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Friday, June 08, 2007
Biz Club: TrainingBiz Club training was more "snow and ice" than training. Started the day with revising how to cook the various foods and where all the equipment is kept. This was followed by a "role play" where the seniors played a customers. Got "bullied" by the whole lot of them when they stole all the utensils and even a $10 note from the cash register. It was so damned chaotic. It was much to our relief when the whole thing was over and we could pack up and EAT...very nice of the school to sponsor our lunch as we could eat whatever we want from the cafe without paying a cent.
After lunch was the fun part: Ice fight. Thanks to the absence of human beings at the cafe for the past week, the ice in the freezer has grown to a phenominal thickness of 2 inches. And the ice is not just ANY ordinary ice, but really rock hard, high density solid ice. So Joanna taught us how to hack off the ice and..err...how to play with it after you hacked them off. So jack Neo went to hack off the ice since "he asked for it". While the rest of us happily passed the ice to the seniors whom, started to whack each other with sticks of ice. they really looked like little kids who've just been released into some kinda winter wonderland...like the kind you get at the Hong Kong winterfest. it was damned crazy. Then Daniel, that long time haven't grow up guy, went to join in and spalshed powdered ice onto people's shirts. as for the remaining 4 of us....we stood in ready position at the freezer and had our window as our plasma screen as we watched the naive seniors continue with their little war of ice...hehe..
This was what heppened when we hacked off the longest bar of ice for the day...
This also demonstrates how we punish misbehaving kids like Daniel...yupp..we freeze-em! =)
Can't wait for operation dpt training next week!
一国两制:
It haas been a decade since Hong Kong returned soviernity to China. Through these ten tumultonous years, there have been quite a number of voices from the public as well as the international community( including Singapore Media) questioning whether China really did what it promised. I am no expert in this but this is what I feel. After viewing some reliable resources such as TIME magazine, local news papers and TV, as well as western references, it can be concluded that China's influence on the territory is actually very minimal. Except for a few high profile cases, the influence of beijing on Hong Kong's internal affairs has been and still is almost non-existent.
Politically, Beijing has to some extent exerted a small degree of influence on Hong Kong, especially during the Article 23 saga. but if you were to look at the biger picture, you would find that beijing has sdone little in suppressing the "opposition". Look at the freqeuncy of the Pan-Democratice party protests and marches and look at what the police were doing. All thye did was stand around and watch. One would seldom see the police interfering with the protestors. Only when the protestors "pose a threat to publice order" or break the law do the police stop the marchers or arrest protestors. The recent example of the police arresting 10 protestors can be easily explained because they broke into the residence of an official. if anyone were to put themselves into the shoes of the police,they would do the same thing.
Hong Kong has a high degree of freedom compared to China and many of its neighbours. Some pessimists have predicted interferance from Beijing to the economy. This proved not to be the case. Hong Kong has been the world's most free economy for 13 years. Including the ten years it has been in China. While China is still lagging behind by a considerable distance. Does that not prove the negligible influence of Beijing on Hong Kong's economy? Besides, Hong Kong's education has also recived zero interference from Beijing. Hong Kong's A levels is infamous for being the toughest in the world( be happy you're in S'pore..HK ppl mug more than we do) and it still is. At the same time, propaganda from China has yet to seep into the system( Propaganda itself is losing appeal in China).
Hong Kong actually gets a bit more than Beijing officially promised. An interview with former Chief Executive, Tung Chee hwa actually reviewd that Beijing did not restrict Tung much in terms of foeign affaris. Mush of the planning and carrying out was actually done by Tung himself instead of Beijing.
The existence of the PLA in Hong Kong is also rarely seen with the exception of the PLA base open-houses where residents get to visit and toy with the artilary and equipment. The PLA has to date done nothing to interfere with any aspect of Hong Kong life excluding the open houses ofcourse).
Beijing's attitude towars Hong Kong can be quoted from the TIME magazine:
"Don't cause trouble"
That was what Beijing wanted all along. As long as the people of Hong Kong do not pose a threat to the political power in Beijing and Hong Kong does not become an economic burden to China, the Central Government would tolerate Hong Kong to do "Whatever it likes".
Besides what I've stated, there's just an overwhelming amount of evidence to debunk the myths of Hong Kong's political system being over-run by China's. It also proves the successful implementation of "One Country Two Systems' where Hong Kong has a high degree of seviergnity over the territory. However, one must bear in mind that the power given to Hong Kong people is issued by the Central Govenment and the ultimate control of Hong Kong still rests in the hands of Beijing. especially in times of 'crisis".
Labels: Biz club, Hong Kong, perkafe, Reunification
9:25 PM
