Irene--Peace Messenger
irenechsk
read my profile
sign my guestbook

Visit irenechsk's Xanga Site!

Name: Samkee
Country: Hong Kong
Metro: Hong Kong
Birthday: 2/6/1983
Gender: Female


Interests: listening to soft music, writing, hiking, travelling, cooking (in the memory of slo), meeting friends from all around the world
Occupation: Student
Industry: Other


Message: message me
Website: visit my website


Member Since: 5/28/2004

SubscriptionsSites I Read
siubechung
robbie0
flag_boat
macaumojen
ch_wjs
Cynergetics
handsomecoolben
sammi_mi
cheukkiu
moominchan
sikkinch
Teenyburtun
RCCHUN
Eddie_Chow
Elutte
kkskvbw
GodlovesTung
nork_nork
horacelit
serenpandora
LoRrAiNeLoRrAiNe
catcat22
Karwaitje
ChimChimCherree
chupig
zsazsazsu_chloe
AuFei
baobaobaobao
ynfly
Jacquels
hhchun
sheita
kiwidull
Mad_Katter
jason_s_way
henry_ng
cherub_joyce
tingting0114
sumyan

Blogrings
St. Paul's Co-ed
previous - random - next

*~[SPCC Choir]~*
previous - random - next

SPCC 5D (2000 Graduates)
previous - random - next


Posting Calendar

|<< oldest | newest >>|
view all weblog archives

Get Involved!

Suggest a link

Recommend to friend

Create a site

Friday, December 04, 2009

The Afghan debate on facebook

A troop surge can only magnify the crime against Afghanistan

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/nov/30/obama-afghanistan-troops

AM: i admire the courage of this women, but she makes few valid points. the US installed 'warlords and drug traffikers'...who else was there to install, parliamentarians that don't exist, kings that had been in exile for 30 years, or men who ran clothing shops in california until they were summoned back to be governors?
 
 
SC: Two wrongs do not make one right. Why do we accept that the US have the right to "install" a government for the Afghans? Why do we think this occupation by the superpower is justified and legitimate? Why the Taliban is actually gaining more influence in BOTH Afghanistan and Pakistan since the US invaded eight years ago?
If we only live in our own
ideological world which "good" and "evil" are already decided, we will never understand why even the women living under Taliban hate "democracy" so much.

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/faultlines/2009/11/2009111311509163311.html
 
HS:This lady, with all the respect I have for her has no valid point. She has nothing to say but to attack and curse people who are called ‘Warlords’. I doubt that she even knows the meaning of warlord. Courage is not enough if you don’t know what you talking about, when you are repeating yourself over and over…
People, who talk about occupation and what they call it the ‘US installed government’ in Kabul, are more idealistic and emotional rather being realistic and rational. They have no real plan for post US withdrawal from Afghanistan and have no clue what would happen aftermath.
Being anti imperialism or against the hegemonic power of the US shouldn't lead you to be irrational and forget the reality. Afghanistan’s dire reality is not like SOAS anti imperialism and dream inspirer lectures of changing the injustice you see in the World. You need to understand the capability of the Afghan political factions in handling their problems, you need to understand the Afghan protracted dilemma against its bloody and complicated political background, and furthermore, you need to understand the Afghan crisis in a regional context and even global context.
 
ShS: Touching article...the West needs to listen to more people like her. Especially like "We are not a backward people, and we are capable of fighting for democracy...In fact the only way these values will be achieved is if we struggle for them and win them ourselves." It's a real tragedy when people are prevented from fighting their own wars for justice because all the space is occupied by 'two evils'
 
AM: No one is accepting that the US had a 'right' to invade afghanistan and install a government. but debating the moral legitimacy of US action is fairly meaningless when it has already happened, and is not part of a viable present solution, if there is such a thing in Afghanistan. although i admire her, i agree with haseeb when he says that people like her have no plan for post-US withdrawal. Her only solution is to appeal to a mythological third option--'democratic minded parties and intellectuals', who are the 'hope of afghanistan'. these people have no power in Afghanistan, command no troops, control no territory, own no land...and will flee Kabul the moment international patronage ends, as they have done many times before.
 
SC: According to the Commander-in-Chief, what the US and its allies could not "achieve" in the past eight years could somehow be done in the next 18 months--can you imagine the level of violence that will take place for this to "work"? Remember, NATO is sending troops, mercenaries etc--i.e. professional killers. But not 10,000s of doctors, engineers, i.e. people who are actually needed to rebuild this devastated country--apparently this is under the remit of "nation building" and could divert resources and attention from the overarching priority of "security".

The whole issue of US legitimacy is a non-starter to begin with--if anything, the US and its allies have consistently frustrated and crushed Afghan aspirations for democracy and development in the last three decades. Hailing the occupation or expecting something good to come out of it on grounds of "realism" actually betrays a dangerous ignorance of the history and practice of US militarism and its effects on subject populations worldwide. Hundreds of thousands are being killed and maimed in that country to sustain these liberal illusions and fantasies.

Let us remind ourselves that the US and its allies propped up both the Taliban and the motley crew of armed factions that calls itself the Afghan government today. They have been full participants in the oppression of women and homosexuals, the eradication of progressive intellectuals and the monstrous reversal of the country's development since the 1980s. They are the ones who killed off Afghanistan's hope of democracy and development for a generation and more. People should stop fooling themselves that the Kabul government is progressive in any shape or form----the few "progressive" individuals are merely window-dressing for a corrupt illegitimate regime as nasty as the Taliban it is "fighting" against. If anything, Karzai's glorious "re-election" is an object example of the sort of "democratic" legacy the US will be leaving when it leaves that accursed land one day.

The temptation to lean onto existing forces to solve these problems is great, but the beginning of true wisdom lies in a frank recognition of the historical roots of this war and in particular, that of US geopolitical designs in the region. Those who claim opposition to US occupation is tantamount to supporting the Taliban and leaving Afghan "democracy" to its own devises are either demagogic stooges of imperialism (to give them their right name) or letting their goodwill get into the way of cold hard historical facts and a very disturbing reality.
 
MHA: Thanks for linking this article Yosi and a great discussion everyone! As a Canadian whose country is complicit in this "mission," and whose House of Commons has mandated a July 2011 pullout date, I pray for the end of this war and for the Afghan people's unity, strength, and peace.

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK?



Monday, November 30, 2009

跟英國人住

  來英倫念書的朋友,很多都會選擇租住學校宿舍,儘管價錢貴一點,但省卻很多人生路不熟的問題。不過,為了盡量節省開支和較真實的體驗當地生活,我仍是選擇與人分租單位。我非常幸運地在一專為學生尋找租住屋的網址找到了現在的房間──在北倫敦維多利亞時期建的半獨立屋,與另外四人分租,其中三位是英國人。

看過著名的英國十七世紀女作家珍奧丁(Jane Austin)的小說,總會幻想英國人的血液裡會流著非一般的紳士淑女氣質。曾經的日不落帝國,雖然風光不再,但應該還比不少地方發達先進吧。香港被標榜為亞洲的金融中心,但比起倫敦的金融城還差很遠,這裡的金融才俊把握著全球化的命脈,這裡的人生活得應該比其他地方的更有水準吧,我期待著,期待著與文明和高貴握手。沒有什麼比生活在同一屋簷下更能深入交流了,跟三個地地道道的英國人生活過後,我對這裡的「文明」和「高貴」有更深入的體會。

一年內完成碩士課程是項很具挑戰性的任務,在整整一年裡,除了讀書,便是煮食和做家務。預備晚餐成了我每天舒緩壓力的活動,我會好好思量飯菜的配搭和搜尋烹調的方法,從食物中感到滿足和幸福。說實話,本來很少下廚的我現在很會做飯,更愛招呼朋友。我以為英國人對食的要求更高,但同屋的一位英國男生,他每天吃同樣的東西──把雞胸煮熟了,在飯面上加點醬。他只有在星期日才換換口味,吃塊薄牛排。過了兩個月,我忍不住問他怎麼不覺得悶呢,他回答說「我喜歡」。這個男生生活很有規律,早起早睡,定時飲食,愛看重播多年的《老友記》和時下流行的青春劇,直到七點鐘播新聞,他便會關上電視。他在很多香港人入讀的倫敦經濟及政治學院修讀新開的種族歧視學科,希望畢業後當公務員,但他對政治、新聞或民生問題好像都不太感興趣。有一次,電視在播津巴布韋總統莫加比的片段,我便問他對非洲種族問題的意見,他表示這些新聞總令人頭痛,他都不再看新聞了。他的嗜好就是踢足球和與友人到酒吧飲酒,有一次回家後嘔吐大作,地板和洗臉盆都佈滿他的嘔吐物。他回房中呼呼大睡,可我們卻要收拾令人作嘔的洗手間,這一刻,我想不出英國文化怎會有討人歡喜的地方。

住在樓上的英國女孩是全屋年紀最少的,大學畢業後一直在找工作,都六個月了。她對吃的要求更低,買的都是冷凍食品,然後在微波爐裡加熱,有些時候更是不吃。我有時候實在看不過眼,請她一同吃飯,她總是很不好意思但感激的吃了。她的嗜好有點兒不一樣,她每星期總忙著記郵包,每隔幾天便收到大包小包的郵件,原來,她是eBay的常客。她的房間跟我的差不多大,放了一張雙人牀後剩下的空間不多,她的東西總是撒滿一地,很難想像在這房間內能真正的休息。除了看青春劇集,她也愛看週末的X-factor。但最近見到她總是一臉倦容,看電視的勁兒也沒有了。兩個月前她得到了在相等於香港文化中心地方工作的機會,但這是無償的「見習工作」,一個星期工作三天,每天八小時,更要不時籌備和參與晚上的宣傳工作。問過她這頗有名氣的藝術文化中心會否在見習完成後提供就業機會,她表示這機構長期聘請短期的無償實習生,三個月後,她的工作會被另一位無償實習生接替。為了支付在倫敦的生活開支,她每期在博物館兼職工作三天或四天,看她連休息的時間都沒有,我們都心痛,但她卻天真的認為要共渡時艱,說在這經濟衰退時期,她不能期望得到有薪工作;不過,願意共渡時艱的可能只有她,來年的交通費會加百分之二十,水費未來五年的加幅會是歷來之冠,唯一是租金沒有上升。她縛緊的臉兒越來越少展現笑容,可憐的把問題都只怪自己了,這是淑女的寛容,還是無知呢?


Friday, November 27, 2009

管你喜歡不喜歡的馬時亨

http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"> name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12">


前商貿及發展局長馬時亨於去年七月因病請辭,稍稍過了一年多,他便精神煥發地接受中策主席一職,年薪高達350萬,比承諾「做好呢份工」的特首還要多。吸取過梁展文事件的教訓,馬時亨恪守了公務員規定的一年過冷期,合符最基本要求。馬時亨在財經界馳聘多年,在二零零二年七月加入政府前已被稱為"打工皇帝",由銀行分析員做到摩根大通私人銀行亞太區行政總裁,零一年五月更被李澤楷的電訊盈科高薪招攬,現在年薪350萬,跟他以前的工作相比其實並不太高──若果不計算他獲發的花紅和一億持股額。

馬時亨在離開政府前在香港大學的民調得到55%的支持率,不少傳媒和議員給他正面的評價。正值立法會調查梁展文事件,全球經濟衰退的陰霾不絕,香港的貧窮人口越趨增加之時,馬時亨此時的受薪備受批評。他坦言:「如果早知今日有這麼多麻煩,我當時可能未必加入政府。」對,加入政府當高官是麻煩的,成名了,跟明星一樣被傳媒搭上了。不過,這也許是真心話;試問跟他一樣沒有太大的工作壓力而又收著皇帝般收入的人大有人在,為什麼那些人只會被描繪為「成功人士」,他們的發達經驗是「奮鬥之路」,完全沒有什麼「官商勾結」,「利益衝突」之嫌。香港人這樣大細超,看來前馬局長真是入錯行了。

在這件荒謬的事件中,更可笑的是一位大學教授向電視台表示英國政壇鮮有官商勾結嫌疑之事發生,因為退出政府的高官大都返回所屬政黨效力,與商界很少有關係。這樣讚美英國政治清廉的人真罕有,在香港也許比較多,但這教授與事實不符的偉論直叫我目瞪口呆──前英國首相貝利亞在位十年,繼承並發揚保守黨政策,大大放寬金融監管,方便投資銀行横行無忌,為現今的全球金融危機鋪路。他離職後不到半年,便當上了美國投資銀行摩根大通的「高級顧問」,這份半職為他帶來每年超過一百萬英鎊的額外收入。他是第一位與商界這樣有聯繫所以教授看不清嗎?不過貝利亞的前任保守黨馬卓安於九七年離職,一年後也即加入了美國私人資本投資公司(The Carlyle Group),前美國總統大布殊(George H. W. Bush)也是該公司的職員。

馬時亨的離職,患病,康復和復上班,只是說明了他懂得怎樣在現今制度下合法地為個人爭取最大利益,看不過眼的最好認認真真的問個究竟,徹徹底底的找出原因,而非總是盲目的說外國的月亮特別圓,總以「外國的標準」作為最高的道德標準。

 


Thursday, November 26, 2009

英倫的秋天

http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"> name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12">


英倫的秋天,秋意極濃。從家裡走到地鐵站十多分鐘的路途,在這季節的感染下成了黃金大道,片片手掌般大的黃色楓葉洒滿一地。秋天跟人打招呼的方法有所不同,一不提防就被冷風打個照面,晨早醒來的睡意立時全消,秋風送來新的一天,神情特別開朗。

不過,這乾爽愉快的心情,很快便隨著步履急速改變。一踏入倫敦的地鐵,天色驟變,陰暗,塵埃,人群,都不及報告版或廣播器所發出的"問題"通知讓人泄氣,更甚的是,這是常態──每個星期都總不免會有"意外"。擁有超過百年歷史的地鐵,歲月的痕跡俯拾皆是。車箱的毛絨座位,即使被乘客的衣服每天洗擦,那隠隠約約的酸臭味和那因日子久了而變為黑色的疑似香口膠,你不禁想難度車箱也為了保持歷史感而百年不變嗎。倫敦的秋涼可不容忽視,穿上大衣手拿文件袋或皮包的上班族,跟不知好歹拖著行李的遊人爭著擠上那已沒有什麼空間的車箱。每朝都要經過這你死我活的戰役,呼吸著別人的呼吸,即使在寒冬也能擠出汗來,個多小時後終於從隧道裡鑽出頭來,感覺到一天的精力就在這上班的途中耗盡了,再看這刺眼的陽光,你會覺得它燦爛得太不合理。你還顧不及抬頭多看,快遲到了,你不得不加快腳步奔回公司,秋天有多美,這也與你無關。


Friday, September 25, 2009

Change




T: "We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person." Quote from William Somerset Maugham.


C: "Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity." Quote from Immanuel Kant's Answering the Question: What is Enlightenment?, a good piece of work indeed. Hope that we change because we are continually enlightened but not being gradually assimilated. If the reality sometimes seems too distant, let's hold on to our books--books that keep our mind young and vivid; books that give us hope and passion for life; books that remind us our reasons to live and live in dignity.

"It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person."

Love me. :)







Next 5 >>

<bgsound src="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/html/media/200802/25/2025477da86b05c478.mp3" loop="infinite">