Archive for April, 2002
April 27th, 2002 by Eshin
It’s another one of those mornings - you wake up with a spring in your step, think the world is a pleasant place and bam, it hits you. Another celebrity has died.
Well, I’m not saying that the death of a celebrity is something that we should all be wearing black arm bands for. I don’t personally know all of them and I’m sure, had they been living still, they wouldn’t have cared to know me.
But the passing of anyone is sad, which for someone who has not lost anyone from his close family yet (touch wood!!!!!), its a little hard to comprehend loss. My two closest forms of loss were my old music teacher, Mrs. Burman, and an old friend of mine (whose details I shall omit, as it is private). These two people were the kindest people in the world and death seemed to be an unkind thing to happen to them.
My sadness at the loss of the a celebrity comes from the epiphany I experienced at the death of my music teacher. Music in general, is something that brings pleasure to people and its purity is something good. Yes, some would argue that music can be used to incite hatred and bigotry (composer of the past shall remain nameless) and some might say that bringing pleasure doesn’t always come guilt-free (e.g. prositution).
But by and large, music and its proponents are something beautiful. It is something that enriches our lives in ways that we cannot begin to understand. How a particular song drives us to tears or how a set of chords can inspire fearfulness. It is something human. It is something civilised (and when I say civilised, I mean civilised since man started making sounds in a coherent-to-him sort of way).
So when the world loses a Mrs. Burman, and when the world loses a singer, whether it be Left-Eye Lopez or Aaliyah, that is something we should all be sad about. The passing of both singers is something that was very much unnoticed in Hong Kong. I, however, lament our loss.
Hatred and killing comes easier to man than the creation of something great. I do not advocated the deification of celebrities simply because they passed away. I merely suggest that we should pause for thought at the fact that whenever an singer, actor, or actress passes away, our world has become a colder place.
Rest in peace Left-Eye Lopez.
April 22nd, 2002 by Eshin
No doubt many of you will have woken up to the news today of the success of France’s far right candidate, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in securing second place in the first round of the French presidential elections.
It is a cause for concern that much of the media in the West will be focusing on. It will die down and it will flare up again in the subsequent rounds. Why is there this cause for concern in the Western media? The simple answer is that it happened before. I think, and please forgive my memory of dates, in 1936 in Germany. That election brought Hitler to power.
We have cause for concern when the far right comes into power. As too, should we be worried when the far left moves into vogue. The middle ground has never been the easy one and it only promises to get harder.
I am not suggesting that Le Pen is destined to become a next Hitler. He has opinions on the immigration and he has opinion on racial issues. He is entitled to them under a free society. I would, in principle, agree with him on some of the immigration issues. Countries are in existence to protect the interests of their citizens, whether they be black, white, yellow or brown. They are there to protect against outsiders.
This has been the fate of human kind for millennia. Instead of hordes of barbarians sweeping into Rome, or Angles and Saxons invading Britain, the weapons of choice have changed from swords and arrows to appeals to the “humanitarian” side of us with visa’s and appeals. People have always sought to gain a better life and if the West is where they’ll find it, they will keep on coming. Yes, something, does indeed have to be done and governments are charged with this difficult task.
This approach and point of view is nationalistic and not racist. We will be told time and again that this is not the same. While true, communism is, in theory, a good thing. Islam, too, is a peaceful religion. But the reality is often different.
Nationalism and Socialism rode the same horse to power in 1936 for the Nazi’s. They were idealogies that were sound but twisted into what became the scourge of Europe. Should we be worried with Le Pen’s success?
Yes, we should. While Le Pen is not destined to win this presidential election, as the right, centre and left will conspire against him, his wins are indicative of the same spirit that gave Germany its power and robbed France of it at the start of the Second World War.
The general apathy to voting that many in Europe feel is wrong. Voting must be one of the most important civic duties that a citizen has and yet it is not exercised or it is wasted. To fail to exercise it is to condone the admittance to power of undesirables. “I did not vote for Hitler” is not an excuse. It brought him into power by non-obstruction.
Likewise, a vote used in protest without thought is also wrong. “I voted left, but not Jospin’s left.” was stupid. It means that now, many leftists will not have the opportunity to vote for a left candidate. “Vote Labour to expel the Tories from power” is equally as stupid, and it happened. Not belittling the Tories or Labour, why vote Labour? Did many who voted even bother to look at their manifesto or what principles they were riding on?
Europe is not going to plunge into a crisis and we shouldn’t expect to see French soldiers falling from the sky into Europe’s other nations. Le Pen will no doubt be celebrating tonight while Immigrant communities and ethnic minorities will not sleep easier tonight or for the next while.
France and its citizens are free to vote who they like into power. It’s their choice and to deny them that is wrong. But those who wish to oppose the French election of Le Pen to the presidency (as I said, unlikely) consider the vote that you, as a non-French person, have.
The power of economics. I, for one, if France votes in Le Pen as a candidate, and if he doesn’t keep a reign on his Far Right bulldogs, will be boycotting French produce. Trouble is, I’m not a consumer of French produce as it is now. It’s hardly going to make a diffence. (And no, despite popular opinion, I do not wear copious amounts of perfume).
Empower yourself.
On a side note, does anyone find it interesting that a party that advocates against immigration, especially with France having a high Arabic immigration rate, doing so well in light of the “war against terrorism”?
April 19th, 2002 by Eshin
Well, this was the big quarter of a century. It certainly warranted a big occassion and well, as such it was a big event.
I’m not too sure when I took the path down to big birthdays. The first big birthday I threw was my 18th. Well, I think it was, I can’t quite remember. Anyway, the 21st was the first one that I really remember as being big. I remember not actually remember spending any time with anybody. After that, I promised that I wouldn’t throw anymore large parties.
That lasted until last year when I threw the +/- 40 person party last year at the Phoenix Palace. Last year I guess I was still in shape to do the rounds and engage in social small talk and play the attentive host, while also chugging down copious amounts of lager, champagne, wine, vodkas, B-52, and Mutai (Chinese Rice Wine - 70% proof or something). Everyone seemed to have an exciting time, what with the antics of the host, the invited stripper and the karaoke entertainment. Only draw back is that I can’t quite remember everyone leaving at the end. Unfortunately I had the privilege of the video to remind me (yes, it is still being heavily edited).
Anyway, this year was more refined. Swap the back of a Chinese restaurant with one of London’s up and coming restaurants/bars, the crowds of people (head count was still 32), the stripper for a fit (if not overworked) waitress, the karaoke entertainment for people watching and you get this year’s party at the Otto Dining Lounge.
You might ask, despite a good many of my friends attending, why on earth I am not sounding entirely happy about the experience. Well, it comes back to my point of big parties. You spend your time running around trying to make sure that everyone else is happy and you get very little chance to relax yourself. In the meantime, your girlfriend spends the time taking care of the 50% of people that you can’t see at that point in time.
The problem was only accentuated by the fact that this was the only time that people would have to spend with me in my short trip back to London, and thus (I know, ego working overtime!) I was in high demand. The supply was simply not there.
A dampener on the evening came when Hilary lost her bag, presumably stolen. It pissed me off, it seemed to piss her off less, and well, if there was blood to pay the price, I would have come to collect. Only trouble there wasn’t anybody to pay for it. ODL did find the bag the next day, but rumoured without the wallet. I still suspect that little tramp whore who crashed the party, who I have yet to find and will promptly ensure that her fingers are cut off.
Anyway.
I would like to thank people for coming. Please find on this website the pictures from the party. Most of you will be able to download them from the site. If you want original resolution copies, please feel free to email me for them.
I guess the reason why I’m a little pissed off about this birthday was that so many of my close friends (and friends that made the effort to come) turned up and I just couldn’t spend quality time with them. I will make sure that next time I’m in London that I will make the effort to see more of them than just a few hours in a noisy, crowded and expensive bar. But I did enjoy myself….but as one observer put it “You’re not drunk enough.” (if you were that person, please let me know).
Thank you’s to:
Robert & Monica - whose hosting skills helped keep the people happy.
Anton & Hilary - who bought me drinks to get me to slightly tipsy.
Ning & Kiki (?) - for improving my gf’s Cantonese and Ning for being soooooo cute.
David & Sherry - thanks for turning up. I know it must have been hard after a wedding that day. Sorry I couldn’t reciprocate Dave!
Nadine & Peter - short notice, but it was great to see you again after “too long”. Next time, feel free to stay until the wee hours. 
Jasmine - your dress was fine. I think you broke a few hearts before you left. I’ll be sure to collect the pieces for you and send them to you!
Chris, Christina and Frederique (?) - thanks for coming. I hope you weren’t too bored - I know Chris surely regalled you with last years antics and this year seemed to civilized - it was.
Simon, Simon, Simon, Mark, Nick - okay, I know, I know. Next time pub visit. Or karaoke. Some of you were getting quite attached to it. Special thanks to Nick for coming despite not entirely feeling up to it. Hope you are getting better. Also thanks for buying me a drink, I didn’t have a chance to thank ya.
Briant & Co - thanks for the drink….next time I’ll down it properly. I’ll be sure to get some more good looking girls for you next time. The minute I tell them that the King of Thai Square wants them, I’m sure the’ll all bow down.
Chris C. & Josephine - thank you again for the bottle of wine. BTW, Chris, you do hit almost the same strength as your girlfriend (?!?).
Ekta, Deena (?), Sam - Thank you for coming. I know that I was not the most attentive to you guys. You came at about the time that the “handbag” incident was coming to fruition. Promise, next time we go for a drink with Robert and make it a quiet one, eh?
Coke Bitch - To the girl that crashed, and started asking people for coke. I don’t mind your personal habits but when you start to ask for coke when me folks are around and if handbags start to go missing, you’re marked. Next time I see you, you’re going to get a slapping the likes that you have never seen. You return hospitality with taking advantage and that is wrong.
Finally….to my girlfriend, Eve. Thank you for putting up with a lot of my shit and thank you for helping to share the burden of these parties (two now!). I love you and miss you all the way in HK now very much. God knows, I don’t say it often enough.
Lastly, to my folks. Thank you for coming (not an intrusion at all). I really appreciate it and you guys being there made it more special. Love you both.
Okay….”I promise not to throw big parties…I promise not to throw big parties…I promise not to throw big parties .”
See you next year!
April 19th, 2002 by Eshin
Microsoft’s recent focus (“Microsoft says all data created equal”) on creating a method by which all data could be accessed from anywhere is not a new idea. It started with Java where by the programmes called be called up on request on an as and when required basis. I believe that “class” files are constantly being sent back and forth between the mass of the Internet and the browsers that we use to provide anything from cool, sleek video motion graphics to online computer games.
The concept is not a new one and to this layman, it would seem that having the option to listen to my music anywhere and anytime would be a great convenience. This is one of the benefits that Microsoft espouses. Their vision would see me create a definitive playlist of my own music, and just be logging on to either a computer at work, at home, on my phone or in my car, I can have access to it. Great. So much for the sexy Sony NW-MS9 Walkman I just bought.
But, the article goes on further to say that this could develop to having my files stored on a central server and the necessary application be “rented” on an “as and when required basis”. Thus, my excel file would remain in limbo and so would the MS Excel programme until my supreme command would wake the genie within.
Great? Not so great in my opinion. In this day and age of capitalism, where ownership seems to be the key to most things (and by our nature, coupled with the law of scarcity, we tend to lay claim to things, rightly or wrongly), this is a very bad idea. My ownership of my file is in limbo. While technically, it doesn’t really matter if it is on my computer at home or at Microsoft’s central server, psychologically it does.
My power in the capitalist society rests upon that ownership. In fact, it remains probably one of the last few things that me, as mere citizen, can rightfully create and call my own. It is my thoughts, my creation, and dammit, it is my file. Consider this - those of us who drive cars will know. What are you more happy with? That brand new SLK sitting in your front porch or rather in a storage garage run by Storage PLC? Okay, I know what some of you will say, “It’s an SLK and I want to show it off!”.
Fair point. I would want to too. But, what about this. What would you rather want? Your own VCR or one, when you wanted to watch a film (let’s ignore the fact that it allows you to record programmes on the fly for the sake of somantics) would be delivered to you with your choice of film? I think most would agree that the former rather than the latter appeals. This is in part due to our capitalist nature of valuing ourselves by what we own (not a criticism, just an observation).
But I would like to make two points clear. Firstly, that if a few key applications (e.g. MS-Office) are being housed by a few companies in data warehouses, are we not relinquishing our control? Furthermore, the implication on people’s ability to question that. This ability to question that is the ability for ordinary people to become programmers and understand the complexities of the system. Programmers would no longer work on the fringe or at home or at any other company. The leverage that Microsoft and other companies have to dominate the education process in this field is immense.
This could, and forgive my indulgence into doomsaying, lead to the situation where the knowledge of self-defence and the defence of the state now rests solely with the military and political arm of society, and is no longer the province of the civil authorities and individual spheres of influence. This move could push our new found power as a mass, that power of information, into the control and realm into the corporate sector and into the hands of a few companies. I would caution against this and it is our duty as citizens on the Internet to oppose this from a capitalist point of view.
However, there is one advantage that I do see in all this. The idea of borrowing things we need on a JIT-type basis has been with us since we opened the first community pool of resources, such as a library or communal firepit. We should not ignore that this practice of communisation has made resources and their benefits available to those who otherwise could not afford them. The current model of buying a software programme for use on a 24/7 basis is grossly inefficient. It, although I haven’t gone into the dynamics of this pricing model, justifies its high cost by being available exclusively to its owner. However, the question I have to ask, is how often do we use most of the programmes that we have installed on our computers? In essence, we are paying for our privacy already.
I diverge. The point is that Paul Spencer, aka greaseball student, is more likely to have access to PhotoShop or Frontpage programmes under Microsoft’s vision for the future. Today, discounting pirate copies, the software mentioned would retail at anything from $500 to $1000, which is past the means of most students. Even this area of the website has been outsourced as the I have neither the skill to design the technics of a community or the money to buy the technologies behind one outright. Hence this company exists, and MS’s vision already exists in way (so much for HTML being the great equaliser of inequalities, eh?).
Will our applications be priced along demand? So does that mean that popular programmes such as MS-Office will be readily available to me (living on a budget?) while lesser known programmes, such as Copernic Search Programme, will cost me an arm and a leg? Or will corporate America see fit to price these applications based on their greed rather than market forces?
Great idea, Microsoft. It espouses convenience and practicality. I myself would probably sign up for it. I’m lazy. So is 98.8% of the world’s population. Nor do I question - I don’t care how it works. Thus, I’m already buying into the idea that I am powerless to change my world. And I am. But know this, does Microsoft’s vision help to empower us all or does it help to foster the growing gap between the world’s rich and techno savvy and the poor, techno-illiterate. Before you jump to the “Who cares platform?”, consider that Britain is fast falling through the cracks of being a techno-competent society.
Empower yourself.
N.
April 18th, 2002 by Eshin
There is one good thing about being an expat and that is when you come back to your home country, people are genuinely happy to see you.
Well, that’s not entirely true. Some people, despite living only a few minutes drive from each other, you might not see for more than a year. Your absence and your subsequent arrival will not be heralded as the “great return” you had imagined. Of course, when you do eventually tell them about your absence due to “Hong Kong calling”, they do muster some excitement.
It’s as if you’ve been to the hell and back, interacted with the oh-so-feared “locals” and well, congratulations on surviving and making it back. Not that I have any experience of such, but I’d imagine it would be the same reception one would get after a short stint in jail (go ask Kalle).
Anyway, this trip to London originally started off as a short trip. I was due to only be in London for three or four days. Luckily, because of the Chinese Ching Ming Festival (Chinese have to sweep their ancestors graves), I managed to trade three days holidays with 10 days more or less. Us boys in marketing are smart, eh?
Anyway, not nearly enough time. I realised one thing, and this is partly more to do with entering the working world, and that is people take their holidays at different times. This does mean that other people are likely to be working while you’re sunning your arse off. It’s only an accentuated feeling when you are an expat.
Of course, some of my friends remain unemployed and hence its a nice reminder of the time that once used to be (student life, in English). And some, like my friend Chantal, who tells me she works only three or four days a month, makes me more envious than anything else. But as they say, “nice work, if you can get it”.
But in any case, juggling between family and girlfriend, and friends, a week was not going to cut it. In fact, I’m sure that all three groups (exception of my girlfriend, who is not a “group” although I wish it were) were not too entirely happy with how much time I really did spend with each.
All I can say is that it was good to see all of those that I did manage to see, albeit briefly. I expect to see some of you in HK soon, you know who you are. Those who I didn’t, well, it was a shame but there is always tomorrow.
A longer trip is short listed for August or September. I promise to spend more time with each of you etc and not to pile you all into a single birthday party.
