Hypes and fads

Years ago I remember many of my university peers where reading the Harry Potter books at the height of their popularity. Even though I watched the movies, I never got into the book hype and got round to reading the series. I truly believe the reason why a lot of people read their books was because it was the fashion and they didn't want to left out when talking with their friends.

Another fad that has gotten the whole world, and especially basketball fans in Asia, is the rise of Jeremy Lin, the point guard for the New York Knicks. Out of nowhere, he has been scoring points and dishing out dimes as if he was an All-Star player. More importantly he was getting the Knicks winning again and back into the playoffs. Thankfully the commotion has died down, especially since opponents have become aware of him and started to defend against him better. Nowadays his numbers are down and the New York Knicks are back to losing.

So why all the fuss about Jeremy Lin? There have been other player like him before, who come out of the blue to surprise everybody. So what makes him different. Is it because he is Oriental (I didn't use the word "Asian" as it means different things to different countries. In the UK, if you say Asian you mean anything pertaining to the Indian subcontinent whilst in USA you mainly mean anything looking Oriental)? This maybe the main reason since there have been few Asians making a big impact in the NBA. On the flipside, he's of Taiwanese of origin only - he was born and brought up in California. He's upbringing and style of play have not been influenced by his ethnicity

Is it because he's undrafted? This is unlikely to be major factor, since there has been many players how have been undrafted who have gotten to better things. One case is Ben Wallace, formerly of the Detroit Pistons who was Defensive Player of the Year many times and actually has won a NBA championship ring.

Is it because he's an unconventional player in his origins - a non-white player from a Ivy League school. This maybe a contributing factor since not many Ivy League graduates become great players. The last player from the Ivy League was Chris Dudley (who?) from the Portland Trail Blazers in 2002-3. There have been great Ivy League NBA players such as Bill Bradley and Geoff Petrie but that's about it.

Anyway the Knicks are back to losing again and Lin is still doing too many turnovers to become a great player. Let's just see how it goes.

Hypes and fads come and go, so don't always catch the wave and surf it to the end otherwise you might crash onto the rocks

Professional hatred (part 5)

Anything to do with finance

I mentioned I don't like accountants / bankers / stockbrokers in a previous entry of my blog. Yet with the economic crisis as it is around the world and what has happen since I last wrote that entry, I think I should elaborate more.

I, with about 99% of the world's population, don't know a single fact about high level finance. I just about cope with managing my bank accounts and credit cards. I know there is a complicated network out there to generate money but I'm just as ignorant about it as I am ignorant about quantum physics and art. Yet I can get by just managing my bank account, probably because my job pays well and I live cost free at home.

I don't really like anything with stocks or bonds. One of the reason's why I don't like anything to do with the stock market, apart from knowing next to nothing about it, is if your job's sole purpose is to make money, then you have to look at what you really contribute society. I judge people's occupation by how much it gives back to the community. If the world had to start again (for example after a nuclear war has wiped all technology on Earth or an alien invasion has decimated the planet), which jobs would be most useful. At the bottom of the pile are the jobs I hate (see any of my previous entries for details).

I'm sure that most of the bankers and stockbrokers are nice people in real life - I have one as a younger brother. Yet there are some, a minority, that just take things over the edge and screw up people's lives. Yet we value these people enough to given one million pound bonuses despite their bank being still in the red. That says more about our society than those people, on second thoughts

Let's just say this: I'm not against rich people. I'm more about distributing the wealth (yes, my socialist rantings are beginning to surface). It is just not me saying it. Even the wealthiest French people were saying they should be taxed more back in August last year. There are wealthy people who are willing to have their taxes raised to help society, in USA and around the world.

If we want these people's jobs to become poisoned chalices, shouldn't we do a little bit more like not be friends with them, throwing stuff at them when the walk in the street or just not pay for their services? The unfortunate problem is we do need banks. These people have become a necessity rather than an option

Round and round we go

Since I've been driving regularly for two and half years, I have become more incensed with other drivers. I have gotten past the stage where I think only BMW and Mercedes Benz drivers are bad; now I know most people behind a steering wheel in Hong Kong don't respect any kind of traffic or moral laws.

One thing I cannot get is how people don't know how to use roundabouts. It should be easy. Let's assume we are driving on the left hand side of the road (i.e. British, Japanese), the roundabout has two lanes and you know which exit to take. If you are taking the first exit (i.e. immediately turning left), you should stay on the inside lane (i.e. the left lane). If you are taking any other exit, you should go on the outside lane (i.e. the right lane). This assignment should avoid any collisions. The only problem is if you don't know which exit to take. If you are such a cretin (no offence), then take the inside lane (the left lane) and drive until you know which exit to take.

Oh, and remember to indicate which I will be writing about later when I stopped steaming through my ears after typing this entry.

Altruism doesn't seem to exist

I'm forever hearing Chinese people are the most kindest people in the world. This is mainly because I'm surrounded by Chinese people, who think that having a close family means that they are kind and nice. I tend to think this is bollocks. I have the belief that Mainland Chinese people are not that altruistic and I will explain why. Please note that all opinions are my own and if you don't like them, don't read on.

One recent story from Mainland China emphasis my point on Mainland Chinese people. It is the news that a two year old toddler was run over twice by vans and eighteen people walked by doing nothing before a rubbish collector did the decent thing by moving the child to the side of the road and seeking help. Here is where I become all Daily Mail and say the two van drivers plus the eighteen pedestrians should be stripped of all their human rights, face life imprisonments and have all material possessions taken from them.

Maybe I am overreacting to the situation. This could be an isolated incident and in fact all people in China, bar twenty people in Foshan, are good citizens. I really don't believe so. Whenever I meet Mainland Chinese people, most of them tend to be impolite, ignorant and selfish. They only do something to benefit themselves or their family. They are not kind to casual acquaintances or strangers. That is the hallmark of altruism for me. Anybody will help their friends or relatives. It takes true courage and decency to go out of your own way and help somebody you don't know or even don't like.

Maybe those eighteen idiots who walked past thought they might hurt the child more if the intervened, for example by moving the child they cause a neck injury leading to paralysis. Perhaps they thought if they helped out by performing CPR and caused my damage, they might be sued by the parents. Even with all these mitigating factors in their heads, there are other actions that can be performed. You can stop ongoing traffic from running over the child again. You can note down the license plate of the van who ran her over. You can call for the ambulance. You don't have to be intelligent or knowledgeable in CPR to do these things.

The selfish nature of people also affects another story concern Mainlanders. Recently the Hong Kong government have to limit the number of Mainland Chinese mothers giving birth in Hong Kong as they are stretching looking health resources. This has called an outcry from Mainland Chinese mothers who are married to men from Hong Kong, who say they have the right to give birth in Hong Kong.

This shows the ignorance of these people concerning the use of public facilities. Nobody has the absolute right to anything. Even the Hong Kong mothers have to be turned away when the obstetrics wards are full. The use of public facilities depend on their availability and resources. I have the right to use the sports facilities in Tai Po but maybe I can't use them when somebody has already booked them. There are hundreds of people awaiting a liver transplantation in Hong Kong but they can't get one because there are not enough donors in the territory. Not everybody in Hong Kong can be prescribed drugs to lower their cholesterol, even if their cholesterol is high, since it would bankrupt the Hospital Authority.

These women only want to give birth in Hong Kong so they can enable their children to have free education, health care and benefits. They don't care about equal rights, they just want a share of the pie they feel they are entitled to. Unfortunately the pie is not big enough to share.

TVB Pearl News hotties

In recent years, news programs and channels have to become more competitive as news rapidly becomes more commercialized. Tactics used in their broadcast include become 24 hour rolling news with in depth coverage of major stories, ranging from the serious (Iraq, Afghanistan) to the biennial (any story involving a celebrity), to asking viewers to send in their stories / comments / photos regarding the current topics.

News channels have also been focusing on looks recently. In years gone by, the typical newsreader would be a middle age man with a receding hairline and glasses, reading the news stoically in front of a plain background. Nowadays, the people reading and reporting the news tend to be young pretty women.

Before people start writing in saying I'm misogynistic and only watch the news just because a beautiful lady happens to be on my screen, let me just says I have a great deal respect for journalist and reporters. Not the ones who chose to report gossip of minor celebrities but those reporters who report the important news, even if it means a disruption of your social life or having to go difficult situations.

I know these ladies have acquired the relevant degrees, attended the required courses and undergone the necessary training to reach where they are. So why can't I say she's a babe and I want to go out with her? So here's my tribute to my favourite TVB Pearl News hotties... I mean female reporters.

Sonya Artero
I hate to use the phrases "MILF" or "cougar" but you get my drift of how I'm describing Sonya Artero. I prefer her to Jenny Lam because she has a bubbly personality and tends to have an off-the-quip remark about the lighter stories of the day which end the news bulletin.

Phillippa Stewart
When Emma Jones left TVB News, I felt that there wouldn't be another beautiful English lady would ever report for TVB News again. How wrong I was. Phillippa has lovely eyes and a great smile, as well as being very dedicated and good at her job. She had the guts to try out for a Playboy Bunny in Macau. It's a pity there are no photos of her in the bunny outfit.

Priscilla Ng
Definitely the most beautiful TVB Pearl news reporter. She doesn't have to be a reporter. She could easily marry a rich guy and stay at home. But she chooses to go out and find news stories, as well as reporting the TVB Pearl news.

Mona Lam
I am so disappointed Mona Lam has left TVB Pearl news. She is the lady I want most to be my girlfriend. I am really afraid she left TVB Pearl news just to get married. I'm still holding out and crossing my fingers.

Nicole Tsang
Another beautiful, hard working reporter who has since left TVB Pearl news. Why do all the nice girls seem to go away...

Evelina Leung
... only to be replaced by another beautiful well-informed reporter. The most voluptuous reporter on TVB Pearl and I don't mean she's fat - she has the curves in all the right places, just like the Nurburgring.

Danielle Tran Another hard working reporter who works for both TVB Pearl and Bloomberg. Love the dyed hair.

Elmy Lung
Maybe not as beautiful as the other lot but she works for both TVB Pearl and TVB Jade news. Comes across as the cute girl next door.

Bo Leung
A very cute lady who had a brief time on TVB Pearl news. Sadly missed by me only.

Jacqueline P'ng
Another cute girl next door reporter who has tragically has left TVB Pearl news.

Honourable mentions: Jenny Chan and Rainbow Ngai help present the weather at the end of TVB Pearl news. Cute as hell.

Naivety about food

This may be my last entry for a while. I really should be setting up trenches and digging into books for my upcoming exams in September and going to general outpatient clinics next month. So it will mean less time looking at Japanese race queens and US cheerleaders in the foreseeable future.

I also want to keep up my monthly rate of whining about not having a girlfriend.
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In recent weeks, there has been two major news stories about contaminated food. In Germany, nearly 2000 people were infected with E. coli from tainted vegetables. I'm not here to speculate which vegetables they were since nobody seems to know the source. Taiwan has been embroiled in a food fiasco recently, with harmful plasticisers being put in a variety of products, from food to skin products.

I marvel at the naivety of people who think this shouldn't happen in today's society. I like to say to those people to wake up, since this has been happening every since we started mass producing in the middle of the 20th century.

With an ever increasing population and the need to cut costs in production, multinational companies will find any way to cut corners, even if those mean less quality assurance. To boost the food production, society has been injecting all sorts of chemicals into animals and vegetable to maximise the yield. Unfortunately no food can escape a contamination scandal.

The first food contamination scandal I can remember was when eggs in UK were contaminated with Salmonella bacteria in the late 1980s. This carried on into the mid nineties, with the BSE scare which made everyone go vegetarian for a little while.

China are not exempted from this kind of controversy. Everybody who lives in Hong Kong generally thinks the quality assurance is China is very poor. How can you account for the fact that most pirated goods come from China. The mainland has been embroiled with the melamine dairy product scandal and a ton more scandals since. Generally, I don't really buy anything from China, even if it is dirt cheap.

From feeding animals antibiotics and chemicals so they can grow bigger to pesticides on vegetables to heavy metal contamination in fish and seafood, everything we eat has something we don't want in it.

You just have to accept - do you want cheap food or do you want quality assurance. You can't have both.

As plain as fish and chips

In the past few years, I've been more immersed in cooking and baking, now that I have more free time in the evenings and weekends. I should be studying but after spending nearly nine years working my arse off for my mediocre medical degree, I think I deserve the opportunity to explore other avenues of pleasure. Some of my friends and work colleagues may have noticed my new found choice of hobby, by the pictures I post up of my culinary creations or even sampling some of my experiments themselves. The most indirect way they have noticed my recent fascination in food is the increasing size of my abdominal girth and my ever expanding cheeks. Clearly it is easier to gain weight than to lose weight.

I have tried all areas of culinary cuisine, apart from Chinese since I have my parents who can provide many dishes in this area. From chicken tagine to miso soup and mostly everything in between, I've tried a fair few recipes with some disasters and some successes. I do go back to my roots (kind of) by trying out typically British recipes, which include fish pie, cottage pie and roast chicken.

Now for all those non-English people out there, I know British food has a reputation of being bland and unoriginal. Even though I don't like nationalism and patriotism, I think I need to stand up for the humble chicken pie and toffee pudding. British cuisine may not be as exotic as Thai or Indian, or as delicate as the French or Italian. It doesn't try to be that way. British food is simple food or what I like to call "comfort food". It's not for ordering at a fancy restaurant. It's suppose to be easy to make at home and fills up your stomach.

Neither do I like people calling British food 'roast meat and potatoes'. To the naive person, what they usually order in most British pubs and restaurants may be roast beef and potatoes with gravy but there is a wide variation of British dishes if you just explore. Calling British food just roast meat and potatoes is like calling Chinese food just rice and noodles, Italian food just pasta and pizza and calling Indian food just curries. Each cuisine has its own variation and it is up to the eater to explore for him/herself the diversity.

So please, give the humble fish and chips a chance. Just don't try the pickled egg.