艱難

圖示的是日本經濟產業省的招聘海報，簡單的一句：「這可能是日本最艱難的工作。」我心裡嗔笑﹣他們真不知道甚麼是艱難。

艱難是，掩蓋良心指鹿為馬。

艱難是，明明是不合理，不公義的事，面對它卻要左顧右盼有口難言。

艱難是，說服自己經濟騰飛比人性光輝重要。

相比起這些，要復興日本經濟又有何難?

如果你有這能耐，請加入成為香港的管治班子。

The rainbow will last

Few weeks back, Obama announced his formal approval for gay marriage and it got me thinking how far we have come in moving to recognize the rights of every individuals in this country. From race to gender and now, we are starting to nullify the differences in sexual orientation. Truth to be told I never thought deep into this issue as marriage itself does not appeal to me as necessity - isn't "civil union" just fine? I mused. Then it occurred to me that many in the past might as well have thought voting is not a necessity and passed on female voting. Despite how I see myself as a liberal, my view on these so-called sensitive issues, was to a very large extent shaped by the mainstream media. And now, thanks to Obama, i have come to see the need to approve, and embrace gay marriage in our society if we were to call our country the land of freedom.
 
A pretty timely coincidence was that Anthony Wong from the alternative band Tat Ming Pair in Hong Kong publicly came out as gay around the same time. As if he was some rare species, the reaction of Hong Kong media and society was just outright disgusting. His sexuality immediately became his totality, and his musical talent and contribution to the entertainment industry was wiped at once. And looking around in Japan, it still amazes me that how this country, despite its emphasis on "fitting in", has had a unique take on LGBT. Just to name some examples, many probably know about the "boy love" comic book series and moreover, one could frequently see transsexuals and men dressed in women apparel appear on regular variety shows. I think they are unimaginable in the Hong Kong entertainment scene. Outside of entertainment though, the subject is still largely muted in social discourse and therefore, I would not say Japan is a more tolerant society than that of Hong Kong but in the very least, its "subculture" has opened up another channel for the less-represented groups to become full human.

散談浪漫

中大校長沈祖堯道：「人生是應該浪漫的，做大學生是應該浪漫的」。一個獲譽無數的醫師學者，想必一開口便學術理論滔滔，卻像藝術家般談起浪漫﹣ 在香港這個不能夠更現實的城市，這句話本身已很浪漫。

香港人甚麼事也太匆忙，只談生存不談生活。但其實我覺得香港人是可以很浪漫的，尢其在大是大非前「要搵食」沒有成為我們不去尋找公義的藉口。每年這個春夏交換的時候，我總告訴自己下年如果身在香港我一定會出席集會，然後暗暗嘆氣。我不知道這嘆喟代表了我這十一年來都在外國的慚愧，還是痛心於強國慢慢變成為小說1984裡的反智國度。

環顧現在身處的學校，當身近的人都為進入博士學程而刻苦學習的時候，我經常會想：知識會讓我成為一個像沈教授般浪漫的賢者嗎。答案是否定的。如果知識只能讓我在學問上長足但沒有令我的收養進步，那即是說我就算成為教授也沒有打動學生的能力。大概這只是我給自己不溫習而走來寫blog的藉口，但我相信一個學者沒有賢者之風的話，他遠遠來不及一個對社會有承擔的15歲中學生。