Wednesday 28 September 2011

小说 “笙歌” 第七章 之(2)“情為何物(上)”


第七章  之(2)“情為何物(上)”
兩個漁翁相聚,一定談魚說蝦。
運動員碰頭,說的不是訓練心得,便是體壇花絮。
但情人通常都不會研究愛情本質。
瑞涯來個例外,宋笙竟然把愛情比喻地深吸力!


瑞涯自從兩星期前開始寫日記以來,只不過漏了幾天,便已經不能肯定日子了。她決定請求尊信給她造個萬年曆。

無所謂的日子,再次變得重要。她要把生命的足跡紀錄,以供後人參考。音樂有如耳邊風,來去不留痕跡。筆記則可以把光陰紀錄備案,好待回憶。奇怪的是,當她重溫過去幾天寫的日記時,覺得自己在偷窺別人的內心世界,有種奧妙的抽離感。

日記,還有一個不可告人的副作用,一個不可以寫下來的企圖。她故意把日記放在鋼琴上,希望某君趁她不留意的時候,由好奇心驅使,翻它兩翻。。。

Sunday 11 September 2011

小说 “笙歌” 第六章 之(8)“瘟神”



第六章  之(8)
瘟神
無論宋煥如何深愛夏麗,她現在已經是個死人。
而生人與死人,似乎無法親嘴。


 綠水青山枉自多,
華佗無奈小蟲何!
千村薜荔人遺矢,
萬戶蕭疏鬼唱歌 。。。

媽媽你在讀甚麼呀?
這是詩。
很好聽哦!你寫的嗎?
你喜歡嗎?是毛澤東寫的,送瘟神的詩。
甚麼是瘟神呀媽媽?
瘟神是專派小害蟲把人吃光的魔鬼!
哎呀!小害蟲那麼小,怎麼吃人啊?
它們鑽到人的肚子里,一點點把他們溶化,再小口小口的喝掉。它們數量很多很多很多哦小甜豆!
它們會不會喝我們呀?
不會啦,傻瓜。
是不是它們喝飽啦?
可能吧。也可能我們不好吃囉!
我知我知!因為我們已經死了!
你發神經!我們不死!我們永遠不死!你亂說一通,是不是想媽媽打你的嘴巴!
對不起 。媽媽。
沒關係,小甜豆。媽媽不想生你的氣。不要哭。來,過來,給媽媽抱抱。
__________________

瘟疫自古就有。

據專家說,以前平均每世紀發生兩三次。但那是古時,是在專家們出生之前。自二十一世紀來,全球性的大瘟疫每隔幾年便肆虐一次。至於廣泛流感與瘟疫的具體分別,誰也說不清,主要看傳媒給它個甚麼名字。有些報章頭條的世紀大瘟疫,最後不過帶走一二十個老人家。但當大家聽慣了危言,開始不以為意的時候,又會晴天霹靂地出現一個三甲級的瘟神,殺人類個措手不及,死亡慘重。

瘟神的病毒兵勇,好像有整盤攻擊計劃:

Monday 5 September 2011

What’s Wrong with Hong Kong?

The thoroughness of Hong Kong’s ineptitude in governance is matched only by that of an idiotic emperor towards the end of a failing dynasty. It's a historical aberration. 
I rarely rely on the mainstream “international” media for information, and nearly never waste time on Hong Kong papers. Being without a TV for decades now, I’m blissfully ignorant of the stupefying local politics and media brouhaha. I do have friends who give me the occasional glimpse of the state of affairs in Hong Kong, after they’ve made it more comprehensible with their intelligent filtering.
During a luncheon gathering yesterday, I learnt of a number of recent headlines through chit chats. Predictably (or, more hypocritically, I should lament sadly) Hong Kong’s political deterioration hasn’t slowed down since I last took notice.
There has been much fuss over the security at the University of Hong Kong over the visit of Vice Premier Li Keqiang. It sounded to me the security in a concert by a Cantopop singer would have been at least as tight. But the Vice Chancellor of the University had to endure a Cultural Revolution style grilling over the security arrangement, by a bunch of students who had been groomed by so-called “politicians” rather than the rapidly disintegrating education system. The Vice Chancellor, of course, care more about keeping his job than defending principles or the nominal dignity his position demands. Well, Hong Kong is a preposterous metropolis which prides itself for having everything. But honour, vision and courage are notable exceptions to this ostentatious claim.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong Rail, after decades of running the world’s most efficient and reliable metro system, could not find a local person of whatever ethnic origin to head the corporation. Have they heard of something called a succession plan? Someone from New York has been headhunted to run the Hong Kong system which has been operating a hundred times more impressively than its NYC counterpart. Oh well, that’s not surprising, considering that the Chinese University’s website on Cantonese pronunciation is a joint venture with Yale. 
While politics in Hong Kong is surrealistically comical, many operational areas have remained excellent. The efficient airport, a mostly reasonable police force, and a top class public transportation system are some of the things Hong Kong can still be proud of. Perhaps that’s why they’ve been targeted for the next phase of decline.  
Then there’s the $6000 per eligible citizen pay-out scheme. Not many government would have this much trouble handing out cash. Tiny Macau has done the same thing annually in the past few years without any trouble. But then it’s not a fair comparison. Macau uses common sense. Hong Kong likes to seem to be more complex and sophisticated, depending on the workload of the civil service.
The thoroughness of Hong Kong’s ineptitude in governance is matched only by that of an idiotic emperor towards the end of a failing dynasty. It's a historic aberration. In any other political system - be it a rambunctious “multi-party” political show, a One-Party-Many-Factions experimental system, a fanatical theocratic state or an outright dictatorship - the leaders must possess certain quality to struggle for power and to maintain sufficient support in a real world. Hong Kong “politicians” have been fortuitously exempted from a comparable selection process. Political vision, skills, cunningness, courage and gambling instincts required of leaders and power brokers are all absent in the transition from a colonial past to self-governance.
Administrative robots expertly house-trained by the colonial master are now pitifully inadequate to run Hong Kong as an SAR. Many Hongkongers have this naive and arrogant delusion that Beijing has taken up the role of Britain, manipulating events from behind. Well, this is not the only thing that Hong Kong likes to flatter itself with. China has a long and scary list of critical issues to deal with. I’m sure the childish and inconsequential politicking in Hong Kong are very low on that list, if they are there at all. Sure, main sovereignty issues - i.e. foreign affairs and the military - must firmly remain in the hands of the Central Government. Beijing probably “influences” the financial and economic big picture the same way Wall Street controls the US Federal Government. But the rest? Only Hongkongers are joyously innocent and obtusely confident enough to imagine their self-important SAR being micro-managed by the Central Government.
China has nothing to gain in meddling with Hong Kong’s piddling bickering. In fact, when the time is right, and that would be very soon, Hong Kong would be given the kind of boisterous democracy that many have been flatulently demanding. Why not? It would have no material impact on China’s political landscape and, in the worst scenario, which would be a likely one, Hong Kong can join Taiwan to provide a negative illustration of the shortcomings of a copycat populist democracy to the rest of China - something that is very difficult to achieve through philosophical debates otherwise.
Hongkongers’ big challenge now is to identify a passable candidate who can do the job of Chief Executive when direct election comes. If none can be found after a big stretch of the imagination, then we better start looking for a way to blame Beijing for the failure, or headhunt one from New York.

James Tam 5/9/2011


香港的问题 。 。 。

港人治港能力之低,是很多人的意料之外。这除了反映了香港的殖民地历史和英国人培养奴才太监的功夫了得之外,还有其它的客观原因 。 。 。
为了耳根清静,已经足足有三十年家里没有电视了。对于“国际”主流传媒,亦老早失去了信任和兴趣。不过间中还会凑凑热闹翻阅大标题。至于港闻头条,则是与我无关。我基本上与香港幼稚吵闹的所谓“政治”,已经隔绝多时。不过朋友仍然很多。跟他们聊天的时候,总会从闲谈中听到一些经过他们的智慧滤过的本地时事。昨天与一班友人午餐时,东拉西扯之间听到几件近期的港闻“大事”,感觉到这个地方仍然一如既往的不知所谓。
李克强访港时在港大的无聊风波是其一。听起来当时的保安措施,并不比李克勤开演唱会严厉很多。与欧美政要自以为是的高度保安要求,更加不能相比。但校长却要遭受“教育尚未成功”的同学们玩文革式清算。身为香港最高学府最高领导人的徐校长,竟然“死死气”地跟随着本地的最高智慧,至紧要保住分工。完没有一个学者坚持原则的情操,勇气和尊严。
另外又听到港铁从纽约请了个新总裁。哇!香港搞了几十年地铁,成绩斐然。与伦敦纽约相比,不论服务水平,整洁程度,安全记录,都胜过太多太多。竟然连个本地的继任人选也没有?机构内一个(不论种族)可以胜任的香港人也找不到,而要远赴比港铁低班很多的纽约猎头?地铁一例,是否证明香港人如果不是一群几十年也学不会开火车的笨蛋,便是对外面世界一无所知的白痴,或只懂得靠盲目崇外来满足自己的强烈民族自卑感的奴才?呃,也不出奇。中文大学连研究粤语正确发音的项目,也靠美国耶鲁大学支持,可想而知。
本来香港虽然政治上一塌糊涂,但在脱离了政治滋扰的操作范畴上,仍然有很多国际首屈一指的成就。 随便数数:以港铁为核心的公共交通是其一;机场过关的效率是其二;基本上高度克制和大致合理的警队是其三。既然香港这条烂船还有好几斤钉,受了人家好处要搞鬼和急于要找新鲜话题作秀赚几个钱的政客才子,传媒喉舌人之类,当然仍有必要大力针对。
话题一转,有人提到政府派每人六千块的闹剧。连派钱也可以派到一身蚁的政府,我看应该是人类史上的一个突破了。小小的澳门,派钱派了好几年,风平浪静,举澳欢腾。香港为何不学习一下呢?理由是小澳门比较落后,喜欢按照人情常理来办事。大香港比较先进,凡事按照公务员就业需求而复杂化。是两个截然不同的理念也。
港人治港能力之低,是很多人的意料之外。这除了反映了香港的殖民地历史和英国人培养奴才太监的功夫了得之外,还有其它的客观原因。除了封建皇朝的末代君主之外,不论任何政治制度下的领导人,一般都要经过现实权力斗争的洗礼才可以上位。上位之后,要坐稳交椅,也必须具有高度政治眼光技巧和管理智慧,还要懂得权术和深谙平衡之道。必要作出牺牲,妥协,斗争,或赌博的时候,能够当机立断。即使没有大将之风范,也必须具有奸雄之谋略。以上的基础条件,在殖民地长大的香港政治家领导人,丝毫不备。但由于历史原因,通通都跳升了十几班直上高位。
香港很多“评论员”经常口沫横飞地把港人的历史性贫血,归咎于“阿爷”背后干预。哎,这类人的无知自大,已经到了不可理喻的滑稽程度。现今国际形势,正处于严峻的转捩点。中国面对的内外挑战一大串,复杂微妙,都有着巨大深远的影响。京官们又哪来闲情去理会香港幼稚吵闹的政治闹剧呢?反正大的主权事项如外交军事等,已经顺利接收过来。有关经济金融的大局,可以效法华尔街控制华盛顿的一套来间接管治。其它的事情,都是些无关痛痒的茶杯风波。做大事的人,谁又会有空理会呢?
中央插手香港鸡毛蒜皮的小人斗嘴政治丑剧,只有百害而无一利。在北京九打木人巷出身的政治大佬们,又怎会不清楚这点?香港很多人莫明其妙,整天人喊你喊,粗声大气要争取的来佬翻版民主,很快便会到手。因为美式民主这东西,虽然利弊已经十分明显,明眼人有目共睹。但香港明眼人不多。对于醉心动人口号,喜欢多叫喊少思考的人民,仍然很难说明。所以最佳办法便是给予香港民主。香港有了民主之后,后果应该不难推测。不过最差劲的情况应该也不至于全盘失控。思觉失调的特区也没有影响全国的大局的资格。倒不如让香港与台湾联手,作为大陆十三亿同胞的真实反面教材?
时间无多了。香港人还是赶快想想,当全面直选来临的时候,选谁出来当个稍为像样的特首吧。假如你像我一样,想爆头也想不出一个像样的人类出来担此重任,哪么便要开始动另类脑筋,看看到时候如何把问题赖到大陆人身上去,好挽回香港的面子哦。