7 days left to seal the deal

Is there hope in Hopenhagen?

Hong Kong people have had a taste of extreme weather in the last year or two. An extremely cold February last year (with the temperature being below 12 degree Celsius for more than twenty consecutive days) followed by the hottest February on record this year. Again, this year, the hottest August and September on record are followed by the coldest November on record. The average temperature between January and September this year is also the highest on record.

But the worst is yet to come, according to the Hong Kong Observatory. They predict that the extreme weather resulting from global warming and greenhouse gases will intensify. Before the century is over, there would be four droughts in which rainfall is expected to be only half the average level, and there will be hugely destructively typhoons coming to Hong Kong.

There is a website called Hopenhagen which has been set up in response to the climate change conference to take place in Copenhagen in 8 days' time. For many people, the question is how much hope we have in the positive solutions being reached in the conference, or how much hope humans have before the tipping point is reached at all.

According to today's Gospel (Luke 21:25-28), the answer is an emphatic 'yes'. Close as we are to the situation where "on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves", Jesus made this great promise:

"And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand."

Purr-fect exploitation

As if it's something that needs to be proved by research evidence.

Researchers at the University of Sussex have recently "discovered" that cats "exploit" humans by using a "soliciting purr" to garner attention and food. What the research did was to train cat-owners to record both the "soliciting" and "non-soliciting" purrs of their cats. The recordings were played to volunteers, who found the "soliciting" purrs more pressing and less pleasing, and this pestering purr often convinced beleaguered pet lovers to give them what they want.

But do we really need this research study to tell? Ask us us who have our cats lording over us. Try closing the bedroom door and shutting those Lords of the House out, for instance, and see how you can bear with their protests!

What's in a name

I recently have some business dealing with a rather powerful woman with a distinctly masculine name. While I was impressed by her candor and directness, I also wondered the extent to which that personality has had to do with the name. There was that secondary school classmate of mine who had a girl's name and to this day he still walks and talks in a very sissy way. I think such personality or peculiarity is not so much the outcome of the spell cast by those words in the name as the effect of socialisation. After all, names are given by parents and thus largely reflect the expectation parents project on the child. It is very unlikely then that this expectation moulds the way they bring up the child.

Apart from that secondary school classmate, I had a primary school classmate who was also a victim of her name or whatever the name encompassed. Many older generation Chinese people liked to have sons rather than daughters. If to their disappointment they give birth to yet another girl, they may give her a name like 'calling son', 'beckoning brother', etc. Apart from sounding ridiculous, such a name also gives the cruel message to the girl that 'it's not you we want'. And it is such a name that my primary school classmate had to live with.

She was a brilliant student, and my main rival on the academic side. Once our English teacher held a competition where those with five dictation full marks in a row would win a prize. After four dictations, 'Calling Son' and I were the only ones left to qualify. I can never forget how it hurt when after the fifth one, I was given only 98 marks because of a stupid punctuation mistake I made and she went on to claim the coveted prize! Despite her academic success, she didn't seem happy. She was much too serious and reserved for a young girl and there was hardly any smile on her face. Could it be that she had an unhappy family life, I didn't know.

Her parents got what they wanted - a son, whom they named 'Celebrating Son'. As he went to the same primary school as mine, I was able to see what a spoiled brat he was. A stark contrast to her speckless sister.

Obviously, it's more than the name itself that shapes the person.

You'll never walk alone

When you walk through a storm hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of a storm is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never, ever walk alone.

Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never, ever walk alone.

Life Without Limbs

The guy in this picture looks pretty normal, but people who have heard of him, Nick Vujicic, will know that he is a man without limbs. It doesn't take much imagination to see how difficult his life is. Just think about how you can no longer do almost everything you normally can do. For most people, this surely isn't a life worth living.

So it's amazing that someone who is so disabled not only has overcome the crippling handicap but also become a source of inspiration and motivation for many through sharing his story. But of course it hasn't been all plain sailing. At the tender age of 10, he was so depressed after being bullied at school that he started contemplating suicide. It was only when his mother showed him a newspaper article about a man dealing with a severe disability that he realised he wasn't the only one with major struggle. He began to thank God for being alive, and he started to devote his life to spreading God's good news. Incredibly, this person with no arms and legs is striving to become financially independent - by doing television shows, writing books and producing DVDs.

His life and achievement certainly challenge us able-bodied people to reflect on our own lives. How much more should we be able to achieve with our agility and strength if only we would put our mind to it!

Au revoir, l'automne (2)