Still Unwinding...

I have noticed quite a lot people have visited this blog these days. Thank you!

But I am still waiting for something to come out from my finger tips. Maybe it is reaction to my hard work during summer under high fever...

I still need some time to unwind myself and free my soul so that I can write freely.

Well, I have proved that we need to take a good rest while being ill. Health is more important than a job but I often forget it...

People Are Friendlier Now Because...

I am now studying Thai as if I were possessed. I am so much obsessed to read, listen to the online sound files and copy the Web contents of Manee Reader, a mother language textbook once very popular at Thai primary schools, in whatever free time I find.

I don't remember how many times I had tried to learn this southeast Asian language. But I do remember I first picked up a Thai textbook in the early 1997. This time, I failed because I had no strong reason... But, even after I got a stronger reason by marrying a Thai in 1998, my every attempt to learn her language failed.

But it is very different this time. I can quite comfortably cruise through the Website and I have memorised almost all the text up to Lesson 7. I feel it is easy and fun to learn the complicated Thai script. My brain just absorbs so nicely the language that I had always felt indigestible...

I wondered why and found that my impression to Thailand had greatly improved on this summer's trip to Chiang Mai. I felt Thais were friendlier than on my previous trips to the country.

When I said this to my wife, she simply said that it was not that Thais had become friendlier to me but I had become friendlier to them. She added that "You are now much more pleasant person than before. This summer's trip was your first one to my country after you had got rid of bad haemorrhoids..."

I became friednlier to myself so others also became friendlier to me...

Manee Has Eyes, a Crow Has Eyes...

Recently, I have started learning the Thai language seriously. Although I have been married to a Thai for more than eight years, I only know a few northeasestern Thai phrases (actually, these are Lao phrases) so I felt a bit ashamed when I visited Chiang Mai earlier this month. That's the reason why I picked up a children's penmanship book at a bookstore in a northern Thai city...

Thai is really a tough language. Well, it is phonetically easy as I already speak one tonal language (Cantonese dialect of Chinese). The grammar is also very easy as Thai nouns and verbs have no changes, just like Chinese. But I am struggling with its script. It is extremely complicated....

There are more than a few letters that represent the "s" sound. Almost every consonant has at least two letters. Well, it is not entirely irrational as each consonant letter not only represent the consonant value but also tone. But some consonants have more letters than the tones require.... I guess these letters represent the sounds that are different in Pali or Sanskrit but the same in Thai so that the reader can know the origin.

But I am still not defeated by the legion of mighty Thai letters. I want to make it my fourth language (after Japanese, English and Cantonese). Well, I like Thailand so it would not too tough, though...

I am now learning Thai, using an primary school textbook called Manee Reader. It is about a rural Thai girl called Manee and starts with "Manee has eyes, a crow has eyes, the uncle has eyes." Reciting the simple Thai phrases like a fool, I cried. I don't know why.

But I know it is not tears of sorrow but of joy. I guess it is the joy that comes from the hope of growth. Living in a developing country, Thais still have much more dreams than the ones from developed countries... I envy them.

Again From a Newspaper Ad

A huge diamond can naturally make you happy.
But it still does not match
having the heart of compassion in you!

**********************
I love this ad because it does not deny the joy of having a diamond...

A Precious Moment

The following is a theme song from a Japanese romantic comedy anime Mirmo Zibang! （港題”魔法小米路”）Although it is a simple song for children, it has moved me so much. So I want to share it with my poor English translation (please find it below the Japanese original).

プレシャス・モーメント

おろしたての　シャツを着て　歩きだそう
朝のひかり　キラキラと　誘ってる

傷ついた　その分だけ　優しくなれるから
きっと迷った日も　泣いた日も
大切な
宝物

どこにだって　あるような　一日にだって
すてきな
一秒
詰まってる
未来のドア　開いて　さあはじめよう
新しい季節が　待ってる

白い地図の真ん中で誰だって
自分だけの行先を探してる

大丈夫　どんな夜も　明日につづくから
そっと手を伸ばせばいつの日か
輝きを
つかめるよ
遠回りで気づいた　探してた夢は
素直に
ならなきゃ
見えないね
曇り空の下でも　心の中に
いつも太陽抱いてゆこう

***********************************************

A PRECIOUS MOMENT

Let’s start walking, wearing new shirts.
Morning shine is inviting us.

The more we hurt, the kinder we can be to others.
So even the days we felt lost
And even the days we cried
Should be our precious treasures.

Even an ordinary day is filled
With precious moments.
So let’s open up the door to the future
And start walking.
The new season is waiting for us!

On the middle of a blank map
Everyone is looking for his destination.

But don't worry.
Because any night changes into a morning.
Just hold out your arms quietly,
You can touch the glory someday…

We can see the dream we have searched in a long way around,
Only when we are true to ourselves.
So even under the cloudy sky,
Let’s go on walking,
Holding the Sun in our hearts.

From Today's Newspaper Ad

Compassion has no enemy.

Wisdom causes no worry.
- Ven. Shengyan (A Taiwanese Zen master)

Stop Being a Crybaby And Grow Up, Japan!

I guess Japan lost the World War II a bit too comfortably.

She was forced to return all the territories gained through the wars in the modern era. But her torso remained intact, unlike Germany, Korea or Germany.

Japan was air-raided. That killed a lot people, I know. But think about what Russia and China suffered from the war.

Her emperor stayed on the throne. And he even managed to keep the Imperial title even though he lost the imperialist war.

She did not have to pay any compensation to the Allied Powers. Although both China received much much more serious damage from the Japanese brutality, she did not demand Japan to compensate their losses.

Japanese often say that Japan was put under the total control of the United States and was actually mere a U.S. colony after 1945. But the U.S. allowed Japan to maintain her currency undervalued for so long. Japanese were allowed to speak their own language and say whatever they wanted to say, without worrying about making Uncle Sam angry, at least after 1950s. America even kept her market open to Japan until she became rather threatening...

So the U.S. control over Japan was just more like a very humane surveillance to a delinquent high school kid than an oppression. We can see it from Japan's breakneck speed of economic growth under the U.S. umbrella.

What kind of disadvantage did Japan suffer from the U.S. control? It was much looser than in South Korea, South Vietnam, the Philippines and many small Latin nations in the U.S. backyard.

And she was allowed to indulge in an illusion that she was a victim of the WWII. Japanese tried hard to remember about their pain during that war. They tried hard to remember how miserable a war is. That may be a good thing. However, they totally did not care about who the hell started the fire.

It was a big mistake that started to bug Japanese after 1980s when her neighbours started to afford more time to remember about their painful past... While Japanese remembered their past pain in the economic boom that the human kind might have never experience before, China and Korea were suffering from the great divisions, which the WWII - the war they won - had brought them. They haven't achieved the reunification yet!

Actually, Japan has gained indeed helluvalot from the war it started and lost. Japanese do not want to face it.

Stop being a crybaby and grow up, Japan!

強烈抗議小泉拜鬼！

強烈抗議小泉拜鬼！
靖國神社絕不是祈禱和平的地方，而是讚揚日本軍國主義的設施


My strong protest to Japanese premier's visit to Yasukuni Shrine.
The shrine is not a place to pray for ever-lasting peace
but is an institution to praise Japanese military aggression.

Remember, Japanese preimier's visit to Yasukuni is also a horrible insult to the Allies, especially to the United States.

發高燒了

發高燒了。即使體溫差不多四十度，有今天要寫完的報告...

吃藥，退一點燒就著出擊，寫一個鐘頭左右，發燒到甚麼都想不到便撤退，好像是攻擊非常非常堅固的城堡...

不知明天怎樣但。現在想的只是休息...

祝我好快好番啦！

High Fever

I caught a flu and can barely write anything under a near 40-degree fever...

Please wish me get well soon. I know your wishes, prayers or hopes help me a lot! And wishing someone get well will help you live more happily.

Thank you!

Maestro

Today's sell-off comes from the buying spree some time before.

Today's low comes from the unreasonable high some time before.

A recession comes from the irrational exuberance some time before.

We know that quite well but we hate to control exuberance. It makes us feel soo good! And that often ends up with us trying very hard to stop the slip of anything (except our weights)...

Many of us fight depression. It is a very tough job. But it may be much easier to handle if we are aware that depression is just a pullback from the previous irrational exuberance. Anyway, it is much easier to check the upside of anything that is going up (again, except our weights) than to keep something from slipping. Both economies and our psyches seem to be subject to the law of gravity...

Maybe we can learn a lot from Mr. Alan Greenspan about maintaining our mental health. His art of steering of the U.S. economy to the middle-of-way would make us maestri of peace of mind...

Smile And Just Think About...

A distress sticks to you
While you tries to get rid of it.

If you really want to get rid of what bugs you,
Just walk away from it and smile.
Then think about how you can make
Yourself and everyone else happy.

A distress sticks to you
While you tries to get rid of it
Because it is in the centre of your thought.

So smile and just think about
How you can make everyone happy.

Her Flag and Her Monarch

All the Thai towns we visited this time (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mai Sai) were flooded with the national flags and pictures of Thai king. It is because this year is the 60th anniversary of the King's enthronement.

And His Majesty's recent hospitalisation for a surgery made people display more flags and portraits to express their wish that the beloved monarch get well soon... (His Majesty was released from the hospital on 4 August.)

Many families hoisted at the gates of their homes small tricolour national flags and yellow flags to commemorate the 60th anniversary of their king's accession to the throne. And many large companies, hotels and universities displayed gigantic royal portraits. Thais love their flag and monarch so much.

The flags and royal portraits were so ubiquitous and their numbers so bewildering. I haven't seen any other country filled with so many of her national flags. Well, I guess it is only matched by some parts of Taipei, especially around the government offices that lost much significance in the past decade under Lee Teng-hui's de-Chinification of Taiwan...

I somewhat envied that Thais can so frankly profess their love to their flag and the king. You can walk around a Japanese town without spotting one Japanese flag. Even if you visit one hundred families there, you will not find even a portrait of present emperor. Japanese feel so ambivalent to their flag and their emperor.

It made me wonder why and reminded me that the Thai king dethroned himself after Thailand lost the World War II as an Axis nation and let his son, who headed the Thai government-in-exile in the United States, succeed the throne. This nominal coup freed Thailand from her burden of being a friend of Japan, the major Axis power.

It may be the reason why Thais' attitude to their national flag and king very different from that of Japanese... But I still am nore very sure. I guess the bewildering number of Thai flags and the portrait of the King has given me an interesting homework...

I Am Back!

I flew back from Thailand to Hong Kong a few hours before...

Although I am still tired and do not feel like writing much, I share a few of my favourite photos that I took during the trip to northern Thailand...


A "Long Neck" Akha tribe girl near Chiang Rai.


Although I managed to step onto the territory of one of the most seclusive countries in Asia, I failed to be admitted to it. My guide said that a high-ranking Myanmarese military official was visiting the border town and security was much tighter than usual... I suspect it was related to Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin's sudden visit to Burma.


Many Buddhist temples in Thailand are de-facto sanctuaries of ownerless dogs...

去旅行啦

去旅行啦～～～！

過去兩年半第一次出國，有緊張喎。

一家大細三口旅行都執番o黎，
已經準備好喇！

但係，我哋都冇乜特徵，
有怕巨大機場好難搵。

所以我向我老婆大人建議，
上貼好核突圖案，
怕醜到冇人會走...


於是，建議三個上貼
梁進『魚肉燒賣』圖案。
魚肉燒賣叔叔FAN屎我仔好開心，
但被夫人嬲....

我星期六夜晚先返香港，
所以呢個網誌都休息一個星期。

The Most Annoying One?

I often felt annoyed about the people who dared to do what I would not do.

But actually what they did were very tiny things. They simply set off the moral alert inside me that "Why do they dare to do while I am enduring the pain?"

However, the only reason why I endured the pain was my moral pride. I just wanted to feel "I am better than they." We try to keep our pride to feel good but this pride often betrays us by making us furious.

I am less annoyed by anyone these days. By allowing me to do the little mischief I did not dare to do before, I feel much freer and it is much easier for me to understand my former offenders.

I only kept moral pride so that I could cover up the war that was going within me. I do not need such pride anymore after signing a truce with myself. Then it is a lot easier to behave as I want without being naughty...

Actually, the most annoying one to me was myself...

-------------------------------------
I will be away from my PC for a week from tomorrow. I'll be on a vacation in the Golden Triangle, northern Thailand...

Judge Not

A judgment hardens anyone's heart.
It will hardly calms down an angry heart.
It will hardly make a lazy one diligent.
It'll give you neither a good student nor a good colleague.

When you feel like judging someone,
just invite her for a cup of tea or coffee
and just have a friendly chat.

I know what she wants is not another criticism
but a friend who is willing to listen to her heart,
with which even she herself is out of touch...

Misbehaviour is usually a cry for help, not a curse.
Before it turns into a real curse, be a friend with her.

Yes! Magazine

晚上去執垃圾，每次見到Yes! Magazine（香港一本teen雜誌）就執番黎，不知不覺已經有幾本喇。我唔怕人哋在我房搵到幾本鹹書，但卻怕被人知我 （一個卅幾歲叔叔）隱藏幾本Yes! Magazine…

而封面女郎全部都係Fiona薛凱琪… -_-; 連我自己都唔知過我咁鍾易佢。

發覺到自己鍾意Fiona，少少驚，因為我覺得鍾意佢就可能代表，我係個隱性金魚佬… 所以我諗～諗～諗～Fiona乜咁吸引…

答案係好簡單。就係佢眼睛。雖然佢好似係個乖乖、聽話玉女，但佢眼睛好有力量，而好似好貪玩。咁樣女仔好似係貓貓咁好難以控制。

呢幅相Fiona少少似日本AV女郎...

已家我知道呢件事，好放心喇。

我冇想過控制個女仔。容易受到控制女仔好悶，令我發癲…

不過，唔鍾意容易控制到女仔，係唔係我唔係金魚佬證明呢？

Where Am I?

But stepping back just a bit, I can see an entirely different picture...

懶人成功術

少時老人常言「以勤補拙」，「成功靠99%努力和1% 天份」，等這些話言在耳邊起繭後，仍然沒有絲毫勤勞的跡象。算了，天生我才必有用，懶人也有懶人的處世方式，不過仍然對「成功」兩個字有無限的憧憬，一看「懶人成功術」，禁不住四眼發光，鼓起那股勤勁「刨」起來。

作者開宗明義地說道：人應當「聰明的工作而不是努力的工作」，那些「懶惰的成功者」才真正會工作、會生活的人，也才是真正意義上的成功者。

甚麼才是「懶惰的成功者」呢？首先得從如何界定「成功」談起。作者指出，現在社會所定義的「成功」，都是以「名望和財富」作為標準的，而這種成功往往需要人們在身心健康、家庭、社會生活以及個人自由方面付出遠遠高於你想要付出的代價。當你登上自以為成功的巔峰回過頭一看，常人輕易就能夠享受的那種豐富、輕鬆、快樂和富有創造活力的生活，自己卻幾乎一無所有。這究竟是成功還是失敗呢？要成為「懶惰的成功者」，作者的貼士是：

1. 不該懶惰的時候不能懶，該懶的時候則要懶，張弛有度，一切以效率為轉移。懶人成功的核心秘訣只有一條，那就是高效率的工作，用4小時完成別人14小時才能完成的任務。

2. 選擇做自己擅長的事情，為自己喜歡的事情工作而不是單單為了追求一份高收入。只要熱愛自己所從事的職業才可能有高效率的動力，也才能體會真正的滿足與快樂。

3. 具備創造性思維。一個人的思維愈具有創造性，就愈不用完全依靠努力工作來取得成功，創造性是懶人成功的基本要素。

4. 認清金錢的真相，不要把賺錢當作人生的唯一目標。金錢只是幫助自己成功的一種工具，而不是目的，擺脫金錢的束縛可以解放人的創造活力。與單純為了錢才從事某種職業的人相比，從長遠觀點看，享受自己所從事的工作的人最終能賺到更多錢。

5. 善於分配和利用時間，遵循「80-20法則」（即一切工作的效率的前80%來源於工作者時間和精力的前20%），尋找最有效的成功途徑。

書名：The Lazy Person’s Guide to Success: How to Get What You Want Without Killing Yourself for It

作者：Ernie Zelinski

出版社：Ten Speed Press

撰文：劉奇明

來自於香港經濟日報(2005年4月27日)