• [030]  The Archivist's Report (11/10/2007)  As part of the "Save Auntie Eileen" campaign, I am doing filing on the documents in my household.  Previously, I indicated that I had letters between Eileen Chang and my parents for the years 1977-1982 and 1987-1995.  Today, I have just found another box full of letters, covering 1983-1986 as well as 1962-1976.  I had said that I had about 400 letters before, but the true number will be a lot more than that.
   
  As a bonus, I am also filing the letters between my father Stephen Soong and his other friends.  Among others, there are letters exchanged with Qian Zhongshu (錢鐘書), Fu Lei (傅雷) and Wu Xinghua (吳興華).  Here is a sample of the handwriting of the former.
   
  
   
  P.S. After sorting through the newly found letters, the total count is estimated to be 450 letters from Eileen Chang to Stephen and Mae Soong, and more than 1,000 letters between them going in both directions.
   
  Relevant Links:
  吳興華重出江湖  倉海君,新春秋
  吴兴华之死  王友琴,《文革受难者》

(SCMP)  Independents seen as vote stealers.  Eva Woo, November 10, 2007.

The pan-democrats are worried that self-styled "independent democrats" could cost them votes in the district council elections.  Pan-democrats said at a press conference they were worried about the "lukewarm" atmosphere of the elections next Sunday.

"It is worrying that there may be a low turnout rate," Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong, of the Power for Democracy, said. "The winning chances for pan-democrats would be at a discount if the turnout cannot meet the previous figure." The turnout in the 2003 district council elections was 44.1 per cent.  Mr Tsoi said a low turnout in the election might be interpreted as Hongkongers not supporting universal suffrage in 2012.

Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan said the number of candidates who called themselves "independent democrats" had increased this year.  Most of them, contesting one fourth of the constituencies, said they supported universal suffrage in 2012.

(Apple Daily)

臨 近 11 月 18 日 區 議 會 選 舉 投 票 日 ， 泛 民 主 派 近 日 頻 遭 左 派 和 「 突 然 民 主 派 」 區 議 員 候 選 人 夾 擊 ， 選 情 嚴 峻 ， 昨 日 舉 行 「 民 主 告 急 」 大 會 ， 呼 籲 市 民 在 當 日 踴 躍 投 票 撐 真 民 主 。 民 主 動 力 召 集 人 蔡 耀 昌 指 出 ， 左 派 今 屆 在 多 個 選 區 一 反 常 態 ， 未 有 高 調 拉 票 或 宣 傳 ， 「 佢 左 派 鐵 票 根 本 唔 使 點 拉 ， 如 果 民 主 派 選 民 唔 出 投 票 ， 民 主 派 選 情 一 定 勢 危 。 」

民 主 黨 主 席 何 俊 仁 指 出 ， 不 少 選 區 近 日 都 出 現 一 些 突 然 表 態 支 持 2012 雙 普 選 ， 並 以 此 作 為 唯 一 政 綱 的 「 突 然 民 主 派 」 候 選 人 ， 相 信 有 人 想 在 目 前 勝 負 差 距 僅 有 一 至 二 百 票 的 選 情 下 ， 拉 散 民 主 派 票 源 。 

[in translation]

This is getting close to voting day (November 18) for the district council elections.  The pan-democrats are being attacked on both sides by the leftists and the "suddenly democratic" candidates and their positions are critical.  Yesterday, the pan-democrats held a "democracy under emergency" rally to ask the citizens to vote for true demcoracy.  Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong, convenor of the Power for Democracy, pointed out that the leftists have taken an unusual position of not canvassing for votes or publicizing in many districts.  "The solid leftist votes do not require much effort to get.  If the democratic voters do not come and vote, the situation for the democrats will be perilous."

Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan pointed out that there have appeared many "suddenly democratic" candidates who support universal suffrage in 2012 in many districts.  He believes that when the election comes down a margine of one or two hundred votes, these people will split up the votes for the democrats.

Exercise:  How do you tell a "faux democrat" from an "independent democrat"?  Or is the only "true democrat" someone who has signed up with one of the known political parties or organizations in the pan-democratic camp?
 
Reference: Ralph Nader in Wikipedia

At my Hong Kong University talk about my "Auntie Eileen" (see Comment 200711#008), I said that Eileen Chang was just one of many adults who passed through my household.  If I knew that she would become one of the greatest figures in Chinese Literature fifty years hence, I would have recorded every action that she took when she stayed with our family during 1961-1962.  But there were other apparently more significant adults who passed through around the same time.  Who?  There were many but one of them was recently illuminated by the media limelight.
 
In 1967, the actor Wang Yu (王羽) starred in a Shaw Brother's movie <<One-armed Swordsman>> and soared into superstardom.  Previously to that, he was just an underpaid contracted actor with lots of time on hand and no money to spend.  So he spent a lot of time playing cards and table tennis with me (who was a teenager but whose father was a significant player in the movie industry as an executive producer/film script writer/supervisor).  Can you understand my priorities at the time?
 

 
Fast forward a few years and Wang Yu has moved on to Taiwan to develop his career beyond Shaw Brothers and right into gangster world.  According to this TVBS report, Wang Yu attended the grand opening of the casino ran by Four Seas gang and lost NT$1,000,000.  Wang paid his debt promptly.  When the Four Seas gang invited Wang to come again, he refused.  This was considered a gross insult and the Four Seas gang sent out members to assasinate Wang Yu, who managed to escape with several non-fatal stab injuries.
 
Wang Yu did not think that he was capable of dealing with the onslaught and therefore he asked for help from Chen Chili of the Bamboo United gang.  As a result, the Four Seas gang was assaulted in kind with fourteen non-fatal stab wounds.  This matter was ultimately amicably resolved among all parties.
 
So what?  This leads to this Taipei Times article:

One of the most reputation-ruining sights Taiwan can offer is a gangster funeral. Attended by hundreds of black-shirted young men and senior politicians from both ideological camps, these events prove that democratic accountability and social standards don't mean the same thing to all people.

What makes the funeral of Chen Chi-li ( 陳啟禮 ) noteworthy is that this Bamboo Union icon was a textbook example of a criminal employed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in years gone by to intimidate and kill dissidents and anyone else who dared stand up to the dictatorship of the Chiang family and their goons.

He wasn't just a standover man taking protection money from street vendors; he was a tool of state oppression. But the revisionism in the print and broadcast media in recent weeks has portrayed this thug as close to heroic; a man who died in exile in Cambodia, far from family and friends. At the same time, no one weeps for the man he killed, Chiang Ching-kuo ( 蔣經國 ) biographer Henry Liu ( 江南 ).

In the course of mourning Chen, the sight of a string of celebrities, ne'er-do-well politicians and retired security agency officials lining up to pay their dues played itself out. Of the former, pop singer Jay Chou ( 周杰倫 ) was the most conspicuous, and he has gutted his reputation -- and raised questions about who he owes and how much -- by paying his respects. Chou should be ashamed, but we are not sure if he has the depth of character to feel it.

But it is the politicians -- and their seniority -- that should be of enduring concern. How astonished and enraged Americans would be if House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined the organizing committee for the funeral of a notorious mafia boss. Yet that is exactly what has happened here: Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng ( 王金平 ) of the KMT blessed Chen by having his name added to the list of honorary funeral officials. Again, one might ask, what does Wang owe, and to whom?  The KMT, it seems, can't get by without cavorting with criminals.

But this is not a partisan cancer. Even more despicable is the presence on the honorary list of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus convener Ko Chien-ming ( 柯建銘 ), who warrants expulsion from the party. We're not holding our breath.  Ko's presence is revolting because he trivializes the sacrifice of Henry Liu, who allowed people like him the freedom to represent the DPP.

This easy association with criminality continues to plague the legislature, too, with an attempt to restrict candidates for public office to people with no criminal record or a minor criminal record being defeated in recent days.

Both parties have acted shamefully and shamelessly on this matter. President Chen Shui-bian ( 陳水扁 ), as chairman of the DPP, deserves censure for not intervening to ensure that DPP support for the changes did not eventuate.  And Wang Jin-pyng deserves an equally strong rebuke for blithely dismissing this debacle as being worthy of any concern.

KMT politicians who attack the president and his family for alleged illegal conduct while saying and doing nothing about legislative misconduct are damned hypocrites. Likewise, DPP politicians that complain of judicial persecution of the president while saying and doing nothing about legislative mischief -- or its protection -- lack all credibility.

It is all too easy to say "a pox on all their houses" or some such, but the fact is that all of this behavior is tolerated by a large number of voters who will put any lowlife into office as long as it is not someone from the opposition. Thus continues this collapsible morality in the face of criminal connections to the political, security and entertainment establishments.

• [025]  UN For Taiwan (11/09/2007)  (TVBS)  As part of the UN For Taiwan campaign, the post offices in Taiwan have been applying "UN For Taiwan" chops on the stamps (with the images of the president, vice-president and flag of the Republic of China) of mailed letters.
  
   
  But what happens when these letters arrive in mainland China?  They get held up by the mainland post offices.  A notice is sent to the recipient to come down to the post office to pick up the letter.  Before doing so, the recipient has to sign a statement that "I oppose the entry of Taiwan into the United Nations" as well as provide detailed personal information.  This becomes equivalent to joining a signature campaign against the entry of Taiwan into the United Nations.  Afterwards, the letter is produced and the recipient has to blacken the sign befor leaving.  If the recipient refuses, the mainland post office returns the letter to Taiwan.  This has been happening for some time since October this year.  Many recipients are Taiwanese business people who have to sign in order to receive their business documents.

• [023]  Apple Daily Barred From Beijing Olympics? (11/09/2007)  (The Sun)  Yesterday, Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) spokesperson Shao Shiwei said: "We basically welcome all the Taiwan newspapers to come to the mainland and cover the Games, including filing critical reports.  My personal opinion is that they must report objectively and not manufacture news.
   
  As to whether Apple Daily will be allowed to cover the Olympics from Beijing, Shao Shiwei said: "Taiwan media had asked me why Apple Daily cannot cover news in mainland China.  I said that Apple Daily should know about their own affairs.  You should go and ask them."

• [021]  Friends (11/09/2007)  Here is a piece of personal memory on the occasion of my talk about the 30 treasures about Eileen Chang at the Hong Kong University Library on November 5, 2007.
  
  (From left to right)  Joshua Tang, Ling Hui, Kenneth Wong, Roland Soong, Erica Yuen, Velentina Ma, Ying Chan (photograph courtesy of HKU JSMC)
  
  Velentina Ma and Ying Chan are from the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at Hong Kong University.  Without their persistence and energy, none of this could happen (both the exhibit and the talk).  I have not informed them yet, but I am leaning towards depositing the archival materials at their university on account of these happenings (since nobody has even bothered to contact me at all).
   
  Joshua Tang is likely to be more interested in the ESWN blog than Eileen Chang, so this evening is counter-educational material about the perils of being sidetracked by peripheral projects.
   
  Kenneth Wong can be said to the ultimate Eileen Chang fan.  Maybe this statement will upset other fans, but he has published a photography book 華麗園 around the writings of Eileen Chang.
   
  Hui Ling is the friend who helped me whipped the materials in the plastic trash bags into shape (see Comment 200711#012).
   
  As for Erica Yuen, everybody in this town knows that she is presently workfree in a celebrated case about fair competition, free work choice, etc..  On this evening, I asked her to assist me in managing the slides.  She is just so much more interesting to look at than me ...

• [020]  The Pussycat Tiger (11/09/2007)  (Southern Metropolis Daily)  On October 20, Southern Metropolis Daily reporter Tan Renwei visited the Zhenping county Forestry Department.  In order to dispel the challenge by a botanist, a Forestry Department worker turned on the computer and showed some photographs of the original photographer Zhou Zhenglong revisiting the original scene.  Tan took a photograph of the said image.
   
  
   
  On November 4, Tan posted that photograph at an Internet forum for the purpose of illuminating the controversy about the size of the tiger in the photograph.  Several hours later, the photograph was cross-posted at all the major Internet forums.
   
  Immediately some netizen matched the flora in the new photograph with Zhou Zhenglong in the foreground to the original photograph of the South China tiger.  They concluded that the tiger in the photograph must be the size of a household pet cat.  The botanist Fu Dezhi who had made the challenge on the basis of the flora made a post titled "GAME OVER."  Another netizen sighed: "Victory came so suddenly that it does not mean much."
  

• [019]  A Mass Incident in Guangzhou (11/09/2007)  (Southcn via Wenxue City)  In February, the Guangdong Technical Normal Institute asked for bigs to construct two dormitories and one classroom building at around 6.8 million yuan.  A teacher named Lin at the school sought out an interior decorator named Pan and persuaded him to bid, even though the latter had no construction experience.  According to Pan, he was awarded the project after giving 200,000 yuan to Lin as kickback.
   
  In March, Pan recruited more than 200 migrant workers to begin construction.  One month later, the project was halted because the school had omitted to seek permission to construct.  The project did not resume until June.  When the project was completed on September 15, Pan claimed cost overruns of 2.83 million yuan over the original 6.8 million yuan budget.  The school said that this was absurd.
   
  Meanwhile, the 200 plus migrant workers were upset at not receiving their pay and more than a dozen suppliers had not been paid yet.  
   
  Yesterday afternoon, more than 30 migrant workers blocked the dormitory and told the students to leave.  When the school security guards tried to stop them, a melee broke out.  The security guards were outnumbered and scattered.  Five minutes later, the security guards regrouped and came back with long iron pipes.  The migrant workers used bamboo poles to fight back.  The police then arrived and used pepper spray to to disperse both sides.  Here are the action photographs:
   
  
   
  
   
  
   
  

• [018]  Hong Kong By The Numbers (11/08/2007)  (Hong Kong Institute of Asian-Pacific Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong)  (1,837 persons age 18 or over interviewed at 51.8% response rate)
   
  Satisfaction Level about macro-level politics, economy and society:
   
  Hong Kong's economic conditions:
   3.2% very dissatisfied
  26.8% dissatisfied
  62.8% satisfied
   4.4% very satisfied
   
  Hong Kong's social conditions:
   5.0% very dissatisfied
  35.2% dissatisfied
  56.6% satisfied
    3.8% very satisfied
   
  Hong Kong SAR Government's performance:
    3.9% very dissatisfied
  32.6% dissatisfied
  56.6% satisfied
    3.8% very satisfied
   
  Central government policies towards Hong Kong:
    2.9% very dissatisfied
  20.5% dissatisfied
  59.6% satisfied
    9.6% very satisfied
   
  Mainland China's economic conditions:
   2.2 very dissatisfied
  12.6% dissatisfied
  58.7.3% satisfied
  12.4% very satisfied
   
  Whom would you seek out to solve the following problems?
   
  Community problems
  68.2% district councilors
  13.4% legislative councilors
    2.0% both
  11.2% neither
   
  Expressing your own opinions
  51.9% district councilors
  28.8% legislative councilors
    3.3% both
  10.3% neither
   
  Monitoring the government
  18.2% district councilors
  65.9% legislative councilors
   2.3% both
   8.4% neither
   
  How much attention are you paying to the district council elections?
   6.8% no attention whatsoever
  31.4% no attention
  51.0% some attention
  10.0% very attention
   
  Which issues do you care about? (Base: Those who pay attention to the district council elections)
    8.0% political issues
  80.8% livelihood issues
    0.3% neither
    9.8% both
   
  When you cast your vote, what factors do you consider? (Base: Likely voters)
  72.6% district work performance
  45.7% policy platform
  28.9% political party background
  16.5% personal background (e.g. occupation, education, etc)
    2.8% name recognition
    0.9% appearance
    1.5% other 
   
  When you vote, you tend to lean towards ...? (Base: Likely voters)
  30.8% democratic candidates
  13.4% pro-China candidates
  46.4% independent/middle-of-the-road candidates
   9.4% undecided

• [017]  The Hong Kong Police Visits Oriental Daily (11/07/2007)  (The Sun)
   
  On November 1, 2007 at 2:20pm, three police officers went to the Oriental Daily office in Taipo and asked to speak to the person in charge.  At issue was an article published in The Sun on August 9, 2006 that had been re-posted on the Internet.
   
  The police officers did not identify the basis of the investigation, nor the specific article of law that this essay may have violated.  The police officers only indicated that a citizen had sent an email to the police station to complain that the article is suspected of "inciting violence."  The police officers demanded that the Oriental Daily News Group provide information on whether the author was an employee or columnist.  The police officers also asked whether the newspaper had any system in place to review these types of articles.
   
  
  The said article was titled: "There is no reasoning with the evil parties; only a violent beating is needed 對奸黨不必論理只須暴打."  The subject was the Interception of Communication and Surveillance Bill.  The "opposition parties"/"evil parties" used delay tactics through repeated speeches and more than one hundred amendments to stall the bill.  It took more than 50 hours before the bill was passed by the Legislative Council.
   
  The article concluded: "對反對派、奸人黨之無理取鬧，對他們為反對而反對早就應該如此，否則他們得寸進尺，賊氣猖狂，此乃古往今來一切賊黨奸徒本性之使然、之所為。明乎此，對他們除了痛打還應暴打！不必以理相論也。 translation:  Concerning the unreasonable trouble from the opposition side and the evil parties, they have always opposed for the purpose of opposing for such is the nature of these types of people since antiquity.  Once we understand that, there is nothing left but to beat them hard and violently!  There is no need to reason with them."

(Huashang News, November 5, 2007)

On November 1, the Shaanxi provincial government removed 17 highway toll gates in the province.  The Shangzhangdu bridge in Weinan city accordingly no longer has a toll gate.  But at the same time, motor vehicles are now banned on the bridge.  According to information, the bridge had undergone a 20-day emergency repair between December 6 and 26 in 2006.  The average daily traffic was approximately 500 vehicles, so that this is an important access route.

Comment by Wang Houzai:

The provincial government ordered the elimination of 17 highway toll gates.  The Weinan city department of transportation did not dare to resist the order.  The toll gate was removed, but the road was also sealed.  This is the typical case of "the guys above issue policies, but the guys below comes up with counter-measures 上有政策、下有对策" in which the provincial government's order was perverted.  Was this supposed to benefit or harm the people?

Comment by Yang Fengxia:

One must admit that there is a reason for sealing off the bridge because someone would be held accountable in case of accident.  But is this what the case is about?  Previously, because it was possible to collect toll fees, traffic was allowed even though there was a height restriction for vehicles and emergency repairs had to be made.  But it was important to earn money.  Since there was no toll gate anymore, why shouldn't it be sealed off to vehicles?

There is no reason for us not to applaud the Shaanxi provincial government for removing the 17 toll gates.  But the local governments are unhappy because they lost one of their income sources.  Since this bridge was in bad shape, why not close it down?  Maybe the traffic would have to go through another bridge that charges toll?

• [015]  Yahoo! Runs Censorship in Hong Kong? (11/07/2007)  (The Sun)  When the Democratic Party's former chairman Martin Lee drew criticism for his opinion essay in The Wall Street Journal, many people chose to comment at the Internet forums.  Recently, some netizens are saying that Yahoo! Hong Kong is cleansing the related comments from its forum.
   
  According to a complaint from netizen Mr. Chan to the newspaper, he found that the anti-Martin Lee comments at the Yahoo! Hong Kong forum have been deleted one after another since the day before yesterday.  He claimed that Yahoo! Hong Kong is depriving netizens of the space to express their opinions.  (簡直黐線，無疑係一種文革式打壓，有D網友仲被cut埋ID用戶添！  translation: This is crazy.  This is without doubt a form of oppression in the manner of the Cultural Revolution.  Some netizens have even had their IDs cancelled!).
   
  When the reporter went to the relevant forum sections, he found that under the broad subject area "Pan-democrats propose referendum on 07/08 universal suffrage," several pages had been marked "This topic has been deleted."  But there are still other pages in condemnation of Martin Lee under other subject topics.
   
  A Yahoo! Hong Kong spokesperson said that the company does not arbitrarily delete comments.  It only does so if the content is indecent and in violation of the terms of the user agreement.  In addition, Yahoo! Hong Kong will also take action if the same user posts the same comment repeatedly (that is, flooding the comment section to prohibit others from conducting a discourse).

• [013]  Hong Kong By The Numbers (11/06/2007)  (HKU POP)  (1,016 persons interviewed about the popularity of the HK SAR and central governments)
   
  63%: Trust in HK SAR government
    9%: Distrust in HK SAR government
   
  59%: Trust in Beijing government
  13%: Distrust in Beijing government
   
  83%: Confidence in HK's future
  10%: No confidence in HK's future
   
  88%: Confience in China's future
    7%: No confidence in China's future
   
  75%: Confidence in "one country, two systems"
  18%: No confidence in "one country, two systems"

• [012]  Why 30 Treasures?  (11/06/2007)  Last night, I gave the talk on Eileen Chang at the Hong Kong University Library to an audience of almost 200 people.  In order to prepare for this slide show, I had to clean up my act and put the documents from the Eileen Chang estate into order.  Here is some history:

In the 2005.12.8 issue of Next Weekly, this photograph was accompanied by the caption: "This box contains the possessions of Eileen Chang.  He did not say what we can photograph or not.  He held this American 'green card' of Eileen Chang in his hand and said that this has been published previously.  So we took a photograph."

In the 2007.10.3 issue of East Week, this photograph appeared in an article that began this way: "One would think that it is a big deal to have Eileen Chang's possessions in one's home.  But Roland Soong just casually hauled out two cardboard boxes from underneath the reading desk.  Inside there were some letters wrapped with plastic garbage bags plus some notebooks that were falling apart.  These are the possessions that Eileen Chang left behind."

So this talk, plus the fact that I am embarrassed about the state of things, has made me put in the effort of organizing the material.  Here is how they look today.

The format of this talk was that there would be thirty separate items about Eileen Chang as derived from personal memories and the possessions (see list).  There is no overall flow in the presentation, beyond an artificial sectioning into topics such as Birth, Ageing, Illness, Death, etc.  The reason is that I have only barely begun to understand what these contents mean.  I am sure that if I have to make a presentation three months later, say, I would have a structure (or several structures) that would have better focus.

Media Coverage:
張愛玲的手稿  葉一知,刁民公園
二續小貝勒與枕草子之迷  船山筆記
像酒後的涼風一樣醉人  makuranososhi
Assailed  Thus and So
宋公子與他的Auntie Eileen  倉海君,新春秋
拯救 Auntie Eileen  makuranososhi
不過想豐富其資產又何妨  船山筆記
《難為了公子》  粉墨登場
 

• [011]  Hong Kong By The Numbers (11/05/2007)  (Apple Daily)  (HKU POP)  (527 Hong Kong Island residents interviewed by telephone)
   
  If the Hong Kong Island Legislative Council by-election were held tomorrow, who would you vote for?
  43%: Anson Chan
  37%: Regina Ip
  1% or less for each of six other candidates
  4%: none of the above
  13%: Undecided/don't know/hard to say
   
• [010]  Hong Kong By The Numbers (11/05/2007)  (Ming Pao)  In an internal poll conducted by the Democratic Party, respondents were asked to rank 10 names given to them if the 2008 Legislative Council election were held tomorrow.
   
  The top six (and there are six seats up for election):
  Audrey Eu (Civic Party)
  Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee (Savantas)
  Martin Lee (Democratic Party)
  Miriam Lau Kin-yee (Liberal Party)
  Choy So-yuk (DAB)
  Yeung Sum (Democratic Party)
   
  This poll had been conducted before Anson Chan announced her candidacy in the by-election (and she may run again in 2008) and also before the brouhaha over Martin Lee's comments about the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
   
• [009]  Hong Kong By The Numbers (11/05/2007)  (The Sun) (2,328 citizens age 18 or over were interviewed about Martin Lee's comments on the 2008 Beijing Olympics in The Wall Street Journal)
   
  Q1. What is the purpose of Martin Lee's action?
  37%: Bring in foreign forces into internal affairs of China
  18%: Carry out his constant anti-China purpose
  35%: Improve conditions inside China
    5%: No special purpose
    5%: No opinion
   
  Q2. Do you believe Martin Lee's action was organized?
  37%: Supported by foreign forces or organizations
  15%: Supported by pan-democrats
    9%: Supported by individuals from organizations and religious bodies
  31%: Individual action of his own
    8%: No opinion
   
  Q3. Martin Lee linked the Beijing Olympics with human rights on mainland.  What is the impact?
  36%: Impact on the image of the Beijing Olympics
    5%: Impact the psychology and performance of Olympic athletes
  19%: Impact internal politics of China
  33%: No special impact
    7%: No opinion
   
  Q4. Martin Lee was criticized by society.  Certain pan-democrats said that they have to defend Martin Lee's freedom of speech.  What do you think?
  49%: Everybody has the right to speak freely, and therefore others can criticize Martin Lee
  18%: There is no need to defend his rights, because he can rebut the criticisms by others at any time
  17%: It is necessary to defend his rights, so that he does not lose the freedom to speak
  16%: No opinion
   
  Q5. Martin Lee's supporters said that the outside criticisms were just like during the Cultural Revolution.  Why are they saying that?
  18%: Find an excuse to get out of what they did
  33%: Shift the attention to attacking China via the Cultural Revolution
  17%: Counter-attack the critics and make them shut up
  20%: No special purpose
  12%: No opinion

• [008]  The List of Thirty Treasures (11/05/2007)  With respect to tonight's Hong Kong University Library Reading Club talk about Eileen Chang, here are the thirty items that I will talk about (based mostly on the unpublished correspondence between Eileen Chang and Stephen Soong/Mae Fong Soong):
   
  
   
    1. Personal memories of Eileen Chang from three Soong family members
    2. Personal belongings of Eileen Chang (specifically, the story behind four blankets)
    3. Letters from her aunt and brother; C.T. Hsia; H.C. Chuang; etc and the bidirectional letters between the Soongs and her
    4. Photograph-1: (in the Manchurian robe)
    5. Photograph-2: (with Japanese movie star Li Xianglan)
    6. Photograph-3: (unpublished color photograph)
    7. Literature-1: The letters about the essay "On <Lust, Caution>"
    8. Literature-2: In remembrance of Hu Shi
    9. Literature-3: On the film <Love In A Fallen City>
  10. Literature-4: The woman who picked through Eileen's garbage
  11. Literature-5: Unpublished manuscript <Traveling Afar>
  12. Literature-6: Unpublished manuscript <Once In Three Lifetimes>
  13. Literature-7: Unpublished manuscript <Visiting>
  14. Literature-8: Envelop of letter from United Daily Press
  15. Literature-9: Note on loneliness in middle America
  16. Literature-10: Movie rights to <Naked Earth>
  17. People-1: Roland
  18. People-2: M.Y. Zhang (aunt)
  19. People-3: Hu Lancheng (former husband)
  20. People-4: The Soongs in Hong Kong, 1967
  21. Birth: Date of birth
  22. Aging-1: US Naturalization Certificate photograph
  23. Aging-2: Kim Il Sung death photograph
  24. Illness-1: Broken arm
  25. Illness-2: Dermatological illness (fleas?)
  26. Illness-3: Sunlamp
  27. Illness-4: Summer of 1995
  28. Death-1: Death certificate
  29. Death-2: Last will
  30. Death-3: The stated wishes

• [007]  The Sacred Torches (11/04/2007)  (TVBS)  Last evening, Chen Shui-bian, Annette Lu, Frank Hsieh and Su Cheng-tseng raised the small sacred torches at Ketagalan Boulevard.  But only the leaders in the front row had 'real' sacred torches with flames, as everybody else only had miniature battery-operated sacred torches.  
  
   
  After a couple shakes of the torch, the light went off.  What happened?  When inspected carefully, it was clear that the place of origin of these torches have been painted over.  But it is still possible to tell that it was MADE IN some place or the other.  Why is it necessary to cover up the place of manufacturing.  Which country is so sensitive?  Could it be MADE IN CHINA?  The director of the publicity department of the Democratic Progressive Party said, "This is an activity ran by the Grand Alliance.  The supplier was told that there can not be anything made in China and it promised to do so.  If there are any problems, the Grand Alliance will follow up with the supplier."  The Democratic Progressive Party said that it was MADE IN VIETNAM, except there wasn't enough room for seven letters.  But if was MADE IN VIETNAM, then why go through the trouble of covering up with a coat of paint?
  

• [006]  The Eye of the Tiger (11/4/2007)  (Southern Metropolis Daily)  Under normal lighting circumstances, the pupil of the tiger is a small dark spot hidden deep behind the glassy iris. 
  
   
  When the tiger is in the shadows, the pupil is hardly visible.
  
   
  But in the The South China Tiger Photographs, the eye of the tiger is clearly white with a black pupil with a heavy two-dimensional feel.
  
   
  Here is one possible way by which this came about.
   
  Step 1: Get on the Internet and find the photograph of a South China tiger.
  
  Step 2: Print the tiger onto color cardboard paper.
  
  Step 3: Take the cardboard into a forest and place it behind some leaves.
  
  Step 4:  The resulting photograph shows a tiger eye with a black dot surrounded by white.
  
   
  Link:  如何拍摄一只“野生华南虎”
   
  (Pro States in Flames)  Wink, wink, ...
  

• [005]  A Money-Losing Proposition (11/4/2007)  (Apple Daily)  In Taiwan, the Yahoo dictionary gives the English-language translation of the Chinese term "賠錢貨" as (1) "a money-losing proposition" and (2) "a girl; a daughter."
   
  In ancient times, girls could not work and earn money; when they were given away in marriage, her parents also had to provide a dowry.  Thus came the notion of "a money-losing proposition."  This is not applicable today.
   
  When asked, Yahoo said that their dictionary was provided by Dr. Eye.  This database was too big to review item by item.  This particular translation has been excised.

• [004]  Hong Kong By The Numbers (11/3/2007)  (Apple Daily)  (HKU POP interviewed 526 Hong Kong Island residents from October 31 to November 2)
   
  Q. If the Hong Kong Island Legislative Council by-election were held tomorrow, who would you vote for?
  41%: Anson Chan
  36%: Regina Ip
  (all other candidates had 1% or less)
  4%: None of the above
  17%: Undecided/Don't know/Hard to say

• [003]  <Lust, Caution>: The Mainland Version (11/1/2007)  Reportedly, there is an edict from the Central Publicity Department not to discuss the differences between the mainland version and the overseas version (as seen in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the United States).
   
  But someone apparently forgot to tell Southern Metropolis Daily.  Here are the differences as catalogued by a reporter who saw both versions.  They even showed photographs of the missing sections.
   
  - Overall, the overseas version runs 156 minutes and the mainland version runs 143 minutes.  The cuts were made personally by Ang Lee, and it took six revisions before the movie was finally passed.  In China, there is no movie rating system and persons of all ages can watch this movie.  Curiously, some of the attendees at the first screenings had already seen the overseas version in Hong Kong and they wanted to see what the differences were.
   
  - When Tang Wei went to pick up the rice ration, she walked past a ghetto in which refugees were dying in the middle of the street.  That scene is gone.
  
   
  - After the first failed assassination attempt, the Chinese collaborator came to blackmail the students who then ganged up and killed him in an extended scene.  There were eight stabs with the knife with death being finally guaranteed by breaking the neck.  In the mainland version, death was administered with one stab, and this was immediately followed by the sight of Tang Wei fleeing down the street.
  
   
  - When Tang Wei received the six carat diamond ring in the overseas version, she said: "Leave quickly, leave quickly 快走、快走."  In the mainland version, she is heard to say: "Go, go then  走，走吧."  The revision showed that Tang Wei did not betray her cause, but Tony Leung deduced the danger on his own.
   
  - There were five sex scenes with Tang Wei, two with the fellow student and three with Tony Leung.  There was also a nude scene in which Tang Wei got out of bed and went to stand in front of the window.  In the mainland version, the second scene with the student and the third scene with Tony Leung were excised.  
  
  These two scenes share the common position of the woman being on top of the man.  In the remaining scenes, only facial expressions could be observed.  The post-coital part of the first Tang-Leung scene is gone.
  
    
  The nude scene in front of the window was excised too.
  
   
  Of course, even the overseas version is edited.  For example, the following photograph shows a scene that was absent from the overseas edition.
  

• [002]  The Hong Kong Legco By-Election (11/1/2007)  (The Standard)  Nine candidates are to fight for the privilege of becoming a legislative councilor for less than a year ...  Academics suggested the surge in candidates revealed flaws in that the poll offered free personal exposure to those who wanted it. The academics demanded a higher nomination threshold to avoid the race being turned into promotion vehicles for individuals.  City University of Hong Kong political scientist James Sung Lap-kung said the low nomination threshold had attracted individuals who wanted free media exposure.  He recalled that in the 2000 by- election there was a similar surge of candidates, and that academics had been calling for changes in the election nomination threshold since.  "If no changes are made, this will happen again in future elections."
   
  Ming Pao has a different explanation for the large number of candidates by citing an unnamed democrat: Some of these "suddenly appearing" candidates may be coming from the pro-government camp for the purpose of breaking up the showdown between Anson Chan and Regina Ip.

• [001]  Thirty treasures (11/1/2007)
   
  閱讀張愛玲 --- 三十事、物、情

  香 港大學新聞及傳媒研究中心於港大圖書館舉行的「張愛玲的香港傳奇(1939-41)」公開展覽，兩星期以來反應熱烈，現於十一月五日展期最後一天，與港大 圖書館合辦《城西書話》講座，邀得張愛玲遺產監管人宋以朗先生主講：「閱讀張愛玲－－三十事、物、情」，細道有關張愛玲的三十項事、物、情，包括她的生活軼事、文學、電影、親屬情誼等，並輔以珍貴圖片、書信及手稿資料。
   
  On Reading Eileen Chang with her thirty treasures
  
  Due to an overwhelming response to the “Eileen Chang: Hong Kong Legend (1939-41)” exhibition organized by the JMSC, organizers will co-host a presentation with HKU Libraries' Reading Club on 5 November. The presentation will mark the end of the three-week exhibit, which has attracted thousands of visitors.
  
  At the event, Roland Soong, administrator of Eileen Chang's estate, will present thirty more treasures from the acclaimed Chinese writer, including anecdotes, literary works, movies and information provided by a relative of Eileen Chang, as well as more valuable manuscripts, letters and photographs of the author.
  
  The Eileen Chang exhibit is curated by Professor Ying Chan and Velentina Ma of the JMSC.
   
  Title of event: "On Reading Eileen Chang with her thirty treasures" 
  Speaker: Roland Soong, administrator of Eileen Chang’s estate
  Date: Monday, 5 November
  Time: 7-9pm
  Venue: 1/F, Main Library, HKU
  Language: Cantonese
   
  Register here.
   
  What are those thirty items?  They include questions such as, "Who broke Eileen Chang's arm?"  "Why wasn't the English-language novel 'Visiting' published?"  "What did she think of the books that her former husband Hu Lancheng wrote?"  "What use does she want her estate be put to?"  "What happened on that day in May 1967 when curfew was imposed in Hong Kong?"  ...