Dean Gifford

I threw away 2 bags of children toys this evening. I keep the kiwi bird and the 2 doggies because they mean something to me.

The doggies were given to my children by Wellington Policy constable Mr. Dean Gifford when my family was in great distress in mid 1999. Dean was a nice young constable serving at Lower Hutt Policy Station at that time. The 2 doggies were not particularly cute. The children ‘s mother asked me to throw them away a few times but I did not. I told myself if one day I went to Wellington, I should thank Dean in person for helping my family. 

  

The kiwi bird was bought for the children at the airport on the day the family moved back from NZ to HK in Feb 2000. I keep it in the family for our identity.

The children were 3 and 2 when they came to HK. In two months’ time, they will be 20 and 19. There is nothing left in the family because the family has long gone. So was senior policy constable Dean Gifford.  Dean died from a brain tumor in Wellington on 23/08/2012. I was very sad to have known Dean passed away at his prime age.

Dean Gifford will always be in my mind though he is no longer around.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/the-wellingtonian/7540280/Inspiring-Wellington-policeman-dies

http://www.tributes.co.nz/ViewMyListing.aspx?id=8181

夜夜念奴嬌

For those that are as “young” as me may remember Gene Wilder 積·懷德 and  Lando Buzzanca 蘭度·布山卡。They were both film comedians. Gene Wilder passed away this year, whereas Lando Buzzanca is still alive and healthy.

I believe Gene’s best movie was “Young Frankenstein 新科學怪人”. I have seen that movie a few times. I almost forgot Lando Buzzanca, however I would never forget his film “my darling slave 夜夜念奴嬌”.

“My darling slave” was released in Hong Kong in 1973 when I was a secondary school (form 4) student. The impression was particularly deep because at school we just learnt 大江东去浪，then there was the movie 夜夜念奴嬌, though it had no relationship to SuDongBo’s famous poem 念奴嬌. Although the actress was topless in the film, it was a very interesting film in those days. Good news is, this film will be available on YouTube in 4K on 6/01/2017.  Any old boy wishes to recall their old memory may just go see by then.

我不是潘金蓮

最近看過一部國産電影叫“我不是潘金蓮”，引發我一些聯想。

故事是說一個在農村有房的婦女和在城內工作的丈夫約定辦假離婚，待丈夫在單位裡面分配到房之後，他們再復合。誰知道丈夫分到的房子後，就和另外一個女人結了婚。

這個婦女覺得受騙，受到寃屈，所以她就去法院告她的前夫。但是因為她們是遁正規手續辦理離婚的，所以法庭判她們的離婚是正式的，有效的。家庭糾紛，法庭也理不清誰是誰非。

她覺得法官偏袒她前夫。她就去村，縣，市，省，一級一級的告上去，可是每一處都是維持原判。她更覺得是受了寃，連村，縣，市，省等各官員都一起告上去，牽起一連串風波，甚至要買兇殺掉那些“偏袒”她前夫的人。

故事其它不說了，我覺得這電影很寫實，寫實在中國人的心。共產培育下中國人的心，特別是女人。他們不會理事情本身的實質，誰是誰非，輕重，更不會從對方那方面想。只要誰不順她們的意就是她們的敵人，仇人，要用最嚴厲的方法對付，要殺掉他們，甚至用只有女人才想到的狠毒手段來報復。假如她們找到途徑的話，報復，殺人，傷天害理，她們會直幹，天經地義的殺人完全不當做一回事，那會考慮人家也有父母妻兒。

再看看那些男人，從那個婦女去找前夫理論的片段，很寫實地顯示中國男人的無恥。從他們的簡單對話可以見到，女人的前夫不單不承認自己負義，而且還當眾爆私隱，扣帽子，羞辱前妻，令前妻極度難堪無地自容。如果對方沒話柄，他們會捏造，胡扯，亂扣帽子，兼且誣陷對方為自己的行為合法化，因為已經不是說對錯的時候，而是在攻擊對方，連消帶打，令對方忙於為誣告自辯，根本無法取回公道，正中了對方下懷。但其實講到無賴，男人女人都一樣，女人可能更厲害。基本上誰絕情，誰更加無恥誰佔上風。電影中顯示得很清楚。在中國共產社會鬥爭生活了幾十年的中國人，深明此道。今日的中國人，已經不是在禮義之邦下成長的人，他們可以極度自私，狠毒，喪盡天良，不惜一切，只圖利己，這是現代人的寫照。更甚的是，他們絕對不會為自己做的壞事抱半點悔意，而是總覺得打擊對方不夠，心有不甘。當年薛福成所謂“唯恐不盡其類焉”，可就是這個意思吧。現今世代，狠心得道，良心零價。

上述的現象在中國很普遍，很多人無論是男是女，一個不高興，他們覺得是人家虧待了他們，心裡面就想對方死。那管人家曾經如何幫助他們，他們拿取了人家多少恩惠。

寄语大方人，認清不同社會下成長的怪胎。你要他們吃點小虧，他們會要你用命來抵償。

抱負

（ 本文发布于2016年10月25日  我的个人facebook ）

最近在香港最轟動的無過是新一屆立法會議員宣誓風波。十月十九日有朋友問我看法。我無政治立場，不過，如是見聞，略書一二。我的回答是（對於兩位侯任議員的評論）：第一，本身非清操冰雪之士。第二，犯下大禍自知理虧，還厚顏無耻胡扯，是無擔當的人，人格和品格上上了歪路。第三，要露鋒芒，標奇立異，走歪路（就像不脫難以上位），未入局已身先死，自毀政治前途，辜負眾望。 

我所說非清操冰雪的意思是: 你邀請他們去日本你估佢地去不去？當然是去！我絕對唔相信佢兩位從未去過日本。

從所見他們是有智商有情商但就係要搞對抗，要失足。你估真係可以當亞爺無到。亞爺方面最重要是要他們維持現狀，與人憤慨，全城唾罵，但群眾千祈唔無打他們，不然便給他們頭上有了光環。台灣亞扁就是最好的例证。

十月二十五日，在電視新聞看到CY梁評論以司法覆核阻止他們當議員宣誓。As I said before they did not have 擔當。 If they did and considered the big picture， they would have apologised and lessened the damage to themselves and their party。 The following is extracted from one of my blogs in 2011：在民選的政治人物立場，他們對這些事態也非常克制，因為處理不好，非但得不到活動的目的，更甚者失去民眾的支持和日後的選票。個人榮辱事小，不利自已的政黨和失卻支持，便無從組織政府及施展政治抱負。所以不得不克制，越高層次的就更深諳此道。 

兩位年輕民選侯任議員要出位是令其失去議席的基本原因。以他們的學歷，資歷，政治理念，社會經驗等等，社會上較他們優勝的不缺乏，或許真是時勢才令他們在選舉中勝出。他們當然不會承認是僥倖，所以他們完全不懂愛惜羽毛和珍惜較一般人來之不易的機會。他們缺乏政治經驗，不懂什麼是政治但卻與人口實。我敢信他們沒法宣誓成為議員

曹白 Chinese Herrings

曹白(Cao Bai or Chinese Herrings) is a type of white silver scale herring; marine, found inshore, semi-enclosed sea areas and fresh water; able to tolerate lowered salinities.

曹白鹹魚 (Cao Bai Salt Fish) - was originally produced in Hong Kong. As the local catches have become rare, now mostly imported from Bangladesh.

There are two popular species for Chinese salt fish production.

1. Ilisha elongata (or Ilisha),

available in East Asia coast from Soviet's Peter Great Bay to Bay of Bengal and Java Sea.

2. Dussumieria acuta,

available in Indo-Pacific from Persian Gulf, India and Malaysia to Indonesia and the Philippines.

The one pictured here is a fresh water Cao Bai from Yuen Long River of Hong Kong, priced at HK$600 per catty ~ 604 grams, those that are from Bangladesh usually priced at HK$480 per catty.

Gourmets prefer the Hong Kong local catches though it is dearer. The common way is to fry in low temperature until golden brown, and then add sugar and brown vinegar to suit individual taste. Gourmets always love Cao Bai. Once tasted, you would have no regrets in life.

Smart TVs

Large Screen TVs are getting thinner and cheaper. Last week I visited my friend's home in ZhongShan, China PRC. He has a large basement floor for entertainment for a 120" HD projector and HI-FI equipment. He will have a 65" smart TV on the ground floor.

My 50" smart TV looks small compared to my friend's. I bought my new 50" TV 2 weeks ago and I have not fully tested it yet. At of present, the Android system on smart TV seems to have some limitations comparing to Desktop systems. There are 2 important ones that I guess most people may not be aware before they do their purchases.

1. For China brand smart TVs such as skyworth and Hisense etc., they have disabled the google play app. You can install it on your smart TV but it will not function. You need to use the China make apps instead of google's.

2. The browsers designed for Android are all mobile based. Their browser screen display resolution is less than 800 * 600. If you want to make use of your 2K+ resolution for 1920 * 1080 (i.e. see more contents of the web page), you may be disappointed! That means even you have a large screen, you are limited to the display of a phone screen because Android was designed for phone so as its browsers.

To overcome problem 1, you can buy a non-China make one such as Jap or US.

To overcome problem 2, you can use a PC/notebook connected to your large TV with HDMI cable. If your PC/notebook does not have an HDMI outlet, you can add a VGA/HMDI converter. 

I tried it out with my notebooks. My TV has 2 connections: 1 with a Toshiba (black) notebook with HMDI. Another 1 (silver)has a VGA outlet connected with a VGA/HDMI converter. Both work fine on the large TV with good browser contents. So don't throw your old notebook away. For additional comfort, you can add wireless mouse and keyboard and sit back. I do that so that I don't need to wear glasses on small screen even though I have presbyopia. (my sitting room is messy as I am cleaning up my stuff).

十連勝

上週末晚上過大海，九時半抵永x，直到早上七點半才離開賭枱，玩足十小時，沒有觀光。

我往澳門目的只有一個，是賭錢。但不是一般的賭，是想在賭抬上求證，能否以壹佰圓贏十萬塊。道理很簡單，以壹佰元下注，勝了連本​​帶利押下去，連勝十回，便有十萬。這是我所說的十連勝。

最快的方法是玩押骰寶，俗稱買大小。不過澳門賭場大細枱一般是五百元，最細銀碼的抬也要三百。能容許買大小每注下一百元的，我想只有輪盤。輪盤的大細雙單最低注碼是一百，只在永x才有。

目標既定，隨後便是執行。我拿本金二千元，每次下一百塊，勝了就本利全押出去，直到本金用完。不過這策略在當晚很快就行不通，因為很快便負了二千一百元。

我不得不改變策略，利用寫下的紀錄來碰運，我買點數奇準，整晚中了不下十次，包括大小全吃的‘０’號，一賠三十五。我買 '０’號 是全抬只是我的一個單註，已沒有其他客人，就是一注中的。幾位荷官都問我是不是真的有方法計出結果，我說沒有，只不過我不計算便不懂下注。我單是玩十連勝一開始便輸了二千多元，全靠買點數羸回來。我每次下一至兩個籌碼，所以要計—輪才能下注。到後期我已賺回籌碼，最高勝六仟多元。有了本錢，氣勢就好多了，從新再下十連勝，以我先前七八個小時的記錄為藍本作機械式下注，每次勝出疊加，只重次數，不理枱上註碼，效率奇高，只不過仍未能十連勝，但創有連續七連勝。 （當勝出第四連勝時，荷官便不接受超過壹千五百元的注碼）。我後來檢討過，如果不是因自己買點數和買大小有抵觸，當晚是有機會十連勝的。

大賭場如金沙，銀河，葡京等都好像沒有輪盤了，因為開輪盤的時間長，賺錢遠遜於大細。永x也從年前的五十元改為一百元。我比較喜歡永x，因為客人不會太多。

What you need to know about late check-in in China domestic airports

What you need to know about check-in in most China domestic airports when you are late.

If you are late for your flight, most airlines will help you do check-in as quickly as possible. However, this is not the case for China airlines, in particular the notorious China Southern Airlines (they can trick you because you are in the land that they play the “China Characteristic” services under their sovereignty).

Supposed you are late for just a couple of minutes, says, 40 minutes before your flight departure (45 minutes is their norm). You go to the check-in counter asking for check-in even though you don’t have baggage with you and you would not cause any delay to the flight.  The check-in staff will not issue any boarding pass to you. They will write down your details on a piece of paper and tell you take the paper to a particular counter for assistance. This is the trick -  they pose an expectation to the passenger that someone would help her/him get on board so the passenger would not stay in the check-in counter demanding boarding pass issued. When the passenger gets to that counter, she/he needs to queue up for services. This would use up quite a bit of their time. When it gets to their turn, she/he would not be served for the boarding, but would be offered their expensive “airport price” ticket for the next available flight.  In such a way, they eliminate your chance to get on board because they further delay your boarding time and also invalidate your original ticket. 

Good luck to those travel on China airlines.

客服

早前於3月24日，開業了34年的香港關鍵旅遊，突然全線結業，盡管其管理層透露種種不利原因令到該公司難以繼續經營，筆者覺得其經營方式才是其致命因由。

筆者對它的結業無半點惋惜，反覺得它是咎由自取。自2007年起，筆者國內遊都是參加關鍵，亦在旅遊途中認識了不少朋友。和筆者一樣，這些朋友都是環境不錯的退休人士。曾經有一次，單是我們這些朋友組成的團便有二十多人。我在2011年也參報它的長短線團近五次之多，其中長線團包括東北，九寨溝和雲南。當朋友陸續不用關鍵的時候，筆者依然樂於參與。其中一個重要原因是他們接受單人報團而不額外收費。

好像是從2010年起，關鍵強制所有參加它旅遊團的團員必定要買它的旅遊保險，和強制團員參與自費項目，假若團員不參加它的自費項目，領隊和導遊便會在旅程途中施以顏色。

其實一直以來，關鍵都是以低團費作招徠，這點無可厚非。但以關鍵的品牌和廣大客戶羣及客戶的忠誠度，它不用走這路線。為了以低團費吸引客人，旅程接待單位質素相對下降，使不少希望有質素的客戶摒棄。關鍵為增加收入，強制團員購買它的旅遊保險。那就是説即使個別團員已買了其它的旅行 保險也還是必需再與關鍵購買。購買保險原不過是為一個“萬一”，誰也不想在高高興興的旅遊期間發生意外。假若意外不幸發生，兩份保險也只能有一份的賠償。那為何已有還要為你關鍵再買一個？這明明是赤裸裸的掠奪，要客戶單純的付出。我多次和他們表示過希望他們考慮增加團費，如能保證質量，忠誠的客戶會願意接受，勝過左道旁門。當然這些建議不被接納。關鍵這種左道像有傳染性的，香港大小旅行社紛紛仿效，影響香港旅行社的口碑和商譽致巨。

我常出外旅遊，說到航空公司服務低劣，首推國內航空公司，特別是南航。比方客人因事晚點，它們不單不幫忙客人盡快辦登機手續，它們還故意拖延，做出各種偽善和假服務，視客人為被它們屠宰的傻佬。舉一個簡單的例子，當乘客遲了數分鐘辦登機手續, 即使那乘客沒攜行李，絕對不會延誤航班。他們首先就振振有詞的説客人誤點，不替客人辦登機證。然後用字條寫下乘客的資料，叫乘客拿字條往某一個櫃檯找幫忙。就這樣，辦登機部門便完成了不替乘客辦理登機的暗指令。當客人往到那個櫃檯找幫忙時，希望能登上原本班機。但往往需要輪候一段時間，當輪候到時，那櫃檯職員不會替客人辦登機，而是向客人銷售昂貴的其它班次機場票。客人到此才知給航空公司耍弄，已經再沒有時間和登機部門理論。就這樣，航空公司廢了客人的票，要客人從新購買昂貴的機場票。即使客人不願意購買，航空公司也不會虧一分一毛。相反，國內航空公司晚點或誤點，它們會為它們的問題向客人賠償嗎？應該從未聽過吧。上例只是它們眾多“服務”的冰山一角，其它不勝枚舉。所以，非不得爾時，我是絕對不會乘國內航空公司，特別是南航。

有朝一日，假如南航結業，我不會為它惋惜，更會拍手稱興。

What A Shit!

For most people experienced in basic computer system building knowing that the most common functions for a system are to capture data, amend data, and delete data. Agree?

However, did you know there is a great organization, the largest of its kind in Hong Kong, their systems do not function this way. What they have is only data capture function, but short of amendment and deletion, not to mention the luxury of “insertion”.

What the F!! is this organisation?
It is HK Jockey Club’s mark six system.

Supposed you want to buy your lucky bet multiple times, say for 30 rounds (about 10 weeks as normally 3 runs a week), you then go to their system to enter your lucky numbers. So their wonderful system captures your bet happily and things also go happily especially you did not win. However in the middle of your rounds, say round 10, you notice the captured numbers were not the ones you wanted (either you entered the numbers wrongly or the system captured the numbers wrongly – just do not rule out any possibility!) So you call up HKJC customer services and ask for an update. What you will get:

1. No! Our system does not allow update or delete. If you ask why, they will answer just “no” again.

2. If you ask for remedy, they will tell you to buy your bet again. [If you don’t have more money, congratulations and good for you, this saves you from indulging in gambling, but don’t cry if it turns out your desired numbers subsequently!]

3. If you think it is not fair and ask why not allowing update or delete, all casinos do as long as the subsequent rounds have not been started. They will say if amendment is allowed, it is violated the principle of multiple times because multiple times mean you want the numbers to run thru the multiple times. Oops! You can see the nice use of PRINCIPLE to cover up their inflexibility of their system.

There are more non-senses …..

Many users find their user interface (UI) extremely unfriendly. For example, they have a function called “drawn number checking 核對中獎號碼”. I would expect this were to give you the prize amount when you enter your numbers (as it is obvious that a lot of people would have checked whether or not they win). But interestingly, it is to show you the match results in the past 60 days. See the diagram below




I just wonder how many people have the intelligence to understand the function and how many will use it.

Anyway, it is a monopoly. Even they give you shit you will still bet.