rebelwhite

top 5 Apple TV commercials in the 2000s

2011-08-14T17:00:00.000+08:00

5 - iPod nano - 1234

4 - iPod technologic

3 - Original Macbook Air

2 - Mac vs PC - Viruses

1 - iMac window shopping

mesmerizing starry starry night

2011-08-12T13:57:00.002+08:00

Ocean Sky from Alex Cherney on Vimeo.

after watching this video, I really want to go to Huashan...

2011-07-09T10:20:00.001+08:00

The Hong Kong Bar Association's Statement on the HKSAR Government's new proposal on the Legislative Council Vacancy Replacement Mechanism

2011-06-30T00:20:00.007+08:00

The Hong Kong Bar Association's Statement on

the HKSAR Government's new proposal on

the Legislative Council Vacancy Replacement Mechanism

The HKBA notes that the Government has put forward a latest proposal on a new mechanism to fill a casual vacancy in a geographical constituency and the District Council (Second) functional constituency in LegCo.
The HKBA finds it inappropriate to comment on the legality of any proposal except viewed as a whole. It notes that the objectionable features of the original proposal are still inherent and retained in the new proposal. Specifically, in the event that the list of the outgoing member of LegCo failing to provide a back up candidate, the Government's original proposal would still be triggered. Our fundamental objections to the legality of this part of the proposal are still not addressed by the Administration.
Different views and opinions can be held as to the mass resignation which took place in 2010; that is a matter of political judgment and interpretation. It is however highly questionable whether the Government's avowed intention to prevent a repetition of such mass resignations can provide a justification for its proposed drastic measures which are inconsistent with article 68 of the Basic Law, article 25 of the ICCPR and article 21 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights and interferes with guaranteed and entrenched rights. Further, the list of the outgoing member of LegCo may fail to provide a back up candidate for a host of different reasons. The original list may only consist of one candidate (which is not unknown). Even on the Government's own rationale that the measure is to address the situation of voluntary resignation, the proposal is however not confmed to such situations. The only reason provided by the Government for not distinguishing between the case of voluntary resignation and other cases such as death or disability is simply for the sake of consistency. The HKBA does not accept this to be a sufficient justification.
Closely associated with the above points is the haste with which the measure was proposed and the lack of public consultation on the subject. The new proposal came amidst strong Government opposition to criticisms of the original proposal. It was introduced in a sudden manner. However, the proposed time for LegCo to enact it into legislation has remained unchanged. In the HKBA's view the proposal will have far reaching consequences and impact upon the existing rights of voters and potential candidates. Yet there is a continuous refusal to engage in any form of public consultation on the part of the Administration. The reason provided by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, namely the legislation should be in place before the nomination period for the District Councils elections begins in September 2011, is unsound and unconvincing, as the District Council (second) functional constituency election will only take place in September 2012 and the commencement dates of the proposed amendments are either the commencement of the term of the office of the fifth term of office ofLegCo in 2012 or 1 September 2012. In any event, if there is a genuine need to introduce legislation by September 2011, then the proper approach should have been to commence the consultation and legislative process much earlier, instead of presenting a fait accompli to LegCo and to the public. The alleged lack of time or urgency is, with respect, entirely self-induced. The election rights that the citizens of the HKSAR have enjoyed for all these years should not be sacrificed at the altar of expediency.
In the view of the HKBA, the need for public consultation is both important and fundamental. A responsible Government should not simply aim at passing legislation which satisfies the minimum threshold stipulated by constitutional instruments and/or to stave off or survive a judicial review challenge. Normal procedure preceding the introduction of fundamental and far reaching legislation involves a period of proper and widespread consultation. The background to the legislation should be set out in a readily understandable manner; options should be explained and explored; the pros and cons of the options should be analysed; reasons should be provided as to why a particular option is preferred over others. The public and/or relevant organisations should then be consulted.
This introduces transparency and legitimacy. The public and/or relevant organisations can then express an informed view. Legislators are made accountable to the public in the way they vote. This is particularly acute in the present case, since even if one is to assume that there is a need to reform the law to prevent the recurrence of the events last year (which, the HKBA repeats, is a matter of political interpretation and not necessarily a legal justification for what is otherwise a deprivation of a fundamental right), the Bar has noticed a number of possible alternatives that have been suggested from various quarters. These proposals ought to be properly and seriously explored; the public should be allowed to comment on them; and if the Administration decides not to adopt them in preference to the one proposed by it, the public ought to be told why.
For all the above reasons, the HKBA still questions the constitutionality of the proposed measure. In any event, irrespective of whether it will survive a judicial review, the HKBA does not believe that the circumstances are such that the Bill should be pushed through with such haste and without public consultation. We therefore call upon the Administration to withdraw its latest proposal and to commence proper public consultation on the subject.

29th June 2011

Hong Kong Bar Association

香港大律師公會

就特區政府立法會替補/遞補機制修訂方案

聲明

大律師公會留意到政府最新提出之立法會替補/遞補機制修訂方案，最新修訂方案提出一個新的機制，以填補地方選區及區議會(第二)功能界別可能出現的議席空缺。
大律師公會認為對任何政府建議的合法性，必須對整個建議作整體考慮。就此，大律師公會留意到一些在原有方案中不可接受的部份，仍然保留在新建議中。尤其是當離任立法會議員所屬的名單中，未能提供一個後補人選時，仍會啟動政府原先建議的替補方法。政府的新建議，並未對本會就此部份合法性的質疑，作出任何可回應。
對二零一零年的集體請辭，公眾可以在政治判斷和解讀上持不同的意見。政府公開表示，新建議是為了防止重演在二零一零年立法會議員集體請辭，但本會質疑這是否足以支持引入一些干擾市民受保障權利和不符合《基本法》第六十八條、《公民權利和政治權利國際公約》第二十五條及《香港人權法》第二十一條的的急進措施。再者，離任立法會議員所屬名單未能提供一個後補人選，可以由很多原因造成，而且原本的名單可能只有一名候選人(此情況也有先例)。就算政府以堵塞自願請辭為理由提出修訂，但修訂方案並不局限於此類情況。大律師公會不接受政府以「一致性」為理由不把自願請辭和其他出缺情況(如死亡或資格喪失)分開處理。
與上述各點密切相關的是，此建議缺乏公泉諮詢及提出的過程太過倉卒。政府新修訂方案在舊方案受到強烈反對的情況下推出，但立法會審議和通過法例草案的時間表卻維持不變。方案將對候選人及選民的權利帶來深遠的影響和衝擊，但政府仍然堅持不作任何方式的公眾諮詢。政制及內地事務局局長解釋，希望可以在區議會選舉九月開始接受提名之前完成立法，這解釋欠缺說服力，因為區議會(第二)功能界別選舉將會在二零一二年九月舉行，而修訂建議也是在二零一二年立法會第五次任期開始時或二零一二年九月期間才生效。就算有切實需要在二零一一年九月前立法，政府應更早開展諮詢和立法的程序，而非向公康和立法會提出一個已屬「既成事實」的建議。而政府所謂的立法迫切性，實屬咎由自取。香港居民一貫享有的選舉權，不應成為政治權宜的犧牲品。
大律師公會認為公眾諮詢有著基本的重要性。一個負責任的政府在立法時，不應只求通過憲制規定的最低門檻，或只求經得起司法覆核的挑戰。在進行根本和深遠的立法程序之前，應有適當及廣泛的諮詢，此乃正常程序。諮詢時應用令人容易理解的方式交代背景，探討不同的選擇，分析利弊，解釋為什麼一個選擇比其他選擇優越。
上述做法有助增加透明度及認受性，公眾及有關團體才可在知情的情況下發表意見。如認為有需要為阻止去年的事件重演而修改法例，則廣泛諮詢尤其重要。大律師公會留意到來自各方面不同的建議，這些建議應該得到妥善和認真的研究，而且應允許公眾發表意見，如果政府決定不採納這些建議，政府/ 應向公眾解釋原因。
基於以上理由，大律師公會仍然質疑新修訂方案的憲法地位。在任何情況下，不論新修訂方案能否經得起司法覆核的挑戰，大律師公會不認為本條例草案應在缺乏充份公眾諮詢的情況下匆匆通過。因此，大律師公會呼籲政府收回新修訂方案，並為新修訂方案展開適當的公眾諮詢。

二零一一年六月二十九日

香港大律師公會

WTD 1248

2011-06-10T21:05:00.000+08:00

new boss in town

2011-05-31T12:59:00.009+08:00

New BOSS in town, originally uploaded by dawvon.

Doesn't it look like the game boss in some levels of Tomb Raider/Uncharted?? The thing is called "Three Heads Six Arms", created by Zhang Huan. It's on display @ 1881 Heritage until 30 June 2011.

According to the website of Zhang Huan (the artist):-
The sculpture is based on the Chinese mythological figure Nezha and fragments of Tibetan Buddhist sculptures. Two of the three Buddha heads have been replaced by human heads, including a self-portrait of the artist. As in his performance pieces, Zhang Huan places himself centre stage to emphasize the importance of liberation through experience.

Oh and don't underestimate it's mobility when you go beat the boss, this thing crawled all the way here from San Francisco!

The World's Coolest Airport (IMHO) | Aéroport Paris-Charles de Gaulle

2011-05-30T22:16:00.001+08:00

read on...

I'm in!!

2011-05-08T01:41:00.001+08:00

Going full-frame at last!

This Is War

2011-04-29T13:55:00.008+08:00

Hong Kong from the Peak

2011-04-05T17:22:00.004+08:00

read on...

Ocean Life

2011-04-04T16:47:00.003+08:00

read on...

Closing time

2011-03-30T20:40:00.003+08:00

Photo of the souvenir shop at Piazza San Marco at closing time. Inspired by Flickr blog.

Apps on my home screen

2011-03-27T21:09:00.012+08:00

Like most people, I put my most used/important apps on my primary home screen. I tend to avoid using folders on my primary home screen because I want to launch these apps with minimum taps, my primary home screen is therefore always limited to my choice of 20 top/most used used apps.
read on...

Launchpad is GREAT =D

2011-03-21T00:46:00.002+08:00

oops... i think this thing is over

2011-02-26T14:48:00.002+08:00

don't you think??

the New Crown Jewel

2011-02-20T18:57:00.009+08:00

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24mm f.1.4G ED with Nano Crystal Coat

Fitted with Carl Zeiss T* MC Protector

read on...

Angry Birds video... COMING SOON!

2011-01-29T23:37:00.001+08:00

White iPhone 4 ^^

2011-01-01T00:07:00.003+08:00

White iPhone 4 ^^, originally uploaded by dawvon.

this is the REAL white Apple iPhone 4 =)

thx to whiteiphone4us.com ^^

Back from the Land of the Rising Sun

2010-12-29T00:13:00.002+08:00

facebook profile hack

2010-12-14T22:54:00.003+08:00

my works of art :P :P

Lensbay + NEX = YAY!

2010-12-12T21:18:00.001+08:00

Mirrorless APS-C camera + Lensbaby = the PERFECT tilt-shift (i.e. fun) camera :P

read on...

walk on... liu xiaobo

2010-12-12T21:06:00.001+08:00

a U2 song originally dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Ray & Evangeline

2010-11-23T23:59:00.009+08:00

beautiful couple and a fantastic wedding.....
and my first ever wedding photo shoot!
read on...

Starry Starry Night

2010-11-16T23:13:00.002+08:00

unclear sky

2010-11-14T23:31:00.003+08:00

, originally uploaded by dawvon.