above the outback steakhouse, so ultra convenient. and the view is a GREAT unobstructed ocean view. only problem is that it's like 650SF, with what seems like 70% efficiency. that's a bit small.... so i'm leaning on illumination terrace if i can get the right price. anyway - point is that i went straight home from there. then i just vegged in front of the tv watching the ladies' US open (golf) for like 15 mins, then surfed a bit, then bed. i relish the time i can get more than 4-5 hrs of sleep! and what's better... today i don't need to go to the office! we're doing some site research in shenzhen, so i'm meeting my colleague in the sheung shui kcr station (MY STOP!!!) at 9 - so soooooo much time this morning lah! but yeah - it's good to have a nite of rest - today will be tough, cause we gotta make our way around futian in one day, looking at and negotiating with all the major office buildings there. all this in like 35 deg heat... ugh... then, next week, i'm off to shanghai - monday (14th) to sat (19th). as it's gonna be my 1st time there, i'm pretty psyched, despite the rash of meetings that i'm gonna have to attend. it's gonna be like 40* up there, added to me wearing a suit = daytime badness. oh wells....
not much on the writing end these days. just plain bland vanilla shakin'. working like this saps all brainpower outta me by the end of the day. speaking of which, i need to upgrade my brain. any suggestions?
*** oh wait.... did anyone else read about karl malone and gary payton??? i mean, how unfair would it be if the lakers got them to join up with shaq and kobe????? why can't the knicks even get ONE decent player?????? ***
after 180 on sat nite, mark, sarah and i were on our way to crc via mtr to get my car. when we got to the tunnels at the pedder street entrance, we had a brilliant idea to just drop everything, get out mark's guitar, and start singing praise right there! at least it seemed like a great idea [in our minds], so we debated it for a li'l bit, but in the end, were just like - just do it! it was so awesome! some people just stopped and listened, one group of girlies stood next to mark to take pictures (canto star!), some were a bit drunk, and one person even gave us some change! we were there for an hour, ended up missing the train (they stop at 1am), so we cabbed it to crc and made our way home. what a way to end the nite. the next day, when we were doing lunch at pret a manger, the counter guy recognized mark from the nite before (guess he walked by...)...
koryl's last sunday in hk (for now....)
work
work's been so busy. however - last nite i managed to come home early.... PRAISE GOD!!!! hahhaah i left like 7pm to go look at an apartment in causeway bay. this place is the block right above the outback steakhouse, so ultra convenient. and the view is a GREAT unobstructed ocean view. only problem is that it's like 650SF, with what seems like 70% efficiency. that's a bit small.... so i'm leaning on illumination terrace if i can get the right price. anyway - point is that i went straight home from there. then i just vegged in front of the tv watching the ladies' US open (golf) for like 15 mins, then surfed a bit, then bed. i relish the time i can get more than 4-5 hrs of sleep! and what's better... today i don't need to go to the office! we're doing some site research in shenzhen, so i'm meeting my colleague in the sheung shui kcr station (MY STOP!!!) at 9 - so soooooo much time this morning lah! but yeah - it's good to have a nite of rest - today will be tough, cause we gotta make our way around futian in one day, looking at and negotiating with all the major office buildings there. all this in like 35 deg heat... ugh... then, next week, i'm off to shanghai - monday (14th) to sat (19th). as it's gonna be my 1st time there, i'm pretty psyched, despite the rash of meetings that i'm gonna have to attend. it's gonna be like 40* up there, added to me wearing a suit = daytime badness. oh wells....
not much on the writing end these days. just plain bland vanilla shakin'. working like this saps all brainpower outta me by the end of the day. speaking of which, i need to upgrade my brain. any suggestions?
*** oh wait.... did anyone else read about karl malone and gary payton??? i mean, how unfair would it be if the lakers got them to join up with shaq and kobe????? why can't the knicks even get ONE decent player?????? ***
Jul 5, 2003
no rest for the weary
back in the corporate world.... wooohooooo! so the trip to beijing was cancelled because 2 of the 3 clients couldn't make the meeting, which is a relief, cause tho i love beijing, going for an overnite stay and all day meeting only to get back real late and work real early the next morning don't really appeal to me. anyway, much potential for more travelling to come! hehehee - shanghai from the 14th to 18th!
the farewell for koryl was fun. dinner was highlighted by a 'roach climbing up the wall right behind janice and ed. ed the barbarian came to damsel janice's rescue and stomped it to a grisly death. that was so reminiscent of the cockroach that 'jumped' outta jacinta's hair at alpha weekend... hehee.... afterwards, we went up to the peak to play the dumbest game. i don't mean that in a dumb sense, but man - running round the peak in darkness trying to find one person hiding can be downright exhausting. the last hidee (?), ashley, climbed into this THICK clump of brush and sat there for prolly 30 mins! i walked passed that bush at least 3 times - the 1st of which I looked pretty close, but saw nothing! anyway - jason (who introduced the game), in all our frustration after about 20mins of un-fruitful search, confessed that he forgot to mention a key point - the person hiding should come out after bout 10-15 mins if no one finds him/her!!!! ahahahahaa - poor girl sat in this mosquito infested bush for 1/2 hour while we all practically gave up searching! so funny lah
however it is a few days later now - and most people are starting to leave for hillsongs. i'll be praying that i'll get to go next year! it sounds like an awesome time! however, i know that those of us staying back here will have just an equally awesome time - and those in sydney will be WISHING they were back here in HK with us!!!! :)
back in the corporate world.... wooohooooo! so the trip to beijing was cancelled because 2 of the 3 clients couldn't make the meeting, which is a relief, cause tho i love beijing, going for an overnite stay and all day meeting only to get back real late and work real early the next morning don't really appeal to me. anyway, much potential for more travelling to come! hehehee - shanghai from the 14th to 18th!
the farewell for koryl was fun. dinner was highlighted by a 'roach climbing up the wall right behind janice and ed. ed the barbarian came to damsel janice's rescue and stomped it to a grisly death. that was so reminiscent of the cockroach that 'jumped' outta jacinta's hair at alpha weekend... hehee.... afterwards, we went up to the peak to play the dumbest game. i don't mean that in a dumb sense, but man - running round the peak in darkness trying to find one person hiding can be downright exhausting. the last hidee (?), ashley, climbed into this THICK clump of brush and sat there for prolly 30 mins! i walked passed that bush at least 3 times - the 1st of which I looked pretty close, but saw nothing! anyway - jason (who introduced the game), in all our frustration after about 20mins of un-fruitful search, confessed that he forgot to mention a key point - the person hiding should come out after bout 10-15 mins if no one finds him/her!!!! ahahahahaa - poor girl sat in this mosquito infested bush for 1/2 hour while we all practically gave up searching! so funny lah
however it is a few days later now - and most people are starting to leave for hillsongs. i'll be praying that i'll get to go next year! it sounds like an awesome time! however, i know that those of us staying back here will have just an equally awesome time - and those in sydney will be WISHING they were back here in HK with us!!!! :)
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