I started this week with a smile.

From today's Apple Daily.
________

小貓困軚盤隙縫獲救
2010年03月15日

【本報訊】昨下午 2時許， 31歲姓張客貨車司機駕車途經鯉魚門道時，發現一隻初生小貓瑟縮坑渠邊，擔心小貓受車聲驚嚇跑出馬路被輾斃，於是報警求救。可是他仍不放心，駕車折返撿走小貓，驅車到附近觀塘法院外的有信街。稍後警員到場不見貓蹤致電給他，當時在車廂內的頑皮貓竟鑽進客貨車軚盤底匿藏而被困，警員趕至無計可施召消防員協助。消防員稍後拆開軚盤救出全身沾滿油污的小貓，交愛協人員取走。獲救污糟貓約兩星期大，雄性，愛護動物協會人員稍後到場取走小貓交獸醫檢驗，初步發現小貓並無受傷。

________

What a kind hearted man :)

[I am too angry to title it]

Whenever I read the news, the first thing that I do is to scroll down the headlines, and upon seeing no upsetting news, I'd tell myself "hmm, this is a good day after all".

Today is not one of those days.

-----------------

From Apple Daily - 3 March 2010

無意攞命　只想令牠終身痛苦
斷肢殺手再現斬花貓


【本報訊】曾發生斬斷小貓後腳兇案的上水彩園邨，前晚又有花貓遭截肢。動物義工救走一頭拖着血淋淋左前腳的花貓救治，獸醫發現牠的左前腳遭利器齊口切斷報警。對於兇徒再現，關注動物權益組織譴責狂徒殘暴，無意取命只為令貓隻受盡一世痛苦，希望警方嚴辦。
遭截肢花貓約一歲，雄性。獸醫從左前肢部份傷口已結痂來分析，估計小貓 10日前遇毒手，小貓左前腳僅留半截，恐防影響日後活動，獸醫昨晨替牠切除左腳餘下前肢。



左前肢遭狂徒切斷的小花貓 Faith，被送往獸醫診所接受手術（圖）。讀者提供圖片

稱遭警不禮貌對待

07年 11月，彩園邨有狂徒斬斷一個月大的小貓藍藍一對後腳血案，藍藍雖撿回性命卻終生殘障，香港群貓會總幹事陳小姐指，事隔兩年又有虐貓案，雖未能確定是同一人所為，她替前晚大難不死小貓取名「 Faith」（即信念），向「貓殺手」宣示不畏暴行決心。

前晚 6時半，有動物義工到上水彩園邨彩屏樓對開公園餵貓，發現燈光下有一頭拖着血淋淋左前腳花貓蹣跚而行。女義工通知香港群貓會。並將花貓送到旺角一家獸醫診所急救。當時小貓對陌生人十分兇惡，數度想咬護士。獸醫發現其前肢傷口齊整，疑是利器斬傷。義工指狂徒最可惡不是取命，而是斬手腳，令貓隻殘障一生。

昨晚群貓會總幹事陳小姐陪同女義工到旺角警署報案。陳表示當時在警署受到不禮貌對待，她憶述，負責警員質疑貓隻是否剛做完手術逃走出來，又說「邊度發生，去番邊度報警」。她說經歷這次不快經驗已對警方破案不存寄望，但發生虐待動物案，不報警可以怎做？

Be still and know that I am God.

"Too often we think of prayer as a serious chore, something that must be scheduled around other appointments, shoe-horned in among other pressing activities. We miss the point[...] God is inviting us to take a break, to play truant. We can stop doing all those important things we have to do in our capacity as God, and leave it to him to be God."

--- Prayer by Philip Yancey

Things that make me giggle.

Happy Year of the Tiger, my loved ones.
________________

I love children's drawing. They always make my day :). This one is from my friend M-Y's lovely kids, Evelyn and Oliver.

Watching Escape to River Cottage one night, BB made a comment about Lulu looking like a pike. They both have the same silly eyes.

This is based on a WFI recipe. BB has been giving me less-than-subtle hints the past three years that maybe I should try making meringues, as they are "super easy". So, here it is, my Valentine's Day dessert. Instead of the plums and pears that the recipe called for, I substituted them with starfruit(!) (homegrown by my dad) and frozen berries. I also skipped the Greek yoghurt, and used brown, not white, caster sugar. It turned out perfectly yummy*. So, it is official - contrary to popular (i.e. BB's) belief, I DO KNOW HOW TO COOK.

*Though, if you want to give this recipe a try, I would suggest you stick to the traditional berry ingredients, unless you also have a father who has given you three humongous star fruit and you need to find a creative way to use them up before they perish.

My Valentine's Day present - chocolate coated almonds from La Maison du Chocolat (BB bought himself a box along the way). Probably the most expensive chocolate I have, and would like to have, tasted. These two little boxes cost a whopping four-digit figure.

When Pepper first joined our family, she was all-out neurotic. I couldn't blame her - shortly after we adopted her, we whisked her to the vet for double surgery. Now, after 15 months, she is totally at ease. One of my daily pleasures is waking up in the morning to find her sleeping by my thigh.

My long overdue new year resolutions.

1. 50 books.
2. pouvez lire des magazines français.
3. more love.
4. more exercise.
5. make an important decision.

------

happy new year, DBJ.

Random shots taken with my 2-inch toy digital lomo.

最近。

＊滿腦子壞思想。“不要讓我們陷於誘惑” 是我近期常禱的告。

＊公司出現一些震盪，有些好同事離開或調職，教我有點無奈，亦令我再次開始思考自己在事業上的目標（如有的話）。

＊尾龍骨又隱隱作痛，如兩年前腰痛開始的翻版。

＊十月外遊3次，十一月稍稍休息，十二月再次出動。去吉隆坡探望會打牌球的烏龜。

＊一向知道自律跟自己沒有太大關係，但當你要再一次承認這個事實時，心裡還是有點不爽。

＊不太想社交。好想自己一個人，做甚麼也好。

＊終於成為婚禮監禮人。申請的時候躊躇滿志，好像第二個事業一樣，甚麼“嘩嘩嘩每個星期做一單我咪好快發達囉呵呵呵可以買好多包包囉呵呵呵！！！”。現在牌到手了，反而沒有太大感覺。幫朋友主持婚禮我倒是非常樂意的，但其他無關人等都是免了。要做好鬼多文件囉，煩死。

＊好憎好憎Donald Tsang。人衰，樣子都醜惡起來。

Another reason why I like Natalie Portman.

How many Hollywood actresses does it take to write something like this?
Answer: One, if you are Natalie Portman.

By the way, Jonathan Safran Foer is one of my favourite young writers too.

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Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals Turned Me Vegan


Jonathan Safran Foer's book Eating Animals changed me from a twenty-year vegetarian to a vegan activist. I've always been shy about being critical of others' choices because I hate when people do that to me. I'm often interrogated about being vegetarian (e.g., "What if you find out that carrots feel pain, too? Then what'll you eat?").

I've also been afraid to feel as if I know better than someone else -- a historically dangerous stance (I'm often reminded that "Hitler was a vegetarian, too, you know"). But this book reminded me that some things are just wrong. Perhaps others disagree with me that animals have personalities, but the highly documented torture of animals is unacceptable, and the human cost Foer describes in his book, of which I was previously unaware, is universally compelling.

The human cost of factory farming -- both the compromised welfare of slaughterhouse workers and, even more, the environmental effects of the mass production of animals -- is staggering. Foer details the copious amounts of pig shit sprayed into the air that result in great spikes in human respiratory ailments, the development of new bacterial strains due to overuse of antibiotics on farmed animals, and the origins of the swine flu epidemic, whose story has gripped the nation, in factory farms.

I read the chapter on animal shit aloud to two friends -- one is from Iowa and has asthma and the other is a North Carolinian who couldn't eat fish from her local river because animal waste had been dumped in it as described in the book. They had never truly thought about the connection between their environmental conditions and their food. The story of the mass farming of animals had more impact on them when they realized it had ruined their own backyards.

But what Foer most bravely details is how eating animal pollutes not only our backyards, but also our beliefs. He reminds us that our food is symbolic of what we believe in, and that eating is how we demonstrate to ourselves and to others our beliefs: Catholics take communion -- in which food and drink represent body and blood. Jews use salty water on Passover to remind them of the slaves' bitter tears. And on Thanksgiving, Americans use succotash and slaughter to tell our own creation myth -- how the Pilgrims learned from Native Americans to harvest this land and make it their own.

And as we use food to impart our beliefs to our children, the point from which Foer lifts off, what stories do we want to tell our children through their food?

I remember in college, a professor asked our class to consider what our grandchildren would look back on as being backward behavior or thinking in our generation, the way we are shocked by the kind of misogyny, racism, and sexism we know was commonplace in our grandparents' world. He urged us to use this principle to examine the behaviors in our lives and our societies that we should be a part of changing. Factory farming of animals will be one of the things we look back on as a relic of a less-evolved age.

I say that Foer's ethical charge against animal eating is brave because not only is it unpopular, it has also been characterized as unmanly, inconsiderate, and juvenile. But he reminds us that being a man, and a human, takes more thought than just "This is tasty, and that's why I do it." He posits that consideration, as promoted by Michael Pollan in The Omnivore's Dilemma, which has more to do with being polite to your tablemates than sticking to your own ideals, would be absurd if applied to any other belief (e.g., I don't believe in rape, but if it's what it takes to please my dinner hosts, then so be it).

But Foer makes his most impactful gesture as a peacemaker, when he unites the two sides of the animal eating debate in their reasoning. Both sides argue: We are not them. Those who refrain from eating animals argue: We don't have to go through what they go through -- we are not them. We are capable of making distinctions between what to eat and what not to eat (Americans eat cow but not dog, Hindus eat chicken but not cow, etc.). We are capable of considering others' minds and others' pain. We are not them. Whereas those who justify eating animals say the same thing: We are not them. They do not merit the same value of being as us. They are not us.

And so Foer shows us, through Eating Animals, that we are all thinking along the same lines: We are not them. But, he urges, how will we define who we are?

District 9.

"If they were from another country, I could understand, but they're not even from this planet."

--- a human resident on why human cannot tolerate the aliens

The movie is disturbing on so many levels, and that's why I like it so much.

What is that.

ha.

Jane: Oh, come on. You are not telling me you believe she's an actual witch.

Cho: No, of course not. But I mean if dark force did exist, it stands to reason there could be people who control them for their own ends.

Jane: They're called investment bankers.

--- The Mentalist, episode 12 (US air date: 13 January 2009)

Village Cat.

On bravery.

BB and I went on a boat trip yesterday with some friends in Sai Kung, and I came back with a not-so-nice tan, a floating feeling which lasted for the rest of the evening and a silly sense of accomplishment.

While lounging on the top deck of the junk, I, who have always been a bit intimidated by the vast and bottomless water and never a good swimmer, was encouraged by my friend A to jump off the top deck into the sea. After hesitating for 5 minutes - mentally calculating the height of the deck and the depth of the sea, wondering how much my butt would hurt if I hit the water the wrong way, and struggling if I should squeeze my nose to prevent water from rushing into the nostrils - I summoned enough courage and just let myself go, and it felt great (and no, it didn't hurt at all; and yes, I squeezed my nose but still water managed to rush into the nostrils).

It's the good 5-minute hesitation that got me thinking.

Since when did we get so scared of everything? I had bungee jumped in my younger years, I was a fan of all kinds of roller coaster rides (my favourite was the free falls), and I used to love those dodgy street foods. But now I cannot walk a block of street without looking up to check if anything is falling from above (like acid bottles, or even worse, air-conditioners) and aiming at my head.

My bravery is diminished by age - and the wisdom and experience that comes with it.

But sometimes, taking the plunge is fun, which is what life should be, most of the time anyway.

Do Re Mi Fa.

I am obviously running out of things to post. So cats it has to be.

When you don't see his face around much, his voice will do.

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Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

I don't know why I waited so long to see this.

Vicky: Oh, God, what am I doing here? I don't know what I expect to happen.

Juan Antonio: It's been, it's been...a long time since we made love that night in Oviedo.

I love Rebecca Hall as Vicky. She is beautiful in a grown-up, sophisticated way, and a very good actress too. It's a shame all the movie promotions focused only on Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson, brushing aside the girl whose name actually comes first in the movie title.

Constipated

is my brain. Hence you have not seen me here lately. The usual (non-)reasons -- work is getting crazy; my "Adam's Family" (a term employed by BB to describe his family-in-law...) is growing in number (with niece #2 coming in mid July); the 7th season of 24 was hugely disappointing; Generation Kill was as enjoyable as The Wire; the cats are naughty as ever; the weather is making me down; The Last Station is not anywhere close to showing AND the filming of The Details has stopped AND Wanted 2 may not be what it should be (triple whammy for all JM fans out there); I had to miss the 1st July demonstration; the dress that I have altered specifically for a wedding this Saturday has "mysteriously shrunken"; the deadline for the French course that I want to apply for is approaching and I have done zilch about it......

Well, just the usual chaos of life.

In troubling times such as these, one should always go back to the things that can cheer one up.

Whoever does this should burn in hell.

19/6/2009 星島日報 報道

瘦弱的流浪小貓「咪咪」，在葵涌疑被印巴漢殘酷虐待，貓腳遭活生生打斷，膝蓋與大腿幾乎分離，常駐該區的貓義工及時發現，將牠送動物醫院治理；貓義工怒斥施虐者惡行外，更認為政府必須加強宣傳動物權益，避免助長虐畜歪風。
　　
將「咪咪」送往獸醫救治的香港貓咪俱樂部幹事黃小姐稱，貓義工早前在葵涌區巡視，發現一隻寄居於區內跌打鋪的雄性流浪貓「咪咪」，遭人打傷致腳斷骨裂，義工追問跌打鋪老闆周先生，方知「咪咪」上周出外玩耍，曾失蹤兩天，回來時腳部重創。由於周先生屬小本經營不能承擔巨額手術費，只能以跌打技術來替小貓治療，但義工見「咪咪」傷勢危急，決定將牠送往動物醫院。

黃小姐稱，「咪咪」愛到附近工廠區流連，該處有不少印巴人士工作，懷疑虐貓事件與他們有關，「曾經有街坊目睹印巴漢追打流浪貓，直至皮開肉裂，甚至只剩頭顱的貓屍，非常可怕。」她怒斥施虐者毫無人性，正考慮尋求警方和有關機構援助。

她透露，醫治「咪咪」的手術費需要數千元，但貓兒危在旦夕，故決定先救貓，至今仍要為手術費用而煩惱；黃又表示，其組織為流浪貓免費絕育和提供治療，單靠善心人士的捐款運作，因收入不穩如今已出現赤字。

根據現行法例，虐待動物可判罰款五千元及監禁六個月，遠低於歐美國家。以英國為例，至今已頒布二十多條關於動物福利的法例和條文，包括不可將動物當作禮物，送給十六歲以下兒童，及加重對遺棄動物和宰殺的刑罰。

給我認識的小朋友。

孩子，你要勇敢

二十年了，已記不起當時的細節，只記得坦克車衝向天安門廣場，學生奔跑逃命，三輪車載着受傷的學生撤離廣場，坦克車壓扁染滿血跡的單車……和那個獨立路上擋着坦克隊前行的少年王維林……和我在哭。

二十年了，許多畫面業已模糊。那時的憤怒、慘痛都已淡然，那恥辱可依舊沉重地壓在心頭。

我們有個野蠻的統治者：中國人民政府為了統治的權宜方便，暴力鎮壓人民、屠殺自己的孩子。被宰殺的不是戰場上的士兵，而是手無寸鐵的學生；他們不是反政府的暴徒，而是懷着赤子之心向政府進言的孩子。孩子倒下了，人民倒下了，高漲的是鎮壓人民的暴力。

中國有個這樣的政府，作為中國人，我為此而蒙羞。這個恥辱令我抬不起頭來。

是的，二十年了。我那時只有十一歲的孩子，現今已是四個孩子的父親。我記得，二十年前六月五號的早上，他走進我的房間，見到電視在開着而我在哭，他驚慌地問我：「爸爸發生了什麼事？為什麼你哭？」我給他看錄影下來的一些片段，告訴他：「別忘記這些畫面。這是中共殺害人民的紀錄。到你長大了，到你懂事了，你要記着中國人是活在這恥辱中。」

那個時候，孩子是因為看到爸爸在哭泣而驚慌，他不明白為什麼天安門的小孩子會令我痛哭。現在他知道了。孩子，這些事情你要告訴你自己的孩子，讓他們也為這恥辱活下去。

「歷史洪流匆匆，中國已經強大了起來，我們應該以更大的胸襟擁抱將來，創造將來；以更大的寬容對待歷史，隨着歷史的潮流前進。順勢而行，我們才可以創造更偉大的將來。為什麼要牢牢抓着歷史上出現的一時偏差不放？不放下過去，讓出空間，那麼又何來更大的發展機會？寬恕過去，才會有更寬宏的將來。二十年了，為什麼不讓時間沖洗掉那夢魘，那道痛傷，然後安然上路？」

孩子，不要聽信這樣的說話。他說的過去並沒有過去，也不可能過去，因為那個過去便是我們的良知、我們的尊嚴和是非黑白之心。放下了良心、尊嚴，我們還是什麼？凡人皆有良知、尊嚴和是非之心，你不能因為生而為中國人便放棄做人的本質以致做不成人。你一定要為良知、尊嚴和是非之心而活下去，要為人民政府殺害自己的孩子這恥辱活下去。

你不能只為了中國的繁榮而活着，你更要為中國人的良知而活着。你不僅要為將來而活着，你更要為歷史而活着。歷史體現的良知是人民血淚的呼喊，是祖先喚醒我們的良知靈魂的回響。我們要是對天安門孩子的慘號充耳不聞，我們又還何來道德良知？

天安門孩子的悲鳴也是文明的呼喚，叫我們對歷史作反思。沒有錯，有些事情我們是絕不能忘記的，忘記了，我們便滅絕歷史的回響、文明的光輝。不，這一切我們都不能忘記。我們一定要讓歷史把我們教訓為更文明的中國人。

是的，我們要懂得寬恕，我們不能讓歷史的差池變成窒礙前進的包袱。我們可以寬恕，但我們不能忘記。六四的歷史烙印在我們良知之上，我們不能忘記這個恥辱。知恥近乎勇，中國人要是個不知恥的民族，那麼中華民族便是個沒有尊嚴的民族，是一群沒有勇氣面對歷史的懦夫。孩子，我們不僅是為了麵包而活着，我們更是為了尊嚴而活着，這些你都是知道的。

「今日，中國強大了，作為中國人，我們應該感到驕傲才對，何苦自揭瘡疤，讓別人看不起我們？」

孩子，不要相信這些說話。中國並不強大，國家強大，靠的不只是經濟力量，更還要有道德的力量。中國如果真的強大了，便應該有所自重為六四而羞恥，自信地面對瘡疤，謙卑地為過去的暴行懺悔。

今日的中國卻是一副財大氣粗的暴發戶口脗：「當時要不是鎮壓暴動，我們又會有今日的繁榮嗎？」我真的不明白，造就今日繁榮的動力，不是來自經濟開放，來自享有更大的自由的人民嗎？如果殘殺人民可以締造繁榮，那又還用開放嗎？統治者為什麼那麼害怕手無寸鐵的學生？

中共顯然認為經濟繁榮了，老子便大晒。人民有飯吃，那便可以掩飾所有暴行，一切壞事都合理化了起來？孩子，暴發戶會贏得你的尊重嗎？暴發戶可以令一個國家真正強大起來嗎？最近不是有個暴發戶大言不慚地揚言：「我有這許多錢，我怎會做壞事？」這是道理嗎？當然不是，這個你是明白的。

一個民族的核心價值是其文化和精神本質。不懂得反省的民族，又何以建立優良的文化？沒有廉恥，又何來精神力量？沒有文化、沒有廉恥的民族可以強大起來嗎？當然不可能。孩子，我們的中國並不強大。膽怯、自卑不敢面對自己的過去的國家，怎可能是個巨人？

孩子，到有一天你可以面對自己的錯誤，你才真正長大了。中國亦一樣，到有一天中國政府不再害怕人民，敢於面對自己的錯誤，謙卑地向人民懺悔：「對不起，我們錯了。」到那一天，中國才開始強大起來。

孩子，強大的中國是你們這一代人的許諾，你要為六四的恥辱活下去。即使全國為繁榮而奔騰，你也要在黑暗的角落點燃起這火焰。

孩子，你要勇敢啊。

--- 黎智英

Scars.

However forgetful a person is, there are always days, moments, or even a fraction of a moment, that he can never erase from his head. Like bad scars, they are here to stay.

I remember, like it was yesterday, the times back when I was a kid, how my mum would hit me with a rattan when I misbehaved. She would hit me so hard I could see drops of sweat on her face. I didn't know better then, but now I do - it pains me physically when the rattan lands on my thigh, but it pains her heart when she has to whip the rattan on her little girl's chubby thigh. It's the ultimate manifestation of a mother's love.

I remember that day, when I was sitting in the back of the car, dad driving and mum in the front. Driving through the tunnel, I caught a glimpse of myself through the side window of the car, and I saw this sad, soul-less, sunken-cheeked face. Parents collecting their heartbroken daughter home.

I remember that look on his face, even though it lasted for only a split second, that look of indifference, like he didn't care if I was alive or dead. I was disgusted with myself for sinking so low for someone who didn't even give a shit about me. At that moment, I swore I would always, always love myself, no matter what.

I remember every moment of those 10 days in the otherwise ordinary month of May, 2007. Death is inevitable, but God is always in control.

I remember what happened in the early hours of 4 June, 1989.

When you, with all the amazing capacity of a brain, cannot recall a happy moment in your life, you know you either have an extremely miserable life, or that it's time for chocolate icecream. I am going to the fridge now.