馬克龍訪華 Macron's visit to China

我很佩服法國總統馬克龍的魄力, 他在任內從事不少的改革, 希望把法國從舊有的浪漫福利歲月回歸現實。 每次改革都受到保守民眾勢力的極大阻撓, 但他仍是一次一次不懈的冒著觸犯眾怒下台的大違，没停止改革。 作為國家最高領導人, 他不能不改革, 因為他面對的是即將瀕臨破產的退休金帳戶, 是連繫著國內千萬人的切身利益。 改革意味著犧牲既得利益者的利益，遇到龐大的反對聲勢是可想而知。

西方的退休金制度運行多年, 早在二三十年前已預見人口老化和年輕勞動人口不足的問題, 當時的策略都是見步行步, 或者留待下任解決。 但是現在問題已是燃眉, 真正嚴峻的時候, 因為距二次大戰結束後嬰兒潮出生的至今已全是退休人士, 加上醫療進步, 人均長壽。 面對龐大的退休人口和相對低的勞動人口, 每個國家都面對著無可逃避的現實，法國也不例外。 作為總統的馬克龍, 不得不作出實際行動, 挽救瀕臨破產的退休金帳戶。

為了轉移國民視線和爭取實質的收入, 馬克龍不得不投向實質強大的貿易夥伴中國, 這是馬克龍訪華的實質。 馬克龍希望此行出訪中國, 能給法國帶來商機和實資的經濟回報, 同時希望藉此挽回聲譽和争取國民對他的支持。 相信西方國家會陸續跟隨馬克龍的路線。

common british cars

I am a car layman. When people talk about cars, they talk about the big names such as Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Porsche, Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, Bentley etc..

In my youth, I was happy as long as I had something that could move me on the road. My time in the UK allowed me to eye-witness many common cars that had risen and set with the British Empire.

Don't know how many of the below you can still remember:

Vauxhall and its Bedford line (Bedford was once dominating the HK buses). If my friend Anthony Yung sees this blog, he will not forget he once owned a Vauxhall Viva.

Triumph - Triumph Toledo was many people's love in the 70s.

Leyland - British Leyland was dominating the Britis motor market in the 70s & 80s because it was merged by many brand names(Kowloon Motor Bus bought a lot of Leylands)

Morris - the symbol of British small cars. Morris Minors and Minis, especially Mini is still having lots of fans around the globe.

Austin  - 1100/1300, Mini Metro, Oxford (london black Taxi). I once owned an Austin 1100 in 1980.

MG - famous for its sport cars in James Bond movies

Wolseley 1100/1300 - exactly the same as Austin 1100/1300 but Wolseley has a vertical radiator grille in its front rather than horizontal in Austin.

Hillman - Hillman Hunter and Hillman Avenger were popular on our campus

Riley  - Riley was positioned between MG and Wolseley and most Riley models resembled Austin/Morris. Once ususally can't tell the differences until they see the marque.

                           

One may ask what drives me write this blog? it was a Hong Kong Movie named 少女懷春 (1963) actors: 丁瑩 | 張儀 | 羅蘭 | 李克.  李克 was a handsome guy on the big screen for a short period. You may not recognise his name 李克, however, you may still remember the nicked name 「白頭陳」 陳曜旻 who had news headline affairs with 章小蕙 (鍾鎮濤 前妻） between 1996 and 1999.

you can see a lot of old british cars in that movie. These british old models gave way to the Japanese when it came to the 70s. You propbably cannot see any of them on the road nowsdays.