2009-06-30

從六四到七一 from June 4th to July 1st


Two anniversaries, separated by fewer than 30 days mark the slow political changes in mainland China and Hong Kong SAR.





If you are Canadian and in Hong Kong on July 1st, you are out of luck. Although the city has its retrosession day holiday off on this date, it is more often than not eclipsed by the march and demonstration for various political venting in Hong Kong. You may or may not pro-Beijing, you may or may not think the government has been trying hard to put China on the right track for a better society for all of its citizens. I hope that through the marches, the sense of right and wrong get instilled gradually, but firmly on the youths, since they are the future of this vast country, whose citizens suffered too much and the majority is still struggle for a better life.

"When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid" - Audre Lorde

May the words of Audre empower you!

2009-06-23

冒飯 mo fan

是方言,還是我孤陋寡聞?這種像稀飯的東西在成都叫“冒飯”。我叫這個水撈飯,其實我也忘記廣東話怎樣稱呼這樣的飯餸。那你知道嗎?無論如何,這牛肉冒飯才七塊錢,已相當便宜了。


Il s'appelle niu rou mo fan (牛肉冒飯) mandarin à Chengdu, la capitale provinciale de Sichuan. Mais j'ai jamais entendu parler de mo fan avant. Je ne sais pas si le terme est un usage local? Comment les peuples surnomment les plats peut constituer une étude anthropologique! En tout cas celui-ci me coûtait un tel 7rmb simplement.

58度C vs 85度C




商鋪在中國的名字是一個很有趣的議題。我曾經在別的地方提及BMW和衝著它的名字和標誌來的競爭者。
Looking at brand names in China brings you various business case studies. One case in point I blogged elsewhere on BMW and its illegitimate cousin.




然而往廣州和上海跑了一趟後,再發現有兩個不同的溫度:58度C 和 85度C。我想這不是甚麼物理化學的三相點,但這兩間公司名字的相似和他們的臺灣背景增加我對它們的好奇心。
58度C是食在廣州的珍珠奶茶般的飲品店。85度C呢?它則是在上海賣麵包、糕點和餐飲店。
58的涼茶只是一般,85的甜點(如西米布丁rice pudding、巧克力餅乾chocolate cookies)真的很有水準,還有熱奶茶也挺不錯,特別是在寒冷的一月份,我一星期裏喝了不少杯啊! 我差一點忘記,85度C的麵包店開二十四小時呢!





After visiting Guangzhou in June and Shanghai in January 2009 respectively, I had the amazing time to spot and frequent another pair of business "relatives". Herbal tea at 58C was mediocre. The desserts and "milk" tea at 85C were quite impressive, given their competitive pricing by the latter targeting Starbucks. Another plus, 85C open 24/7, a testament to the first cosmopolitan status of Shanghai in China? In terms of the invisible hands behind, both 58C and 85C seem to have Taiwanese influence. These numbers may be so mystic that we have to buy lotto playing with their permutations!

city nomads 城市遊民

someone pointed to me this type of "instant housing" has everything tucked inside a cart. Amazing right? I suspect the designer got his ideas from homeless people. His line of products, as shown on the site winfried-baumann.de could be quite pricey. Imagine everyone on earth's possessions are reduced a few of these? Our ecological footprints would be drastically reduced and the word "sustainable" would sound more realistic.... too early to daydream, for I don't think I could rid myself of my hoarding behaviour haha. By the way, do you think this is a case of art preying on a disadvantaged population?



我於網上看見關於城市遊民的討論,聯想這設計師的靈感是從無家可歸者身上得來的。如果我們每人的身外物只是想這樣的幾輛車的話,我們的生態足印必定很小,而且地球的生態系統也變得名副其實的“可持續”了。 呵呵,夢大慨做得太早,不如看看設計者Winfried Baumann 的網站吧!

2009-06-22

CSR from the fresh MBAs?

Well BusinessWeek and Economist both mentioned about The MBA Oath, started by some class of 2009 Harvard Business School MBAs and spreading quite virally like the H1N1. Should I give this oath and its signatories the benefit of a doubt? The shorter version of the oath is swift and clear:

As a manager, my purpose is to serve the greater good by bringing people and resources together to create value that no single individual can build alone. Therefore I will seek a course that enhances the value my enterprise can create for society over the long term. I recognize my decisions can have far-reaching consequences that affect the well-being of individuals inside and outside my enterprise, today and in the future. As I reconcile the interests of different constituencies, I will face difficult choices.

Therefore, I promise:
I will act with utmost integrity and pursue my work in an ethical manner.
I will safeguard the interests of my shareholders, co-workers, customers, and the society in which we operate.
I will manage my enterprise in good faith, guarding against decisions and behavior that advance my own narrow ambitions but harm the enterprise and the societies it serves.
I will understand and uphold, both in letter and in spirit, the laws and contracts governing my own conduct and that of my enterprise.
I will take responsibility for my actions, and I will represent the performance and risks of my enterprise accurately and honestly.
I will develop both myself and other managers under my supervision so that the profession continues to grow and contribute to the well-being of society.
I will strive to create sustainable economic, social, and environmental prosperity worldwide.
I will be accountable to my peers and they will be accountable to me for living by this oath.

This oath I make freely, and upon my honor.

I wonder the people sweating and rewriting for the ISO standards on social responsibility would think about shortening and distilling everything into these few lines of texts. Conscience doesn't have to be pages and pages of extraneous guidelines, or does it? Let's hope these individuals who signed or will be signing really put their money where their mouth is. Let's hope they don't include the future incarnations of Jeffery Skillings or Dubya. Both are products of HBS, which the institution would rather you don't notice. You see, prestigious ivory tower can get us some poison ivies at times.

I keep my skeptical fingers crossed ;-).

2009-06-21

dumspter diving 垃圾桶插水

標題其實是wikipedia的廣東譯名,但我想垃圾搜尋比較正確。一般人以為是貧窮的人才搜尋垃圾,但在一些發達國家裏一些對環保或主流消費經濟不滿的人也有參與。我在蒙特利爾(滿地可)的時候差不多參加了,可惜是自己最後膽子小沒有去。這陣子回到中國來,一個發展中國家,情況又是怎樣呢?富貧差異很大的城市如北京,我看見家樂福晚上扔掉的水果、蔬菜和麵包已可以餵飽很多人了。香港在2003年沙士(SARS)後不是聽說過有人食“二手飯”嗎? 如果服務型行業能把過剩的食品送給慈善機構或有需要的人就好了。航空公司的頭等和商務客位的候機室提供的免費自坐餐就是一個好例子。
這裏有一個關於法國和荷蘭的垃圾搜尋,點擊看看吧:

http://skippingwaste.trashwiki.org/

(photo credit: andy54321)



Dumpster diving, a kinda hardcore environmental activity, or it could be a frugal, economical or conserving activity, depending on your state of mind and priority. Anyway, I ALMOST tried it when I was in Montreal and was introduced to the term by some radical, non-mainstream anachists cum envrionmentalists. For whatever reason I chickened out at the last minute. Perhaps I was afraid of getting my clothes dirty, yea right, a lame excuse ;-). What does it mean to you if enough people, young people especially, are dumpster diving in developed countries? Would it worry you because these young people are not having a stable income? Or, they might just be very creative and bold in terms of thinking outside the box in pursuing "shocking" or unconventional envrionmental activites? Would there be a more "hygenic" way to "recycle" or redistribute the food to people in need, given there is still a part of me worrying about food poisoning for those who dumpster dive? Click the link above for an interesting video documenting dumpster diving in action in the Netherlands and France. They even have a cheerful "dumpster dive" song to go with it!

Dumpster Diving, un terme qui n'a pas d'équivalence encore à l'heure actuelle. Il décrit les gens qui récupèrent de la nourriture et d'autres choses utiles qui ont été jetées dans la poubelle. J'avais presque eu une occasion à l'essayer mais je ne l'ai pas expérimenté encore. Qu'en pensez-vous? Est-ce que c'est trise si les jeunes doivent dumpster dive à survivre? Ou ils nous montrent un modèle de vie alternative, écologique et durable? Et la saleté vous dérange? Il y a quand même une chanson dans la vidéo, cliquez le lien au-dessus pour la visionner.

2009-06-11

食在廣州(1) manger à Guangzhou (Canton)



對一個已經二十年沒有到廣州旅遊的人來說,我這次是“港仔入省城”或“劉姥姥進大觀園”。在老城區的的小巷裏,找到幾間飯店。我挑了一間有很多人,並賣飯的店子,叫了蒸臘味飯。等了一會,老板便送來一“兜”熱騰騰的飯和熱湯。這油腻但有配湯和菜的飯只賣七塊錢而已!


En me promenant dans un vieux quartier, j'ai trouvé un resto simple et pas cher pour commander la nourriture purement cantonaise. De plus, ce plat de riz cuit à la vapeur me coûtait profondément un plein 7 pisces RenMinBi. Quel bon prix, quel trésor décaché!

2009-06-10

pecha kucha?



Don't worry if it sounds greek, or rather, Japanese and you don't have a clue. This project, started by two architects in Japan, has been picked up virally in various cities throughout the world. The catch? Each meeting brings in ten or so presenters, each presenter can present a maximum of twenty slides of 20 seconds on each, so that makes 6 minutes 40 seconds for each presenter. Tha pace is fast, the talks are entertaining and I bet you will be hooked!

Topics range from design and architecture to ergonomics and envrionmental and urban planning issues, go check to see if your local city has it going already at:
www.pecha-kucha.org

2009-06-03

六四二十週年 20e anniversaire du 4 juin

六四二十周年,我是感觸良多的。為甚麼?皆因不少犧牲的學生都是和我差不多年紀的!二十年前我在維多利亞公園看見民主女神雕像的複製品,今年我希望在維園參加燭光晚會。近日網上發佈的文章不少,例如(明報)2009年6月3日 星期三
王丹﹕到維園去!——致香港大學生的第三封公開信(全文如下)

【明報專訊】各位香港大學生朋友:6月4日,這個紀念六四事件20周年的日子即將來到了。我謹以一個學長和八九民運當事人的身分呼籲各位:6月4日這一天的晚上,讓我們穿上白色的衣服,到維園去!去參加支聯會舉辦的燭光晚會!


20年過去了,六四遇難者的冤魂仍未得到昭雪,當年跟你們一樣的大學生如今已經將近中年,但是中國的民主化似乎還有很長的距離。20年過去了,大屠殺的責任者——中共及其政府——不僅沒有承認當年的罪行並予以補償,反而繼續堅持鎮壓的立場;更為嚴重的是,在金融海嘯襲擊全球的今天,所謂的「北京模式」開始逐漸得到部分國人甚至部分世界的認同,而這種「北京模式」的價值基礎是如此的邪惡,那就是:為了經濟發展,人類社會可以犧牲一切其他價值,甚至人的生命。這樣的價值觀如果得到推廣繁殖,我們將要生活的世界將是一個沒有基本的是非標準和倫理價值的世界。

因此,今天紀念六四20周年,已經不僅僅是回顧和緬懷過去一段已經發生的事情,幾天的紀念具有深刻的現實含義。我們是要接受以「北京模式」為代表的價值觀?還是通過反思六四,為未來中國的發展尋找一條更加健康的建立在公理正義基礎上的道路?

八九民運精神 由你們傳承下去

在六四事件20周年之際,我個人有一個深深的感觸,那就是,我們面臨一個非常緊迫的任務,那就是讓八九民運的精神,讓六四事件的真相,能夠經由你們這樣的年輕一代傳承下去。由於內地長期的信息封鎖和當下嚴酷的政治環境,我們無法苛求國內的年輕一代完成上述的歷史使命,因此,這樣的歷史使命,你們,香港的年輕一代,責無旁貸。因為畢竟在香港,你們還擁有相對的言論自由空間,你們還享有基本的示威遊行的公民權利。20年來,香港維園的點點燭光延續了八九民運的精神,也維護了中國人追求民主的理想和在世人面前的尊嚴。未來的20年,這樣的理想是否還能延續,維園的燭光是否能夠繼續閃耀,就要看你們的了。

今天的香港的命運,已經與大陸的命運緊密聯接。內地是否能夠逐漸走向民主,還是會繼續維持一黨專制的「北京模式」,與各位的切身利益息息相關。1989年六四屠殺給我們一個深刻的教訓,那就是,只要這個政權的性質沒有改變,不管表現得如何良好,它是隨時可以展現國家暴力兇殘的一面的。這個教訓,我希望你們能夠從歷史中汲取。為了防止未來的可能的國家暴力侵害到你們自己,行動起來,到維園去,向北京當局展現你們的民意。告訴他們,儘管他們20年來處心積慮地試圖抹殺歷史,但是你們沒有忘記;告訴他們,雖然今天已經有經濟發展,但是一個只有經濟增長,沒有社會公正和道義基礎的社會,並不是你們對中國未來的期待;告訴他們,中國人有享受民主與人權的權利和資格,這樣的追求永遠不會停止;告訴他們,只要六四事件還沒有翻案,這樣的北京當局就不配做中國人的代表。


各位學弟學妹,人的一生,如果在完成個人的成就的基礎上,還能對我們所處的社會有一點影響,這樣的人生才是精彩的人生。今天,中國的命運,多少會受到你們的行動的影響,我再次呼籲你們,不要放棄自己的權利和歷史機遇。到維園去,讓北京當局看到你們的力量,讓千萬盞燭光照耀中國的未來,告慰死難的英雄們。6月4日這一天,我們原來的八九民運的參與者會在美國首都華盛頓舉辦大規模的「重新集結,再次出發」的活動,我們都高度期待在電視上,可以看到維園的人群中,有更多的屬於你們的年輕的面龐!請你們給我們希望!



et pour le mot "officiel" c'est presque inexistant sauf qu'un article titré:
Evolution of Chinese intellectuals' thought over two decades
you probably think the article sidestepped a lot of issues and did not really address the "incident", one of the sanitised terms to describe the "event". I have faith the massacre will be faced and brought to the public eye and the demonstrators vindicated. I hope any Chinese people with conscience will prevent anything resembling this tragedy twenty years ago from happening again. China has suffered enough and definitely does not need more bloodshed and drama on its people. Nous gardons notre espoir!



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