Keith Chan

Logic Question

2009-10-25T01:52:00.003+08:00

Apparently this question was asked in a job interview for Google. Try your computation power and see if you could get a job at Google.

There are 100 floors in a building. You have two eggs. If the eggs will only break once it is thrown from a height beyond a particular floor. In what pattern would you throw the eggs off the building in order to locate that particular floor with the least amount of throws.

For example, if you throw an egg beginning from the first floor until you reach the particular floor, it would take you 99 times if the particular floor the eggs would break is 99th floor. Which obviously, is not the most efficient pattern of experiment.

Highlight the text below to see the answer:
Divide building into ten intervals. Throw an egg on each interval beginning from the ground floor until it breaks. Then start throwing the remaining egg from the immediate lower interval, floor by floor, in ascending order. When the egg breaks, you've got the particular floor.

For instance, if the particular floor is 78, you'd throw an egg at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75 ,76, 77, 78th floor in order, where bold are the floors in which the eggs would break. So it would take you at most, 18 throws to locate that particular floor (no matter where within the 100th floor it is located), assuming that the egg must break on one of the 100th floors.

Thanks to Joe for bring my attention to this question.

Is Migrating Data Online Safe?

2009-10-03T10:05:00.005+08:00

That was the gist of question I asked Google's CEO Eric Schmidt earlier on. The answer (now featured at the Times Online) I got back from him was as follows:

Keith,

Let me say first that cloud computing is the future. But the concerns that people have about security in cloud computing are understandable: some people like to be able to see their computer server to know that's exactly where their data is. It's somewhat parallel to the banking system: early on, people believed that their money was safer under their mattress than in a bank, but all the systems and rules that have evolved over time do not support that belief.

You can look at cloud computing in a similar way. We have built and continue to build a lot of security protection into our applications to protect your privacy and your information. Consider also that if you put your data on one drive in your home and it gets stolen or damaged, then you have lost it permanently - I remember reading various articles in the British press about government officials losing sensitive data on laptops, CDs, memory sticks and the like.

As well as trying very hard to ensure your data is kept private and secure, we also recognize that you want to own your own data. We actually have an initiative called Data Liberation that is dedicated to making sure you can export your personal information — your mail, contacts, photos and so forth — from any Google property anytime you want, and take it with you to another service.

The original question was: "Cloud computer is seen as the future of computing but many are still not convinced by the security measures taken by companies to protect data privacy. How do you think the web can be more made secure and safe for everyone to migrate data online?"

Orientation (Again)

2009-08-13T11:09:00.005+08:00

The season for orientations have begun. You would see people dressed with the same colour t-shirt (often bright and this year, a new trend of having a towel wrapped around their necks) wandering on the streets, some running some sweating some following. They would shout for seemingly no reason, do bizarre things that pass-byers cannot comprehend, but they know this is probably the only chance they can get to make friends, so they did it. I was one of them - two years ago.

I have nothing against orientations. Fact is, you do get to know more people. And I know the organisers have put in tremendous amount of efforts and plenty sleepless nights to make it happen, it's exhilarating.

But to those who are still out there trying to pack as many orientation days, camps or nights into your August, if you ever fear you won't be able to make friends without attending them, rest assure, orientations is just one of the many other means. There is much more in University life which opens you up to great people. It was true for me. In fact, 95% of the people I am closest to now (and probably for the rest of my life), were met during various coincidences outside the orientation period for the simple reason that I believe artificial groupings is foreign to our social skills. Orientations are often designed with the idea to create memories in mind. According to Cambridge Dictionary, this is "made by people, often as a copy of something natural", i.e. artificial.

It'd be scary at first, but have faith in yourself, you'd find the right ones very soon. Stay hungry, stay foolish.

BEA Orientation Day 2009.
If you see nothing here, it's because the photo owner has decided to make this public picture private.

Looking Back at My Work

2009-08-11T01:21:00.002+08:00

I was going through some of my archives this afternoon when I discovered piles of exam papers during my secondary school age. Not surprising, many have turned yellow and filled with brown spots. But reading over them reminds me of the days when exams are the most important thing in my life.

I'm glad I've moved on; I'm glad I learnt to look at the world differently. But there is still much more waiting for me; I'm still on my journey to explore and discover my path, and I'm working hard on it.

English Paper III

Think Wider

2009-07-13T07:07:00.003+08:00

I was planning to clear the dustbin two weeks ago and was looking for a plastic dustinbin bag but couldn't.

A week ago, the bag was kindly changed by my host.

Today, I looked at the cupboards again and found the plastic bags that has always been there.

Why?

Because the original plastic bag was black while the one replaced by my host was white and the ones in the cupboard, as you might have known by now, are white.

Yet another illustration that human minds at times, can be very narrowly placed.

Movies To Be Watched

2009-05-12T19:19:00.000+08:00

I hope I can get all this done by next week before the next season of movies roll out ...

[Design] Current Affairs Competition

2009-05-11T00:10:00.002+08:00

Broken pieces that really belonged to one whole plain.
But should physical separation matter anyway? Really?

This poster reminds me that maps are often misrepresented. Have you ever thought of why the "northern" hemisphere always appear on the top? Why is Europe most of the time appearing in the center? And if you pay enough attention, the sizes of countries often are not proportionate to their actual territorial area. Africa is three times larger than the entire Europe yet often appears much smaller on maps. And since planet Earth is a globe, everything should be stretched (distorted) a bit to reflect reality when printed on paper.

Test: Click to enlarge the upside down world map below. Close your eyes. Now see how long it takes to find Hong Kong. ;)

Exams Over

2009-05-09T20:26:00.000+08:00

What next?

I guess I would have to start planning for my summer. I know I say this every year, but can't imagine that was a year.

Humour: A Tale of Two Cows

2009-01-17T01:32:00.003+08:00

[Socialism]
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour.

[Communism]
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

[Fascism]
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

[Nazism]
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.

[Traditional Capitalism]
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

[Surrealism]
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

[An North American Corporation]
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.

[A German Corporation]
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

[A British Corporation]
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

[A Welsh Corporation]
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.

[A Japanese Corporation]
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'cowkimon' and market it worldwide.

[A Chinese Corporation]
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity, and arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

[A French Corporation]
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.

[An Indian Corporation]
You have two cows.
You worship them.

[An Italian Corporation]

You have two cows, but you don't know where they are.

You decide to have lunch.

Philosophies vs Theories

2009-01-13T01:35:00.001+08:00

Your philosophies shape your behaviour while your theories are based on past experience. In this regard, I prefer philosophies over theories since philosophies allows imagination. To believe, not to settle for the believed.

Thai Food

2009-01-03T01:06:00.001+08:00

Counting Down

2009-01-02T00:29:00.001+08:00

Stepping into 2009, it's time make a several remarks as to the past year and the one to come. Moving on as a University student and not being a freshie any more, things do tend to be rather different. Not just the workload but also your mental perception of time. When you're new, you get the benefit of trying out and bumping around hoping you would fit into the right place where you belonged to. But as you move on, you would start to feel the urge of getting things right in one go. You want to make sure you are spending time on things that you really want, or in other words, would help bring you closer to your dreams. As intuitive as it sounds, it is actually more pressing than you can imagine. Choices are out there, and you have to pick the right ones. There is no harm getting some wrong, but you do lose time.

As we counted down to another new year, did we realise it was also a countdown to the time we have?

Gmail Stickers

2008-12-15T13:15:00.002+08:00

Lately, the Gmail Team made some stickers and I decided to get a set. Since they don't reply emails anymore these days, I thought they might read my snail mail so I also attached with the letter some praise and suggestion. Here's what it says:

Hi Gmail Engineers,

I have been using Gmail since Feb 2005 (unfortunately, not one of those early adopters). Back in those days, I was still using a 2MB Hotmail account which meant that I had to delete my emails especially those with photo attachments every now and then let alone not being able to archive my sent mail. Then Gmail came along offering 1GB of storage and a much cleaner interface. My email life simply changed since then.

Spam are kept out of my Inbox most of the time, emails are grouped in conversations, chat is an amazing way to stay connected with friends, tasks (in Labs) help organise my todo(s) and best of all, I can keep every single email that I receive and sent even if they have huge attachments!

I'm sure the Gmail Team works extremely hard to make Gmail better but just in case, I have two suggestions that would hopefully make Gmail even more useful:
Search
Huge amount of information is archived in Gmail and the fastest way to locate them is by search. Here are some possible enhancements to the existing search function:
Typo corrections/suggestions;
Search within attachments and attachment names;
Sorting. According to reversed chronological order and relevance. Maybe something like an EmailRank in Gmail, where you rank emails with reference to the date sent, the frequency of contact with sender, number of recipients, previous searches, etc.;
Import the keywords I type in the search bar into the fields in the Advance Search fields. E.g. if I typed "from:Mary" in the search bar, and click on the "Show search options" link, the word "Mary" would be automatically imported to the "From:" field in the form.
OneBox that integrates Contacts, email and attachment search.
A timeline view like Google News Archive Search to "zoom" into certain time intervals.

Attachment
ManagerI have a lot of valuable files "stored" in my emails in the form of attachments. They might be daily life photos, project documents, or even birthday recordings. It would be great if I could see all these files in one location, just like the contacts manager in Gmail. Then I could preview these documents without pop-ups and easily organise my files just like in Google Docs.
When these features are soon out of the oven, I would be happy to help test them before they are rolled out to everyone. ;)

Keep up the good work and .. can I have two sets of stickers if there are any left? Thanks!

Happy emailing,

Keith
A year 2 student from the University of Hong Kong

Get yours too! All you need to do is send a self-addressed stamped envelope with an international reply coupon (國際回郵卷), purchasable from any post offices in Hong Kong, and send it to P.O. Box 391420Mountain View, CA 94039-1420.

Was There a Contract?

2008-10-22T23:49:00.022+08:00

For those who did (or are doing) contract law, was there a contract in this scenario:

Barbecued Pork Rice

2008-10-19T17:28:00.002+08:00

Served door-to-door with surprise.
Admiring the seamless planning and thoughtfulness.
I'm going to love it from now .. ;)

Followed by Word Challenge and a reluctant departure ...

An Interesting Trend

2008-07-21T16:49:00.004+08:00

Recently, I checked my detailed phone usage for the past 6 months and plotted the data in the following chart:

Graph plotted and published with Google Docs

Well trained in (mechanical) exams, the first thing I would do when picking up a chart is to describe any trends I see and attempt to explain the phenomenon. Here are some interesting patterns:

A constant increasing trend for SMS usage or voice-call usage. Both usage never dropped since January. One possible explanation for this phenomenon is that my increased involvement in university life might have triggered the need of extensive use of mobile phone as a means of communication. Another possible reason could be my rising level of stress and thus more need to seek help from friends and family over the air.
Voice call has increased sharply in March and April. Figures have more than triple between Feb and April. Usage volume still maintains slight increase April. Without doubt, the single and most probable cause for this stunning trend is my growing acquaintance with telephone-counselor Sir. Sir has been an attentive, active listener who lead me into dark-hole of the irreversible reliance on the telephone.
SMS usage increased dramatically in June. Hmm .. this one is a bit tricky .. Let's leave it for the moment. ;)

According to existing trends, SMS usage is expected to surpass voice call usage in the coming month setting a new record high for 2008. Contrasting to sales/profit figures, increasing cell phone usage might not be the best thing you might want:
Heavy mobile phone use a cancer risk - Telegraph
Study: Cell Phones Could Be More Dangerous Than Cigarettes - FoxNews
Or maybe not (yet):
Mobile phone cancer link rejected - BBC

Disclaimer: This post is for your personal amusement. Explanation listed herein are not or may not be probable caused of the trends and patterns (as seen from the frequent use of words of uncertainty: e.g. might, could, likely, probable, etc.). Appropriate critical thinking skills should be applied. :P

Corporate Culture

2008-07-10T13:46:00.004+08:00

I do realise I haven't been blogging for a while but I actually have always thought of noting my latest whereabouts. I do have a lot of draft posts that are half-completed or have a nice title that I don't really have time to finish it off. I'll try. But before that, let me update you a bit of my recent life.

I'm lately working at a multinational tech-company in Quarry Bay as a summer internship. I would be working for 2 whole months or 9 weeks. This is my first full-time job where I can actually get a glimpse of what working from 9 to 5 really means. I also went to several pretty decent movies including Sex and the City and Wanted. I'll be hoping to watch Hancock and Batman this summer too. ;)

I would like to talk a bit about the culture within different companies. As being taught in management courses, corporate culture is highly influential to employees’ behaviors. I have been to several other MNCs and all have rather different cultures that place the emphasis on different aspects. Some are very strict with the handling of confidential information with detailed guidelines and procedures concerning the disposal, distribution and storage of classified data; Some stress the openness and freedom that it gives to its employees. There is no clear hierarchy between different levels of employees and there aren't that much rules controlling the way of doing things. So how do these cultures shape the people within? For most of the time, you can get a snippet into how people work things out and their mindset by talking to the lower level employees. There was once a porter from a company I work for telling me to record all the document names that I was going to throw away in the storeroom and send the list to your secretary. (Mind you, there are close to a thousand documents in the room and my duty that week was to clear the entire room.) The reason was, just in case someone blames you for throwing their file, you can then say you sought the approval from the secretary and thus the burden, is no longer yours. To be precise and cautious is one thing, to avoid responsibility is another. I can foresee from the advice that the company emphasizes stiff procedures and guidelines and that people are often scolded for violating the rules and regulations. So they naturally believe that playing safe and to make sure you don't pick up the responsibility for doing something wrong is the best way to 'survive'. Rules and regulations are needed in all companies and especially when you are dealing directly with clients to ensure the quality of service delivered would be up to standard and consistent. The trade off, however, is that it will create a rigid culture where people care more about the rules than completing the work itself. And this culture means I have to use an average 1 minute to go over all the hundreds of (dusty) documents in the storeroom and record them before I throw them away though I'm sure no one even know they ever existed.

Googlewood

2008-06-24T17:41:00.003+08:00

What if Google was to rule the world? Here is one of the creative prediction from a participant of this contest. Google, rock! :P

Should HKU Halls Take a Reform?

2008-06-23T14:34:00.003+08:00

Recently I came across a very well written article by Father Coghlan on the hall culture in HKU residential halls. Although the article was based on Ricci Hall, I believe the arguments stand for any other halls in HKU. The article is a bit long but it is substantial. I personally am for the stance Father Coghlan took in urging a change in hall culture to cater for students nowadays who have far more commitments outside hall.

Disclaimer: The copyright of the following article belongs solely to Father Coghlan and it is replicated for easier reading.

This article may prove to be a little serious and it may provoke feelings of anxiety and even resentment. My intention, however, is not to upset you. I want to share with you my fears and hopes concerning Ricci. I feel more at ease writing about these fears and hopes than when speaking. There is an old Latin warning : “Scripta manent”. In English it runs : “The written word remains”. I will try to write carefully lest I say anything that I will have to disassociate myself from later. Not too carefully, though, I hope.

Over my nearly ten years as Warden in Ricci I have become ever more clearly aware of the strengths of Ricci. It is a place where one finds unity, friendship and generosity. Riccians learn to contribute to the common good, to take responsibility and to console and support one another in difficulties and disappointments. Riccians learn to relax and have fun without going too far – well, mostly! I think it is true to say that we have no major problems of alcohol, drugs, sex and gambling. As a result there is a general sense of freedom and happiness. We should be grateful. We have a proud sports tradition and we are beginning to build up a greater interest in cultural and social service activities. Is Ricci a foretaste of heaven then? Well not quite.

Here I make my first potentially controversial statement. I do not accept a distinction between so called “Riccans” and so called “Residents”. For me anybody who pays his fees to Ricci is a Riccian. Of course that statement is very bald and has to be qualified but it serves the purpose of getting us thinking.

We need to break down any unnecessary barriers between people who live in Ricci. In popular Ricci language a Riccian is one who has gone though Orientation and is still in Ricci！ Some days ago I went down through our room list with a fine comb and the help of two wise and experienced people who live or work in Ricci. My research showed me that there are 63 people who could be considered to be Riccians – in the, to me, unacceptable sense of the word. I believe four more qualify as half and half. One is even awarded the status of being three quarters and one quarter! I am sure readers can work out for themselves what qualifies those five gentlemen for graded Ricci status.

Other Residents take part to a greater or lesser degree in the life of the hall and receive a welcome corresponding to the degree of their participation.

Sadly some Residents are almost totally uninvolved in the life of Ricci. In some ways members of this last group have the best of both worlds. They have single, air conditioned rooms, meals available for most of the week and no demands are made on them. Some of them want it that way. Others, I suspect, are a little shy and would respond well if they were actively and warmly encouraged to participate more in hall life.

On our hall photograph day I did something which I hope did not hurt and offend too many people. In preparation for the photograph I dressed up in my very best, addressed the seated and standing expectant hall mates and then staged a walk-out. Rather theatrically I refused to be photographed on the grounds that we were not having a hall photograph. Only 66 hall mates were present. Almost no Resident was among the expectant crowd Admittedly, “All Must Attend” (I dislike that phrase) was written on the notice announcing the photograph but, in fact, it is an empty phrase. “Seniors” had to wear formal suits and others were to wear track-suit tops and slacks. In fact Residents do not have track suits. It would have been great to see over one hundred hall mates ready, waiting and suitably dressed for the photograph.

I staged my rather melodramatic “walk-out” to make a point. There are three reasons why we will have to change our hall culture to some degree. The first reason is that the University is pursuing a path of internationalizing the student population. In this context “internationalizing” can be taken to include China Mainland students. Ricci must play its part in this project. Obviously different languages, different cultures and different expectations all make for problems in welcoming international students. I am of the opinion that the University is rushing the project. I do not agree that international students should expect to be able to use English freely on campus or in the hostels. Hong Kong students who go abroad for studies just have to learn Swedish or Ghanaian or Arabic. Nevertheless within broad limits we need to make sacrifices to welcome international students and make them feel at home. We may have to offer them a modified form of Orientation and be more creative in offering them as full a life in Ricci as possible.

The second reason why we need to change our hall culture to some degree is that life has changed. Nowadays there are far more responsibilities, duties, recreational opportunities and educational openings clamoring for a share in university students’ lives. Students nowadays are unwilling or cannot afford the time, even if they were willing, to give themselves to an almost total hostel life style. We will have to change or we will die. More of this later.

The third reason. Money! Can we ever forget it? Apart from a generous good-will grant of just over $100,000 a year from the University, Ricci is totally dependent on hall mates’ fees for its day-to-day existence. $100,000 represents about two and a half weeks running costs. Former Riccians have contributed most generously to The Ricci Hall Trust which provides for extras. “Extras” includes our recent repainting and renovation! The fund is not and cannot be bottomless. To be brutally frank. To keep going Ricci must be almost fully occupied. If there are only 10 Riccians in Ricci there will have to be 110 Residents. If only for financial reasons the Ricci way of life has to change sufficiently to make it as attractive as possible to as many as possible potential hall mates.

All these considerations lead me to the second part of the article which may be even more important than the first. What I am now going to write about is of relevance to the University itself and to the lives of individual students.

The annual “Hall Retreat” held in late January was one of the most successful that I have attended. It brought me some comfort as it made me realise that the problems which face Ricci are also problems faced by many of the other halls.

This year the Retreat enabled Wardens, tutors and student representatives to consider a serious concern of the University authorities and teaching staff. That concern is that hall life too often conflicts with the educational goals of the University and the intellectual, academic and emotional growth of students. Ideally, while providing a supportive, warm and fun filled atmosphere for hall members, hall life should complement the over all efforts of the University to prepare mature, responsible and capable graduates who will be able to contribute significantly to the well being of Hong Kong.

There seemed too be general agreement among the retreatants that halls are in danger of pushing their own objectives to the detriment of a broader university education. Numerous examples were quoted of students missing appointments important for their studies because they had for example to train for swimming or football. I have been “stood up” from time to time and regularly have to rouse Riccians from sleep around noon to discuss something of importance. Meetings which go on all night leave participants so exhausted that they cut classes or fail to hand in assignments on time. Numerous useless meetings and enforced social activities which have long since lost their relevance eat further into hall mates’ time and energy.

Parties are held at absurd hours, causing noise and disturbance and driving students who wish to study to spend long hours in libraries on campus. Neighbors are disturbed by excessive noise and the police are often called to ask for silence.

It was particularly noted that some meetings go on for anything up to thirty hours. These meetings are hopelessly inefficient. To my mind they are morally reprehensible. No meeting is worth so much time. Time is precious. These meetings are so exhausting that they lead to anger, harsh, ungrateful criticism and tears. Nobody should have to end up in tears at meetings which are supposed to promote friendship and cooperation. It should be pointed out that it is not only hall meetings that are grossly inflated. Clubs, associations and university student groups of all kinds hold these marathons.

When the length of such meetings is challenged the answer nearly always is that “it is the tradition” or that “we will be accused of not being “serious” if our meeting is not at least as long as last years”.

I was further consoled to realise that Ricci seems to share another problem with some other halls. I have for long suspected that behind the scenes there is a small block of hall mates who insist on a policy of “no change” and on an almost fanatical observance of tradition. I believe that these guardians of tradition are the “Seniors” who quietly and subtly impose their views and block any movement which might favour a more relaxed and liberal attitude. I have noticed that at “Mass Orientation” and AGM’s it is almost exclusively the more senior students who speak. At times, sadly, nasty methods have been used to penalise anybody who steps out of line or who doesn’t take as active a part in hall activities as is demanded by some.

I have voiced my suspicion to hall mates and association members but have been assured that this is not so. I am not assured! I was consoled to hear many student representatives from other halls openly voicing their conviction that “Seniors” blocked changes which many in the halls wanted. In frustration I have often demanded that the power of “Seniors” should be broken. Now that the problem has been openly admitted, I feel hopeful.

How do we go about finding a solution to these difficulties? At the moment the various hall committees enjoy a great deal of autonomy in running their affairs. This is entirely as it should be. At this stage, however, it may well be that Wardens will have to exert more influence on committee planning in order to ensure that broader university educational objectives be taken into account. I sense that the Wardens are not quite sure how to proceed. Frankly, I am at a loss. I think the Wardens need some help. Here, fortunately, I see grounds for hope. The second part of the Hall Retreat was built around some very valuable proposals put forward by Dr Robert Chung. He presented an outline of “Hall Education Courses”. His proposals were very favourably received by all. A few minor reservations were expressed about details but I am sure that in the near future we will see definite plans for these courses.

Because of the great concern generated by the first part of the retreat about the clash between University and Hall objectives many of those present jumped with delight on two or three of Dr. Chung’s proposed courses. With great humility it was generally agreed that the Hall communities need professional help to give a new direction to hall activities. These courses may be the answer to our difficulties.

We need, for example to learn how to go about adapting hall activities to a changing life style and how to reconcile individual, Hall and University interests. We need to learn how to appreciate sporting activities and their contribution to health and recreation but must learn how to master those activities without being mastered by them. We need to know how to run meetings efficiently and pleasantly and, while allowing for a reasonable exchange of views, quickly. I think some meetings are pure escapism. Before moving on to specific areas where we need help in Ricci I would like to pay tribute once again to Dr. Chung for his great service to the University in producing a viable plan for Hall Education Courses. May I just ask him to put finishing touches to the proposals which will bring immediate help to halls before finailsing his more long tern proposals which will be of wider benefit to the University and Hall communities.

Here in Ricci we need practical assistance in planning to incorporate non-local students into hall life.

Here in Ricci we need help in setting down clearly and succinctly objectives which suit our changed conditions and which further the attainment of a broad, professional University education. Life is much fuller than it used to be. There is greater pressure on everybody. Of course we must keep all that is good in Ricci but we have to modify our expectations and our demands on one another. Potential hall mates want other things besides a very tight and demanding hall schedule. Hall mates simply cannot give all the time and energy they are expected to give to games, meetings and other activities.

Over the past four or five years I have asked all those who leave Ricci early the reasons for their departure. Almost without exception they denied that anybody had been unkind or cruel to them. They said that they enjoyed life in Ricci and that they were sorry to have to leave but that they just could not afford to give so much time to non academic pursuits. It is willful blindness not to accept these statements and examine them for whatever truth they may possess. It may well be that some can afford the time and energy but only some. 60%? This cannot continue.

Finally in Ricci we need help to plan our Orientation to ensure that it will be a useful, positive and enjoyable experience. Foreign visitors to the Ricci Jesuit community are shocked by the old fashioned rather colonial spirit that seems to control our Orientation.

I am sure that the abominable practice of ragging does not exist in Ricci but we still need to examine our Orientation carefully. Some form of Orientation is certainly necessary. What kind of Orientation though? To make a balanced judgment on Orientation we have to realise that Orientation is only a function of the other fifty or fifty one weeks of life in the academic year. If we demand an almost total dedication to “Ricci” then Orientation will inevitably be akin to a “boot-camp” or even a scaled down version of a totalitarian “brain-washing” camp!!

Orientation is somewhat inhuman. Some of the practices are potentially dangerous and may cause psychological damage to the occasional student who suffers from low self esteem. On occasions I have seen signs of a type of mass hysteria. Orientation is a little too long. It is certainly very tiring and pressurised. Those who are being oriented do not know what is going on in the world outside Ricci. They are virtually denied chances to contact their families and are kept off balance by being kept in ignorance of what is going to happen during the day. These are dangerous techniques. If I had done the Ricci Orientation I think that I would have found my two-year Jesuit novitiate a pleasant, relaxing holiday! We need to ask ourselves if Orientation fails to respect the basic values of compassion and respect for the dignity of the human person.

The darker “me” suspects that Orientation is at least partially manipulated by some of those terrible “black hands” – the “Seniors”! I think they subtly exercise control to protect their power. They may be saying “Listen, don’t forget we are the top dogs this year. If you don’t like it, you know what to do”.

Most people are not damaged by Orientation but that is a very minor justification for its excesses. It should be remembered by the way, that Orientation occurs at the end of August and the beginning of September when Hong Kong’s heat is at its fiercest and most trying.

A final anecdote which I hope will make you smile. Recently I was talking to a group of Riccians, urging my point that hall mates need to give more time and energy to study and to attaining the broader objectives of the University. One of them asked me, “but, Father, will that help the Ricci Spirit”? I could only smile I thanked him for giving me a good example of putting the cart before the horse. (Can anybody give me a good earthy Cantonese equivalent for that phrase?)

I hope Ricci will always be a place of unity, fun and friendship, a Ricci which works along with the University in preparing graduates worthy of a changed Hong Kong in a changed world.

Firefox Download Day

2008-06-01T13:52:00.002+08:00

Firefox is hoping to set a world record for the most software downloads in 24 hours. Though the exact official release date of Firefox has not been defined, it should be someday in June. So stay tuned. For the time being, you can sign the pledge to download Firefox 3 during Download Day!

Melting Ice

2008-06-01T13:36:00.003+08:00

I was reading my feeds and came across this photo taken on a flight to the States. As the author denoted, the flight was passing over the North Pole:
Though it might be exciting to fly over the North Pole, it is worrying to see the ice as 'floating blocks'. It wouldn't be long until all ice in the poles are gone. Help save the planet, turn your air conditioner to 25.5^oC and don't even turn it on if you don't need it!

Condolence to Si Chuan Earthquake Victims

2008-05-19T14:40:00.003+08:00

中國人民能夠萬眾一心、同心救災，是不幸中的大幸；中國政府能以民為本、持高度開放態度對待地震消息和援助，是中國人的光榮；中國第一次辦奧運，但幾乎所有能發生的天災、人禍都降臨了，中國人是不幸的民族。但願天地無情，人間有情！

Photo Credit: kdingflickr

iPod Shuffle

2008-05-18T23:55:00.001+08:00

My iPod Shuffle delivered two days ago. It was delivered because I engraved my name on it. While the shipping took slightly longer than I thought it would take, the out-of-the-box experience was amazing. This is my first iPod (might surprise some of you who thought I would have the latest gadgets in hand) and I have to admit that Apple delivered what they advertised. The parcel was a cardboard box size of a hand with my invoice attached. Inside fits the transparent plastic box that is wrapped with a plastic shield (I guess is to prevent it from being scratched). In the box, I got my iPod Shuffle and all the accessories promised in Apple.com. The initial set up was easy, I just had to place my iPod Shuffle in the dock, plug the USB into my laptop. iTunes would then automatically launch and the set up wizard guided me through the rest of the steps. I think the philosophy behind is that whenever you order from Apple, you can expect exactly what will be delivered ...

12 hours of playback .. let the music rock ...

What is a Friend?

2008-05-17T21:26:00.002+08:00

Haven't been posting for a while (actually .. more than a month). While I will soon keep you updated with what has happened in the past month, enjoy this video:

Self-Heal Spike Drink

2008-04-08T03:29:00.001+08:00

A bottle of health ... from Jane! ;)