HK Chief Executive – Public Opinion Poll Results

Couldn’t let this go un-posted
Results of the mock-poll organized by the Public Opinion Programme of the University of Hong Kong.

Blank votes：121,580 (54.6%)
Leung Chun-ying：39,614 (17.8%)
Henry Tang：36,226 (16.3%)
Albert Ho：25,452 (11.4%)
Total number of votes: 222,872

Without a doubt, this is a powerful statement by the Hong Kong public in support of universal suffrage and against the existing system of selecting the Chief Executive. Electors should be wary of ignoring such public opinion.

HK Chief Executive Election – 19/3/2012 Forum

I hesitate to call this one a debate… mostly cause it isn’t. Last time was. This time it isn’t. Sure they are trying to out compete each other. But a forum without the ability to respond directly to each other can never become a debate. But here it is anyways.

HK Chief Executive Election 16/3/2012 Debate

For those who either weren’t in Hong Kong, or missed the debate, here’s the full Chief Executive Election Debate held on the 16th of March, 2012.

East vs West – Education Systems

One of the most balanced and reasonable articles I have read on China.org for a long time, commenting on the educational systems in China and the US.

From http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/2012-01/23/content_24455525.htm

Learning to be more like each other
By Ma Yingyi, January 23, 2012

Today, we are faced with the fascinating paradox which sees Chinese students flocking to American schools and universities in the belief that the American education system is superior; whilst American educators and the public deplore the problems with their own education system and are looking to China in order to seek a better education for their children. This search is principally a result of the considerably higher test scores of Chinese students in international assessments.

MIDWAY – A message to the world

The MIDWAY media project is a powerful visual journey into the heart of an astonishingly symbolic environmental tragedy. On one of the remotest islands on our planet, tens of thousands of baby albatrosses lie dead on the ground, their bodies filled with plastic from the Pacific Garbage Patch. Returning to the island over several years, our team is witnessing the cycles of life and death of these birds as a multi-layered metaphor for our times. With photographer Chris Jordan as our guide, we walk through the fire of horror and grief, facing the immensity of this tragedy—and our own complicity—head on. And in this process, we find an unexpected route to a transformational experience of beauty, acceptance, and understanding.

Hong Kong people feel more Hong Kong

Since going to UWC Atlantic College, I’ve been faced with having to explain the distinction between coming from Hong Kong and coming from China. It is, in all honesty, a small distinction, but one that many people in Hong Kong hold dear. With all the problems now associated with China, it seems hardly a surprise that HK people now attempt to distinguish and distance themselves from the social and political upheaval just across the boarder.

The SCMP recently reported on the 29th of December 2011 that

Despite increasing economic integration, locals are viewing themselves more strongly as Hongkongers rather than Chinese citizens than at any time in the past decade, a survey has found.
The poll asked 1,016 city residents to rank the strength of their feelings as “Hong Kong citizens” on a scale from zero to 10, and found an average rating of 8.23 points, a 10-year high.
Asked the same question about their identity as “Chinese citizens”, the average rating was 7.01 points, a 12-year low. The poll was conducted from December 12-20.

For me, the more convincing explanation of this statistical result is given by Dr. James Sung:

Political scientist Dr James Sung Lap-kung said the weakening local sense of a “Chinese citizen” identity could be tied to a wide range of factors to do with China’s diplomatic relations as well as social and economic developments.

The recent Wukan protest over confiscated farmland, and demonstrations over a proposed power plant in Haimen , Guangdong, could have affected Hongkongers, Sung said. The small-circle chief executive election might also weaken people’s sense of engagement, making them believe Beijing was exerting its influence over the city, he said.

How to cope with China’s Great Firewall

OK. I must admit I personally have absolutely no idea how to cope behind China’s Great Firewall. My experiences with it have been far and few, except a few attempts to access emails for the WSDC 2011 motions last summer. But regardless, this is still a cool infographic by G+ on what goes on in China.

From http://mashable.com/2011/11/30/china-social-networking/

Advocating Climate Change

Couldn’t agree more with The Economist’s analysis of how to approach the climate issue.

From http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/10/next-steps-climate-change

At Duck of Minerva, Josh Busby, a political scientist at the University of Texas, looks at two alternatives: “Get Angry” or “Go Right”. The first would involve a more voluble environmental movement as a counterweight to the fractious climate sceptics (who are, keep in mind, the minority)—a sort of “Green Tea Party” organised around such issues as the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. The second strategy would involve building the coalition by reaching out to Republicans, by focusing on the potential economic benefits of a shift to clean power, for example, or the national-security implications of dependence on oil imports.

Should children run marathons?

There are usually age limits at large-scale races. But just 30 years back, children did run marathons, they even competed in the New York Marathon, one of the biggest and busiest marathons in the world. Wesley Paul did it when he was 7, Scott Black did it when he was 9, so too did Howie Breinan – all in the 1970s.

Most competitions will try to organize events especially for children for example fun-runs that are just 5km long. But rarely do they get to compete at the full marathon distance – not withstanding the question of why on earth someone would choose to torture themselves like this.

Interestingly, neither Paul, Black nor Breinan have run the New York City Marathon since the 1980s. They all sustained injuries before they were 20 and then concentrated on their studies. Only Breinan still competes in long-distance trail runs.

When I visited Xiamen for my first ever 10km, I caught the bus back to the finishing line for Marathons in time to see a young girl, probably less than 10 years old, crossing the finishing line accompanied by her father. News reports later said that this wasn’t her first nor was it her last marathon. In fact, it was part of a series of marathons that she was preparing to do.

The way I see it, there’s no reason to stop a person from running, whatever age they are. But, marathons are something that should be age restricted. First, it is detrimental to the body to have to endure so much strenuous effort, especially at a young age. And second, the competitive and carnival atmosphere and environment just isn’t safe for a little 9 year old to run around in no matter how fast they are. In fact, the New York Times reports that Paul, Black and Breinan all had injuries, probably linked to their marathons and training.

If you’re interested, see the New York Time’s feature on Child Runners: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/sports/27marathon.html?pagewanted=all

Misinterpreted Emoticons

An interesting episode reported on by the New York Times that serves as a reminder to be careful when sending messages digitally.

Emoticons can produce another layer of confusion, however: they don’t always read the same way across different technical interfaces. “In the text function of my BlackBerry there is a sidebar menu of emoticons (how ridiculous is that?) that shows the yellow smiley faces, except they are also crying and raging, and winking and blowing kisses, etc.,” Dr. Bates wrote. “I sent a fairly new acquaintance a ‘big hug’ emoticon — which, for the record, was ironic. But anyway, on his iPhone it came up with the symbols, not the smiley face, which don’t look anything like a big hug. From his perspective they look like a view of, er, splayed lady parts: ({}).“He then ran around his lab showing colleagues excitedly what I had just sent him. Half (mostly men) concurred with his interpretation, and the others (mostly women) didn’t and probably thought he was kind of a desperate perv.”

From http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/fashion/emoticons-move-to-the-business-world-cultural-studies.html