Hong Kong Kandersteg

Comment Psychology

2012-01-06T01:10:00.001+08:00

Recently a Chinese official complains that the survey conducted by University of Hong Kong for many years is not scientific. The result in past few years was highly accepted by his colleagues. Inconsistent comments on consistent object implies that such scientific judgement is just a gimmick.

Let see his complaint on putting Chinese and Hong Kong citizen as two parallel options of recognized identity. He thinks that all Hong Kong citizens are Chinese by defaut.

He actually forgets that people can select up to four options. The question would not make Chinese and Hong Kong mutually exclusive. Besides that there are follow-up rating questions on importance and degree of belonging. It is an objective approach. It follows the scientific method.

He also forgets that some are American, Indian, Korean, Japanese. Even though they love Chinese culture, you cannot treat them as Chinese. It is common sense of secondary school students.

Why does the official make such different comment? It is because of different result which they don't like. The rating for being Chinese drops after pushing national education rigorously.

After reading the older science books in mainland, you may make a guess. He may think that science need to serve the communist party. He may think social science should help to decorate the policies.

it takes three years

2011-10-24T14:35:00.001+08:00

You may not able to imagine that it takes three years to obtain a reference letter from Hong Kong government. This letter only states the evidence of service period of an employee.

How many years do we have?

Good websites about Languages

2011-09-25T14:29:00.001+08:00

Useful links about Animal Languages

Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute of Washington Uiversity
http://www.cwu.edu/~cwuchci/

Alex Foundation about a Parrot
http://www.alexfoundation.org/

Critical Period Argument

10 Poor Cases of Feral Children
http://listverse.com/2008/03/07/10-modern-cases-of-feral-children/

A feral child is a human child who has lived away from human contact from a very young age, and has little or no experience of human care, loving or social behavior, and, crucially, of human language. Feral children are confined by humans (often parents), brought up by animals, or live in the wild in isolation. There have been over one hundred reported cases of feral children, and this is a selection of ten of them.

About Input and Interaction

Adults and Older children use a special register known as Child Directed Speech , when talking to young children. They simplify and clarify their speech in numerous ways at very level of language, including phonology, vocabulary, morphology and syntax.
CDS is dynamic register with adult speech being tuned to some extent to the language level of child as it changes over time.
The amount of linguistic input available to children varies quite widely Children of high-talking parent tend to be relatively advanced in terms of vocabulary and grammar development.
The child's linguistic environment comprises both input and interaction.
Children cannot acquire language fro watching TV a situation in which they are exposed to input in the absence of interaction. Interaction is therefore are essential for language acquisition.
Imitation both verbal and non-verbal is a fundamental aspect of human interaction. Infants who are especially responsive to imitation develop relatively advanced vocabularies.
Parents frequently imitate their children, repeating back child utterances with modification.
Some adults recasts can function as a form of corrective input for grammatical errors. They present a direct contrast between a child error and a grammatical alternative offered by the adults.
It is widely assumed that CDS is not universally available but cross-cultural research does not support that assumption.
CDS may be an inevitable consequence of adapting to the communication needs of a conversational partner who is both cognitively and linguistically immature.

Videos of adult-child interaction

http://www.msu.edu/~casby/langdevidcomp/

Effects of TV viewing on child development

http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/tv_affects_child.html

Teaching Good TV Habits

Here are some practical ways to make TV-viewing more productive in your home:

1. Limit the number of TV-watching hours:

Stock the room in which you have your TV with plenty of other non-screen entertainment (books, kids' magazines, toys, puzzles, board games, etc.) to encourage kids to do something other than watch the tube.

1.1. Keep TVs out of bedrooms.

1.2. Turn the TV off during meals.

1.3. Don't allow kids to watch TV while doing homework.

1.4. Treat TV as a privilege to be earned — not a right. Establish and enforce family TV viewing rules, such as TV is allowed only after chores and homework are completed.

2. Try a weekday ban. Schoolwork, sports activities, and job responsibilities make it tough to find extra family time during the week. Record weekday shows or save TV time for weekends and you'll have more family togetherness time to spend on meals, games, physical activity, and reading during the week.

3. Set a good example by limiting your own TV viewing.

4. Check the TV listings and program reviews ahead of time for programs your family can watch together (i.e., developmentally appropriate and nonviolent programs that reinforce your family's values). Choose shows that foster interest and learning in hobbies and education (reading, science, etc.).

5. Preview programs before your kids watch them.

Come up with a family TV schedule that you all agree upon each week. Then, post the schedule in a visible area (e.g., on the refrigerator) so that everyone knows which programs are OK to watch and when. And make sure to turn off the TV when the "scheduled" program is over instead of channel surfing.

6. Watch TV together. If you can't sit through the whole program, at least watch the first few minutes to assess the tone and appropriateness, then check in throughout the show.

7. Talk to kids about what they see on TV and share your own beliefs and values. If something you don't approve of appears on the screen, you can turn off the TV, then use the opportunity to ask thought-provoking questions such as, "Do you think it was OK when those men got in that fight? What else could they have done? What would you have done?" Or, "What do you think about how those teenagers were acting at that party? Do you think what they were doing was wrong?" If certain people or characters are mistreated or discriminated against, talk about why it's important to treat everyone fairly, despite their differences. You can use TV to explain confusing situations and express your feelings about difficult topics (sex, love, drugs, alcohol, smoking, work, behavior, family life).

8. Talk to other parents, your doctor, and teachers about their TV-watching policies and kid-friendly programs they'd recommend.

9. Offer fun alternatives to television. If your kids want to watch TV but you want to turn off the tube, suggest that you all play a board game, start a game of hide and seek, play outside, read, work on crafts or hobbies, or listen and dance to music. The possibilities for fun without the tube are endless — so turn off the TV and enjoy the quality time together.

(to be continued)

Something about Markus

2011-09-24T23:18:00.003+08:00

Markus Wasmeier hat in seiner sportlichen Laufbahn als Skirennläufer genug Geld verdient, um davon leben zu können. Doch während andere ehemalige Profisportler schon morgens um neun auf dem Golfplatz neue Herausforderungen suchen, sieht der zweimalige Olympiasieger von 1994 in seinem Museum nach dem Rechten. Wer ebenso zeitig seine Eintrittskarte löst, wird mit Geschnatter von den Hausgänsen Gustav und Agathe begrüßt, vernimmt das Glockengeläut der hofeigenen Kühe und atmet den Duft von Rohrnudeln, der Hefespezialität, ein, die der Bäcker bald aus dem Holzofen zieht.

Analysis:

Sentence 1:
Markus Wasmeier hat in seiner sportlichen Laufbahn als Skirennläufer genug Geld verdient, um davon leben zu können.

Markus Wasmeier is the third personal male singular form of subject.
Hat ... verdient is the conjugatation of dienen representing present perfect tense. It means 'has earned'.
'in seiner sportlichen Laufbahn' means 'in his athletic career'.
'als Skirennläufer' means 'as a ski racer' where Ski is ski, renn is racing and läufer is runner.
'genug Geld' means 'enough money'.

The last part consists of two particles. Therefore, we need to reorder the analysis flow.
'davon leben' means 'live on'.
'können' means 'can/able'.
'um ... zu' means 'in order to'

Translation of Sentence 1:
As a ski racer Markus Wasmeier has earned enough money in his athletic career in order to live on.

Sentence 2:
Doch während andere ehemalige Profisportler schon morgens um neun auf dem Golfplatz neue Herausforderungen suchen, sieht der zweimalige Olympiasieger von 1994 in seinem Museum nach dem Rechten.

Literal translation:
But while other former professional athletes early mornings about nine on the golf course new challenge search, sees the two-time Olympic champion of 1994 in his museum on the right.

Adjusted translation:
But while other former professional athletes search new challenge early mornings about nine on the golf course, he sees the champion of Olympic Games of 1994 twice in his museum on the right.

Sentence 3:
Wer ebenso zeitig seine Eintrittskarte löst, wird mit Geschnatter von den Hausgänsen Gustav und Agathe begrüßt, vernimmt das Glockengeläut der hofeigenen Kühe und atmet den Duft von Rohrnudeln, der Hefespezialität, ein, die der Bäcker bald aus dem Holzofen zieht.

Literal translation:

Who likewise early his ticket solves, is greeted with chatter of domestic geese and Agathe, hears bells of the farm's cows and breathes the scent of cube shaped yeast cakes, one of yeast specialities, the the backers soon from the wooden stove pulls.

Adjusted translation:Who solves his ticket early likewise, is greeted with chatter of domestic geese and Agathe, hears bells of the farm's cows and breathes the scent of cube shaped cakes with special yeast which the baker pulls from the wooden stove soon.

Lamb of Red Castle

2011-09-23T16:07:00.003+08:00

When you believe in that most of things in your life do not change
When you do not notice that there are big changes

It would come out with a big impact to your life

You may suggest that they are in the appropriate range
You may eventually know that it is strange

When you think it is the limit of development of your old school
When you think that the design isn't cool
It would give you a ding sound in your mind
They would break down the historical building as a fool
They would fit a new building in the loo.

Red castle is its nickname
Its function is to produce lambs
It works like factories
And provides you lots of laboratories

Castle grows bigger
And buildings are greener
We may grow older

But old school still looks younger

It may not give you a vision
It may not give you satisfaction
Because your road depends on your imagination
And the mind of determination

Rev and Styles

2011-08-23T01:06:00.003+08:00

A Buddhist group overseeing the construction of the world's tallest bronze Guanyin statue in Tai Po says the surrounding monastery will be a non-profit- making complex that will help followers reflect as well as promote Buddhism to the general public. A Buddhist group overseeing the construction of the world's tallest bronze Guanyin statue in Tai Po says the surrounding monastery will be a non-profit- making complex that will help followers reflect as well as promote Buddhism to the general public. The Rev Sik Kwok-kwong, who chairs the board of directors of Tsz Shan Monastery Ltd, said there will be no niches for the dead in the temple and that no individual is involved in the project.

As you may see, Rev is the abbreviation of reverend which is a style of addressing most often used as a prefix to the names of Christian clergy and ministers. This was a practice borrowed from Christianity by Jodo Shinshu in Japan and has been used in Buddhism since the early 20th century. The ordained monks and nuns were addressed as Maha Thera in the Theravada branch or Sakya in Chinese Mahayana branch. The title was translated to Venerable before borrowing. Theravada, which literally means the ancient teaching, is one of oldest Buddhism school in India. It is conservative and closed to early Buddhism. Analytical approach is much preferred in this school. Mahayana, which literally means great vehicle, is another old Buddhism school in India and is practiced in China, Vietnam, Korea, Tibet, and Japan. It is a loosely bound collection of many teachings with large and expansive doctrines.

Style of addressing is a common tradition in academia and royal family. E.g. His/Her Magnificence is for the rector (president) of a university. His Most Reverend Excellency is for diplomats. Your Worship - Justices of the Peace (Magistrates) in the United Kingdom, usually by solicitors. His/Her Majesty in royal families.

For ordinary people, we mainly use mister, miss and mistress. After the feminism prevails, we can only use Mr and Ms.

German terms in Railway

2011-08-10T15:29:00.000+08:00

What is Eisenbahnknotenpunktweiche? Eisenbahnknotenpunktweiche is railway junction switch. You can decompose this whole german (compound) noun into several parts.

Eisen = Iron

Bahn = Road
Knoten = Node
Punkt = Point
Weiche = Switch

Eisenbahn means railway. But wait! Eisen is iron and Bahn is road. It is same to the combination of Chinese character 鐵路 (tie lu). Funny!

What is Triebwagenzug?

Trieb = engine

wagen = wagon = car

zug = train

Triebwagenzug means railcar.

Triebfahrzeug means trains and Localmotiven mean localmotives.

Auskunft means information. Preise means rating and Buchung means booking.

Einfache Fahrt means single journey where Fahren means go.

Hin- und Rückfahrt means return journey. Hinfahrt means outward. Rück means back.

Abfahrt means departure. Ab-fahrt literally means from-go.

Ankunft means arrival. An-kunft literally means to-future.

Unabsehbaren Folgen

2011-08-09T15:50:00.001+08:00

[German] Die Angst vor einem Börsencrash und unabsehbaren Folgen für die Konjunktur hat Spitzenpolitiker weltweit zum Handeln getrieben.

[English (My own translation)] The fear of a stock market crash and unpredictable consequences for the economy has driven world leaders to action.

Angst means anxiety or fear.
Börsen means stock exchange.
unabsehbaren means unforeseeable

absehbaren means foreseeable

sehbaren means dictable

seh means see

Folgen means Follow, aftereffect and consequence

[German] Auch die Europäische Zentralbank und die Finanzminister der G7 kündigten rasches Handeln an.

[English (My own translation)] In addition, the European Central Bank and the G7 finance ministers called for urgent action.

Past tense of the verb: (Wir/Sie) kündigten ... an
Present tense : ankündigen

It is one of examples of German separable prefix verbs. They can be compared to English verbs like "call up," "clear out" or "fill in." While in English you can say either "Clear out your drawers" or "Clear your drawers out," in German the separable prefix is almost always at the end, as in the second English example.

Confused German Words

2011-08-09T15:08:00.000+08:00

There are some German words that look alike. For example, das vs dass and denn vs den. Das means 'the' and dass means 'that'. Denn means 'because' and den means 'the'.

Chinglish

2011-08-08T15:03:00.001+08:00

'People Mountain People Sea'
should be 'full of people'

'ding'
should be 'bear', 'endure'

'You will very like it.'
should be 'You will like it very much.'

'I am sales.'
should be 'I am salesman.'

'add oil' = 'Gas geben' (in German)
should be 'hang in there', 'keep going', 'step on it', 'step on the gas', etc

carton
sounds like 'carten'

carbon
sounds like 'carben'

Ancestry of Elizabeth II

2011-04-02T00:08:00.000+08:00

Queen Elizabeth II is
the daughter of George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George),
the son of George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert),
the son of Edward VII (Albert Edward),
the son of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel),
the son of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Ernest Anthony Charles Louis),
the son of Franz Frederick Anton, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Francis Frederick Anthony),
the son of Ernest Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld,
the son of Francis Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld,
the son of John Ernest IV, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld,
the son of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha,
the son of Johann II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (Johann Maria Wilhelm),
the son of John William, Duke of Saxe-Weimar,
the son of John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony,
the son of John, Elector of Saxony (John the Steadfast),
the son of Ernest, Elector of Saxony,
the son of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony,
the son of Frederick IV of Meissen and Elector of Saxony,
the son of Frederick III, Landgrave of Thuringia (Frederick the Strict),
the son of Frederick II, Margrave of Meissen (Frederick the Serious),
the son of Frederick I, Margrave of Meissen (Frederick the Bitten),
the son of Albert II, Margrave of Meissen,
the son of Henry III, Margrave of Meissen,
the son of Dietrich I, Margrave of Meissen,
the son of Otto II, Margrave of Meissen,
the son of Conrad, Margrave of Meissen,
the son of Thimo II the Brave, Count of Wettin,
the son of Dietrich II, Margrave of Lower Lusatia,
the son of Dedo I von Wettin,
the son of Dietrich I von Wettin.

Wettin is a small town in Saxony-Anhalt of Germany. Meissen is a small town on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Thuringia is a state of Germany in the central part of country.

Merkel - Durchschnitt Europas ist global nicht wettbewerbsfähig

2011-03-02T00:05:00.000+08:00

Hereunder is the news article in German.

Merkel - Durchschnitt Europas ist global nicht wettbewerbsfähig

Nach Aussage von Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel ist ein Großteil Europas international nicht wettbewerbsfähig.

Deshalb habe sie mit Frankreichs Präsident Nicolas Sarkozy den Pakt für Wettbewerbsfähigkeit vorgeschlagen, sagte Merkel am Montagabend zur Eröffnung der CeBIT-Computermese in Hannover.

"Europa muss aufpassen, dass es sich nicht zu sehr an sich selbst orientiert", warnte die Kanzlerin.

Alle Staaten müssten sich künftig an den Besten der EU-Partnern orientieren.

"Der Durchschnitt Europas ist nicht wettbewerbsfähig global", sagte sie.

Am Nachmittag hatte Schwedens Ministerpräsident Frederic Reinfeldt den von Merkel und Sarkozy vorgeschlagenen Pakt für Wettbewerbsfähigkeit kritisiert.

The following is the translated version.

Merkel - Europe's average is not globally competitive

According to Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, a large part of Europe is not internationally competitive.

Therefore, they have proposed the pact on competitiveness with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said Merkel on Monday evening at the opening of CeBIT in Hannover Computermese.

"Europe must be careful that it is not too much oriented to yourself," warned the Chancellor.

All states should be based on the best in the future EU partners.

"The average for Europe is not competitive globally," she said.

In the afternoon, Sweden's Prime Minister Frederick Reinfeldt has criticized the pact proposed by Merkel and Sarkozy for competitiveness.

wettbewerbsfähig(adj) : competitive

der Wettbewerb (n) : competition

die Wette (n): bet

No-fly zone over Libya

2011-02-28T17:41:00.000+08:00

Die USA berät mit Verbündeten eine Flugverbotszone über Libyen. Derweil bereitet sich die Opposition auf einen Angriff von Gaddafis Truppen vor.

The United States consults with allies a no-fly zone over Libya. Meanwhile, the opposition is preparing for an attack on Gaddafi's troops.

Flug (n): Flight
fliegen (v): fly
verbot (v): prohibited
zone (n): zone
Derweil: meanwhile, whilst
der: the
weil: because
über: over
von: of, off, from, on the part of (what a flexible particle in German language!)

Für ein Flugverbot müssten weitere Beratungen im UN-Sicherheitsrat stattfinden. Es sei allerdings unwahrscheinlich, dass das Gremium handele, solange die Gewalt der libyschen Führung gegen Zivilisten, etwa durch Luftangriffe, nicht deutlich zunehme. Eine entscheidende Rolle spielt in der Angelegenheit dem Bericht zufolge Italien, das einen umfangreichen Freundschaftsvertrag mit Libyen geschlossen hatte.

Held for a ban would have further discussions in the UN Security Council. It is unlikely that the panel trade unless the violence against civilians by the Libyan leadership, such as air strikes, not significantly increasing. Plays a crucial role in the matter, the report says Italy, which had signed a comprehensive treaty of friendship with Libya.

müssten => müssen: have to
weitere (adj) : more
Beratungen (pl): proceedings (similar to discussions / Diskussion)
im : in
der Sicherheitsrat: security council
stattfinden: to happen
finden: to find, to locate, to meet
statt: stead (a place or role that someone or something should have or fill)
die Gewalt: violence
Eine entscheidende Rolle: a crucial role
der Angelegenheit: a matter
dem Bericht: the report (dem indicate that it is an object)
Freundschaftsvertrag (Freundschaft + s + vertrag): friendship treaty
Freundschaft: friendship
Vertrag: agreement
geschlossen : closed (implies signed)

Intrinsic value is key to growing up

2011-01-26T13:26:00.000+08:00

Children are curious to everything in daily life including their own sensation and experience. They do observe everything closely. They taste it, try it and enjoy with it. Enjoyment is one of the driving forces of learning. They can pick up the first language in a few years. They want to talk to their parents, voice out their needs and share their ideas and feelings.

Our world is a sophisticated system with lots of policies, measures and utilities for certain goals. These goals are inscribed in these measures. Even though, these goals may be right, the implementation may not be good for everyone or tailor-made to the perception of everyone. For the sake of prolonged exposure to external measures, the external values are internalized. As we know, the external environment is kept changing. The change would be an impact to the children especially when the internalized values do not match to the new external values.They may collapse.

If the children have not yet internalized these values, they would treat those measures to be controls only. They would either adapt them or work against them. Eventually, they would forget their own values.

Parents should help them to develop their own intrinsic values which are the pillars of self-development. These values also give them direction and stability.

Mein Eindrunk about BarCamp HK 2010

2010-09-20T22:49:00.000+08:00

Es ist mein erstes Mal, BarCamp Hong Kong 2010 teilzunehmen. Eigentlich habe ich keine Ahnung, bevor ich wurde von einem Freund ein paar Tage vor dem 18. September 2010 eingeladen. Nachdem ich lese die Regeln, ich fand daas es ganz interessant, dass jeder die Chance, eigene Ideen, Geschichten und Erfahrungen zu teilen haben. Alle Teilnehmer, die zum ersten Mal zu verbinden, sind herzlich eingeladen, zu präsentieren. Ja, Präsentation. Ich habe wirklich keine Ahnung von Besuchern Hintergrund. Werden sie es nicht interessiert überhaupt?

Der Zeitraum von 3-Wort-Einführung selbst ist recht interessant. Es ist eine Herausforderung, um sie an Sie zu erinnern.

Nach dem Grundton des Veranstalters ist es ein Thema Anregung Zeitraum. Alle von uns notiere das Thema und die Kategorie auf ein Papier und steckte sie dann an die Wand außen. Der Veranstalter würde dazu beitragen, wieder je nach Kategorie zu 8 verschiedene parallele Sessions Form zu vereinbaren. Der Rest der Konferenz ist es, den Teilnehmern überlassen.

Es ist gut, ein paar Freunde zu machen, um neue Arbeitsplätze zu finden und für die Kandidaten suchen. Außerdem denke ich, es ist gut, Vorbild für andere Community-basierte Ereignis wie Wikipedianer sammeln. Es ist wirklich fördert die Beteiligung, Initiativen und freien Austausch. Es können alle genießen es.

BarCamp läuft noch in meinem Kopf viele Tage lang.

Freedom and Responsibility

2010-09-09T23:36:00.001+08:00

If we want to protect our freedom of speech, please do not abuse it. We must be responsible to our speech such that it avoids a more strict regulation to be enforced. It is like investment institutions in United States. If they can hold their responsible to the investment, unnecessary risk can be avoided. The impact of financial tsunami can be avoided. The regulation of finance sector would not be strengthened. The freedom of investment institutions can be maintained. Recently, cyber-bullying happens all the time among Hong Kong teenagers. They think that it is part of their freedom of speech but they forget that it also violates the privacy of victum. They start to get used to attack other persons in foul language wherever they are. On the other hand, the media agencies keep to write news articles in senational approache even though they know it is not appropriate.

In fact, freedom and responsibility is in the same package. Why? Every person is born with equal rights including freedom of speech which is limited by law in a society, If the exercise of freedom causes conflicts, such conflicts must be resolved according to mutually agreed principles of justice. These principles of justice are normally presented in the form of laws and regulations. For example, if it is an emergency for a nation, much of the freedom of nationals is restricted. If the exercise of certain freedom violates the human rights, say living with respect, such exercise would be prohibited. Therefore, these regulations remind us our responsibilities.

My friend commented that this is idealism. Americans don't see it that way. For them, freedom is the biggest and nothing to do with responsibility. Responsibility is another issue.

I think that though most of americans don't see it in this way, it does not mean that their view is right. Freedom of speech should be protected until the exercise of it violates other principles of human rights. Recent there are many cases about cyber-bullying in Hong Kong. It is abuse of freedom of speech in certain sense.

He said, "yeah, it is not right. But in this world, the powered commands. Sadly, everything is not purely considered. Everythings is mixed with benefit and advantages......... Human rights is always a bargaining power for US to negotiate with other countries for commercial rights. "

Most of us try to interpret a nation to be a person. The behaviour of a nation is analogued to personal behaviour. In fact, it is not strictly appropriate. The outcomes or decision is obtained through a political process which is a competition among pressure groups and interest group especially in a nation where democractic system is deployed. For the US pigeons, human rights are good for 'preaching'. For the US eagles, human rights are for bargaining power. When it is republicans' administration, the eagles win, otherwise, the pigeons win. I hope the democrats can fix the problems created by the republicans.

(Chinese Version of "Freedom and Responsibility")

Scoring is administration

2010-09-01T02:15:00.000+08:00

Do you hate scoring and marking? Do know what should be done before it? Yes, creating a marking scheme is the crucial task. A good marking scheme can help us to give marks for any possible student answers without violation of fairness. It helps us to categorize answers according to its semantics and syntax. It sounds like law and regulation which helps us to handle any possible cases by taxonomy and procedures. It also follows the principle of justice and fairness. Law to lawyer, rule-based program to processor. Before marking, we need to plan the marking scheme, to organize materials, to use some methodologies or tools, to control the quality of scoring and to have a time-budgeting.

For administration, we also need planning, organizing, staffing, directing, controlling and budgeting. Plan what we should do, how we should do, who should do and when we should do. Assign responsibility to posts and organization. Put these rules on the policy. Then, find right candidates to fill the posts. Direct or motivate them to do. Monitor performance and control the quality of work. Finally, budgeting is a periodic task for future resource allocation. Both administration and scoring share a similar model.

In fact, as the environment is changing fast, administrators need to adapt it fast. Administration is not an easy job.

Data type

2010-08-02T05:10:00.001+08:00

In programming language, we have something called data type. We have it because any program would process data only. If the data type is well declared and defined in a programming language, it is a strong typed language; otherwise it is a weak typed language. If the data is well defined, its operation is clear enough; otherwise there are many unknown outcomes for different unexpected scenarios.

It looks like mathematics. We have sets, number sets. We can define our own sets and we also have some pre-defined sets such as Integers, Real Numbers and Complex Numbers. The name of these pre-defined sets is reserved in certain sense. The concept of reserved words is similar to this one. Besides sets, we have operators like '+','-','x' to manipulate the numbers, members of the given sets.

In programming, data type is not limited to numbers. It includes characters and even strings. Here, characters does not mean any tool or persons in the movies. We are talking about members of alphabet, the letters, the puntuation marks and other symbols.

Typically, we write some functions to manipulate these data for us. It normally takes serveral input and generates a datum as output. It works like a function in mathematics. It maps the parameters in given sets to a value in another set. It tells us a clear relation.

How about the function of your mind? How can we understand and handle the data from the external world? Firstly, we tends to categorize them. Category is one of the key concept in our mind. Secondly, category helps us to compare and associate the current instance of event with the past events. It helps to manage the expectation. Thirdly, we can take the procedure from our experience or external authority to deal with the current situation. Hence, category on low level is data type in our mind.

Our mind is much more advanced. We have self-awareness and self-reflection. We can handle meta-level thinking. We can apply category on other categories. We can understand the logic of our thinking.

In fact, compilers of some computer programming language can be implemented by itself. It means it has reflection mechanism to describe itself. It is similar to metadata for database and meta-language for language.

Language somehow governs our thinking and communication. If everyone has kept its very own version of interpretation on public affairs, it would create chaos. It is the reason why we need objectivity and objective language in law. It helps us to categorize different real life scenarios and measure them with objective scales such that we can handle them in a systemetic way under the principle of fairness and justice.

Source of Trust

2010-07-23T13:30:00.000+08:00

In the past few weeks, the political reform package of Hong Kong was eventually passed in legislative council and submitted by the chief executive Donald Tsang. However, we may find that mutual trust lacks among the public, the government and the central government of People's Republic of China. Donald Tsang always urged the public to trust the government. Can trust be built up by public announcement?

According to the chapter of Gongye Chang in Analects of Confucious (Lunyu), we have to listen what he says and observe what he does. Just listening is not enough, we have to check whether it is consistent with what he does. We should settle for short term observation. Long term observation is more reliable.

Firstly, from this point of view, one should be observable before trust is earned; otherwise it is hard to judge it. Regarding government, the process of making policy should be open and fair. Recently, the Hong Kong Journal Association is pushing the Hong Kong government to enact freedom of information legislation to ensure access to government information and documents. According to the principle of governance, it enforces government to release the information pro-actively such that the public can monitor the whole process of making and implementation of policy. Therefore, the former director of Government Records Service, Simon Chu, requested to put the Law of Public Records on the agenda of the Legislative Council in order to ensure the public records created, archived, released and removed properly.

Secondly, it is mutual understanding between government and the public. It requires effective communication. Understanding of nature of communication is crucial. The message will be selected and compiled by the sender, transformed via different type of channels and finally interpreted by different kinds of receivers. Hence, the results would vary so much. The government should not just focus on itself and should use the appropriate methods according to the receiver. Communication is not only a delivery of its own message but also receiving of message from other partners. Selective listening must be avoided. Positive and constructive comments should be included.

What is positive and constructive comments? When citizens are sitting on the road without saying a word, is it? When protesters are climbing on the tree without saying a word, is it? Objection! Is it? If we speak out what we want and what we need to do, it is a positive and constructive comment.

Appropriate channel is critical for effective communication. Discrimination should be avoided. At least one open and fair platform should exist in a civic society. Every party can have equal right. Their opinions should not be wrongly interpreted. The creditability of Radio Television of Hong Kong is well known. However, it is retained as a government department after public evaluation. HKJA urged government to reverse its decision.

Thirdly, keep the promise. Only hope can be built when the promises are kept all the time. Promises must be kept whatever it is. Typically, those promise should be in black and white. The most challenge issue is the change of the people, the environment and the society. If the need for a specific promised policy vanished, the public can realize that such policy should be suspended; otherwise, apology and backup plan is needed.

Finally, I hope that the mutual trust can be built up. The making of public policy will allow peaceful participation of the public in the public space. The society will be improved continuously.

(Chinese Version)

German class is ended.

2010-05-07T01:22:00.000+08:00

The German class is ended today. It would be a good start for me because I have built up the foundation.

Let's try to translate the following message.

Die Briten entscheiden über ihre nächste Regierung. In der spannendsten Unterhauswahl seit langem wittern die Konservativen und die Liberal-Demokraten ihre Chance. Labour-Premier Brown gilt als schwer angeschlagen.

Die Briten entscheiden über ihre nächste Regierung. In der spannendsten Unterhauswahl seit langem wittern die Konservativen und die Liberal-Demokraten ihre Chance. Labour-Premier Brown gilt als schwer angeschlagen.

Literal translation is:

The British decide about/above/of their next government. In the most exciting beneath/between/among-house-election for a long time detect/sense the Conservatives and the Liberal-Democractic their chance. Labour Premier Brown is deemded to be as hard striken.

Refine the literal translation:

The British decide about their next government. In the most exciting Lower House Election, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats sense their chance for a long time. Labour Premier Brown is striked badly.

Google translation result is:

The British decide about their next government. In the most exciting general election has long been suspect, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats their chance. Labour Premier Brown is struck as hard.

Klavier

2010-04-19T13:07:00.000+08:00

In English, there is a big musical instrument called piano. Piano was created since the Middle Age. It consists of strings and hammers.

We know that English is originated from German. In German, piano is called Klavier. Why does it called Klavier? In English, there is another word - clavier to describe musical instrument - keyboard. It is same as the Clavier from French. Klavier may come from Latin (claves), clavile in Modern Latin. It is Klavír in Solvenian and Czech, Glasovir in Crotian. Clavier may mean key-bearer, key is clavis in Old Latin.

The name piano comes from pianoforte, same as Italian and Russian (Фортепиа́но) name. It is fortepian in Poland.

The most strange is that piano is Zongora in Hungarian. Why Zongora?

German and English 2

2010-04-01T14:58:00.000+08:00

There are lots of similarities between English and German.

When we say "How old are you?" in English, we would say "Wie alt sind Sie?" in German. They are literally equivalent.

When we say "What is your name?" in English, we would say "Wie ist Ihr Name?" in German, literally "How is your name?".

"How are you?" in English. Then "Wie geht es Ihnen?" in German, literally means "How goes it you?". I guess it is more like "How is going on you?".

Kindergarten was absolutely borrowed from German. Kinder is plural form of Kind which means child. Garten is garden. Therefore, kindergarten means garden of children.

German and English

2010-03-17T16:13:00.004+08:00

English language is originated from West Germanic language. It is the reason why we found some German vocabularies similar to those in English. Then, many foreign words were borrowed from French. In recent decades, many English terms are imported by German. We can see these European languages enrich each other.

The verb 'helfen' is Help in English. 'Help' comes from 'helpan' in Old English which comes from 'khelpanan' in Proto-Germanic and 'kelp' in Proto-Indo-European language.

The 'have' comes from 'habban' in Old English, 'habba' in Old Frisian, 'haben' in German, 'haban' in Gothic, 'khaf-' in Proto-Germanic and 'kap-' in Proto-Indo-European language.

0-9 numer

2010-03-04T23:39:00.004+08:00

0 is null (zero).
1 is eins (one).
2 is zwei (two/twice).
3 is drei (three/tri).
4 is vier (four).
5 is fünf (five).
6 is sechs (six).
7 is sieben (seven).
8 is acht (eight).
9 is nuen (nine).
10 is zehn (ten).
11 is elf (eleven).
12 is zwölf (twelve).
13 is dreizehn (thirteen).
14 is vierzehn (fourteen).
15 is fünfzehn (fifteen).
16 is sechzehn (sixteen).
17 is siebzehn (seventeen).
18 is achtzehn (eighteen).
19 is nuenzehn (nineteen).
20 is zwangzig (twenty).
30 is dreißig (thirty).
40 is vierzig (forty).
100 is hundert (hundred).

When something passed

2010-01-26T10:48:00.002+08:00

When something passed, let it passed.

When someone passed, let it passed.

Stay with the one you love.

Do what you can do for love.

Be strong to strengthen your love

Encounter the challenge be tough

Treasure the moment at the bottom of heart

Old man, life is not so hard

COP15 - Hoffnung oder nicht?

2009-12-05T17:38:00.003+08:00

COP15, wird das Klima Submit auf 7. Dezember gestartet werden Die führenden Politiker der Welt wird ein neues internationales Abkommen vorbereitet, die Kopenhagen-Protokoll übernehmen die Kyoto Procotol die im Jahr 2010 abgelaufen sein wird. Vor dem Absenden in vielen Ländern mit großer Anteil der Treibhausgas-Emissionen haben ihre eigenen Ziele auf die Kontrolle der Emissionen nach seinen eigenen Standard zu erklären. Sie behaupteten, dass sie die Notwendigkeit für die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung in den Entwicklungsländern und Controlling Emissionsbilanz würde. Sie glauben, dass die entwickelten Länder mehr Verantwortung für das, was sie sich seit dem letzten industriellen Revolution beteiligt sein sollte.

Viele Länder definieren ihre eigenen Ziel von verschiedenen Messungen. Einige sind auf das Emissionsniveau von 1990 basiert, aber einige sind auf 2005. Einige messen die Gigatonne von Kohlendioxid, ein gewisses Maß der Kohlenstoffintensität. Es hat, um herauszufinden, ursprüngliche Grund für die Verringerung der Emissionen, so dass wir feststellen, ob die Messung sinnvoll ist kann.

Das Kohlendioxid und anderen Treibhausgasen in der Atmosphäre war seit industriellen Revolution rasant erhöht. Das Kohlendioxid soll durch die Pflanzen unter normalen Situation aufgenommen werden. Allerdings ist die Höhe der Emissionen deutlich höher als der Betrag der Absorption. Deshalb hat Kohlendioxid werden so gesammelt, dass die durchschnittliche Oberflächentemperatur steigt. Es ist ein großer Schaden für die Erde durch den Menschen gemacht. Die kumulative Betrag der menschlichen Emissionen können als Schulden interpretiert werden. Human hat die Schuld zu begleichen.

Nach der Erde hurted wird, nicht alle Schäden ausgeglichen werden können. Aufgrund der Anstieg der Oberflächentemperatur hatte, einige Arten starben aus und hatte einige Tiere ihr Verhalten verändert. Zum Beispiel, greifen die Eisbären das Walross (海象), weil sie nicht mehr Treibeis von der Bartrobben verbergen. Nobdoy können sicher sein, dass die Eisbären wieder normal, wenn die Temperatur wieder normal bekommen kann. Zusätzliche Anstrengungen erforderlich sein, um die Erde zu erholen. Ähnlich wie Schulden, sollte Zinsen zu zahlen, manchmal nicht bezahlt werden.

Wie hoch ist die Verschuldung? In Bezug auf die Menge, die ultimative Ziel sollte sein, das angesammelte Betrag der Treibhausgas-Emissionen durch den Menschen gemacht. Gestützt auf einen Bericht von einer großen Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft hat, sollten die globalen Treibhausgasemissionen um 2% pro Jahr gesenkt werden, um von den globalen tragedy.This maximale Betrag wird als globale Kohlenstoff-Budget zu verhindern. Leider hat die Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft finden, dass die Erde zur Neige geht it.It liegt daran, dass nur 0,8% der weltweiten Emissionen annualy wurde von 2000 auf 2008. Daher ist die Lücke, über die Emission von USA in zwei Jahren. Wenn wir die Lücke zu füllen, müssen wir die globalen Emissionen um mindestens 3,5% Jedes Jahr werden 2008 bis 2020 zu reduzieren. Es ist ein drastischer Rückgang und es ist sehr schwer zu tun.

Im Sinne der Ethik, ist es ein Verbrechen, um Schäden an der Erde zu machen. Jemand anderes begeht das Verbrechen. Es bedeutet nicht, dass es moralisch richtig ist für uns das Verbrechen zu begehen. Europa und Nordamerika emittierten Treibhausgase. Es ist nicht moralisch richtig für Brasilien, China und anderen Entwicklungsländern, THG emittieren. Nun setzen China und Indien ihr eigenes Ziel von Kohlenstoff-Intensität. Es wäre irreführen, wie viel Treibhausgase reduziert werden kann. Nur echte Senkung der THG-Emissionen können echte Anstrengungen unternommen.

COP15 - hopeful or hopeless?

2009-12-05T15:29:00.003+08:00

COP15, the Climate Submit will be started on 7 Dec. The world leaders will prepare a new international agreement, the Copenhagen Protocol to take over the Kyoto Procotol which will be expired in 2010. Before the Submit, many countries with great amount of GHG emission have declare their own goal on controlling emission according to its own standard. They claimed that it would balance the need for economic development in developing countries and controlling emission. They think that the developed countries should share more responsibility for what they did since the last industrial revolution.

Many countries define their own goal by different measurements. Some are based on the emission level in 1990, but some are based on 2005. Some measure the gigaton of carbon dioxide, some measure the carbon intensity. It has to find out original reason for reduction of emission such that we can determine whether the measurement is reasonable.

The carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas in the atmosphere had been increased rapidly since industrial revolution. The carbon dioxide should be absorbed by plants under normal situation. However, the amount of emission is far higher than the amount of absorption. Therefore, carbon dioxide has being accumulated so that the average surface temperature increases. It is a big damage to the Earth made by human. The accumulative amount of human emission can be interpreted as debt. Human has to pay the debt.

After the Earth being hurted, not all the damages can be compensated. Because of rise of surface temperature, some species had died out and some animals had changed their behaviour. For example, the polar bears attack the walrus (海象) because they cannot find any more floating ice to hide from the Bearded Seals. Nobdoy can be sure that polar bears can get back to normal if the temperature becomes normal. Extra effort may be needed to recover the Earth. Similar to debt, interest should be paid, sometimes cannot be paid.

How much is the debt? In terms of quantity, the ultimate goal should be the accumulated amount of greenhouse gas emission made by human. Based on a report made by a big accounting firm, ，global greenhouse gas emission should be reduced by 2% per year in order to prevent from the global tragedy.This maximum amount is called global carbon budget. Unfortunately, the accounting firm find that the Earth runs out of it.It is because only 0.8% of global emission was reduced annualy from 2000 to 2008. Therefore, the gap is about emission of USA in two years. If we fill the gap, we need to reduce global emission by at least 3.5% annualy from 2008 to 2020. It is a drastic drop and it is very hard to do.

In the sense of ethics, it is a crime to make damage to the Earth. Someone else commits the crime. It does not mean that it is morally right for us to commit the crime. Europe and North America emitted GHG. It is not morally right for Brazil, China and other developing countries to emit GHG. Now, both China and India set their own goal by carbon intensity. It would mislead how much GHG can be reduced. Only real reduction in GHG emission can make real effort.

(Chinese Version)

Social Mobility and Multivalue System

2009-11-09T17:16:00.003+08:00

A modern society is a heterogeneous one. Members of a society come from different culture, background and they do things in different ways, they have different point of views, they have different value systems. This society should have a multi-value system. The social groups embrace each other, support each other to build up a healthy society.

When someone can align the social value and have much more ability about it, their social status will be improved. For example, earning money is one of social values. If they earn alot, their social status is higher. Another example, management capability is one of of social values. If they can manage great affairs, they will be respected. One more concrete example, the master sinologist, Yao Zongyi, can be very good at research and art literacy and nobody can compete with him. His social status is unparalleled even though he cannot earn much. Therefore, social value drives social stratification and then develop a systematic framework for social mobility.

If multi-value system is widely recognized in a society, the education system and industries will develop accordingly. Then, multiple frameworks for social mobility can be built up. Thus, a healthy circulation of cash flow can be started among the social groups, and then the gap between rich and poor would not be worsened. Unfortunately, even though the foreign exchange reserve and GDP of Hong Kong is very high throughout the world, the gap is widening in past few years. M-society is built up. Middle class is diminished. Thus, it can deduce that cash flow is not healthy, social mobility is low, uni-value system prevails.

The social status of professional drops, the one of education drops under government funding system, the one of sportsmen drops, the one of cultural and historical researchers drops. In enterprise aspect, manufacturing diminished, technology diminished, retail diminished, tourism diminished, only financial service and real estate can have a lion's share. It pushes other to get rid of land, to develop offshore. Unless the government can pour resources in professionals, sports, culture and historical research, it is hard to change the trend.

(Chinese version)

Where is Hope?

2009-11-09T14:55:00.002+08:00

Hope is the possibility that you want something happen in the future.

Things cannot happen without any cause, any drive and any effort.

Effort is necessary and should be towards to the goal.

If you want to work out something, please do the work.

But do not do it blindly.

Do it wisely.

Understand the environment.

Understand the rules of game.

Smell the changes and life cycle of it.

Remember! Make your goal clear.

Push yourself to the limit.

Use every bit of energy to rush to your target.

And... that is it.

Be creative

2009-10-21T02:02:00.003+08:00

Be creative on communication.
Try role play with your wife/husband.
Be creative on celebration.
Try to watch 3 great movies or have a big big buffet.
Be creative on interaction.
Can have fun to mix hug and judo.
Be creative on position.
You can have different feeling.

Remember to smile and laugh
when create a joyful moment.

Life is

2009-10-21T01:58:00.002+08:00

Life is a chain of enjoyment moments.
Don't save it for the last moment.
Do it at once.

Hallo! Guten morgan!

2008-09-19T11:45:00.003+08:00

In german, "Hallo! Guten morgan!" means "Hello! Good Morning!"
Hallo means Hello.
Guten means good.
Morgan means morning.
When we come across with a friend or someone I know, we would say "Hallo!" for informal greeting. If we come across a stranger, we would say "Guten Tag!" for formal greeting.
Tag means day. Therefore, Guten Tag means good day.
How about to say "See you tomorrow" in german? "Bis morgan". Morgan here means tomorrow. Yes, it is the same word for morning. "Bis morgan" literally means "Til tomorrow".
When we say goodbye, there is a formal way and informal way. "Auf Wiedersehen!" for formal way. "Tschüs!" for informal way. Of course, we can say "Bis später!" for "See you later!". ü sounds like 淤泥的淤 in putonghua. ä sounds like e. When say Tschüs! to whom understand putonghua, don't break it into 2 separated sounds; otherwise, it sounds like foul language - 去死。

life is a personal art. marriage is an art of two persons.

2008-09-19T11:45:00.002+08:00

Marriage is the joining of two people -

the union of two hearts.

It lives on the love

you give each other

and never grows old,

but thrives on the joy

of each new day...

Marriage is love.

May you always be blessed

in your hearts

with the wonder of your marriage.

May you always be able to talk things over,

to confide,

to laugh with each other

and enjoy life together,

to share moments

of quiet peace

when the day is done.

May you be blessed

with a lifetime of happiness.

~jill Ryynanen

Communication between sexes

2008-08-15T14:59:00.002+08:00

It is an interesting topic. I think almost nobody can avoid communication between sexes. There may be many fantasy when you start love affair with the one. However, someone finds that it becomes a nightmare when miscommunication is encountered.

Most of us think that girls are emotion-oriented. May do something emotionally. Make a decision emotionally. And even choose a guy emotionally. However, in the bottom of their heart, relationship, stability, fun are in the top priority. Feeling is basically a measurement of relationship. They normally have some closed friends always being together. They share everything by talking. Most of them think when they talk and then stop thinking when they don't talk. Of course, they would talk to themselves. When they talk, their feeling is released. Grieve is relieved. They feel comfortable after conversation is completed. You may think they are weak. However, you would find that their problems are not yet solved after talking. They can keep on going. Therefore, if they find a good listener, they can face any problem in daily life even without solving them.

Most of boys are classified as playing-oriented. They just love to play and bear less responsibility. In fact, boys and men are looking for satisfaction. They want to fight for something, build up something, or make an achievement. They need to tackle all the problems in different levels. It is just like hunters in the Stone Age. They need the real actions to solve all real problems. Feeling and emotion is unnecessary. Contrary, girls and women need to take care babies especially when the babies cannot talk to them. They must sense babies' feeling. Therefore they are sensitive to others' gesture, body movement and voice.

Then, when girls are talking to boys, boys don't know what girls need. Always go to solve the problem without taking care girls' feeling. Girls may think boys are rude because they don't know emotion or feeling sometimes is not in consideration for solving problem. This big difference of the need is caused by big difference between two perspectives. When they lost patience, the communication would break down. Hence, the first step is to bear in mind that everyone is not the same. He or she always don't think in a way like mine.

Sprachenfähigkeit wird entweder verbessert oder verschlechtert sich

2008-03-14T16:22:00.001+08:00

Wir wissen, daß das über 90% von Hong-Kong Bürgern chinesisch sind deren Muttersprache kantonesisch ist. Wir haben sehr kleine Wahrscheinlichkeit, Ausländer zu treffen. Wir haben nicht noch unser Englisch verbessert und auch Ausländer bitten, kantonesisches zu erlernen. Folglich wird der Beweggrund der Hong-Kong Bürger, zum von von Englisch zu erlernen, das wohl ist, sehr niedrig. Wir verursachen nicht ein englisches Klima im täglichen Leben und erlernen nicht Englisch aktiv. Unser Englisch ist sich verschlechtert zweifellos. Es ist dem Fall ziemlich ähnlich, der, nachdem ich weniger Gespräch mit meinem Taiwan Freund hatte, meine Mandarine besonders auf dem Aussprache schlechter erhält. Als wir uns wieder trafen, fand sie, daß ich nicht in der Mandarine sowie vorher sprechen kann. Es ist ziemlich frei, daß Sprachenfähigkeit entweder verbessert wird oder verschlechtert sich. (...)

Which .... is gay?

2008-01-21T08:44:00.001+08:00

My Schedule

2008-01-16T15:28:00.000+08:00

My schedule must be held by myself. It cannot be held by others. It is because everyone has its own schedule and they have not much time to take care your schedule. That is why I cannot depend others to take care my schedule. I am in charge of my schedule and I would fight for it, fight for my own interest.

Sorry, I have to fight for my own interest.

Patience has quota. When it is out of quota, there will be no merce.

Waiting is extravaganza to me.

Time is always running out.

The power of execution decides whether the company is alive or dead.

You should know what I mean.

Right?

funny hole

2007-12-11T23:34:00.000+08:00

Solar Taxi

2007-12-10T11:41:00.000+08:00

Yeah! Great!

[PG] Watch out!

2007-12-03T16:44:00.000+08:00

No two identical persons

2007-11-28T15:19:00.000+08:00

If we are looking for the life partner, are we looking for who is identical to us? Say, both of us have same habit, same interests, same thought and the same language. It could help communication when using the same language. No obstacles on understanding each other if we have same thought all the time. Same habit and interests would make us as twins. Hey, is it another me? Is it good for us to love "ourselves"? Are we looking for "another half"?

In the most of the time, there are no two identical persons in a relationship. Does it mean that our life partners would be totally different from us? Two persons are from different worlds. Then it is hard for communication and mutual understanding. It is far more different to have mutual appreciation. What is the force to pull us together?

The History Boys

2007-11-04T02:45:00.000+08:00

What a funny movie! It shakes our minds about thinking independently.

What are you thinking about?

2007-10-23T11:29:00.000+08:00

First Impression?

2007-10-12T11:49:00.000+08:00

Promise is promise

2007-08-29T10:09:00.000+08:00

One night I asked my friend for help. After a long discussion, there is no solution. He promised to take a look on the cause of the problem. However, when I met him, he had something to do and chit chat around. After a while, he disappeared. Oh no! He left me alone?! It sounds like his promise go in vain. Promise becomes just some soothing words.

Many friends and colleagues said that things always change. Our power is limited, many things are not under control. It is a promise today but may not be kept tomorrow. Why make such promise? What is promise?

Promise can be for others and also for ourselves. It appears before action. Before making promise, we always evaluate the feasibility. Nobody can be 100% sure before he makes promise. If it happens, why we need to make promise? From this point of view, promise is a clear declaration of will, to make something happen. It is expected to be a process of creation. It is what we want. We can have satisfaction, achievement when promise is kept. It gives us the feeling of safety. If we observe our society with our heart, we can find promises everywhere.

Cloudy Day

2007-08-20T12:29:00.000+08:00

German: Guten Morgen.

English: Good morning.

German: Hallo. Es ist ein bewölkter Tag, nicht wahr?

English: Hello. It is a cloudy day, isn't it?

Father and Son

2007-08-17T08:48:00.000+08:00

Promise is a promise. He promised his son to join marathon together even his son cannot walk. They run together. They swim together. They ride together. Never leave him alone. Never let his son feel handicapped. They create power together. They inspire other people together.

FW:Facts you should know about men

2007-08-08T17:23:00.001+08:00

1. Men like to barbecue. Men will cook if danger is involved.

2. Men who have pierced ears are better prepared for marriage. They've experienced pain and bought jewelry.

3. Marrying a divorced man is ecologically responsible. In a world where there are more women than men, it pays to recycle.

4. Men are very confident people. My husband is so confident that when he watches sports on television, he thinks that if he concentrates he can help his team. If the team is in trouble, he coaches the players from our living room, and if they're really in trouble, I have to get off the phone in case they call him.

5. Men like phones with lots of buttons. It makes them feel important.

6. Men love to be the first to read the newspaper in the morning. Not being the first is upsetting to their psyches.

7. All men are afraid of eyelash curlers. I sleep with one under my pillow, instead of a gun.

8. A good place to meet a man is at the dry cleaner. These men usually have jobs and bathe.

9. All men hate to hear "We need to talk about our relationship." These seven words strike fear in the heart of even General Schwarzkopf.

10. Men are sensitive in strange ways. If a man has built a fire and the last log does not burn, he will take it personally.

11. Men have an easier time buying bathing suits. Women have two types: depressing and more depressing. Men have two types: nerdy and not nerdy.

12. Men have higher body temperatures than women. If your heating goes out in winter, I recommend sleeping next to a man. Men are like portable heaters that snore.

13. Women take clothing much more seriously than men. I've never seen a man walk into a party and say "Oh, my God, I'm so embarrassed; get me out of here. There's another man wearing a black tuxedo."

14. Most men hate to shop. That's why the men's department is usually on the first floor of a department store, two inches from the door.

15. If a man prepares dinner for you and the salad contains three or more types of lettuce, he is serious.

16. If you're dating a man who you think might be "Mr. Right," if he a) got older, b) got a new job, or c) visited a psychiatrist, you are in for a nasty surprise. The cocoon-to-butterfly theory only works on cocoons and butterflies.

17. No man is charming all of the time. Even Cary Grant is on record saying he wished he could be Cary Grant.

18. When four or more men get together, they talk about sports.

19. When four or more women get together, they talk about men.

20. Men are less sentimental than women. No man has ever seen the movie THE WAY WE WERE twice, voluntarily.

21. Most women are introspective: "Am I in love? Am I emotionally and creatively fulfilled?" Most men are outrospective: "Did my team win? How's my car?"

22. If a man says, "I'll call you," and he doesn't, he didn't forget... he didn't lose your number... he didn't die. He just didn't want to call you.

23. Getting rid of a man without hurting his masculinity is a problem. "Get out" and "I never want to see you again" might sound like a challenge. If you want to get rid of a man, I suggest saying, "I love you... I want to marry you... I want to have your children." Sometimes they leave skid marks.

24. Men are self-confident because they grow up identifying with super-heroes. Women have bad self-images because they grow up identifying with Barbie.

25. Male menopause is a lot more fun than female menopause. With female menopause you gain weight and get hot flashes. Male menopause - you get to date young girls and drive motorcycles.

26. Men forget everything; women remember everything.

27. That's why men need instant replays in sports. They've already forgotten what happened

Learn putonghua well

2007-08-08T16:56:00.000+08:00

I had a coffee and a chat with friends. We were talking about his boss who is not keen in his career and just focus on the stock market. My friend, as a lazy subordinate, go to study putonghua suddenly. He kept asking me how to learn it well. The most critical problem is that he does not know to how to read it correctly.

In fact, when we learn any language, we still follow the old rules. Listen more, speak more and write more. It is lucky that the official written form of our mother language is same as the one of putonghua. We should save effort on it compared with the foreigners. However, there had been some foreign professors who can teach us Chinese culture in fluent putonghua. Their putonghua level is much higher than ours.

In order to speak putonghua well, we must go back to the written form as the starting point. The second step is to solve the reading problem. Of course, dictionary can save us. Besides that it can help us if we use pinyin input method to enter Chinese characters. It can keep to train myself when I do not speak in putonghua. However, the pronunciation cannot be kept because it is not strictly required in the input method. Thus it is better to keep reading it.

The third step is to listen more. For example, CCTV, they speak in Beijing version of putonghua which is the base reference of the official putonghua. At the same time, we can learn the vocabularies. It is similar to listen BBC news to learn English. Both agencies have high standard on pronunciation and word choosing. Remember that we have different vocabulary set even though we write Chinese characters. For example, hotel (酒店 vs 飯店),mobile phone (移動電話 vs 流動電話), taxi (公共汽車 vs 出租車).

coffee again

2007-08-08T16:18:00.000+08:00

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee...

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar
represents your life. The golf balls are the important things--- your family, your health, your
friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else---the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad! you asked.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

Please share this with someone you care about.. I JUST DID.

Enjoy Coffee

2007-06-21T01:56:00.000+08:00

I and my friend was lucky to have a chance to enjoy good coffee at a dinner. It is a gimmick to make some patterns over cream. If the coffee is good, it smell nice, should be smooth and the taste is right. If you can see there some drops of coffee oil on the top, it means it is fresh. A cup of ordinary coffee could be good coffee. It is so wonderful if I can share it with my best friend.

Hot

2007-06-06T13:25:00.000+08:00

I was great to have a dinner with friends last night. We went to the Kowloon City near the abandoned Kai Tak Airport. It is a small Thai restaurant with some good dishes like fresh shrimps, seafood salad, Tom Yum Goong and pork. Almost every dish is hot and spicy. The coconut in Tom Yum Goong is delicious though I do not favour the spicy cuisine. The most funny things are the drinks. One is called Green Water and another one is called Red Water. It really sounds like the cleansing chemical. The taste is not so good and the color looks like the chemical. I really don't know why there are so many drinks and foods in Thailand that look like chemicals.

Sometimes I think it is crazy to have the hot and spicy food in this hot weather. The whole city is getting hotter. The atmosphere among friends is hot. The food is hot. Finally, I have a hot hot night.

As I am willing to pay

2007-06-06T11:50:00.000+08:00

As I am willing to pay, I would try my best. As I try my best, I will know my power and ability. The more I do, the more I know myself. The main point is that I need to have self-consciousness. I need to ask myself. The more I express myself, I can either improve myself and the relationship.

Much of the time, I know the priority of career, friendship, relationship, family and health. All I need to handle in parallel and in balance. Once there is a chance or emergency, I have to be honest to myself and the one next to me.

Communication is important among friends. It is not just for delivery of message and feelings. It also create trust and relationship. It could be shy for someone and sometimes for me. In fact, it need practice even though you are talkative. A talkative person does not mean who has the right skills to deliver the message and feeling correctly. Sometimes, it would just create noise instead of voice. Everyone lives in different culture. They interpret the same thing differently.

We could improve ourselves in the process of study and understanding. The more you care and understand, the more you know yourself. The communication between intimates should reach the bottom of heart and cover the all topics of our lives. It reaches to the deep feeling. It creates joy, harmony and trust. Thus we can grow up as the relationship grows. Finally, make us complete.

Inappropriate appreciation

2007-03-12T18:01:00.000+08:00

Mr. Chan moved into a new house in UK from China. One day, he visited his neighbor. He found a little girl with golden hair was so pretty. He immediately showed his appreciation by touching her hair. He gave her a gift. She said thanks to him. He told her that she was pretty and polite. After she took the gift and returned to her room, her parent asked him to apologize for his inappropriate appreciation.

Mr. Chan was astonished and his neighbor explained that beauty is not made by her effort. It does not worth any appreciation. Appreciation of beauty would make she think that beauty is her capital. Touching her hair without permit would give her illusion that everyone can do this to her. These actions are not appropriate to her.

On the other hand, she was polite because of her own effort. Her politeness worth appreciation.

Every appreciation and admonishment is the seed in the children's mind, coming along with children's life.

FW:Men and Women

2007-01-30T17:24:00.000+08:00

Men and Women WITH LOVE... ~Some Interesting Facts~
	A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he wants. A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't want
	A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband. A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
	A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
	To be happy with a man you must understand him a lot and love him a little. To be happy with a woman you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.
	Married men live longer than single men. But married men are a lot more willing to die.
	Any married man should forget his mistakes. No sense two people remembering the same thing
	Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed. Women somehow deteriorate during the night.
	A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't. A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change and she does.
	A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

FW:A couple of cups of coffee with a friend

2007-01-30T17:14:00.000+08:00

I just thought I would share this little story with you. It helps
put life in perspective.

When things in your life seem almost too much to
handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough,
remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of
coffee...

A professor stood before his philosophy class and
had some items in front of him. When the class
began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and
empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with
golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar
was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and
poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the
golf balls. He then asked the students again if the
jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and
poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled
up everything else. He asked once more if the jar
was full. The students responded with an unanimous
"yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee
from under the table and poured the entire contents
into the jar effectively filling the empty space
between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor as the laughter
subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar
represents your life. The golf balls are the
important things--- your family, your health, your
friends and your favorite passions---and if
everything else was lost and only they remained ,
your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like
your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else---the small stuff. "If
you put the sand into the jar first," he continued,
" there is no room for the pebbles or the golf
balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your
time and energy on the small stuff you will never
have room for the things that are important to you.

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to
your happiness. Play with your children. Spend time
with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take
time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out
to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be
time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take
care of the golf balls first---the things that
really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just
sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired
what the coffee represented. The professor smiled.
"I'm glad! you asked.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full
your life may seem, there's always room for a couple
of cups of coffee with a friend."

Please share this with someone you care about.. I JUST DID.

FW:Are any of us guilty of this?

2007-01-30T16:35:00.000+08:00

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
DAD: "Yeah sure, what is it?" replied the man.
SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily.
SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "If you must know, I make £100 an hour."

"Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down. Looking up, he said, "Daddy, may I please borrow £50?"

The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money! After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that £50 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.

"Are you asleep, son?" He asked.

"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,"said the man.

"It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the £50 you asked for."

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.

The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled.

"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.

"Daddy, I have £100 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."

Life versus books

2006-12-31T02:07:00.001+08:00

Someone said that it may help us to understand life if we understand the books. However, if we want to understand some books, we need to understand life first. Books reflect life and imagination. Books and friends are lighthouses and companions for our navigation. Once we choose to start our own navigation, passion becomes the fuel of our ship.

Bon voyage!

media and message

2005-10-30T00:21:00.000+08:00

Media is just a way to deliver the message. Media is not an objective unless it is art. Only art would care and study the way to deliver message. In the long run, it would last long if the message or story is great. In fact, only the perfect match of media and story attracts peoples.

Stress and Driving Force

2005-08-12T18:11:00.000+08:00

Many citizens would try to reduce the stress. It sounds very good if there is no stress.
Many citizens want to find the hope and driving force. It sounds very good if it is full of driving force.

However, who knows you can convert the stress to driving force. How can we do that?

When you think you are connected, you can response to it. In fact, everything is interacting with each other.

Truth and Wisdom

2005-07-24T01:27:00.000+08:00

When we are looking for the truth, we investigate, analyze and prove what we did. Eventually, wisdom is created in these processes. Wisdom helps us understand the real world which we are living. Hence, we can improve our living and our life, create our fortune and joy.

If it is a dream,

2005-07-09T15:06:00.000+08:00

If it is a dream, make a good dream.
If it is a life, make a good life.

Ups for sharing, downs for challenging and training.

Remember to make a better tomorrow for you and others.

Which part?

2005-06-19T02:38:00.000+08:00

Original intention belongs to you.
Modifier belongs to you.
Your mind belongs to you.
Anything created by you belongs to you.
No mask? Masked?
It is you.
Don't worry unless it conflicts to to your intention.

Enjoy yourself

2005-05-30T20:41:00.000+08:00

There are sometimes when you would be with yourself.
It is not so bad actually.
You can treasure at this private moment.
You can read the books.
You can watch the sky.
You can think whatever you want.
Think about the past and the future.
Think about whom you love.
You would know how much you love at this moment.

I blog

2005-05-27T02:56:00.000+08:00

I blog therefore I am.
^_^

2005-05-21T18:24:00.000+08:00

Though the world may be full of tragedies, there are lots of miracles.

2005-05-21T18:17:00.000+08:00

There is a road to the future.

Yellow Light

2005-05-19T02:35:00.000+08:00

Thunder in the night
Schedule is tight
Don't care what is right
Don't want have a fight
Below the yellow light
My heart is on the flight

Love

2005-05-19T02:32:00.000+08:00

Love (agape) is an action not only a feeling.

Light

2005-05-19T01:50:00.000+08:00

As you can see beyond your sight, try to focus on the world beyond today. Imagine all the persons and events become bubbles. All worries would become dust.
The only one thing that you cannot ignore is the light emitted from every life.

Games people play

2005-05-18T18:36:00.000+08:00

(Lead vocal - Lenny Zakatek)
Where do we go from here now that all other children are growin' up
And how do we spend our lives if there's noone to lend us a hand

I don't wanna live here no more, i don't wanna stay
Ain't gonna spend the rest of my life, quietly fading away

Games people play, you take it or you leave it
Things that they say, honor brite
If i promise you the moon and the stars, would you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night

Where do we go from here now that all of the children have grown up
And how do we spend our lives knowin' nobody gives us a damn

I don't wanna live here no more, i don't wanna stay
Ain't gonna spend the rest of my life, quietly fading away

Games people play, you take it or you leave it
Things that they say, just don't make it right
If i'm telling you the truth right now, do you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night

Games people play, you take it or you leave it
Things that they say, honor brite
If i promise you the moon and the stars, would you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night

Games people play, you take it or you leave it
Things that they say, just don't make it right
If i'm telling you the truth right now, do you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night

Jazz and Blues

2005-05-18T18:11:00.000+08:00

Jazz is originated in US, called "degenerate music" and "musical masturbation". It is imported from to Louisiana by the French. At the very beginning, the players were composing when playing. Though it is ad-hoc, it is totally driven by the player's mood and emotion. It is almost a free form to express themselves. Rawness is the style.
At the same time, most of the African American were working in the fields as slaves. Their life was tough. Though they tried to enjoy the work, you can still feel the sadness through their music (Blues).

What a sunny day!

2005-05-18T09:45:00.000+08:00

Sunrays caress my face. The wind caress my hair.
Though it is hot, it is normal in summer.

Tranquility in a noisy area

2005-05-18T00:36:00.000+08:00

Noise is everywhere. Noise creates stress. It would be wise to find a tranquil place to relax yourself. Let's enjoy here.