路人甲, Morris and Randy

九七年秋的一個晚上，獨個兒從華盛頓飛往三藩市面試，飛機上暗黃的燈光散落在我手中捧着的小書，淚水滴在橙黄色的書紙上分外動人。 書的名字叫 Tuesday with Morris.

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面試成功，九八年回港工作。


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十年後的一個懶洋洋下午，一口氣把 The Last Lecture 讀完，心情平靜。


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是過去十年的生活令我變得麻木、泠漠起來？


*******

To me, reading The Last Lecture reminds me of reading one of those pop self-help books written by Anthony Robbins.

Yes, it is tragic that Randy's life was being cut short by a terrible illness. But I also believe it is a fact that a lot of people, in fact I would venture to guess 90 percent of the people, could not achieve what Randy did achieve in his forty some years in existence. Therefore, some people like myself , may not relate to the feelings, messages and lessons relayed in Randy's book as much as when reading Tuesday with Morris. Guess it's because most of us are ordinary folks. Randy's achievement certainly inpires us, but I doubt many of us could attain his level of achievement even if we try our best to take down those brick walls blocking our way.

**********

Some walls are simply made of steel or concrete. Or may be what I wrote above only reflects my weakness, my lack of determination to achieve life goals. Whatever. Just live your life the way you think best for you.

支持凌尉雲再戰立會

I really think Miss Ling should run in the forthcoming Legislative Council election and on the platform of free market principles.

No minimum wage, no maximum working hours, no more favours to selective interest groups like scrapping taxes on diesel which meets the Euro V standard, slash taxes, oppose the buidling of the West Kowloon Cultural Hub (instead the money saved is given to each and every Hong Kong resident through the form of cultural activities coupon and let them decide what kind of art activities they would like to enjoy, guess it is too late now), reduce the wages of civil servants, slashing the number of civil servants, balanced budget amendment to the Basic Law, distributing the cumulative surplus now piled up at the HK Monetary Authority back to where it belongs, ordinary folks, people like you and me, in Hong Kong a la Macau style on a per head basis...

共鳴

我相信每一顆生命都有其莊嚴的價值。

人，不是用來實現上帝旨意的工具，更遑論成為上帝譴責、懲罰另外一些人、一個政權的一堆籌碼。

That's Ivan Choi talking, replying to an earlier editorial in Apple Daily. More here in Ming Pao.

More Than A Name

他/她們是孩子的父親母親，別人的兒子女兒，外甥的舅父母，姪兒的叔父母...他/她也有自己的名字。

来生我们一起走

孩子快抓紧妈妈的手

去天堂的路太黑了, 妈妈怕你碰了头, 快抓紧妈妈的手

让妈妈陪你走, 妈妈怕天堂的路太黑, 我看不见你的手。

自从倒塌的墙把阳光夺走, 我再也看不见你柔情的眸。

孩子你走吧。 前面的路再也没有忧愁，没有读不完的课本和爸爸的拳头。

你要记住我和爸爸的模样，来生还要一起走。

妈妈, 别担忧，天堂的路有些挤, 有很多同学朋友。

我们说不哭, 哪一个人的妈妈都是我们的妈妈; 哪一个孩子都是妈妈的孩子。

没有我的日子你把爱给活的孩子吧。

妈妈, 你别哭, 泪光照亮不了我们的路, 让我们自己慢慢地走。　妈妈, 我会记住你和爸爸的模样, 记住我们的约定来生一起走。

Source: Nanfang Daily

希望在人間

動容

四川災劫後，有人先想到如何發災難財，有人馬上施以援手，人力上的和物資上的。 人性的惡和善在同一刻展現。

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作為父親的我，看到失去孩子的父母所流露出的悲痛，感同身受，心如刀割。 May they rest in peace.

To the Point 一語中的

據稱因天氣惡劣，解放軍中的精銳部隊空降兵在四川的救援行動受阻延，温總對部隊說：

我就一句話，是人民在養你們，你們自己看着辦。

男人四十

心情近日有点灰。 為人也為事。

楊社長懷康說，這是中年危機 (mid-life crisis)。

身邊年過四十的朋友或家人，事業的發展都不怎麽樣。 They simply get stuck. And I am not even talking about people with minimal education. 他/她們都是留學英美的碩士/博士，讀的也非什麽雜牌大學, 而是在 U of Chicago, HKUST, Purdue University, Indiana University at Bloomington, and University of Minnesota. 情况就如大樂在<<四代香港人>>說的那樣。

How did that happen? 如何釋懷？

As far as I know, most of them simply devote their attention elsewhere instead of their career, like their children and other hobbies or interests. 但我知道他/她們仍不甘心。

就此胸懷 fustration and unfulfiled dream 過一生？

難怪在洋人的喪礼或墓碑上，都總有這樣的一句： Rest in Peace。

這是因為太多人含憾而終？！

做好人

楊社長懷康傳來鄭板橋家書一封，其中一句很有意思：

夫讀書中舉中進士作官，此是小事，第一要明理做個好人。

The above line in English: Now to be a scholar and be a college graduate or a doctor is a small thing; the important thing is to be reasonable and be a good man (林語堂譯)

Come to think of it, how many parents in HK would rather have their kids become successful at school and at work than simply be a good man ?

Professor Ken Sokoloff

一位內地學生 追憶老師 UCLA professor of economic history Ken Sokoloff 的 教誨。

有心人

再次感謝明 (I do not know Aries and 明 are the same person), Kempton 和 王小姐為教授所撰寫的維基 entry (這字應如何翻繹 ?)。

Angela: Of course I have heard about the Lion Rock Institute, actually I am the one who asked Simon to try his luck at Apple when I left there back in 2005. Congratulations and welcome to Hong Kong.

Angela and Kempton: please do not address me as prof, I left Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2003. And even then, I was not a professor, I had only research and admin duties there.

Aries: Are you an econ major? Just curious. Also under the heading contribution to economics in professor Cheung's entry, item 2.4, I think what you are referring to should be neoclassical econoimcs, not New Classical economics(they are two different things). Of course, I could be wrong on that.

集結號

自小愛看戰爭電影。喜歡的原因随時光的流逝而不同。

小時愛看戰爭場面，長大了仍喜歡，近年更多為這些電影描寫的手足情。

說實話，when is the last time you have a friend who is willing to use his or her life to save you? 現實中找不着的，只能在電影的虛擬世界中尋回。

人的本性是求存，軍令卻要求你留守到最後一刻，what would you do?

Here is the official website of the movie, Assembly. I saw it last night. It is really good, highly recommended.

問答

記者： 啊乜太, 為何你忽然支持民主？

乜太： 別大驚小怪, 如果作為 Hayek 的學生 Abba Lerner 可支持計劃經濟，我作為殖民地的過氣跑腿，支持民主又有何不可？

記者：真民主先生，你為何突然熱衷於這小島的民主大業？

真民主：凡是敵人反對的我就支持。

記者：誰是敵人？

真民主：你，你，你，你...

學習

最近為學好中文一口氣讀完一整套董橋的散文集。不全懂，但喜歡。中大舊同事Y知悉這事後笑說：你年紀大了。

是的，只在數年前我看的書十之八九都是用英語寫成的。 過去十多二十年，用得着中文的機會實在多。 九八年回港後的第一份工，要為公司的首席執行官朱小華寫中英文講稿，才驚覺自己中文底子單薄。

加入報社後年多，機緣巧合地替《華爾街日報》寫了篇評論文章，留英的舊同事Y 看後告我：如你駕馭中文的能力和英文的一樣好，相信你的文章會有更多讀者。打後我下大力氣努力改善自已的中文語言能力，離開報社後仍然如此。

I am not satisfied with my English language ability as well. Even today, I spend a lot of time and effort looking up meaning of new words or different meaning of words which I have encountered before. You need to learn how to use those words in making a sentence as well. In addition, with the advent of the internet, I will also use the computer to help me learn pronounce words that hithero I may know how to use but not pronounce. It requires a lot of hard work. But what doesn't?

唏噓

離港前與 L 在咖啡廳碰面，說舊事談未來，往事混着從杯內徐徐升起的薄湮幻化成一帳帳舊照片。

三年前初遇 L，共事同一報社。L 個子不高，面上掛着的是少年得志留下的一股傲氣。其實在那時他在公司裏的地位已大不如前。

L 話不多，和同事的關係也不怎麽樣。 久L被公司外放塞外，繼而被解僱。剛為人父的L ，境況的確堪憂。闊別三年，L 面上少了那傲氣卻添上幾分滄桑，展露出一種人在經受沉重打擊後自覺需要鼓起勇氣重新上路的心境。

覆讀者 Leona: 感謝您的留言。離開報社快兩年，其時還沒有WSZ的專欄，我是社論主筆之一。

感慨

從讀者回應的多寡看, 王迪詩 (Daisy) 在信報的專欄，應有不少讀者。我對王文的觀感，她的一位讀者巳替我道出：

小姐，我善意提醒一句，在大聲否定某種論調之前，最好先搞清楚你想批評的論調的內容。思想不夠深刻不是罪過，但若連基本的功課都不做就信口開河，就未免顯得自己太懶惰和無知。

我在想，假如王小姐在美國而不是香港唸本科，情況是否會好些。道理很簡單，在美唸本科，王小姐根本不能挑法律作主修，她的學養和眼界 ，在接觸多種不同的學科後必能得以拓寬不用靠扮 smart ass 來 取悅讀者。

And given her punishing and hectic schedule, I would imagine she would be more inclined to bring a copy of Tuesday with Morris with her on a business trip rather than Hayek's Constitution of Liberty. So I doubt she has that much time to beef up her general knowledge after graduation.

Or May be I am totally wrong, may be an author no longer needs to check her facts and even logic so long as her work is able to attract readers. May be her writing style, which appeals to readers' emotional response instead of their intellect, is exactly what readers are after these days.


三年前肥佬黎對我說: Gary, 你不用在文章內講邏輯說道理，光駡人就行。
我答: I do not know how to write a piece without an argument.


那年我三十九歲，若當時我和Daisy 同年即二十八歲，也許我的答案會不一樣！？

感動

Ratatouille 最精彩的一幕，無疑是食評家Anton Ego 在片末的一段獨白。

In many ways, the work of a critic is easy.

We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.

But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize that only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.

It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau's, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau's soon, hungry for more.

感謝楊懐康為我提供原文。

大前研一

近日心情不怎麽樣，因為人也因為事。 閑時讀的不是文學，就是與經濟学無關的書。

最近一口氣讀了大前研一的即戰力、創意的構想、和專業主義。看罷有點像漫無目的地上網的感覺。讀不出大道理也讀不出系统的理論推演，卻又總會在那最意想不到的角落讀到大前先生作為商業顧問多年沉澱下來的睿智。