Random Thoughts by Pauline

July 3 2015 Friday          

A Tale of Two Cities

I just returned from a four-day trip to Singapore. I have been to Singapore quite frequently in recent years not only for educational exchanges but also because my sister’s family had moved to Singapore in early 1990s. More importantly, I have a very good Singaporean friend whom I crown as the Ambassador of Hospitality. He takes leave every time I visit and insists that he pays for all expenses. In his words, he is “reciprocating” for what I do for him when he is in Hong Kong. But for sure I have not been generous as he is in terms of money and time. I have never taken any leave driving him around. Nor have I put him up in world-class hotels. That is how this friendship of close to three decades has sustained.

 While I was enjoying my holiday savouring local cuisines and fresh air, I couldn’t help comparing Singapore with Hong Kong.  

 If the ethnic composition of a country can reflect the degree of its globalization, then the city-country of Singapore is intrinsically more cosmopolitan than Hong Kong. According to 2014 figures, of the 5.5 million people living in Singapore, 2.1 million people are foreign nationals. One-third of the 3.4 million citizens are foreign-born naturalized citizens. Ethnic Chinese predominate (74.1%) followed by significant minorities of Malays (13.4%), Indians (9.2%), and Eurasians. There are four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. English is the lingua franca of the country and you hear it spoken even at street stalls.

 Hong Kong is predominantly a Chinese society. According to 2011 figures, ethnic minorities made up only 6.4% of the 7 million population. Our official languages are English and Chinese. Unlike Singapore, rarely do we hear English being spoken. Cantonese is everyday spoken dialect with the use of Putonghua or Mandarin catching up due to the increase of mainland tourists.

 So which government has a tougher task to unify the people? Singapore for sure! And yet, scenes of confrontations between pro- and anti- government fronts have become quite a common sight in this demographically homogeneous city of Hong Kong. We can cheer that this is democracy in manifestation and despise Singapore for the lack of it. But at what cost and for what cause? We seem to have forgotten that conflicts can be resolved and differences can be tolerated for benefits and successes to be shared. Meanwhile with the government faltering and councillors filibustering, Hong Kong stagnates!

 Look at our West Kowloon Cultural District project first proposed in 1996. Almost 10 years have gone. On this wedge-shaped development site of 40 hectares, only a temporary promenade has been developed. If software is to be counted, then there was the West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre, a combination of traditional Cantonese opera, contemporary visual art installations and film shows in collaboration with the Chinese Artist Association of Hong Kong and various renowned visual artists held for 7 days at the future site of Xiqu Centre in 2012.

 In Singapore, the Marina Bay district built on reclaimed land, a concept similar to our West Kowloon Cultural District Project, is now complete with a 101-hectare Gardens by the Bay, the giant Singapore Flyer, and Marina Bay Sands etc. To name but a few, this resort complex features a 2,561-room hotel, a 1,300,000-square-foot convention-exhibition centre topped by a 340m-long SkyPark with a capacity of 3,900 people and a 150m Infinity Pool.

 As Hong Kongers applaud Singapore for her many successes, maybe it is high time we examined the “why”!

Happy 50^th anniversary, Singapore! May you stay united and prosperous!

Random Thoughts by Pauline

June 25 2015  Thursday       

Are you brave?

 Do you patronize the same restaurants and order the same dishes day in and day out? Is your family life on a mechanized routine? Have you been in the same post for years? Do you keep listening to the same oldies and watching the same classics for the hundredth time? Do you prefer wearing the same pair of worn out slippers to the new one you bought but left lying in the corner? Has your circle of friends ever expanded?

 

Yes, we all have our comfort zones in various aspects of our life! It takes courage to step out into the unknown and the unfamiliar! What if the new dish tastes awful?  What else is there to do if not following the same routine? Oh, I am too old to change my career! I never listen to the pop songs! God knows what they are singing! I don’t want to soil my new slippers and so I wear the old pair. Friends are like wine, the older the relationship, the better friends they are!
 

There is nothing wrong in clinging onto our familiar life as it is. I agree to almost all of the above defences. But I do not harbour a steadfast loyalty to my habits and routines. I believe changes in life especially those we initiate are like lubrication to a car engine. Even when the car is running nicely, we still bring it to the garage regularly for maintenance. We need courage to be naughty occasionally. We might even discover that the life we are so used to can be further enhanced.
 

So don’t be idle! Step out! Step forward! Look away! Look up! Be brave! You can always retreat but at least you have tried!

Random Thoughts by Pauline

 June 24 2015  Wednesday         

 What does the number 40 mean to you?

To me, the number 40 signifies a turning point! I was 40 going on 41 when my world tumbled down in a matter of three months! The husband I wedded for 15 years eloped with the secretary. The school I served for decades closed down. My son I treasured was hospitalized for acute kidney failure. Those dark days were difficult but I survived! Life is never the same! I have been exploring a new world with a new partner and achieving unfamiliar successes. My son recovered steadily, went to Australia for his university studies, returned, built a career and is now a married man with a seven-year old daughter.

Many of my young friends around me develop unknown fear as they turn 40. They begin to assess themselves comparing what they have and not have with those of their peers. Then they feel belittled upon discovering that their friends are doing better than they do. Somebody has a bigger apartment. Another has a fancier car. Or, a couple others have made to the top of their career!

This seems to be in contradiction with what The Analects of Confucius (論語) preaches: When you are 40, you no longer doubt. (四十而不惑). Maybe, it is only after re-assessing and re-assuring oneself to find his bearings, can one then move on.

If you have time, browse the internet and you will be amazed by all the interesting implications of this number. Just take the Bible for instance. It has been calculated that this number is used 98 times. Forty is used to indicate a long period of time such as the 40 days of fast of Jesus Christ in the desert, the 40 days between the Ascension and the Resurrection of Jesus and plenty more.

Random Thoughts by Pauline

June 1 2015     Monday           

Longevity

Chinese aspire to a good life blessed with the three attributes of prosperity (福), status (祿) and longevity (壽) each personified with a deity. With advances in science, longevity has become more possible and ageing can be graceful too.

Just take a look of ourselves or the people around us. When tribal villagers living in deprived remote areas suffer from blurred eyesight, hard of hearing, toothless mouth or crippled movements, we are supported with artificial lenses, hearing aids, dentures and prostheses. We can perform daily activities such as reading, eating, walking or dressing nearly as well as when we are young. These put meaning to a long life.

My mother has been wearing hearing aids for a few months now. She is getting used to it. As to me, cataracts have developed in both eyes and I am undergoing the two surgeries next week. We are both attended to by a very patient domestic helper. Not all old people are so fortunate.

Many elderly have to live in homes either because they are bed-ridden and need intensive care or their children are either too poor or too busy. This does not mean they are not loved. And yet once in nursing homes, their fate is in the hands of the nurses and attendants. When I saw on television how the staff of the privately owned Tai Po Cambridge Nursing Home were filmed stripping female residents bare before they took a shower on a balcony in full view of neighbours, I was heart-broken. These elderly are herded like cattle with every ounce of dignity taken away from them. They sat there helpless, voiceless, waiting for the final call!

Life is a cycle. Infants are feeble at the mercy of the adults and so are the old who can no longer take care of themselves. There is one difference, though. Infants have not been “socialized”. They do not know they should feel shameful when being stripped naked in public! Such acts of brutal abuse of the elderly must be severely penalized but the root of the issue is the urgency to tackle the aging problem. I am sure this incident of abuse is only the tip of the iceberg. 

Random Thoughts by Pauline

May 28 2015 Thursday                 

Pain humbles me

I do everything fast. I do not procrastinate. I hate my desk cluttered. Documents are cleared every day before clocking out. Deadlines are met promptly. Matters affecting others are dealt with first and foremost. Trivialities are handled right away as they are easily forgotten. My limbs are still dexterous. I can make all the basic yoga poses. Wearing the right shoes, I walk fast. I get out of bed when I wake up. I don’t lie in. I am proud that at my age, I am still agile and very much alive. 

But last weekend, my back pain humbled me. Since two days ago, it has tailed off to an intensity I can bear.

Now when I am writing about my anguish, I realize that it’s very tough to translate my personal experience into language others can understand. I will try. 

It started on Friday night. As usual on all Friday evenings of a work week, I was exhausted. I went to bed early. But when I sat on the bed ready to lie down, pain gripped me at the end of my spine, more severe to the right and a little less so to the left. It was like someone was drilling me round my waist with an ice-pick! I had already let my back land on the bed inch by inch hoping to lessen the agony. But even such gentle moves brought excruciating pangs. I screamed! My hard of hearing mom dashed into my room. Upon knowing my situation, she took out two pain relief patches and pressed them on my back comforting me with words like “they work magic”.

 

I went through the night taking the soldier or rather the corpse posture because the slightest movement would bring another round of twinges. Yet it is the foetus posture that sends me to sleep quickly. So you can image what a night it was for me – getting glimpses of sleep in between tortuous ordeals! 

Unfortunately I had a heavy schedule for the weekend. I attended the events surprising all my friends with a “slow version” of me – walking with small steps, standing up and sitting down with both hands on the table. In other words, I had to slowly manipulate each segment of my spine whenever I changed postures.

I have survived the pain test on the daily change of the patches administered by my mom!

Random Thoughts by Pauline

May 27 2015 Wednesday     

Different rulers

The Macmillan Dictionary defines a ruler as “an object used for measuring or for drawing straight lines, consisting of a long flat piece of plastic, wood, or metal marked with units of measurement”. These units of measurement are standardized meaning that 1 centimetre is of the same length across the world.
 

The same dictionary explains that the rule of law is “a situation in which everyone in a country is expected to obey the laws”. 

Hong Kong has been my home since my parents brought me here from mainland in 1949 when I was barely 2. In this liberal though many denounced as undemocratic society of Hong Kong, equality and rule of law are our core principles. We believe we apply the same rules and standards when we judge.
 

But in recent years, these treasured values are put to test. I falter in my convictions as I find that 1 centimetre no longer a constant length or distance. It is stretched for some groups and shortened for others. And yet, such inequality is accepted as necessary for proclaimed bigger causes. I am confused. I am not happy.
 

Rude and disruptive behaviour are branded as righteous. Legislators throw objects at government officials during meetings. Schools and private buildings are stormed. People speaking on behalf of the police or the government are spat on. Use of fake identity cards is to be pardoned. Differences are not tolerated. Nobody has the patience to listen. Yelling and cursing are the trends.
 

It is a showdown. The demarcation is clear. You are either with me or against me.  

Random Thoughts by Pauline

May 26 2017 Tuesday   

I am just bored!

School children grade their teachers “like” or “dislike” according to whether the lessons delivered are boring or interesting. Pupils enjoy participating in activities but their enthusiasm easily evaporates once they know what to expect. So conscientious teachers have to keep updating the strategies adopted to sustain students’ interest and motivation. What worked last year with a particular class cannot be “copied” and “pasted”  for even the same class this year not to say a different class.

Easier said than done! No matter how hard teachers try, they cannot reach that level of sophistication comparable to the audio and visual impact offered by online games which students are so used to enjoying. And the crux of the issue is that sometimes the means becomes the end. And the lesson objectives are not achieved. Or teaches can become so engrossed in designing activities that the lesson content is thinned.

Last week, I observed how a Primary 1 English teacher successfully incorporated meaningful and interesting activities to guide the students in learning the targetted language. This was one rich and vibrant lesson. A total of 25 students were fully engaged using English all the way when interacting with the teacher and classmates alike. Information technology was utilized for the starter. The teacher designed a simple animation with herself as the news announcer. It worked! The students got aroused. Transition between activities was also smooth.

For consolidation, there was the worksheet.  How did the teacher help the students check their answers? Instead of the usual practice of asking the students to stand up and give the answers, the teacher had designed a routine termed as “Decision Alley”.  All students stood up and got into two rows facing one another. When one student gave the answer, the others would say “Yes, you are right!” When the answer was wrong, the others would give the answer.  In this way, the whole class got spirited and involved.

The secret of success is simple. Be reflective and think out of the box.