Reminiscences

About the author Privacy policies, terms, and conditions We often hear people say "The enemy of our enemy is our friend." This seems to make good sense. In fact, it is a strategy frequently used during wartimes: countries that might not be on friendly terms form alliances to fight against a common enemy and these allies are "friends" against the bigger enemy. During peacetimes, this strategy is frequently used in politics. During the US Presidential Elections, for instance, some candidates, recognizing that they are losing out, typically withdraw from the race and express support for a remaining candidate whose position aligns with theirs more and/or whom they believe would benefit themselves (more) should he become the President. When only very few candidates are left, voters, fearing that their most dreaded candidate would win, typically vote for a strong contender whom they might not like very much in the hope that the latter ...

About the author Privacy policies, terms, and conditions I re-watched a TVB drama series that first aired in 1990, called "Blood of Good and Evil."  In this series, the protagonist is torn between loyalty and love for his surrogate father, a gang leader involved in money laundering and other criminal activities, and his biological father, a cop reputed for his dutifulness and moral righteousness. In the end, he reconciles with his biological father, from whom he has been estranged for many years, whereas the gang leader commits suicide.  I enjoyed more time I did last time, and it was a couple of years since I last re-watched it. I did not pay attention to what made the series so popular and critically acclaimed: the relatively straightforward plotline, very real and likeable characters, and intricacies of their emotions portrayed. Whereas the son is obviously and understandably grateful to the gangster-father, he is tortured by his new-f...

  About the author Privacy policies, terms, and conditions A couple of days ago, I introduced to my readers this formula by American legal scholar and economist Richard Posner. Economists do not care as much about the nature of rights, including the right to free speech, as about economic efficiency. A good law restricting certain expressions is good as long as the perceived harms of the expressions are greater than the costs of suppressing them. This seemingly complex formula isn't all that complex if you understand the reasoning: I want to embark on a more challenging and contentious endeavor this time, which is to study the economic efficiency of laws regulating the use of (gender) pronouns. As you may already know, some US states such as New York and most of Canada have added pronoun laws in their human rights codes or anti-discrimination laws. Whereas "misgendering" people--aka not addressing people by their preferred pronouns--b...

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About the author Privacy policies, terms, and conditions   This is not for people who dream big and aims to be a world-famous writer. I am not qualified to give advice on that. People like J.K. Rowling and Stephen King do. For over decade, I have been earning side incomes as a writer and thoroughly enjoying the process. This has made my life more satisfying and its dark moments more bearable. If you want to do what I am doing, consider these tips: 1. Develop your own niche and pitch your ideas to mainstream newspapers. I have published numerous opinion pieces in major Canadian and Hong Kong newspapers (both English and Chinese) through this strategy alone. The great thing about these channels is that they no doubt have wide readerships. Your pieces may get criticized. Yet it is known to be competitive to publish in these places: you feel prestigious just to be able to associate with high-profile and accomplished people. The downside is that y...

About the author Privacy policies, terms, and conditions   For a long time I have missed the smell of books, new and old, as well as that of newspapers. As I am completing a big project I treated myself to some book-scented fragrance that I recently found while Internet-shopping. While this might seem like a new thing, there are already several brands to choose from. I settled on one that is made in Germany, that looks elegant and that I thought would compliment my night table.  Here you go ~  Durfkerze: Aromantische Bibliothek : This lit candle added a warm glow to my room as I was writing away on a cozy evening.  As the scent of burnt wood weaved in and out of my nostrils, I felt like I was in my school days, huddled in a corner of an old library on a wintry day. *** In recent years, many Hong Kong youngsters have been keen on portraying themselves as literati (the "learned class" or intellectual circle consisting of well-educat...

About the author Privacy policies, terms, and conditions I finally found time to write about Keung To, a singer and main vocalist of the Hong Kong boy band club known as "Mirror."  I normally do not spare time for singers and actors in Hong Kong, except those who impress me somehow.  The fact that many of those artistes-would-be are of the lowest quality, in terms of talent and looks, has almost never bothered me. Yet this Keung To is a complete farce, whereas his fans and admirers, many of whom are women past middle age, and who have long formed a cult reminiscent of zombies in apocalyptic movies, are annoying and worrisome enough to warrant a blog post. *** While Keung To's lack of natural talent may not be his fault, the fact that he seemingly has not improved over the past few days and still sings and dances at the abysmal level is shocking. l watched a couple of his live performances.  What perplexed me was that he often cou...