Showing posts with label opinion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label opinion. Show all posts

Friday, June 06, 2008

Candlelight Vigil - 19th Anniversary of June 4th 1989

It's painful to recall, but it's never to be forgotten.....


DSC_5042.JPG



Mike and I went to the Candlelight Vigil for the 19th anniversary of the Tienanmen Square protests of 1989.


DSC_4943.JPG


This is held annually in Victoria Park to commemorate the thousands of Chinese students who were killed in the June 4th Massacre in China in 1989, and express our eagerness for democracy, freedom, human rights and rule of law.


DSC_4964.JPG




The June Fourth Incident



It all started with a number of peaceful protests led by Chinese students in April of 1989. They wanted the Chinese government to reform, to clean up the corrupt bureaucracy, calling for democracy & human rights. The Chinese government ignored the protesters.


The protest gained momentum in a short period of time. More and more students and other activists joined, but the protesters remained non-violent. They gathered in Tienanmen Square in Beijing. 3000+ students started to starve themselves to try to call for the government attention. As the starved students grew weaker and weaker due to the lack of food and water intake, the Chinese government continued to ignore their request. This provoked even more people to join the students.


In late May, workers, farmers, police, teachers, parents, and intellectuals all sided with the students. The Chinese government was forced to talk to the student representatives; however, nothing resolved after their meeting. Large scale protests were happening in 20+ provinces throughout China, in addition to the main one in Beijing.


On June 4h, the government took a desperate action to "quiet down" the much-overheat protesting voice - a total military crackdown - Solders, with tanks, guns and other weapons, were ordered to "disperse" the protesters from Tienanmen Square. The military crackdown left thousands of students dead and even more injured.


After the massacre, the government also conducted widespread arrests for surviving protesters and their supporters, killed all remaining protesting voice in China, banned all foreign press from entering and erased all national coverage of the massacre. Many of the protesters caught from the protest back then were still in prison today.



DSC_5038.JPG





When it happened that year.....


I was just a very little girl when it all happened in 1989. I was too little to understand what democracy means, or what freedom stands for. But I definitely remembered how the whole city was in extreme grief during that time.



DSC_5010.JPG


People watched news everyday and night to find out what was going on in Tienanmen Square. Countless tears were shed watching how students were killed by the tanks, the army, the government....



DSC_4969.JPG


In my little mind, I didn't totally understand what was going on at that time, but I would never forget that year, that day, that massacre...




Natural Disasters v.s. Human-caused Disasters


DSC_4980.JPG

The vigil this year was also about the victims from the earthquake on May 12th.


Yes, the earthquake was sad and caused way too many innocent lives. But at least it was natural disaster after all.


But what about disasters caused by people? Or even by the government?



Yes, since the earthquake happened, the Chinese central government has been doing everything they can to rescue and help the earthquake victims.


But....


If the 7000+ schools and hospitals were built properly by the local government or the responsible organizations in the first place, would so many innocent children and people die as a result of improper construction??! As a result of the so-called "tofu-residue" construction!!!





DSC_4998.JPG


What about the students protesters back then? Was it really so wrong to protest peacefully to voice out their concern? Was democracy and freedom really so expensive in our country that our students had to pay the high price of LIFE for it???!!!



DSC_5033.JPG





During the Candlelight Vigil


It rained during part of the candlelight vigil.


DSC_4991.JPG

Instead of leaving, we took out their umbrella to block the rain from putting out the candle fire, which represents our respect and remembrance of the students who shed their blood in exchange for a call for democracy, for freedom, 19 years ago.



DSC_5023.JPG


We raised our candlelight up high and waved, while singing the June Fourth memorial song, Blood (血染的風采),



DSC_5032.JPG


I cried.


I hope generations and generations of our people will not forget the June Fourth historical event. It's only through learning what really did happen in our history that we can become better and stronger, as an individual, as a nation.



DSC_5000.JPG



And I'd like to pay my sincere regards to the students, for their self-less act 19 years ago. I hope that all of them, their families and loved ones will find comfort and continue to live bravely.



DSC_5036.JPG

It's painful to recall, but it's never to be forgotten.....



Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Pain and Thoughts

What would it be like if you cannot use or move your right hand...

Never thought about this before, until early last week, I was (un)fortunate enough to "gain" this experience...

What happened was - I accidentally poured half a bowl of burningly-hot, thick corn soup onto my right hand.

If you have burns before, then you'll know how it feels - yes, IT HURTS - like HELL!!!

I can be a clumsy person sometimes, but this was definitely the most tragic incident caused by my carelessness.

Fortunately, the mistake was tragic but not fatal.

Mike immediately ran out to buy me burn medicine and bandage, while I ran my seriously-burned hand with cold tap water.

It hurt so much that day that I had to numb my hand in a bowl of cold water for most of the afternoon. =(

My burn turned out to be a second degree burn. Big, puffy blisters over the burn area and extreme redness of the skin followed the next whole week... (It's still not healed yet.)

Mike was so worried and urged me to see doctor several times. But my "doctor-phobia" (as Mike called it) made me reject such idea, despite my inability to move my hand nor the bad pain from the blisters.

I was almost like a "disabled" person in the following week: couldn't really use/move my hand at all, and had to have my right hand medicated and bandaged the whole time.

Poor Mike - he took care of me like a baby.

I felt so guilty watching him cook me meals everyday, washing the dishes, doing the laundry, peeling me fruits, and even going out to buy me desserts just to keep me from being totally depressed. Yes, I was pretty depressed because I couldn't do anything except coding to keep myself distracted from the pain. >_<

I have been very emotional in the past two weeks. Before the burn happened, I was already very sadden over the Sichuan Earthquake and all of the heart-broken stories behind it. Tears ran down my cheek everyday watching sad stories one after another... And then this burn... It made me realize something else...


True, the burn was very painful and it might even scar me after it heals...

However....

My burn will heal someday, but how does the pain of the people who lost their families, their loved ones, their homes, their everything in the earthquake, pain of such great magnitude be healed, be relieved, or even just be reduced... just a little....

......

I don't know...

......

I just hope that they'll find peace and be strong to continue to live...

My heart goes out to all the victims of the earthquake and their families...

Be strong!!!!


Friday, May 02, 2008

I cried today....

I cried today....






During the Olympic torch relay today, I witnessed a young guy standing next to me, silently holding up a half-A4 sized human rights poster.



DSC_4398.JPG


When the crowd discovered him and his poster, they attacked him immediately, poking at and trying to destroy his poster with their red flags or umbrellas.



DSC_4411.JPG

DSC_4410.JPG


During that whole time, the innocent guy was just repeating "Freedom of Speech" in Chinese and English.




DSC_4413.JPG


He then got taken away by the police, got interrogated and was finally forced to leave the site after the police recorded his ID and other personal information.


DSC_4415.JPG

DSC_4419.JPG




In the midst of that kind of blind patriotism and violence, I couldn't stop my tears.




DSC_4393.JPG



I haven't cried like that for years... since my grandma passed away.



DSC_4358.JPG


I am not ashamed of admitting that I cried in the street out in the public (got eyed on by many passers-by), but I am ashamed of my own country, of the city that I have always loved so much...


DSC_4359.JPG


Where did the freedom of speech in HK go....?



Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Shockwave Traffic Jam

Read an interesting article on newScientistTech about a first time real-life simulation of a phenomenon called "Shockwave traffic jam".

You may wonder what is "Shockwave traffic jam"? You know, those annoying traffic jams that occur for no apparent reason when you are on the road driving. The road does not really have heavy traffic and most cars seem to be going smoothly, but all of a sudden a traffic jam will happen out of not where.... And you wonder why....

This is why - A team of Japanese researchers recreated this kind of seemingly-unnecessary traffic jam with 22 cars in a circular test-track based on the "shockwave" mathematical theory.



From the video, you can see that usually this type of traffic jams are caused by human errors. Every time when a single driver, due to whatever reason, slows down, may be just a bit, then his small deceleration will ripple through to the cars in the back in growing magnitude. The ones that are immediately behind must slow down more and more. The ones that are further back might even need to come to a complete stop, causing a shockwave jam of vehicles.

I was really interested in the study and amazed by the video (Hurrah to the creative Japanese scientists!!). I replayed the video many times to observe the shockwave phenomenon, its cause and effect. So glad that I don''t need to suffer from that anymore (well... at least not for another long while). ^_~


Friday, February 01, 2008

For the first time in life, Amazon actually recommended something that is useful...

I hated Amazon recommendations usually because they are useless most of the times.

There is a little something you ought to know about Amazon...
God forbids that you once have bought something irrelevant to your interest from them, may be for somebody else, may be it's a joke gift, or a one time thing. Then there is no way to "erase" that record from the Amazon DB, so they will keep recommend you stuff remotely related to that thing that you bought 10 years ago for the next 20 years~
Don't believe me? Try buying a guy thong from them and you'll see... Don't blame me for whatever will happen to you in the next 20 years thou.... ;)

My Chinese New Year Presents

Fortunately for me, this time they actually recommended something that I am quite interested in!! =)
The first one is a book and DVD package called "Living Japanese: Diversity in Language and Lifestyles" that contains interviews with 37 native Japanese from age 7 to 75 on their diverse viewpoints on cultural and social issues!!
May be it's just me - but it sounds totally interesting and cool to me. (yea, I am still hooked on the Japanese culture even though my living-and-working-in-Tokyo dream didn't turn out as cool as I thought...)


The second one is a compilation of nine short, curious stories published in the Japanese magazine "Shukan Asahi". The book's name is "Reading Japanese in a Smile". Read a bunch of reviews online about this book. Supposedly an interesting read and the stories are "full of the magic element of fun". We'll see how big of a smile I'll have when I am reading this... ;)

Last but not least...

Need to say thanks to my not-so-secret Chinese-New Year Santa (^_~)v

And also thanks to my super nice "mail-girl" who will deliver them from overseas in person, heh heh!! (For those who don't know, trying to have US Amazon deliver stuff to HK is a pain... esp for your wallet...)
Yea, they will be my early Chinese New Year presents!!!!! YAY!!!

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Yea!! Go Hong Kong Education!!!!!

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) just published their findings of their 3 yearly-long Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). See BBC report here. The PISA international rankings are based on tests taken by 15-year-olds in 57 countries. See full result here.


Reading Top-10
Math Top-10
1. South Korea 1. Taiwan
2. Finland 2. Finland
3. Hong Kong-China 3. Hong Kong-China
4. Canada 4. South Korea
5. New Zealand 5. Netherlands
6. Ireland 6. Switzerland
7. Australia 7. Canada
8. Liechtenstein 8. Macao-China
9. Poland 9. Liechtenstein
10. Sweden 10. Japan

I had big smile on my face seeing that Hong Kong ranked 3rd on both reading and Math.

"... The latest findings also show the extent of global competition in education - with the northern European countries now challenged by and overtaken by Asian rivals, including Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea...."

Yea!! Go Hong Kong!!!

Though I disagree with the focus of the university-level education in Hong Kong (not stressing enough in creativity), I do have fond memory of my primary school and first three years of secondary school education. Sure, it was hard, stressful, high pressure, and competitive; but it WORKS and works effectively!! Almost all of my friends who were originally educated in HK and then studied abroad have either achieved some amazing career or have attained advanced education degree in interesting fields. I am so proud of them, so proud of Hong Kong!!! =)

Though one thing that worried me though - skimming through the top 10 lists, the only country that I am considering settling down to build a family is .... Canada. (Sorry, I love HK, but HK is way too small and limited culturally to bring up kids, so....)

Worrying about my kids education.... |-__-|

(Why can't the stupid US gov get their shxt together, instead of spending $$ bombing other countries killing innocent lives, just focus on how to provide better education for their next generation, so we won't elect a retarded president again?!!!)

Seriously!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Why don't you just tell us the war didn't cost us a dime, Mr President?

Outrageous news on the Iraq war cost report that the Democrats recently published but the Republicans deemed as "incorrect" and demanded the Democrats to retract...

Doesn't it sound like those fights they put in soaps where the husband and wife are pointing fingers at each other yelling about how much they have overspent that month?

Wish it was really as simple as soaps where people watch and then forget....but... we are talking about WAR here... A war that killed millions of lives...... (sigh).......


Some outrageous figures from the report

".... The 'hidden costs' (of the war) had pushed the total to about $1.5 trillion - nearly twice the requested $804 bn...."

"... Higher oil prices, the cost of care for wounded veterans and the economic cost of pulling reservists from their jobs were taken into account in reaching the new total...."

"... The Democratic authors of the War report calculate that between 2002 and 2008 the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan will have cost the average US family of four about $20,900...."

"... The war could cost a total of $3.5 trillion over the next decade...."

"Democratic Senator Charles Schumer, chairman of the JEC, said: "What this report makes crystal clear is that the cost to our country in lives lost and dollars spent is tragically unacceptable."


George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, you are such a Jackaxx, u know that??!?!?!



Saturday, September 29, 2007

Love Love Hot Cake??

Can somebody tell me how does this get on Bloomberg?


"Love Love Hot Cake"
Fantasies in Japan Fuel Concern










Should have gone to a maid cafe when I was still in Tokyo!!! >_<

Question from a US friend

Got an email from a US friend. He asked a very interesting question.

"Just wondering, Japanese people tend to not be able to go back after spending time in America (cuz their culture is so rigid). Obviously, HKs not like that at all, but, how is it for you? It must be weird being back...."


And here is my reply...

"Do I have any problems moving back to HK? Hmm.... dun think so.... HK, in a lot of ways, is very similar to the States, very western. On the other hand, I think I might have some difficulties adjusting back to the US lifestyle when we are done living in HK. (yea, sadly, that day will come)

For one, I will definitely miss the convenience to go anywhere w/out driving, to get food, etc., the safety here (I can go out alone at 2, 3am by myself w/out worrying being mugged or captured), the cheapness of everything, clothes, food, and transportation, the niceness of people here in general, always smiling, willing to give a helping hand...

Though we like HK a lot, I don't think we'll settle here though. Main reason being that it feels "small", not diverse enough. Also, Mike is scared to death with all the "made in China" poison food shit and H5N1 (yea, he is dead serious believing that H5N1 will break out in China). I am totally useless under the unbearable 33+ degree Celsius weather here in Summer (stay in most of the time during those 2 hottest months). And, last but not least, we both want to be closer to our family. Flying 15+ hours to the other side of the planet twice a year is a bit too much (time-wise, strength-wise, and money-wise...) =(

In conclusion, we are still searching for the ideal place to settle... Candidates still on the list are: London, Vancouver, NY, and (of coz) Bay Area... "


p.s. "Mr. Sky", I know you won't mind that I "disclosed" some of our email content, right? ;)

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

For everyone who also suffers from sleeping disorder...

  • Get up at approximately the same time every day, even on holidays and weekends.
  • Get as much natural light as possible during the day, and limit light when you want to sleep.
  • Go to bed only when you think you can fall asleep. If you haven't dozed off within 20 to 30 minutes, get out of bed and do something else until you feel drowsy. Limiting the amount of time you spend in bed when you're not actually sleeping increases your desire to sleep.
  • Avoid napping during the day.
  • Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol, especially late in the day.
  • Get regular exercise. Whether exercise close to bedtime disturbs sleep remains unclear and may vary from person to person.
  • Start winding down an hour or two before bedtime. Turn down the lights. Stop watching television and using the computer. Take a warm bath.
also:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/insomnia/DS00187/DSECTION=8


http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/insomnia/DS00187/DSECTION=3

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/insomnia/DS00187

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/insomnia-treatment/SL00013


p.s. Thanks!!! (^_^)/

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Japanese business men's lunch naps

I see something very interesting or particularly "Japanese" almost everyday here in Tokyo. This is what I found today -

Japanese salary men in suits napping during lunch
-
I wanted to read some documents today at lunch, so I picked a floor lobby with tables and chairs and started reading the docs while eating my sandwiches. I devoted my attention to the table next to me very soon though - there were 3 business men dressing in formal black suits sitting together at the same table. They were not eating nor chatting. They were just ... NAPPING. Yea, not kidding you. Simply, just having their eyes close, heads slowly resting towards one side on their shoulders, just.. sleeping!!!

I was soooo tempted to take a picture of this peculiar scene with my cell phone camera; however, I didn't want the stupid camera noise (that I have no way to turn off) to disturb this "peaceful" environment (for them anyways)!! They napped for about a total of 7, 8 minutes. (yea, I witnessed the whole process.) At the end one of the guys magically "woke" up, looked at his watch, woke up the other two guys and left the table.

I know European people are known to be very laid back and take lunch naps at home, but witnessing Japanese business men do it (in a group setting) at a company lobby is just.... hilarious and yet sad at the same time, almost the exact opposite of the Europeans.

Seriously though, you all crazy Japanese people - you work WAY too much!!!!