蒙面惡法一出，網上登時又出現一大堆「休息」言論。
這場由「反送中」起演變至如今「反中抗暴」的「運動」，我方的兩派其實不是「勇武」與「和理非」之分，而是「革命派」與「議和派」之別。面對軍政府暴力與極權的升級，革命派主張同以升級應對，一於「攬炒」。但每逢局勢升級，議和派便會出來 de-escalate。說他們是議和派而不是和理非，是因為他們連和理非也不一定同意。「時代革命」這句口號剛成為熱門時，劉細良之流便曾呼籲不要叫「時代革命」，以免「令運動變質」及「激嬲中共」。說說也不准，更不要說做了。
議和派 de-escalate 的方法花樣百出，包括「關懷」、「代表」、「拖延」與「指責」。關心勇武就如上述蒙面惡法休息言論：天天不休息，偏要惡法推出第一天來休息？類似例子不升枚舉。猶記得721事件後，下一個weekend (對，要等足一個weekend) 的「主題」竟然是「勇武中場休息，和理非接力」。勇武固然需要休息，可是人家甚麼時候休息，居然是由你們決定？第二就是經常代表勇武派道歉。第三就是經常有各種藉口「等運到」，例如「集氣七一」，最新的是等美國通過法案。像721這種事，在一個稍為正常的國家，第二天必然全國警署被包圍繼而暴動，不管鎮壓於否，警察總長廿四小時內必定落台，唯獨香港人能如此「和平理性」。指責就更不用說，由五年前的「衝就係鬼」、「戴口罩就係鬼」，一路「進步」到今天慶高采烈地指擲汽油彈、破壞店舖的都是差佬。
議和派本質就是體制一部份，主張體制內解決問題，包括打官司與他們最喜歡的選舉。「血債票償」這句如此冷血無恥的口號，居然由六月叫到現在，未來仍然會繼續叫。不是叫你不要做，但要是選舉能解決問題，大家還要頭破血流嗎？更不要說你們似乎已忘了DQ，你是無得選的。說你們是金魚記憶簡直是侮辱了金魚。
不是說革命派就一定是對的。革命派的理論不外乎中共不敢攬炒、歐美圍堵中國機會千載難逢之類。之前說中共一定不敢開槍，出解放軍一定國際制裁亡黨亡國，出緊急法一定外資撤離。現在還不是開了槍，出緊急法恆指係咁意跌幾百點，渾不當一回事。但革命派是有必死的決心，寧為玉碎，不作瓦全。他們最後很可能會地下化、恐怖分子化，那也沒有辦法。歷史都是由勝利者寫的，贏了便是革命，輸了便是暴徒，恐怖分子。不管怎樣，香港是回不去的了，不要奢望社會能「回復正常」，能讓你回到被慢火煮熟的舒適裡。
Monday, October 07, 2019
Thank you, Alexandra House
Thank you for everything, Alexandra House at Leicester. Can't believe it has been 9.5 years. Despite the leaking window, midnight fire alarms and the fake intercom, I will treasure all those memories.
Saturday, July 20, 2019
論「律」與「例」
逃犯條例風波，泛民念茲在茲要「伸張公義」，昨日有張超雄事件，之前又有楊岳橋等提出單次（即匪語「一次性」）修例、日落條款等。這伙人似乎（扮作）不知道中文「律」、「例」，英文 "law" 的意思。
律，清段玉裁《說文解字注》：「均布也... 律者所以笵天下之不一而歸於一。故曰均布也。」既云「法律」，則必須一視同仁，決不能度身訂造，「一次性」地針對。泛民等人諸多大律師，沒可能不懂這些常識。其實不止法律，科學上的 "law" 也必須是 universal。要是蘋果從樹上掉下來有一條 law，地球環繞太陽公轉要另一條 law，那就 law 不成 law，不是 universal law of gravitation 了。一條只能解釋蘋果掉下來而不能解釋香蕉掉下來的 "law"是沒有用的，因為沒有普適性。
「咁陳同佳案要點處理？」你問。難道就這樣由他逍遙法外嗎？是，正是這樣。
任何制度都不可能完美，必有「漏洞」。這件事當然涉及中港台敏感政治問題，又牽涉其餘七百萬人福祉，這早有人提出，這裡撇開這點。這裡想說的是泛民的「修例癮」其實是他們的左翼「大愛」及信奉 utopia 的又一體現。他們認為每一個人每一件事都能夠（以及必要）百分百達至完美，但有普遍性的原則不可能完美處理每件事，於是他們不斷 bend the rules，就每一次特別情況作例外處理，最後例不成例，變成人治社會。每次修法這麼麻煩，泛民議員個個都是包青天，未審已知此人有罪，何不直接由立法會判刑？
不錯，包青天式社會正是很多人的理想社會。在包青天的世界，其實是沒有法律的，但「公義」必能伸張。包青天式的「公義」怎樣 scale up 到整個國家？只有把政府職權無限加大。這當然又是左翼的 utopia 了。放眼歷史，何曾有過這樣的 utopia？
律，清段玉裁《說文解字注》：「均布也... 律者所以笵天下之不一而歸於一。故曰均布也。」既云「法律」，則必須一視同仁，決不能度身訂造，「一次性」地針對。泛民等人諸多大律師，沒可能不懂這些常識。其實不止法律，科學上的 "law" 也必須是 universal。要是蘋果從樹上掉下來有一條 law，地球環繞太陽公轉要另一條 law，那就 law 不成 law，不是 universal law of gravitation 了。一條只能解釋蘋果掉下來而不能解釋香蕉掉下來的 "law"是沒有用的，因為沒有普適性。
「咁陳同佳案要點處理？」你問。難道就這樣由他逍遙法外嗎？是，正是這樣。
任何制度都不可能完美，必有「漏洞」。這件事當然涉及中港台敏感政治問題，又牽涉其餘七百萬人福祉，這早有人提出，這裡撇開這點。這裡想說的是泛民的「修例癮」其實是他們的左翼「大愛」及信奉 utopia 的又一體現。他們認為每一個人每一件事都能夠（以及必要）百分百達至完美，但有普遍性的原則不可能完美處理每件事，於是他們不斷 bend the rules，就每一次特別情況作例外處理，最後例不成例，變成人治社會。每次修法這麼麻煩，泛民議員個個都是包青天，未審已知此人有罪，何不直接由立法會判刑？
不錯，包青天式社會正是很多人的理想社會。在包青天的世界，其實是沒有法律的，但「公義」必能伸張。包青天式的「公義」怎樣 scale up 到整個國家？只有把政府職權無限加大。這當然又是左翼的 utopia 了。放眼歷史，何曾有過這樣的 utopia？
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Another Air France delay - though they have learnt their lesson this time
Two years on from the previous incident, I was on the exact same sequence of flights again:
AF1565 10/7/2019 19:20 BHX - CDG 21:35
AF188 10/7/2019 23:35 CDG - HKG 17:25 +1
(And if you wonder, why am I still flying with them? Well like I said, I need to use up all my mileage first, and although there is some progress, it is nowhere near completion...)
As you can see, the AF188 is scheduled at the exact times as two years ago, and AF1565 is scheduled 25 minutes earlier. The first thing I saw when I arrived at the airport was the flight is delayed... sigh. It shows a delay to 20:10. I then worked out (based on the timing last time) that there might still be a chance to catch the connecting flight. But subsequently it showed a delay to 20:45. It would need a minor miracle I thought; let's see whether they have learnt their lesson or if they want to give me another 800 euros.
The flight took off at around 21:00 - almost the same as 2 years ago despite the earlier scheduled time - and touched down 22:56 (9 minutes before the one last time, yay.) Again, there were 20+ people connecting to Hong Kong and some others to Beijing, Shanghai etc. And again they looked pretty inexperienced. I told myself, if we missed the connection again I'm going to teach them all how to claim the compensation - they didn't look like they know. That would be quite fun, wouldn't it.
One French (?) passenger commented that this flight was always late.
It turned out AF did learn their lesson. There was already someone standing at the arriving gate holding a sign of "AF188 Hong Kong" picking us up. He then led the way, and there was one lane of the security checks open. They probably were about to close - it was around 23:15, the last boarding time - and maybe AF told them to keep it open.
So, you see, with some moderate amount of planning, it can be done and you can avoid all the costs of flying a less-than-full plane, overnight accommodation, overtime for rebooking staff, and most importantly compensation for the delays of the intercontinental flights.
I was almost disappointed that they made it; I was already planning in my head what to do in Paris.
I was also upgraded to Premium Economy in AF188. They must have me on file as a troublemaker. Well sorry but I believe all I wrote were useful suggestions for you to improve your workflow (and hence profitability).
It turned out AF188's departure was also mildly delayed - by various reasons such as unable to close the cargo door - and it would be even more ridiculous if we were unable to connect to it because of something like security staff gone off work.
Unfortunately, while we the passengers got to the connecting flight, our baggage didn't and they had to take next day's flight. But at least they delivered it pretty swiftly (the plane landed at 17:35 local time the next day and the luggage was delivered to my front door shortly before midnight.)
All in all this post is to give credits to AF. Not for the delay obviously but for learning their lessons.
AF1565 10/7/2019 19:20 BHX - CDG 21:35
AF188 10/7/2019 23:35 CDG - HKG 17:25 +1
(And if you wonder, why am I still flying with them? Well like I said, I need to use up all my mileage first, and although there is some progress, it is nowhere near completion...)
As you can see, the AF188 is scheduled at the exact times as two years ago, and AF1565 is scheduled 25 minutes earlier. The first thing I saw when I arrived at the airport was the flight is delayed... sigh. It shows a delay to 20:10. I then worked out (based on the timing last time) that there might still be a chance to catch the connecting flight. But subsequently it showed a delay to 20:45. It would need a minor miracle I thought; let's see whether they have learnt their lesson or if they want to give me another 800 euros.
The flight took off at around 21:00 - almost the same as 2 years ago despite the earlier scheduled time - and touched down 22:56 (9 minutes before the one last time, yay.) Again, there were 20+ people connecting to Hong Kong and some others to Beijing, Shanghai etc. And again they looked pretty inexperienced. I told myself, if we missed the connection again I'm going to teach them all how to claim the compensation - they didn't look like they know. That would be quite fun, wouldn't it.
One French (?) passenger commented that this flight was always late.
It turned out AF did learn their lesson. There was already someone standing at the arriving gate holding a sign of "AF188 Hong Kong" picking us up. He then led the way, and there was one lane of the security checks open. They probably were about to close - it was around 23:15, the last boarding time - and maybe AF told them to keep it open.
So, you see, with some moderate amount of planning, it can be done and you can avoid all the costs of flying a less-than-full plane, overnight accommodation, overtime for rebooking staff, and most importantly compensation for the delays of the intercontinental flights.
I was almost disappointed that they made it; I was already planning in my head what to do in Paris.
I was also upgraded to Premium Economy in AF188. They must have me on file as a troublemaker. Well sorry but I believe all I wrote were useful suggestions for you to improve your workflow (and hence profitability).
It turned out AF188's departure was also mildly delayed - by various reasons such as unable to close the cargo door - and it would be even more ridiculous if we were unable to connect to it because of something like security staff gone off work.
Unfortunately, while we the passengers got to the connecting flight, our baggage didn't and they had to take next day's flight. But at least they delivered it pretty swiftly (the plane landed at 17:35 local time the next day and the luggage was delivered to my front door shortly before midnight.)
All in all this post is to give credits to AF. Not for the delay obviously but for learning their lessons.
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Unity Hair Salon, Leicester
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| Unity hair in 2017 (from Google map) |
這是我來了這裡十多年一直光顧的理髮店。店是一位香港中年女士開的，說廣東話自然親切得多、放心得多。
近兩個月來，不見了那老闆娘，只見兩個年輕鬼妹在打躉，已心知不妙，心想會不會是賣了給別人。今天忽然心血來潮，冒雨去看看，果然見到那老闆娘，正當我以為是自己杞人憂天，卻聽她說店已給別人頂了，她只會一個月回來一次 (多半也只是初期才會吧)，她跟兒子一家搬到別的城市了。我登時惘然若失，心想以後不知要到那裡剪了。(最近有另一家華人開的，不知會不會說廣東話，但很貴...)
剪完這可能是最後一次的光顧 (雖然其實是她監督下由鬼妹剪 ─ 以往也試過多次) ，就跟她說再見 (其實恐怕不會再見了)，實在有點傷感。她不知道的，是我對她這店特別有點感情的另一原因：我當年來英國見工，第一次踏足 leicester , 最先看到的中文字，就是她店外的幾個中文字 (當年沒有那麼樣衰 ─ 見下圖)，當時立刻覺得十分 reassuring，心想這小城市居然有華人剪髮，日後來住的話少了一件要煩惱的事。
Anyway, 多謝你替我剪了這麼多年髮，祝一切順利。
 |
| in 2005 |
Sunday, December 31, 2017
And the end is almost upon us...
高鐵一地兩檢通過，也是時候回顧香港是死在誰的手中。
早在2009年高鐵撥款時，我們已經大聲疾呼，指出必須從根本上反對整個計劃，原因不是泛民糾纏的甚麼菜園村、錦上路方案，而是因為那是中共殖民計劃的一部份。「中共殖民香港」才是看待近二十年一切中港問題的主軸，甚麼真普選、高樓價，你不從這個角度去看，永不能看出問題本質。
然而，泛民由始至終拒絕承認中共殖民，支持中港融合，反對港人身分認同，把一切本土意識打為排外法西斯。西方左膠思想本已是毒藥，和他們的大中華民族主義結合，更是所向無敵。支持新移民、讉責抗爭者、投票支持中港融合，每一件事都是站在殖民者那一方。這伙人經常引用彭定康那句「不是香港的自主權會被北京剝奪，而是這項權利會一點一滴地斷送在香港某些人手裏」來形容建制派，其實對他們不也是十分貼切？
泛民1989年前是明刀明槍的愛國派，六四屠城，碰巧捉着港人恐共心理，轉型扮反共，行了三十年運。泛民過去的成功和香港過去的成功一樣，都是食老本，都是 an accident of history。面對殖民壓迫，本土思潮應運而生，你們泛民轉不了彎，還要扼殺新一代上位，處處對付本土派比對建制更兇狠。你們支持修改議事規則與剪布、對梁游DQ視如不見、對「13+3」和旺角抗爭者「親疏有別」。害人終害己，現在你們失去議席，動員不了群眾，實是種惡因，得惡果。
不錯，本土派的激進方式多半也不能阻止殖民。可是寧鳴而死，不默而生 (諷刺的是泛民現在呼籲巿民上街，居然也用這句，真是厚顏無恥)，轟轟烈烈的死也是好的。至少也不要自欺欺人，說些「今天沒有輸」之類的廢話。
Hong Kong is a lost cause。我們要做的，就是紀錄你們的所作所為，好讓後世知道香港是怎樣死的。
早在2009年高鐵撥款時，我們已經大聲疾呼，指出必須從根本上反對整個計劃，原因不是泛民糾纏的甚麼菜園村、錦上路方案，而是因為那是中共殖民計劃的一部份。「中共殖民香港」才是看待近二十年一切中港問題的主軸，甚麼真普選、高樓價，你不從這個角度去看，永不能看出問題本質。
然而，泛民由始至終拒絕承認中共殖民，支持中港融合，反對港人身分認同，把一切本土意識打為排外法西斯。西方左膠思想本已是毒藥，和他們的大中華民族主義結合，更是所向無敵。支持新移民、讉責抗爭者、投票支持中港融合，每一件事都是站在殖民者那一方。這伙人經常引用彭定康那句「不是香港的自主權會被北京剝奪，而是這項權利會一點一滴地斷送在香港某些人手裏」來形容建制派，其實對他們不也是十分貼切？
泛民1989年前是明刀明槍的愛國派，六四屠城，碰巧捉着港人恐共心理，轉型扮反共，行了三十年運。泛民過去的成功和香港過去的成功一樣，都是食老本，都是 an accident of history。面對殖民壓迫，本土思潮應運而生，你們泛民轉不了彎，還要扼殺新一代上位，處處對付本土派比對建制更兇狠。你們支持修改議事規則與剪布、對梁游DQ視如不見、對「13+3」和旺角抗爭者「親疏有別」。害人終害己，現在你們失去議席，動員不了群眾，實是種惡因，得惡果。
不錯，本土派的激進方式多半也不能阻止殖民。可是寧鳴而死，不默而生 (諷刺的是泛民現在呼籲巿民上街，居然也用這句，真是厚顏無恥)，轟轟烈烈的死也是好的。至少也不要自欺欺人，說些「今天沒有輸」之類的廢話。
Hong Kong is a lost cause。我們要做的，就是紀錄你們的所作所為，好讓後世知道香港是怎樣死的。
Thursday, October 12, 2017
About my Accor/Ibis complaint and their customer "care"
I'm officially not engaging with the Accor/Ibis customer "care" service anymore regarding my complaint.
The incident itself was detailed here
Their website says they will give a response within 48 hours. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened. After 3 weeks I was ranting on Twitter again. It seems their Twitter team is the only one doing anything. But all they did was to ask me to email to a certain address, which responded with a file number and said they were "currently carrying on the necessary investigation and will be back in touch with you as quickly as possible to inform you of the results of our investigation." Another 5 weeks passed and, you know what, nothing.
I don't know what "investigation" would have taken this much time. What can they investigate anyway? First you find out who that was - check your rota or CCTV, assuming you keep those things that long. If you cannot identify her then there is really nothing to investigate. And if you find out who she was, most likely she would have no recollection of the events anyway. So I wasn't really expecting anything more than a generic apology letter that most likely will contain no admission of wrongdoing. Is it too much to ask for? I'm not asking for her to be sacked or anything, although a written record on her file would be appropriate, I'd think.
Of course, this delaying tactic is hardly surprising. Wait long enough, and most people will have their anger died down, or even completely forgot the matter, so no action will ever be required. Unfortunately I'm not one of those people.
Ibis Styles Paris CDG Airport Roissy Hotel
1 Rue de la Haye
93290 Tremblay-en-France
Paris-Charles De Gaulle
FRANCE
Dear Mr. Raphanel,
I write to express my dissatisfaction about the attitude of one of your member of staff during my recent stay at your hotel.
I was booked into this hotel by Air France for an overnight stay on 19th July 2017 after missing a connecting flight. Due to the length of my delay, Air France told me that I would be entitled to a free lunch at the hotel. This was handwritten onto the hotel voucher by an Air France staff member. When I checked in, it was very late at night, and the staff at reception collected the voucher and when I asked him about the lunch, he said I have to ask reception the next morning.
The next morning when I checked out and asked about this, I received what I consider to be a very rude response from one of your staff member (a different one from the previous night). She simply said “no” and gave no further response. I demanded to see the voucher that was collected the previous night, she again said “no”. No explanation was given. Upon my further questioning, she eventually said a bit more along the lines of “you should have gotten a voucher last night, if you do not have one we will not give you lunch”. At no point did she try to help, offer any alternatives, or find out what happened. As soon as she finished the word "no" she went back to her own business – not that she was busy with anything – even though I was still standing there.
While the issue of lunch may have been a mix-up and it could be Air France’s fault, my main issue was the attitude of this particular employee of yours. She was extremely unhelpful. Her attitude was basically “I have seen this trick (to get a free meal) many times, it won’t work on me”. In my opinion this sort of behaviour is completely unacceptable. I did not note down her name, by she stationed the reception at about 11:30am – 12:00 noon on 20th July 2017. (There was another male member of staff, but he was not involved.)
I would like to think that what I experienced should not have come from a global hotel chain like yours. If this is indeed not the level of service that your hotel aims to offer, I trust that, as manager of the hotel, you would investigate the matter and take any necessary actions.
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