Education and Lottery

The Hong Kong A-level Exam results were out some two weeks ago and the IB Diploma results were released just now.  Parents of kids who did well (my congratulations to them) were reported to have said that getting 5As in HKAL or 40+ in IB and securing a ticket to one of the top universities is like finally winning a big lottery or a mega jackpot.

Numerous researches have shown that winners of mega jackpots live a short life, are far more likely to go bankrupt and have their marriage ended by way of a divorce.

Do you still want to win a big lottery or mega jackpot?

We often see in the papers stories of people winning a mega jackpot.  What about the people who did not win? I bet you've never read any news about Peter's not winning, Paul's not winning, Mary's not winning ... If we require a TV station to run a 30-second interview with each loser every time they interview a winner, the losers in a typical lottery in the US will require nine and a half years of your uninterrupted attention just to watch them say, "I did not win", "I lost", "Neither did I"... (There is an interesting TED video on this.)  The media bias creates an illusion that lotteries are winnable and makes people buy lottery tickets.

Is it the same with the attraction of the top universities?

We have stories in the papers and fancy magazines (which very often are more pornographic than the real pron magazines) that Simon Junior, graduate of Princeton, joining Goldman Sachs as its youngest partner, and Ann, grand-grand-grand-daughter of Peter the Great and a graduate from Yale, becoming CEO of one of the Fortune 500.  It's not that likely that we'll find in the papers stories of Simon, graduate of Harvard, becoming a police officer, or Peter, a Cambridge's graduate, becoming a pharmacist or a teacher.

Is there a similar illusion, like the lottery one, that makes people believe that going to one of the top universities will bring us happiness and success?

Winners of medium-sized lotteries are generally happier.  If Oxbridge and Ivy League = the biggest lotteries and second-tier universities = medium-sized lotteries, what do you prefer?

Hong Kong Book Fair and Stephen Fry

Although you are not going to see Chrissie Chau and other underage pseudo models in person, this year speaker lineup for the Hong Kong Book Fair has its own attraction.  The guest speakers include:

• Han Han, Chinese blogger, named one of the "100 most influential people" by Time Magazine;
•  Frederick Forsyth, author of thriller books The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Dogs of War and The Devil's Alternative;
• Stephen Fry, actor, comedian, author and Twitter user with more thn 1.57 million followers;
• Andrew Roberts, historian and author of Hitler and Churchill;
• Jade Y Chen, best-selling novelist and playwright from Germany.

To take part in the guest speaker forums, you have to register ahead of time.  Act now.  Chances are that all the places for Han's and Fry's forums will be taken very quickly.

Here is Stephen Fry. (If you, quite understandably, don't want to see too much of Ann Widdecombe, jump to 1:15).

Hong Kong's Best Kept Secrets Series - Tiao Yuan Soya Sauce 調源醬油

It's a very well kept secret.

An extremely low profiled old money family in Hong Kong has been producing the Tiao Yuan soya sauce since time long forgotten.  The family, among the very rich though, is little known.  Members of the family have been patrons to China Care Fund, a local charity that is quietly helping many poor students (especially girls) in the more remote parts of China.  The family once hosted a causal party for the China Care Fund's people at the family mansion in Fanling.  I was lucky to be invited.  It was not a fancy party like the ones at Four Seasons but there were good friends, good food and good chats.  After the party the guests were presented some souvenirs - two bottles of Tiao Yuan soya sauce, freshly brewed from the in-house brewing facilities, which were behind the mansion and next to the private peacocks garden (there were some real peacocks!).  Nice party souvenirs indeed.  The soya sauce is brewed in the way their great grandparents did it.  No chemicals added; no preservatives, no artificial colouring and nothing of those substances whose names I cannot spell.  Just good materials and a lot of attention and a lot of time.  The soya sauce making business is now more a family heritage than a money-making business.  They are making it for friends, relatives and old customers who still remember them.  Production is extremely small.  There used to be an outlet in Causeway Bay but it is now gone.  To buy the soya sauce you need to go to Sham Shui Po and look for a little shop called Tai Hing Food, which is right opposite to Pei Ho Street Market Building.   Trust me, it is the best soya sauce you can find.  The price is a little unreal - it's HK$20 per bottle.  It makes the price for the balsamic vinegar from Modena or Reggio Emilia sound like a joke.

It's Complicated

Summer must be a time for divorce.

A few friends of mine have their problems with marriage resolved by way of a divorce recently.  The common issue - a third party.  The complication of having a third party is always under-estimated. Consider this: two cake lovers wish to share a cake so that each is satisfied that they have a fair share.  How to divide the cake between the two?  It's not that hard when there are only two cake lovers involved - A cuts, B chooses.  The problem gets tricky when a third cake lover is brought into the picture.  How to divide the cake among the three so that each is satisfied that they have a fair share?  I'll give you a moment to deliberate on it.
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Don't get frustrated if you can't think of an answer.  The question, posted hundreds of years ago, was left unresolved until 1944 when a group of Polish mathematicians came up with a somewhat right solution.  A tripartite situation is more tricky that one can imagine.  Anyone who thinks that he (seems that it's always he) can resolve a tripartite marriage is either completely stupid or hopelessly arrogant.

Ironically, if one can divide a cake fairly among three persons, he can divide it among four, five, six or more (see How to Cut a Cake if you are interested).

Chinese Lesson (1) - 山人仙谷俗

人: man; person; people.
山: mountain; hill.
仙: immortal; god; divine; heavenly.

人 + 山 = 仙. Therefore, to be immortal and divine, a man needs to go deep into the mountain, away from the material world.

人: man; person; people.
谷: grain, corn, harvest.
俗: worldly, materialistic, vulgar.

人 + 谷 = 俗.  So, a man who eats is bound to be worldly, materialistic, or even vulgar.  The more he eats or the more harvest he keeps, the more vulgar he will be.

Hou Yeh Pinoy! Great! Filipinos! 好嘢!菲律賓人!

Traditionally, people don't talk much about the Philippines except the beaches in Cebu, Imelda Marco's shoes, Freddie Aguilar's Anak and, of course, export of domestic helpers. But, it seems that things are starting to change. These days, local newspapers carry stories of Walden Bello, and the Hong Kong Arts Centre is hosting the first Philippine Film Festival.  (I really want to watch Voices/Boses but my work schedule for the coming week sucks.)  A welcome change.

A Quick Rreview

This blog has been up for a few months.  It's time for a quick review.

1. Microsoft is out

2. The Metro Vocal Group is in
I notice that in the last few days, quite a number of the new readers were directed by Google to this post as they were googling "Metro Vocal Group". They were from everywhere: Thailand, the Netherlands, New Zealand and ... Romania and Russia?  It seems that people all over the world are suddenly interested in the Metro Vocalists. Their new video "Under a Vast Sky" got almost 100,000 hits in less than 3 days.

3. Top referral site
Gweipo leads by a big margin, followed by Joyce and Ulaca.

4. Apparently most loved post
On fatherhood.  Surprisingly, people like it.  I guess the cute video helps.

5. Apparently most influential post
On fatherhood again. One reader said in a private comment that he (or she) may reconsider the kids issue.

6. The worst post (nominated by SorLo)
Application for permission to date my daughter. It's a shameless copy and paste, and completely devoid of originality. (But I know parents in  my situation will forgive me.)

Bach's "Sleepers Wake" and ISF Orchestra

As I was listening to Bach's "Sleepers Wake", my daughter told me they had played it during orchestra practice. A BIG THANK YOU to Ms Howard.

Report Card

ISF is now distributing report cards by electronic means.  Despite all the emails and SMS reminders, my wife and I somehow managed to completely forget about the latest report card.  Should we declare victory over schooling or call ourselves lazy parents?

Animals Schooling

Important Chinese Painter Wu Guanzhong (吳冠中) died at 91

Wu Guanzhong (吳冠中), important Chinese painter and a rare talent who really understood Chinese and Western art, passed away yesterday in Beijing.  He was 91.

Mr. Wu, an engineer by training, studied painting at the National Arts Academy of Hanzhou and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts.  He was the first Chinese to be made an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture.  Hong Kong was home to Mr. Wu for many years and the Hong Kong Museum of Art is home to many of his paintings.  I hope the museum will very soon show his paintings in an exhibition.

Delay?

I'm sure some of my readers already know this excellent article in The New Yorker by Jonah Lehrer: Don't! The secret of self-control.  It is about the importance of delayed satisfaction and explains why kids who manage to resist the temptation of a marshmallow at age 4 tend to score two hundred and ten more points in S.A.T.

I have been thinking whether adults will benefit from delayed frustration/disappointment/anger/judgment as kids will benefit from delayed satisfaction. True, life is not perfect. But, I don't know, would it make any difference if we can delay our feeling for say 30 minutes?

Even the almighty sun has its own ups and downs.

When I'm down and troubled, I'll turn to Bach for some comfort.  Let's see if this works for you.

Mid Life Crisis

Gweipo's post reminds me of Life after 50 - Reboot, a book by the Japanese management guru Kenichi Ohmae 大前研一 (Kenichi Ohmae's biography here).  You may not like the tone of the author but I do appreciate the 100% openness on his part.  It seems that this somewhat neglected book has not been translated into English yet.  Every man aged 40 or above who can read Japanese or Chinese should grab a copy and read it from cover to cover.


Kenichi Ohmae made the following points:

• If you love singing/dancing/acting/painting/music performing and cannot make yourself a known singer/dancer/actor/painter/performer before 40, forget about it.  You won't be a renowned singer/dancer/actor/painter/performer.

• If you can't make yourself a partner of McKinsey & Company, Inc. before you attain 40, you just won't be a partner of McKinsey.  Face the fact and accept it.

• If you are over 40 years of age and still complaining about unfairness and lack of opportunities, you probably will spend the rest of your life complaining and mourning for yourself.  

• Retirement from your present job is not a ticket to grave.  If, by age 45 or 50, you still hasn't reached the highest point you thought you would be up to, you need a mental reboot.  It's time you leave your present job behind and try something new.  Start a new venture, learn a new skill and start a new hobby. 

• You don't need to prove anything to your wife.  If she is still with you when you are 50, she already knows who you are. 

• If you don't need to prove anything to  your wife, you don't need to prove anything to anybody.

• Go to the country or a smaller company.  Your skill, not the highest rated though in the biggest companies, is much needed elsewhere.  You are more useful than what you think.

• Sell your heavily mortgaged house and buy a smaller one in the less prestigious location.  Yes, you can live in a smaller place.  No, you don't want to be bothered with mortgage when you are 60.

• Learn how to purchase tickets to movies on your cell phone; try what you used to hate to eat; learn an instrument or a new language; learn how to swim if you cannot swim. 

• You may not be the most charming flower in the field, but you can be the ground that nurtures that flower.  Don't underestimate the value of your knowledge and experience to the youth. 

• By 50, you should be able to tell what you can change and can't change.  What you can't change, you can't change.

• Do what you really want to do.  

• You should be able to ignore noise.

• Stay away from negative people. 

I'm just reading ahead.  Will have to live a few more years before I attain 50.

Violin Shops in Hong Kong

Bumped into another parent who is also learning the violin after the ISF Grade 6/7 Musical and had a brief discussion with him about violin shops in Hong Kong.  Here is my list of violin shops in Hong Kong (most of them also carry other stringed instruments).

Orfeo Strings
I love and hate Orfeo.  Their collection is good (this is the place where you can see and try bows by Thomassin and Vigneron) but I'm really fed up with all the bullshit from one of the guys there.  Visitors to the shop who are identified as someone who can afford better instruments will be told that their children need a Laberte for grade 6 and up violin examinations, and that Chinese and Eastern European violins are for beginners.

Hong Kong Strings
A nice shop in Central with a fairly good collection and helpful staff.  Prices are reasonable too.  However, a neck resetting job that needed to be completely redone keeps me from rating it more highly.

Violmaster
Mr. Au and his apprentices, all quiet and timid men, are extremely helpful.  They carry Chinese stringed instruments of different grades.

Andre Jutras
A small one-man operation in Wanchai.  A French husband to a Chinese lady and father of a teenage girl who is also playing the violin, AJ is one of the very few violin makers here.  These days he is more a dealer of Chinese instruments than a maker/restorer but he does more than just buy and sell.  He will make sure that all the instruments that leave his workshop are properly set up and in playable condition.

Solo Strings
Another no-fuss and honest violin shop in Wanchai.  The shop that I now go to for repair and maintenance.

Some violin shops are less honest than the other.  So be careful.  An unlabeled instrument that is sold for less than US$400 in a Tarisio auction may somehow find its way into a shop in the New Territories and become a HK$50,000 violin with an Italian label.

Vadim Mazo First Recital in Hong Kong

Just back from Vadim's mini recital at the newly opened Geofferik Studio in Causeway Bay.  (Something about Vadim here).

The programme:

Prelude and Allegro (Kreisler)
Sonatina in 4 movements (Dvorak)
Romance in F (Beethoven)
Meditation from Thais (Massnet)
Etude (Fiorillo)
Fishermen Song (Koichi Kishi)

Violin: Vadim Mazo
Piano: Li, Geoff Erik

The Etude by Fiorillo is added as a reminder to the students that an etude is a song, not an exercise, and should be practised and played as a song.  The Fishermen Song, Hong Kong premiere probably, is a song written by a Koichi Kishi, a Japanese composer who died in the US at the age of 29.

It is indeed my great pleasure to be at the recital.  I came to know Vadim two and a half years ago when he came here to teach.  We became good friends during our week's stay in St. Petersburg in the Summer that followed.  Vadim is the most devoted and passionate music teacher I have ever met.  Educating the younger generation and passing his knowledge to them is his priority, an self-imposed task, a mission and an uncompromisable part of his life.  Despite his not very good health, he is back to Asia with his violin and his passion for music and life.

Vadim is also bringing Tomoko from Japan, an adorable violin teacher whom kids really love.  He says he needs to learn a few things from her as to how to deal with the younger violin learners.  Tomoko is arriving in Hong Kong on Tuesday and we will be having dinner together on Thursday after my daughter's lesson with them.  Can't feel more happy and excited.

Application for Permission to Date My Daugher

This post is not original, but who cares, this is an EMERGENCY SITUATION.

Mr you know who you are, please read this very carefully and follow the following instructions and rules strictly.

Note: This application will be incomplete and rejected unless accompanied by a complete financial statement, job history, driving record, family lineage and current certified medical report (including drug test) from doctors nominated by me.

By submission this form, you understand that your application will not be processed until my daughter is 16.

Name: _________________________________

Date of Birth: _________________________

Height:_____ Weight _______ I.Q. ______

Passport/HKID # ________________________

Drivers License # ________________________
(If you are not old enough to hold a driving licence, wait until you get one)

Highest rank reached in school ___________________________________________

Lowest rank reached in school ____________________________________________
(Give full particulars, when, where and why)

Email Address _________________________________

Facebook/Twitter/Other social Networking accounts: __________________________________________________________
(You warrant that you don't have any other social networking accounts except the above and undertake to add me and my wife as your "friends".)

Do you have one Male and one Female parent? If No, Explain_________________________________________________

Do you have a tongue ring, nose ring, belly ring, nipple ring or a tattoo? ______ If “Yes” please discontinue application and leave.

Are you sure you understand what does “Don’t touch my Daughter” mean? __________

In 50 words or less, what does “Late” mean to you?

In 50 words or less, explain how to achieve peace in the Middle East.

Name of Church you attend ___________________
How often ___________________

In 50 words or less, explain why you bother to attend a church?

In 50 words or less, explain why you don't go to church?

When would be the best time to interview the following people?

Your Father ______________ AM or PM, Best Contact Phone _______________

Your Mother _____________ AM or PM, Best Contact Phone _______________

Your Minister ____________ AM or PM, Best Contact Phone _______________

Your School's Head ________ AM or PM, Best Contact Phone _______________


Answer by filling in the blanks. Please answer freely. ALL answers are confidential (That means I won't put them on Youtube without the permission of my wife, or my dog).

If you were shot, the last place on your body you would want wounded would be:
________________________________________________________

If your were beaten, the last bone you would want broken would be:
________________________________________________________

How private should private parts be:
________________________________________________________

Things I hope this application does not ask about me is (must name at least three):
________________________________________________________

When I first meet a girl, the first thing I notice about her is:
_________________________________________________________

I swear that all information supplied above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge under penalty of death, dismemberment, Native American Red Ant torture, Electrocution, Chinese Water Torture, and Red Hot Poker Treatment.

X_________________________________________
Signature (that means your name in cursive)


Thank you for your interest in my daughter. Please allow 4 to 6 YEARS for processing. You will be notified in writing if you are approved. Please DO NOT try to call, email or write. If you do attempt any communication before your application is approved, automatic disqualification will result.

Do you still want to date my Daughter?

_________ Yes, please submit my application (I agree to the attached “Rules.”)

_________ No, I have the wrong house, I am terribly sorry to disturb you.


Accompanying Rules for dating my Daughter:

(1) If you pull into my driveway and honk, I will assume that you are delivering something, because you are not picking anything up.

(2) You do not stare at my daughter. You may glance at her, so long as you do not peer below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or hands off my daughter, I have your authority to remove them, and I will.

(3) I am aware that it is considered fashionable for boys your age to wear their trousers so loosely that they appear to be falling off their hips. Please don’t take this personally, but you and your friends are complete idiots. Still, I want to be open-minded. So, if you come to the door with your underwear showing I will take my electric nail gun and fasten you trousers securely in place to your waist to ensure that during the course of your date your trousers do not come off.

(4) I’m sure you have been told that in today’s world, sex without some sort of “barrier method” of some kind can kill you. Let me elaborate. When it comes to sex, I am the barrier, and I will kill you.

(5) It is usually understood that in order for us to get to know each other, we should talk about sports, politics and other current affairs. PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS. The only information I require is what time I can expect my daughter to be home safely, and the only acceptable answer is “Early.”

(6) I have no doubt that you are a popular guy, with many opportunities to date and flirt with other girls. This is fine with me as long as it is okay with my daughter. Otherwise, once you have gone out with my little princess, you will continue to date no one but her until she is finished with you.

(7) If you make my little girl cry, I will make you cry.

(8) As you are waiting in my front entry for my daughter to appear, and some significant time goes by, do not sigh or fidget. If you want to be on time, you should not date my daughter. My daughter is putting on her makeup, fixing her beautiful hair and choosing an outfit that will pass my inspection. Instead of standing there, please do something useful, like mowing my yard, taking out my trash, or changing the oil in my car.

(9) Do not lie to me. I may appear to be advancing in age and intelligence, but I am all knowing when it comes to my daughter. I have a shotgun, a shovel and some extra land. Do not mess with me.

(10) The following places are not appropriate for a date with my daughter:

Places where there are beds, sofas, or anything softer than a wooden stool; places where there are no parents, policemen, or pastors in eyesight; places where there is no presence of light; places it is warm enough to induce my daughter to wear shorts, tank tops or anything other than overalls, a sweater and a goose down parka zipped to the top; movies with romantic themes; places where there is dancing, holding hands or happiness; places where alcohol is provided.  Please note that the above list is not exhaustive. Additions to the list may be made retrospectively and without notice at my absolute discretion.