今天在南濤閣宣傳時，看到食水不斷從包玉剛泳池外湧出，過去查看才知道原來水廂壞了，噴出大量淡水。幸好，泳池很快就派人維修，對泳客及行人的影響不大。
2011年5月29日 星期日
六四遊行 June 4: The Pain Still Remains
一如過去十四年，我昨天參加了要求平反六四的遊行，因為六四仍是我心中隱隱作痛的傷口。
以前相關網誌，可見：
As I did in the past 14 years, yesterday I took part in the demostration of demanding for Redressing the June 4 Movement, as the pain still remains in our hearts. You may refer to my previous blog entries:http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/searchblog_art?p=%E5%85%AD%E5%9B%9B&my=1
2011年5月26日 星期四
練乙錚：貧富懸殊及社會流動性 Social Mobility
早前我瀏覽了《細草微風》，這是練乙錚先生的舊作。雖然文章內容大多簡易，但開卷果然有益，例如有兩篇論及貧富懸殊的短文，指出堅尼系數的局限，讓我明白了用社會流動性補充堅尼系數會是更佳的分析方法，而在論及香港貧富懸殊問題時應同時著重分析社會流動性。這令我更明白為什麼連鼓吹自由市場不遺餘力的林行止多次強調社會流動的重要性（見我早前轉載的文章：http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/article?new=1&mid=10561）
此外，書中亦提到練先生與民主黨元老識於微時的淵源，如原來練先生以前家貧，靠中學校友李柱銘贈送助學金才得以留學海外；練先生曾任職中學教師，張文光曾是他的學生，一次的社會考察使張文光走上政治這條路；又如練先生早年曾多次向司徒華請教社會運動的經驗和方法，頗受教益。有興趣者不妨一讀。
It's about a book written by Mr Lian Yick Tsang. I learnt a lesson about social mobility from this book. sorry I can't translate the essays into English.
香港國際藝術節 Art HK 2011
不知不覺，一年一度的ART HK今天正式重臨香港。我前兩年均有去參觀，去年作品稍遜，希望今年的會更出色（http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/searchblog_art?p=ART+HK&my=1）。
The ART HK 2011 is opened today! For more, you could visit: http://www.hongkongartfair.com/chi/visiting/opening-hours/1/
and it's my experience with this exhibition: http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/searchblog_art?p=ART+HK&my=1
今年詳情見：
公眾開放時間：5月26日至28日 中午12時至晚上7時 5月29日 中午12時至下午5時
地點：香港會議展覽中心
票價：港幣250元
網址：http://www.hongkongartfair.com/chi/visiting/opening-hours/1/
注：這是一幅畫，並不是照片 !
PS: it's a painting, not photo!
補注：在網友網誌看到的作品令我想起去北京時看到的下面這幅作品，這也是我的facebook profile picture。若網友同意並不介意我這個網誌的政治背景，我再將展品及其link放上來。
再補：多謝網友同意我使用她的照片。兩年前我也是因偶然看她的網誌而去參觀ART HK的，而因為這樣的機緣，我更因而結識了現在的未婚妻，所以我曾特意多謝她。她網誌內有很多介紹藝術展覽和作品介紹，詳可見：http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/coco-thesailor?suc=1
又，早幾天出了醜，以為上述第二張照片是ART 11的展品，經網友指出才知道是中環廣場展出的劉野星星相惜展覽作品，第一張有小熊的才是ART 11內的展品。這次真是令自己貽笑大方了，以後要小心才是。
The above photo reminds me the following works:
（http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/article?mid=9547）
以及2010年展出的這幅作品：
2011年5月24日 星期二
南區新聞：南濤閣順利補選九名法團委員 EGM of South Wave Court
It's a press release published in a local paper, for the background of this issue, pls visit http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/searchblog_art?p=%E5%8D%97%E6%BF%A4%E9%96%A3&my=1
2011年5月23日 星期一
南濤閣順利補選九名法團委員 EGM of South Wave Court
這是關於上周六業主大會選舉結果的單張，背景詳見：http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/searchblog_art?p=%E5%8D%97%E6%BF%A4%E9%96%A3&my=1
For the background of this issue, pls refer to http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/searchblog_art?p=%E5%8D%97%E6%BF%A4%E9%96%A3&my=1
2011年5月20日 星期五
南濤閣業主大會 EGM of South Wave Court
努力呼籲了近兩星期，南濤閣業主大會今天上午終於順利召開，有兩百多位業主出席，而且成功補選了九名新法團委員。出席人數比最低要求多了一倍，不枉各方（我，當然也有民建聯／工聯會以及大廈法團）努力呼籲業主出席，我和何俊麒律師等擔任嘉賓，監察選舉及點票。
屋苑接下去的要務是處理康業離場的善後工作，以及儘早展開聘請新管理公司的招標程。希望新舊委員、辭職的委員，以及所有南濤閣居民和衷共濟，為屋苑謀福祉。
The EGM has successfully held. Over 200 owners attened the meeting and 9 new members of Incorporated Owners were elected.
Background of this issue, pls refer to http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/article?mid=10669&prev=10679&next=10665
最後呼籲出席南濤閣業主大會 EGM of South Wave Court
擔心明天出席人數不夠，故昨晚作最後呼籲。
It's our final call to urge residents of South Wave Court to attend the EMG. Background of this issue, pls refer to http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/article?mid=10669&prev=10679&next=10665
2011年5月18日 星期三
港鐵開始「唔好意思」黃竹坑 Excuse me, Wong Chuk Hang
昨天政府甫公布消息，今天港鐵就開工了，效率超快。下月將展開爆破工程，詳情可見我早前跟進：http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/article?mid=10665
The re-development of ex-WCH Estate is finally started, today the MTR started its construct work inside the land. The explosion work will take place next month, for more, pls refer to http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/article?mid=10665
南區新聞：呼籲出席南濤閣業主大會 EGM of South Wave Court
注：報紙編輯將標題的「南濤閣」誤打成了「藍濤閣」，內文則沒出錯。負責校對的應罰打一下手心。
It's a press release published in a local paper, for the background of this issue, pls visit http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/searchblog_art?p=%E5%8D%97%E6%BF%A4%E9%96%A3&my=1
2011年5月15日 星期日
南濤閣管理問卷調查 Questionnaire abt SWC
我希望掌握更多南濤閣居民對新舊法團的意見，請各位居民朋友填回問卷電郵或傳真給我們。最後，再次呼籲更會出席明晚座談會，及最重要的21號的業主大會。
It's a questionnaire about the management of South Wave Court, pls call us if you need the English version.
For background, pls refer to http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/article?mid=10669
2011年5月14日 星期六
南濤閣屋苑管理座談會 Meeting with SWC Resident
這些天不少南濤閣居民查詢法團運作、管理公司善後及業主權益等問題，故我邀請了義務律師，在星期二晚召開座談會，希望各位出席。座談會詳情見下：
We're going to have a meeting about the management of SWC and a voluntary lawyer will go with me to answer residents' question.
Date: 17 May
Time: 8pm
Venue: meeting room of IO
Pls call us if you want to know details of this meeting.
background of this issue, pls refer to http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/article?mid=10669
2011年5月12日 星期四
呼籲出席南濤閣業主大會(2) General Meeting of South Wave Court(2)
因為流會的後果太嚴重，我們在晚上繼續呼籲業主出席業主大會。
It's about the general meeting of South Wave Court owners, pls refer to http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/article?mid=10669
2011年5月11日 星期三
呼籲出席南濤閣業主大會 General Meeting of South Wave Court
早前南濤閣曾展開最低工資問卷調查，收回的問卷中大部份業主支持費用較少的第一個方案。管理公司(康業)覺得利潤減少而不接受故正式離場我不覺得很意外，但有不少委員竟也不想執行大部份業主的意願，最後更有9名委員先後辭職。
法團現在只有四名委員，不夠法定人數開會，無法商討康業離場後的善後工作，也無法招標聘請新的管理公司，故法團召開業主大會，補選委員。
其實如果委員不顧業主意願，那麼事先何必要做問卷調查？做了問卷調查後又不執行，這和假諮詢有何分別?據我了解，原來辭職的委員大部份本來是反對展開問卷調查的，最後因擔心「反對諮詢業主」的紀錄被公開才不敢反對。現在奇怪的是，問卷調查的結果不合這些委員的心意後，他們就先後辭職，留下爛癱子給未辭職的4名委員。
如我單張所言，最壞的情況是，5月21日的業主大會如果流會，或者無法補選足夠的委員，法團和屋苑管理將陷入癱瘓，甚至連保安都沒有，最終受害的是所有南濤閣居民。
所以我呼籲業主關注自己的權益，積極出席業主大會，補選新的委員，使法團及屋苑管理重入正軌。三年前我曾協助重組雅濤閣法團及珍寶閣法團，至今均運作順暢。 這次我也希望能協助南濤閣度過難關。
It's a leaflet about asking owners of South Wave Court(SWC) to attend the general meeting on 10 am, 21 May. A few days ago the management company formally informed the SWC to end the contract with SWC on 31 July, claiming that the company can't accept the ' minimum wage measure' taking by the Incorporate Owners(IO).
Strangely enough that 9 members of the IO committee quited, I really don't think it's reasonable to quit the IO committee in this crucial situation. But the urgent job the SWC should focus on is holding the general meeting for electing new members to form the committee, or the Committee simply can't function because of lacking of quorum. And it'll become a disaster for resident of SWC if no enough new members be elected to from a new committee.
And it's why I distribute this leaflet to ask and urge more owners to attend the general meeting.
黃竹坑６月展開爆破工程 Explosion Work at ex-WCH Estate
這幾個月落區，越來越多居民問我港鐵地鐵何時正式動工，因為興建南區地鐵的樓梯聲已聽了兩三年，但卻水靜河飛，並未見任何港鐵工程。港鐵做了這麼長的前期工作，現在終於要動工了，上周五的社區聯絡小組指，港鐵6月將在黃竹坑採用爆破工程平整地基，以備將來興建車廠。工程簡介詳見單張。
下兩圖可更清楚見到前黃竹坑邨地皮土地水平的高低不平的情形，近明渠的一片土地（即以前的黃竹坑邨第十座）遠低於近黃竹坑巴士總站那邊的土地。
我不擔心港鐵爆破的安全程度，但認為因爆破地點與社區非常接近，故應採取更高更嚴謹的標準，將爆破時產生的震動、噪音、灰塵及交通影響減到最低。
The MTR SIL project is going to proceed in July and the explosive way of construction will be used at ex-WCH Estate, in order to level the land to build the depot. I'm confident that the safety measurement could be taken properly, but because the distance between the explosion site and the community is so close, the standard of the measurement of noise, dust and shock and traffic should be stricter, in order to prevent nuisance to the community around the ex-WCH Estate.
Here's the info of the explosion work:
Number of explosion each day: once per day, will last a few seconds;
Period of explosion: one year;
Time of explosion: afternoon, probably before 4pm, the notice will be released to the public 2 or 3 weeks before the explosion;
Traffic control: Nam Long Shan Road and the Police School Road will be closed for about 10 minutes before the explosion, but the emergency vehicles have priority.
2011年5月8日 星期日
母親節一日遊 Local Trip on Mother's Day
昨天的母親節順利舉行（http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/article?mid=10439），多謝大家的支持。
歷史博物館內的辛亥革命百周年展展品並不太多，有點令我失望，加上不準拍照，所以只能放上僅有的幾張和大家分享。
Yesterday is mother's day, we've successfully held our local trip(http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/article?mid=10439). If you want to know more about the exhibition of Centenary of China’s 1911 Revolution at the HK Museum of History, pls visit: http://hk.history.museum/en/ex_special_gabming_dec10.php
2011年5月7日 星期六
母親節快樂 Happy Mother's Day
今天是母親節，謹向天下間所有偉大的母親致敬！下面是兩年前我寫的我和媽媽的網誌（http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/article?mid=5835），希望大家不會怪我「炒冷飯」，因為不論時間時間如何推移，我相信母子以及所有家人間的親情永遠不變。
1.
小時候我和媽媽感情不融洽，覺得她既無知又偏心，而且懶惰，早睡晚起，連早餐也不煮。那時我甚至一度將自己身高不如同學也歸咎於媽媽(其實我已是家中最高的了)，現在想來我真是無知又可笑，但那時可能常常令媽媽傷心，真是不孝。
後來我慢慢長大懂事，看到媽媽早出晚歸，辛勤工作，回來後還要照顧我們三兄妹，感到自己一直錯怪了她。十四年前的一個母親節，我寫了一張紙條塞在媽媽的手袋裡，內容寫的是我向她道歉，說我一直沒能體諒她的難處和她對我們兄妹的關心與照顧，以後我會好好孝順她。
直至現在，我和媽媽彼此都沒有談起那張紙條，但自此以後，我們的隔膜一掃而空，母子感情就如天旋地轉一般，打開了新世界。
2.
中三時我曾因粉瘤發炎到醫院做小手術，只需局部麻醉，一點危險也沒有。但我媽媽在手術室外面一直等著。手術剛做完時，醫生和護士把我從手術枱上抬我過擔架床時說我好像變重了。我還跟他們開玩笑說："你們從我身上割了東西出來，我應該是變輕了才對啊。"他們聽了哈哈大笑。
護士們從手術室推我出來時，可能麻醉藥發作，我迷迷糊糊的跟他們說："我媽媽在外面等著，請你們跟她說我沒事，我不想她擔心。"那時，不知道為什麼,，眼淚突然流了出來，然後我又迷迷糊糊的睡了過去。醒來時，媽媽仍在我病床邊守候著。
我相信這樣的親情。
2011年5月5日 星期四
深灣道路安全島削一段斑馬線 One Section of Belisha Beacon to Cut
深灣道路安全島有三段斑馬線，下圖即是標題所指會被削減的一段，另外兩段則保持不變，大家可從單張的路線圖可見巴士總站會保留71號車坑，以作為駛向新巴士總站的通道。
The WCH bus terminal will be moved to the site in front of Singapore International School, some traffic re-allocations will be proceed, such as the belisha beacon in the below picture is going to be cut due to the South Island Line project.
主因如單張所講，將來巴士總站搬遷後，居民只會在新的總站上下車，不會再途經舊總站，而且舊總站大部份會變成施工地盤，只留下現時71號巴士車坑及對出的行人路，作為車量開往新總站的通道。故削減這一段斑馬線，以免行人再使用舊站，造成危險。
The other two sections of the belisha beacon will not be affected, because it's a necessary way for people to cross Nam Long Shan Road and Shum Wan Road.
注：單張第二段有一手民之誤，「今年9月新加坡國際學校中學部亦會開會」，最後的「開會」二字應該是「開學」，謹此致歉。
2011年5月4日 星期三
船河一日遊 Local Trip
這是我們將舉辦的船河一日遊單張，詳情不贅。街坊反映很好，各位如想參加，請儘快報名。
It's a local trip on 19 June. We'll take bus to Sai Kung and take travel boat to Crooked Island(Kat O). Pls call us for details if you are interested.
Eva Hoffman：Blood Politics
此文值得重看，下面這段可用來評論掟蕉等，但作者的問題意識遠不止於
此：
"one could witness fistfights in parliaments ranging from Iraq to Taiwan, Turkey, and, most spectacularly, Ukraine. To us, such behavior looks untoward, or even uncivilized; to the participants, it is probably experienced as a natural overflow of righteous feeling.... how far can the separation between person and politician be taken – and to what extent do we really give it credence?"
不過，話說回來，我完全不認同作者指民主政治是impersonal的看法，因為我認為政治本身不可能是impersonal的，只有官僚系統才如此。此文作者似不知道政治乃從政者心志、意志甚或激情的表現，正是這份熱情，才令政治如此變幻無常以及可以持守永恒的價值。
Blood Politics
Eva Hoffman
LONDON – The race for the leadership of the British Labour Party isn’t normally a world-shaking event. But the recent contest between two brothers – David and Ed Miliband – not only provided the material for a riveting family drama; it also illustrated some peculiarities of democratic cultures that often go un-noted – and the strange relationship between the personal and the political that is built into the hierarchy of democratic protocol.
Politics, or at least the exercise of power, was traditionally a family affair. Kings typically hankered after male heirs, because power was vested through filial lineage, and distributed through tribal affiliations.
Hereditary power did not necessarily make for warm and open family relations. Henry VIII was willing to execute two wives and overturn Christendom in pursuit of a son. There are examples, in polygamous societies, of royal concubines murdering each other’s children in order to assure the predominance of their genetic line. The Ottomans introduced the practice of “judicial royal fratricide,” supposedly to prevent civil war.
Whether it involved absolute loyalty or murderous rivalry, traditional politics was rarely divorced from personal passion. Not so in modern Western democracies, where personal passions are, at least in theory, supposed to be completely separate from the impersonal representation of group interests.
Democracy, in its Greek origins, began with the creation of a public sphere distinct from the family and its intense emotions. But modern democracies – especially those conducted on the Anglo-Saxon model – take this further, by attempting to separate not only the private from the public, but the person from the politician.
The division is in a sense inscribed in the democratic spectacle. After presidential debates in the United States or Britain, the contenders, who may have been accusing each other of the most unforgivable of sins, shake hands vigorously and give each other genial and encouraging smiles.
No matter how much Barack Obama may have loathed the views of George W. Bush, he had to be initiated into state secrets by the former president, in a confidential – and undoubtedly genial – meeting. In parliamentary debates, fierce ideological battles may be the order of the day, but ad hominemattacks are off limits.
This is undoubtedly to the good, and necessary to the conduct of orderly democratic life; but to those not used to it, the ability to combine enmity with bonhomie can seem counterintuitive. Indeed, it may be that the transition from passionate to impersonal politics is one of the most difficult challenges facing democratizers everywhere.
In pre-1989 Eastern Europe, for example, politicians’ ideological positions were seen as inseparable from their moral, or human, self. Those who were on the wrong side of the political divide were not only guilty of erroneous views; they were seen as wrong in their essence, and therefore to be condemned and hated.
The idea that you could treat political enemies jovially, and perhaps have a drink with them after hours – or enter into a coalition government with them – can seem not only unnatural, but even a bit indecent, in such circumstances. Indeed, in some young democracies, or more volatile cultures, the suspension of personal feeling is not always successfully maintained.
Just last year, one could witness fistfights in parliaments ranging from Iraq to Taiwan, Turkey, and, most spectacularly, Ukraine. To us, such behavior looks untoward, or even uncivilized; to the participants, it is probably experienced as a natural overflow of righteous feeling.
Clearly, parliamentary brawls are not a desirable modus operandi. But how far can the separation between person and politician be taken – and to what extent do we really give it credence?
The Miliband race was an extreme example of what might be called counter-nepotism – the attempt to abstract the politician from all private attachments. As the two brothers sat on platforms together, challenging each other’s views, they tried to maintain the double fiction that, on the one hand, there was no special bond between them, and, on the other, that their sometimes fierce disagreements did not taint their fraternal affections.
For a while, everybody played politely along; but the tricky double-think involved in this was exposed when the younger brother, Ed, won the leadership, by a razor-thin margin, in a last-minute upset. Suddenly, this didn’t seem quite right. In the media, comparisons to Esau’s theft of Jacob’s birthright and to various Shakespearean tragedies began to abound. David Miliband’s decision to retreat from front-line politics made it evident that a symbolic beheading had taken place – and one wonders if Ed Miliband won’t be haunted, and therefore hampered, à la Macbeth, by the psychological violence he committed.
In judging candidates for high office, we are encouraged to eschew “personality politics,” and to disregard such aspects of politicians’ identities as their spiritual lives, their private behavior (unless obvious transgressions are committed), and their appearance and aesthetic tastes. In practice, few of us can manage to compartmentalize our perceptions – and, perhaps, doing so would not be desirable.
We may not want politicians to be driven by self-interest, but we need to acknowledge that they have selves, which are formed by a multitude of factors – and passions. In other words, if we do not want to reduce our vision of politics to policy processing, we need to remember – if only for the sake of fuller and more realistic judgment – that politicians are human, too.
Eva Hoffman, the author of Lost in Translation and After Such Knowledge, is a former editor of The New York Times.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2010.
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ehoffman3/English
2011年5月2日 星期一
5月法律諮詢 Free Legal Consultation Service(May)
Here's the date of our legal consultation service in May:
6 May; 13 May; 20 May and 26 May.
Pls call us for details if you need to consult professional legal advice.
2011年5月1日 星期日
D. H. Lawrence on Industrialization: Work for Life BUT NOT Live for Work
Today is Labor's Day, I think it's a perfect time for me to share with you this old entry, especially for the time that the minimum wage law becomes effective today. And it's time for me(can I say for us?) to reflect what is decent life for HK people, and what's our responsibility for the decent life of those who are less benefitted from our society.(http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/our_wch/article?mid=3153):
A friend sent me back the following paragraph which I shared with her when I was reading D H Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover. I told her that this paragraph reminds me of the process of industrialization in China and the post-industrial life in HK.
My friend told me to keep the above thought in mind. She reminds me that I once said that if I am placed in a position with great responsibility, I will try ways to improve the unbearable human situation, because we deserve a more decent life in a rich city like HK; and because we should work for life but NOT live for work.
Thanks my friend. I still think the same way, I still hold this faith in my heart, and I will keep working hard to achieve a decent life for all of us.
I know it’s another mission impossible, but I believe it’s a noble mission that worth fighting for.
“Tevershall! That was Tevershall! Merrie England! Shakespeare's England! No, but the England of today, as Connie had realized since she had come to live in it. It was producing a new race of mankind, over-conscious in the money and social and political side, on the spontaneous, intuitive side dead, but dead. Half-corpses, all of them: but with a terrible insistent consciousness in the other half. There was something uncanny and underground about it all. It was an under-world. And quite incalculable. How shall we understand the reactions in half-corpses? When connie saw the great lorries full of steel-workers from Sheffield, weird, distorted smallish beings like men, off for an excursion to Matlock, her bowels fainted and she thought: Ah God, what has man done to man? What have the leaders of men been doing to their fellow men? They have reduced them to less than humanness; and now there can be no fellowship any more! It is just a nightmare.
She felt again in a wave of terror the grey, gritty hopelessness of it all. With such creatures for the industrial masses, and the upper classes as she knew them, there was no hope, no hope any more. Yet she was wanting a baby, and an heir to Wragby! An heir to Wragby! She shuddered with dread.
Yet Mellors had come out of all this!---Yes, but he was as apart from it all as she was. Even in him there was no fellowship left. It was dead. The fellowship was dead. There was only apartness and hopelessness, as far as all this was concerned. And this was England, the vast bulk of England: as Connie knew, since she had motored from the centre of it. “
……from D H Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover (P. 159-160)
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