One Life, Live It

When you are over 30, you should have met the basic expectations of your parents, i.e. studying and job. And you should start to meet your own expectations. Different people give you different comments on how to live happily, such as to get a good job, work as a professional, earn as much as you can, not to buy any luxury items, even to love your country. But it is your life, you have the freedom to choose how to live it as long as this does not cause harm to other people or yourself. Others are good for reference but not your benchmark. You should follow your brain and heart to decide your future. By reading more you enrich your brain with knowledge to make sound judgement, by experiencing more your heart will tell you what you really want. Many people, including the government, have comments on what an ideal life should be, but you should use your brain and heart to determine whether it is true or it is simply brainwashing. If you find that others' comments are against your conscience or feeling, ignore them. You only have one life, live it on your own style.

Eating

Hong Kong is the right place for food lovers. In Hong Kong, you can taste all sorts of gourmet in the world - French, Italian, American, and of course Chinese. Chinese like eating and it is a tradition of several thousands years. The development of science and arts in China has been interrupted by different ruling classes in our history but cooking is the only technique which is welcome by all ruling classes and it is encouraged to develop to be the best. It is argued that the cooking technique in China is far more advanced than other ethnic groups in the world: we are more advanced than other for not decades, but centuries!

No matter where a Chinese emigrates, he can survive by opening a small restaurant or even a food stall. The cooking technique has been inherited from our ancestors and all of us can at least prepare something for others to eat and earn a living. This is our survival skill.

人生旅途

這陣子因搬到港島東區所以多數往鰂魚涌公園做運動。公園由太古城一直伸展到西灣河，我多數喜歡由太古城這邊跑到西灣河再折回，來回雖只是兩三次但整個人已大汗淋漓。公園其實分兩側，外側是沿海而建，而內側是由行人天橋過了東區走廊那邊。若要跑步便一定會選擇沿海那邊，皆因風光優美而且帶海水味的風吹來亦使人精神一振。

早上雖有不少人沿着海邊跑步，但鮮有停下來看看對岸的優美景色。其實對岸大部份建築物都是依山勢而建，雖然密麻麻但亦有秩序，絕對值得停下來觀賞一番。在人生的旅途上我們又何嘗不是如此？每日都只顧奮力向前而忽略了在旅途上各種景色，到最後可放慢腳部時人生已到黄昏，再沒有機會看看錯過了的風光，到時候便可能後悔莫及。

因此，每次跑步時我都儘量看看對岸的風光，免得在跑完後才覺已錯失了沿途海邊的所有景色。人生本來便有很多遺憾，只能儘力減少便行。

政治人才

香港是否有政治人才？江山代有人才出，我相信香港不乏上述人才，只是那些有才華的人是否願意為香港政府效力而已。

說老實話，特首新班子已比上一屆政府多了一些人才，當然較次等的人亦存有但我相信保留這些次等人是有其特殊需要。雖然很多人都批評新班子是AO黨，但AO 其實正是港英政府培養用以執行其政策的華人。由他們來運作整個政府，是很合適的。但其弱點是主人已回英，整個政府已缺乏大腦，所以風浪一來，整個班子就變成亂七八糟兼且互相推搪責任了。在位高官在殖民政府管治下受到市民壓力而辭職實在聞所未聞，但特區政府的局長已試過三次了。

事實上，以往港英政府治下有不少出色的AO因看見仕途政治化或不想為新政府服務便提早離職，從而導致一些未夠班的人才代替位置。再加上港英政府根本沒有把治港心得傳授予華人高官，從而在基礎上已把AO精英變成二流人才。現在二流人才走後只餘下三流人才加上三流政府便會造成四流結果(皆因一流人才加上一流政府都可能有二流結果)。

在外國如英美加等不少政府高官都是在第一流大學裏的最出色學生，他們有些在畢業後便加入政府服務，但亦有些是在某行業幹得出色而被邀請加入政府。香港的問題正是我們的一流精英有很多往外國留學，而在學成後便留在當地服務，就算肯回港工作都已被投資銀行或大企業羅致，願意加入政府的已不多。再加上政府會把這些精英變成上司永遠是對的擦鞋機器，從而在制度上造成香港政治人才的缺乏。

若然有疑問，請看英美加等的政府網頁提供的高官簡歷便知什麽是真正人才。

Where do you want to go?

I enjoy travelling. Travelling not only opens my eyes to different cultures but also gives me a chance to know other ethnic groups. I like to know different cultures but I am more interested in characteristics of different ethnic groups.

There must be somewhere in the world besides your homeland that you want to go. No matter it is China, Japan, England, France, Dubai, or all of them, if you want to go, you need to ask yourself which country that you want to visit most. After you have the answer, go ahead. Although visiting anywhere in the world is fun, you should not visit a place simply because there is a discount tour, your friends want to go, or because all of your friends have been there. Your time is valuable and you should use it wisely.

A little research before your trip saves your time and money. Your have heard about San Francisco but you may not have a clue of it. The Internet can help you a lot. Most of the cities/countries in the world have a website for tourists. It usually gives you some information and pictures of it. Read those information and look at those pictures, and see whether you like them. If you like them, that place should be on your travel list. Do not just listen to others, let your heart decides the place. Where do you want to go?

A Home: how to choose it

A home in Hong Kong usually means an apartment. Most of us live in apartments sized from 400 sq feet to 1200 sq feet. Because prices of apartment in Hong Kong are very high, most of us think that buying an apartment is our biggest investment. We do want the price of our home soars but in reality it may not be the case. Based on my experience, it is important that we follow some rules to choose an apartment so that we can keep it's value:

1. choose a nice district, such as the mid-levels (not the Peak), Happy Vally, Taikoo Shing, Kowloon Tong, Discovery Bay, etc. - it is a strong factor that can keep the value of an apartment, never choose the northern part of the NT or any remote islands. Ask yourself if your close friend moves to the district you intend to buy an apartment there what would you say. If your reply is "nice" than choose the district but if your reply is "oh no" or "well...", do not choose it;

2. choose those "blue chip estates" if possible, such as the City One Shatin, Taikoo Shing, HK Parkview, Beverly Hill, etc. - many people tend to buy these apartments as the demand and supply are high, never buy an apartment of a "lonely block" that does not have any facilities, you will have a hard time to sell it;

3. choose an apartment that has a size between 700 and 1200 if possible - we want to live in a big apartment but we need to watch our budget, a size below 500 is too small but over 1200 is over budget;

4. the transportation facilities of the estate should be ample, it is good if an MTR station is within walking distance, or your office is nearby so you can walk to it - it saves your most valuable asset: time;

5. make sure that the bank that you apply for mortgage regards that the value of the property is equivalent to the price you pay - otherwise it means that you have to pay more.

If you have not decided which apartment you should buy, rent it. Rent an apartment in the estate you like and try it for a year to see whether it fits your requirements. If it goes well, buy one; if not, choose another estate. You keep the flexibility and you do not need to owe your bank a huge sum.

珍惜光陰

看過以下一個故事：有一天，一個有錢人對你說，他很欣賞你，想請你替他工作。但他有一個奇特的條件，就是你的薪金是每日計算，日薪是港幣八萬六千四百元，如何使用你的薪金隨意，但每天花不完的薪金不能儲起來，一定要還給他。那你怎麼樣？當然是儘量把它花完，吃喝玩樂請吃飯都盡力花，省得有餘錢要還人。 問題是：若果剛才所說的是時間，會否不同？

每天我們都有八萬六千四百秒，誰也是一樣。有人喜歡爭分奪秒，亦有人喜歡讓它白白渡過。要是我們能珍惜光陰，是否可以比別人得到更多？

常聽人說：「我很忙，無時間陪伴家人/看報刋/讀書/旅行/運動/睡眠。」但我們發覺很多時他們卻有時間放工後和同事說是非/和朋友通電話/上網傾談/唱K/看電視/閱讀明星新聞。當然，有人會辯說：「待我空閒我便會陪伴家人/讀書/旅行/運動。」但到有閒時多是人生轉變時，很多人是有病進醫院後才明白人生無常，要珍惜時間儘快做想做的事。假設你的生命只餘一星期，你會如何渡過？如果你覺得有那些事是你在那時一定要做的話，那些事便是你最重要的事，趕快做把。讓光陰白白渡過有如倒錢落海，你願意嗎？