Happy 57th birthday, “Long Hair”, Leung Kwok-hung!

I want to wish “Long Hair”, Leung Kwok-hung, happy 57th birthday, good health and all the best! Here is my 2005 documentary “Long Hair Revolution” filmed only two months after his election to Legislative Council of Hong Kong. I’m happy to say my first documentary has been added to the federal government “Library and Archives Canada” permanent collection in Ottawa.

Long Hair Revolution 長毛革命 @ national archive of Canada

Long Hair debates Lawyer Lawrence “F-bomb dropping” Ma Yan-kwok (馬恩國) in LegCo

After watch this f-bomb ladened debate in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Some people may have a point in thinking Lawrence “F-bomb dropping” Ma Yan-kwok (馬恩國) may have single-handedly raised Leung Kwok-hung’s (長毛 Long Hair) approval ratings! Have a watch of this LegCo video recording of the heated exchange and decide for yourself.

長毛舌戰山西政協民建聯澳洲大律師馬恩國,大律師公然立法會講粗口!

Feel free to check out my first documentary Long Hair Revolution (長毛革命) which I’ve finally got it fixed and viewable on YouTube some weeks ago. Enjoy. For more info about Long Hair Revolution (長毛革命), read it here.

Is Hong Kong Police Above the Law？香港警察是否可以無法無天，凌駕於法律之上？(op-ed)

After viewing the following video clip, I have one simple question. Is Hong Kong Police Above the Law? 香港警察是否可以無法無天，凌駕於法律之上？Has Hong Kong become a police state/city where Hong Kong citizens’ rights and legal due process need not be protected nor respected by the police? Have a watch and see for yourself in this legal protest. According to what was stated by one of the peaceful protesters (based on the observable footage), the crowd (“over 100″) has been detained by the police without any reasons given. When the police seemed to be willing to release the crowd, a police officier who seemed to be in charge halted the release of the protesters and clearly stated no reason is to be given nor needed for the crowd’s detention.

“5:37署理警司:唔放得，全部圍住！

5:45署理警司:唔洗講，一陣咪話唔警告你。”

Note: Raw video footage linked to via Facebook status of HK Legislative Council member Leung Kwok-hung (梁國雄). Note that this reporter has no way to verify the video’s authenticity, there is no reason to believe it is doctored as there would likely be plenty of collaborating photographic and video evidences filmed by other media outlets present at the protest.

Tequila Sunrise – a cool step-by-step

I just watched a nice video showing me how to make the above cool looking Tequila Sunrise! The video by Andy is in Cantonese and has clear English subtitles. You should be able understand everything and make the drink yourself. Have a watch of  A Classy Man’s Tequila Sunrise (龍舌蘭日出) video! Thanks Andy for making the great video. (note: The instructional part starts at time code ~3:16 if you want to start learning how make it right away! :)

Subscribe to Andy’s A Classy Man’s YouTube channel for more videos. Like his Facebook and follow his Instagram. Fans of the first video have already asked Andy to make a dessert video! Finally, if you have made your own Tequila Sunrise (龍舌蘭日出), please post a picture to let us share your fun!

Magazine profiles by Leila Chan, independent reporter

I love all sorts of biography, auto-biography, magazine profiles, and I will sometimes arrange and conduct phone and video interviews. I recently got hooked on Leila Chan’s magazine profiles (in Chinese). Allow me to recommend a few of them to you if you can read Chinese.

* “周榕榕 人生是自己的“

“[周榕榕] 選擇新聞系，媽媽沒有反對，能夠進到大學已經好好；工作才一年便辭職，媽媽也沒說什麼，女兒一向都喜歡旅行；可是旅行回來，還不上班，一年兩年過去，媽媽終於忍不住。

那一天，母女對峙。”

* “葉劉淑儀 母女如兄弟“

“「我媽媽很重視健康，好守規矩，那些好難食的穀物早餐，呢，好似樹枝那種，我見到都想嘔！但她日日吃，並且定時吃飯、吃好多生果蔬菜、做運動。媽媽常說：『健康一點，可以陪多你幾年。』我爸爸是六十幾歲時死的，媽媽現在六十二歲了，所以立法會大樓有細菌，真的好可怕。」榮欣坦言，不能想像沒有了媽媽。 “

* “楊崢 雲吞原來可以買現成？“

“[楊崢]要訪問擁有米芝蓮餐廳的名廚，很難；要名廚親自示範菜式，更難，並且要求又快又容易——怎樣的名廚才會答應？楊崢已經不計成本，飛了十多個城市，仍然不斷吃閉門羹。

「放飛機」最利害的一位，是一位美國的名廚，本來透過另一位名廚約好了，但去到紐約他的餐廳，公關說他正好出書，去了全國辦簽名會。楊崢跟著公關指示飛去加州，沒能見面，唯有自己開車去名廚在纳帕谷的另一間餐廳。”

* “周國豐 童年惡夢“

“「家裡都是媽媽做飯，我和爸爸都喜歡吃肉，媽媽便拼命煮一大堆，像是要把我們養到肥肥白白。」

Ghosts of Hong Kong Won Gold

Congrats to Daisann for her Ghosts of Hong Kong article in National Geographic Traveler to win gold in the North American Travel Journalists Association Awards Competition! Have a read of the article.

Absence of Malice – New Quote I Love

Love the movie Absence of Malice starring Paul Newman and Sally Field. Love this monologue of the Assistant U.S. Attorney General character (played by Wilford Brimley) to newspaper reporter (played by Sally Field),

“You know and I know that we can’t tell you what to print or what not to. We hope you people in the press will act responsibly, but when you don’t, there ain’t a hell lot anybody can do about it. But we can’t have people going around leaking stuff for their own reasons. It ain’t legal. And worse than that, by God, it ain’t right.“

P.S. Right after I finished watching Absence of Malice, I started writing a long post to recommend the film to the HK newspaper Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee Ying (黎智英), the paper’s editorial team and reporters because I consider Apple Daily‘s moral compass as mostly broken. Apple Daily reporters will write almost anything, put almost anything in cartoons (including a a sequences of cartoons depicting a young girl falling to her death), filming almost anything to sell newspapers.

P.P.S. According to Vanity Fair Dec 2004 article “The Gossip Behind the Gossip”,

HKG (VHHH) airport RFID Tag

A friend who knows explained to me: The HKG airport (香港國際機場 – 赤鱲角機場) simply has no additional space left to expand to handle the increasing number of luggages. (note: limited space is problem at most airport these days.) So the overriding rationale in using RFID technologies was to increase handling capacity within the limited HKG airport physical space.

Tales of a Chinese Purchaser – worth a listen

In 2008, with the help of Simon, who has 30 years of purchasing experience, we created a series of 15 parts “Tales of a Chinese Purchaser” (about 10 minutes long per episode). Few days ago, my friend Echo kindly told me that she is learning a lot about purchasing from the series and is helping her work. So I actually started listening to it again and find that I am also learning a lot (again). And it is fun to listen.

So I am sharing my Cantonese series of 15 parts “Tales of a Chinese Purchaser” here.

Vacation vs. Staycation – Wikipedia, Merriam-Webster, and Me

Vacation is about creating great experiences during your 4-6 weeks per year of holiday time that you are away. Staycation is about creating wonderful experiences (weeks, days, or even hours/minutes) during the 46-48 weeks that you are in town.

To me, staycation is a mindset. Staycation can happen at any time. Staycation can be a result of having a great meal and a great time at a local farmers’ market (thanks Junian @ Kaffir Lime Indonesian Food, see him cooks on YouTube here) that is right on the main Calgary roadway that tens of thousands of people drive by everyday (but only a small percentage will actually drive in)!

Staycation can be a great hike at a local park by the river or a nice walk/exercise around the neighbourhood. Staycation can be a simple dinner at a restaurant instead of going home and cook. OR If you eat out ALL the time, it can be going home to cook and share a simple dinner with your loved ones.

Here is a friend writing about her recent staycation in reply to my Facebook staycation status,

“We went hiking to nearby trails during the day, went shopping in Chinook, ate out in nice restaurants, watched a movie, read a book in the backyard, visited a relative, puttered around the garden, and at the end of the day…we slept in the comfort of our own beds. Stress free vacation!“

I believe staycation is a mindset that can lead to us living a happier life.

Of course, the time you spend doing household chores or answering work emails, etc can not honestly be counted as a staycation. But the time you spend in between can be. Like the staycation I mentioned above, it lasted for about 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Staycation is a mindset to enjoy and appreciate the various moments of life in town, at the same time as we are living a busy life. Like the saying “slow down and smell the roses”, I am saying life is a journey, try to live a more deliberate life and take many mini staycations.

I want to point out that I’ve defined Staycation as a mindset, which is different from the definitions, as of press time (Aug 16, 2011), you currently see in Wikipedia and Merriam-Webster. See this current July 29, 2011 version of Staycation in Wikipedia. In short, the definition of “staycation” has not been broadened to include a “mindset” yet. But I am a patient man and don’t mind waiting a little for the dictionaries/definitions to catch up. :)

Bikini Basketball and Lingerie Football are better ways to exploit women than …

I don’t like to see women (and men) being exploited but bikini basketball and lingerie football are, paradoxically, better ways to exploit women than the Hong Kong newspaper Apple B.B. Daily taking photos of nonconsenting pretty women on the street and commenting on their looks.

If we allow men to be exploited in cage fights, various forms of boxing, and even bare knuckle fist fights, practically allowing men to beat each other to a pulp and cause brain damages in the long run and call that “entertainment“, we have to be fair to women and allow them to bounce their breasts and show their butts. Equal opportunities to be “exploited”.

To me, the major sticking point with “Apple B.B. Daily taking photos of nonconsenting pretty women” is the word “nonconsenting“. I’m not 100% sure but based on my limited guess of HK laws and the HK’s views of “freedom of press”, I doubt the photos are against any laws. And it is up to HK citizens to accept or complain.

Coming back to bikini basketball and lingerie football, if Canadians don’t like what we see, we can always let those businesses know by our words, actions, and money.

The Alliance’s Lee Cheuk-yan and Mak-hoi-wah visits Calgary today (Julu 31, 2011)

In English (英文)

The Alliance‘s Lee Cheuk-yan and Mak-hoi-wah are visiting Calgary today (July 31, 2011), I hope I’ll have a chance to interview Mr. Lee Cheuk-yan. The following are some news and other video clips during their Vancouver stop.

中文 (In Chinese)

支聯會的李卓人、麥海華今天(2011,七月三十一日)訪問卡城，我希望有機會訪問李卓人先生。以下是一些他們訪問溫哥華的新聞及其他訪問行程上的短片。

Their bios in Chinese.

李卓人

“李卓人，現任香港立法會議員（新界西選區），亦是香港職工會聯盟秘書長及香港市民支援愛國民主運動聯合會主席。自1978年畢業於香港大學土木工程系後，開始投身工人運動，參與勞工組織的工作。首份工作為觀塘工業健康中心幹事，組織工人關注職業健康及安全問題。兩年後，轉往香港基督教工業委員會工作，負責組織工傷者及家屬，成立香港工業傷亡權益會。其後，李卓人開始組織獨立工會，創立成衣業職工總會並擔任總幹事。1990年成衣業職工總會與其他獨立工會共同創立香港職工會聯盟，成立時共有25個屬會。李卓人轉擔任職工盟總幹事，推動獨立工會運動，走在爭取勞工權益及民主的最前線。

作為工運人士，李卓人在80年代初開始參與香港民主運動，並在1989年與其他民間團體一起成立香港市民支援愛國民主運動聯合會，被選常委，至2003年開始擔任副主席，並在創會主席司徒華先生離世後接任主席。

1995年，李卓人代表香港職工會聯盟參加立法局選舉並當選。除1998年臨時立法會一年外，李卓人一直透過新界西直選當選立法會議員至今。“

麥海華

”麥海華從事社會運動三十多年，早年活躍於學生運動， 1975年擔任香港大學學生會會長。畢業後投身社區發展工作，成立香港社會工作者總工會並擔任會長八年。

八九民運期間，參與成立香港市民支援愛國民主運動聯合會，擔任常委至今，並一直負責資料及出版部工作，管理「中國民主運動資料中心」，出版、收集、貯存及整理有關八九民運及「六四」屠殺的報刊、圖片及物品，以及出版《港支聯通訊》。

九十年代初成立反歧視大聯盟，倡議立法消除社會歧視及監察平等機會委員會的運作。近年積極推動人權教育工作，爭取落實《殘疾人士權利國際公約》及推動社會教育。“

Yoyo Sham 岑寧兒 and Charatay 格勒底

I am slow and just discovered the cool sound of Yoyo Sham 岑寧兒 (Facebook) (her website) and her accapella group Charatay (格勒底, the six members are 岑寧兒、陳詠謙、張傑邦、梁仰詩、洪豐盈、袁慧妍) (Facebook). You can find out more about her music by joining her Facebook group and check out Charatay. [HT Eva]

At the moment, I love her best in her part of 三人行 – 重編新唱版本.

Here are some other songs to check out from a quick YouTube search of her name Yoyo Sham 岑寧兒 and also from the Charatay Bong’s YouTube channel.

Hill Cheung 10 Years (re-edit ) (May 2010)

Silly Girl 傻女 (A cappella)

Here is Aileen Kwan’s rendition of Priscilla Chan’s (陳慧嫻) Silly Girl (傻女). Enjoy.

Criminal Justice In China: An Empirical Inquiry – by Michael McConville

Mike McConville, dean of Faculty of Law, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a team of researchers spent 16 years to create the authoritative Criminal Justice In China: An Empirical Inquiry.

It is very telling that Mike stated in the book launch press conference, “The judge and the prosecutor join hands with the police in making the case against the suspect.” Take a moment to think about the implication! And also stated, “Party committees which direct the work of the criminal justice courts …”  No wonder Mike finds the criminal justice system in China “very disappointing“.

(See BBC Chinese news and HK Apple Daily news reports some additional information.)

Criminal Justice In China (see also Amazon.ca link)
An Empirical Inquiry
Michael McConville
Mike McConville, Dean, Faculty of Law, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
April 2011 c 584 pp Hardback 978 0 85793 190 0

“Description
‘Criminal Justice in China is the most comprehensive work to date on the functioning of China’s criminal justice system. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand any aspect of the system. There are important insights on virtually every page, including in depth study of the role of police, procuracy, courts, and defense lawyers. The book will be of value to anyone interested in governance in China.’
– Benjamin L. Liebman, Columbia Law School, New York, US

HK launches world’s first yuan IPO outside China

From BBC News “HK launches world’s first yuan IPO outside China“,

“The world’s first Chinese-currency shares to trade on a stock exchange outside mainland China will be listed in Hong Kong on April 29.

Hui Xian, a real estate investment trust, is selling yuan-denominated shares to investors in an initial public offering (IPO) at the end of the month.

The offer comes at a time when demand for investment products in the Chinese currency has been growing.

Hui Xian is controlled by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing.”

From Apple Daily,

“下周一登場　計及升值息率逾 7厘 匯賢招股不宜短炒” – 2011年04月09日

【本報訊】本港首隻人民幣計價房地產信託基金匯賢房託，市場消息指，每份基金單位定於 5.24至 5.58元（人民幣．下同），計劃發售 20億個基金單位，息率介乎 4至 4.3厘，最多集資約 111.6億元（約 132.67億港元）。證券界人士認為，博短炒獲利的投資者「買唔過」。　記者：陳健文
從長實（ 001）分拆出來的匯賢房託，市場消息指，按每手 1000份單位計算，不計手續費的每手入場費約 5580元（約 6633.39港元）。彭博資訊引述消息人士指，匯賢房託今次將發售 40%權益，上市後市值達 280億元。中銀國際、滙豐及中信證券為保薦人。

我的名字叫鄺嘉豪、陳詠妍 – ‪蘋果延伸‬ “‪你死你事‬”、”仗義欺寧弱小”‪精神

我曾經考慮用以下兩個題目其中之一，但最後選擇了”我的名字叫鄺嘉豪、陳詠妍”。

“‪蘋果日報法庭‬記者，英勇拍攝口交男女生法庭外逃跑情況，捍衛凌駕於三權之上的‪蘋果公審‬/羞恥‪權‬‬。延伸‪蘋果‬ “‪你死你事‬”、”仗義欺寧弱小”‪精神‬”

“蘋果‪法庭‬編輯/記者 捍衛”‪你死你事‬”精神 公審口交男女生”

讀/看完4月9日蘋果法庭”男女生照口交“新聞及互動片段(見下)之後，心中悲痛。早前我在““自殺獲救”娛樂化: 新聞自由=你死你事?”一文中我問，

“蘋果日報/蘋動新聞的記者和編輯們：能夠令新聞中人直接/間接受到傷害的私人資訊，可以不須保護地完全披露嗎？”新聞自由”真的是令你做事不須小心思考的”免責金牌”嗎？”新聞自由”真的等同”你死你事”嗎？新聞道德真的是可有可無嗎？”

報告法庭新聞本應非常重要，但一件簡單法院案件有須要窮追當事人嗎？真的有須要仗勢(報館的鏡頭)欺寧弱小，拍攝案中男女在法庭外逃跑，避開鏡頭的情況嗎？有須要將案件動畫化，加上抵死對白及攪笑音樂，將一件控方同意撤銷控罪，改以簽保守行為方式處理，裁判官頒令兩人自簽 1,000元，守行為 12個月的案件，放大萬倍嗎？有考慮到法庭已經給了他們法制下應得的懲罰嗎？‪我想知道，蘋果從‬何時開始得到‪凌駕於三權‬(行政，立法，司法)‪之上的蘋果公審/羞恥權？‬

蘋果真的有須要令當事人受到長期什至永久的傷害嗎？人年輕犯的錯，真的要令他們永成笑柄嗎？香港新聞從業現在是否只須要向上司及銷售數字付責，而完全不須考慮自己應有的新聞道德標準嗎？

更令我傷痛的是網民以”報紙出名”為理由，強調叫討論區管理員”勿ban”。可見傳媒對網民的影響力。

P.S. 與‪蘋果日報相比，明報專訊(見下)的報導，因為沒有的互動片段，則比較溫和。另見東方報導。

繁忙時間　港鐵銅鑼灣站梯間 警巡過　男女生照口交 – 2011年04月09日
瀏覽人次：101,600 Facebook Twitter 轉寄朋友

【本報訊】人流如鯽的港鐵銅鑼灣站，一對年輕男女學生，公然於傍晚時分在樓梯間卿卿我我。有巡警覺得可疑曾上前查問，惟二人待巡警走後，留在原位，就地口交。巡警透過廣角鏡窺探，發現二人淫行，現身拘捕時，男生露出勃起的陽具。涉案學生本被控有違公德罪開審，昨在東區裁判法院獲准簽保守行為，不留案底。　記者：楊家樂

事發今年 2月 6日年初四晚上 6時半， 19歲女學生陳詠妍及 22歲男學生鄺嘉豪，處身港鐵銅鑼灣站內連接月台及車站大堂的 B4號樓梯。當時陳女坐在地上，上半身倚靠在男方的小腿位置。一名隸屬鐵路警區的警員巡經該處，見狀上前查問兩人是否不適，他們否認。
巡警懷疑他們有違法勾當，遂假裝離去，步向上層樓梯轉角位，透過牆上廣角鏡繼續監視。只見兩人維持相同姿勢 4至 5分鐘，巡警遂靠近觀察，赫然發現陳女將頭埋在男方兩條大腿之間，頭部上下左右移動。
巡警見狀，走到兩人背後，叫陳女站起，陳女照做，此時巡警看見鄺的褲子拉鏈全開，勃起的陽具展現眼前。巡警立即拘捕兩人，警誡下，陳女承認犯案出於一時衝動，鄺則指陳女自願替他口交。

@NHLFlames makes fan in Hong Kong happy

It is cool to see @NHLFlames using Twitter very well to make a Flames fan in Hong Kong (ryantoy) very happy by featuring his tweet! Judging from the following tweet, looks like Ryan really loves hockey,

“Took so long to get setup with a club and gear for hockey in HK, but now ready…and so much hockey in the next 2 days (3 diff practices)!“

Go Flames Go !!!

P.S. Go @NHLFlames Go !!! Keep up the good work with Twitter.

Happy Chinese New Year of Rabbit !

Wishing you all a healthy & prosperous year of Rabbit !

祝大家 身體健康 心想事成 新年快樂 如意吉祥 !

P.S. Some pictures of Chinese new year celebrations from around the world.

CUHK Bioencryption – Just storage, no encryption?

It was interesting to read about a team of students and their advisors from Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) School of Life Sciences won gold with their bioencryption project (see more news) at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) 2010 competition organized by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

While the team has certainly made some interesting progress, security technologist and author Bruce Schneier has questions about the team’s “bioencryption” claims (emphasis),

“Why can’t bacteria be hacked? If the storage system is attached to a network, it’s just as vulnerable as anything else attached to a network. And if it’s disconnected from any network, then it’s just as secure as anything else disconnected from a network. The problem the U.S. diplomats had was authorized access to the WikiLeaks cables by someone who decided to leak them. No cryptography helps against that.“

And Bruce even started his article with, “The article talks about how secure it is, and the students even coined the term “bioencryption,” but I don’t see any encryption. It’s just storage.“

I can’t find a full technical paper to read but after reading the above press reports and the team’s iGEM project description, project principle, and project results, I have to say, like Bruce, I also don’t see any encryption and it looks like just storage to me.

And reading scientist’s quotes like the following in popular press,

“Bacteria can’t be hacked. All kinds of computers are vulnerable to electrical failures or data theft. But bacteria are immune from cyber attacks. You can safeguard the information.“

just don’t exactly give me confidence that the scientist fully appreciate/understand computer security/cryptography.

I don’t mean to be too critical of some of the CUHK team’s achievements. I think they have done well. At the same time, I think it is very important for serious scientists to know the limits of their scientific claims and don’t overextend without proper justified support.

Of course, I might be wrong, and it will be wonderful if someone can explain to me what I missed so that I can learn and understand. If I am mistaken, it will be my pleasure to correct this article.