富士康十三連跳後，郭台 銘雖親臨深圳鞠躬道歉，但得不到輿論原諒。人們覺得，郭台 銘這麼有錢，身為臺灣首富，為甚麼只 熱衷於不斷賺錢，而不理工人死活？賺這麼多，帶得入棺材嗎？
我相信有這種想法的讀者也不少，但現實是做OEM(為他人的品牌與設計做生產)的盈利十分微薄，遠遠談不上剝削。以去年富士康的業績來看，營業額雖高達七十二億一千三百六十三萬美元(下同)，但毛利祇有四億二千八百三十六萬，扣除其它開支後，年內溢利祇有三千九百六十二萬，盈利率祇有0.5%，食水一點不深。
如果這筆錢郭台 銘願意不賺，拿來分給六十萬員工，平均每人也只 得六十六美元，分成人民幣也祇有四百五十元，相等於每月可以加薪四十元左右。由此可見，要富士康進一步改善廠內生產環境，物質條件並不太足夠，富士康祇能從調整管理文化，改善對工人的態度上，去防止再出現跳樓事件。
當然，去年並非富士康的好年，它的業績這麼不濟是受到金融海嘯的影響。零六年它業績好的時候，營業額高達一百零三億八千一百二十三萬，年內溢利七億一千七百八十五萬，比零九年的溢利多18倍。但即使在好年，它的盈利率也祇是7%左右。花這麼多的錢，聘用了幾十萬工人，才 賺這7%的利潤，絕不算是一份好做的生意。
另一方面，我們如果看看讓富士康為他們生產的那些公司，如蘋果、戴爾、惠普等電腦公司，他們一般的盈利都在雙位數字以上。一部iPhone毛利率更可達70%，但負責生產的富士康，毛利好的時候，也不足10%。究竟哪間公司食水深？哪間公司在剝削工人？請讀者說句公道說話。
但香港的傳媒，卻一味把矛頭指向 富士康，對美國的大公司則只 曉得阿諛奉承，說他們很有社會責任，在落訂單給工廠的時候，會要求廠方善待工人，注意環保，否則就可能撤單。現實是這類大公司要求多多，就是不肯付錢，他們只會把訂單交給報價最低的公司。這種情況下，廠方為了節省成本，惟有向 工人開刀，還要被輿論指責為社會罪人。
其實，大部分中國的廠商利潤都很微薄，他們只要是靠規模賺錢。但規模大，風險亦大；因此，做廠做到破產要走佬的也不少。我也投資過內地的玩具廠與制衣廠，賺埋，賺埋，一次失誤就全部蝕出去。李嘉誠先生佩服郭台 銘能把生產規模做得這麼大不是沒有道理的。
富士康去年在中國的生產成本高達六十七億八千五百二十七萬美元(約四百六十多億人民幣)，帶來了大量工人的就業機會，此外它還要建工廠、添機器、買原料，帶動經濟蓬勃發展，而自己卻賺錢不多。因此，我們可敦促富士康改善管理模式，但不宜把富士康弄到辦不下去。即使是要求富士康停產一段時間，對社會也可能弊多於利。
(Link: http://shihwingching.mysinablog.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=2322245)
Jun 3, 2010
施永青: 富士康「食水深」嗎？
May 4, 2010
HOME
After so much news on droughts, floods, and other natural disasters happened around the world lately, it's pretty a good time to review the documentary 'HOME' again. Although the film provided only hard facts about the Earth, they are so impressive and left me in awe every time I watched it. Enjoy it YouTube here.
A little bit interesting information about the shooting of 'HOME':
The Cove
Thousands of dolphins are being slaughtered in Taijii, Japan, for profit every year, and the local government seemed to permit the business. 'The Cove' is about the story of how a few people went against the government to uncover this shocking fact to the world.
This is an award winning documentary. Please find more information about the movie on IMDb here.
Movie Review
One of the absurd excuses the Japanese government used for killing dolphins was that the dolphins were eating up fishes, which were also the target of Japanese fishing business. They named the slaughter 'pest control', and they were proud that the time they killed each dolphin was getting shorter and shorter each year, making the dolphins much less painful. We can very well see how ignorant and cruel can dirty money turn human kind into.
'The Cove' also talked about loopholes in the relevant regulations. Dolphins are a kind of whale, and there seems only one internationally recognised organization about protecting them, the International Whaling Commission (IWC). However, it does not have much established regulations regarding the fishing of dolphins yet and Japan played a significant role in the commission. A lot of the developing countries supported Japan simply because Japan pay them good money.
In the documentary, Ric O'Barry, the activist who is determined to stop the dolphin killing, was actually the famous dolphin trainer who popularized dolphins among the public in the 1960s, indirectly making dolphin shows a profitable business. Anyway, I'm amazed at his courage to stand up against the government and change the world.
Related Links
Below is a PSA on saving the dolphins, featuring a number of movie stars. For more information, please visit the official site for the movie here, or the follow-ups on the movie here.
Apr 5, 2010
Sep 20, 2009
Imagine Leadership
Under the overwhelming pressure in daily life, we often need some reminder to keep the goodness and passion in our heart. Here is one. A presentation by XPLANE and Nitin Nohria and Amanda Pepper of Harvard Business School's Leadership Initiative on the topic of leadership.
Jun 23, 2009
Despite Law, Job Conditions Worsen in China
DONGGUAN, China — Liu Pan, a 17-year-old factory worker, was crushed to death last April when the machine he was operating malfunctioned. Somehow Mr. Liu became stuck in the machine, his sister Liu Yan recalled during a tearful interview in a village near the factory. “When we got his body, his whole head was crushed,” Ms. Liu said. “We couldn’t even see his eyes.”
Investigating the accident, inspectors found a series of labor and safety violations at the factory, Yiuwah Stationery, which supplies cards, gift boxes and other paper goods to Disney, the British supermarket chain Tesco and other companies.
The investigators also discovered that Mr. Liu was hired illegally, at 15, below the legal age limit here. Disney has called the situation at the factory “unacceptable.”
In a statement issued Wednesday, Disney said it had instructed its vendors and licensees to “cease new orders of any Disney-branded products in the Yiuwah factory” until conditions were improved. A spokesman for Tesco said that company was also working to improve conditions at the factory.
While the accident at the Yiuwah factory was particularly tragic, working conditions elsewhere are worsening. A year and a half after a landmark labor law took effect in China, experts say conditions have actually deteriorated in southern China’s export-oriented factories, which produce many of America’s less expensive retail goods.
With China’s exports reeling and unemployment rising because of the global slowdown, there is growing evidence that factories are ignoring or evading the new law, and that the government is reluctant to enforce it. Government critics say authorities fear that a crackdown on violators could lead to mass layoffs and even social unrest.
“The economic downturn has given regulators the perfect excuse to ignore the law,” says Zhang Zhiru, director of the Shenzhen Chunfeng Labor Dispute Service, a nonprofit group that supports workers. “I don’t see any fundamental change.”
But workers are fighting back. Earlier this month, the government said Chinese courts were trying to cope with a soaring number of labor disputes, apparently from workers emboldened by the promise of the new contract labor law. The number of labor disputes in China doubled to 693,000 in 2008, the first year the law was in effect, and are rising sharply this year, the government says.
The law requires that all employees have a written contract that complies with minimum wage and safety requirements. It also strengthens the monopoly state-run labor union and makes it more difficult for companies to use temporary workers or to dismiss employees.
Western companies that outsource to China say they have stepped up their monitoring of supplier factories to ensure they comply with the law. But they acknowledge that ensuring compliance is challenging in China. A spokesman for the local Dongguan government here said that they were strictly enforcing the new law. But in interviews, some factory owners acknowledged that they were seeking ways to get around it, complaining that the law’s regulations were too costly and cumbersome.
Lawyers say some local governments have issued their own competing rules or interpretations of the law that weaken it, to aid factory owners. “Many local governments want to develop their own versions of the law,” says Liu Cheng, a professor of law at Shanghai Normal University and one of the law’s authors.
China’s huge and complicated labor market has long thrived on cheap labor and lax regulation. In recent years, labor rights advocates say they have seen incremental gains for workers. But they say there are growing signs of labor abuse. They point to a string of recent cases, like one several weeks ago in which police in southern China’s Anhui province said they had freed 30 mentally handicapped workers from what they called “slave conditions” in a brick kiln.
On the same day, police said a fire in the dormitory of an illegal factory in southern Guangdong province killed 13 female workers and seriously injured four others. A few weeks earlier, 7,000 workers went on strike at a factory that supplies some of the world’s biggest technology companies, saying they were being cheated on overtime wages and fed unsanitary food.
Experts say cheating workers on wages, forcing them to log up to 200 hours of overtime a month and denying them health benefits is commonplace in China. Many factories are violating not just the new contract labor law, but also a 1994 law, which covered a broader set of labor and wage practices, they said.
“The employment contract in many factories here is a mere scrap of paper,” says Liu Kaiming, director of the Institute of Contemporary Observation, a labor rights group in Shenzhen. “Here is a common trick: The factory signs contracts with 1,000 workers but actually they’ve hired 2,000. The factory reports to the government saying they have 100 percent of their workers registered.”
Heather White, a consultant who has inspected factories in China for Tommy Hilfiger, Polo Ralph Lauren and other big companies, says many exporters evade the law by subcontracting to so-called shadow factories, which operate under illegal conditions. “The market is penalizing anyone who complies with the law,” she says, meaning their products are more expensive. “And so many companies are subcontracting” to shadow factories.
Labor rights groups that specialize in sneaking into Chinese factories and documenting their flaws say exporters’ multinational clients are also responsible for their suppliers’ practices. “They are blatantly violating the labor law,” says Charles Kernaghan, director of the National Labor Committee, based in Pittsburgh, which last February issued a scathing report on a factory making keyboards for big tech companies. “They’re forcing people to work 12-hour shifts. Their overtime far exceeds the legal limit.”
But factory owners say that labor law enforcement has been weak and selective for years, and changing the rules now could lead to chaos, drive up prices and force many factories out of business. “The government hasn’t given us time to adjust,” says Huang Zhenyuan, vice president of the Taiwan Merchant Association of Dongguan, which represents thousands of factories. “When we came to China there was no legal environment. Now all has changed; it’s too sudden.”
Because of the downturn, 20 million migrant workers have already lost their jobs, Beijing says. The government recently put rules in place restricting factories from making large-scale layoffs without giving the government notice. But on an individual level, the struggle between having a job and economic security, and safety and personal dignity can be wrenching.
Liu Pan, the worker crushed to death, was hired shortly after he had turned 15. He operated a giant machine that turned out boxes in a plant that Disney concedes had recently passed third-party audits. His salary was about $175 a month. Workers found his mutilated body stuck in the machine on the afternoon of April 5.
Michael Li, a senior manager at Yiuwah, says the accident was not a reflection of labor conditions at the factory. He also said a Chinese government official helped manage the factory.
But China Labor Watch, a nonprofit group based in New York, says it investigated conditions at the factory shortly after the death and found widespread violations of the labor law, including the hiring of children as young as 13, forced overtime and the failure of many workers to sign labor contacts.
In a statement, Disney said only about 5 to 15 percent of the goods produced at Yiuwah were made for Disney and that Yiuwah had committed to correcting problems there. “However, if improvement within acceptable and agreed upon time frames is not achieved,” Disney said it would stop doing business with the factory.
Yiuwah offered $22,000 to compensate for Mr. Liu’s death, his family said. Liu Hong, Mr. Liu’s father, does not even know how to begin to measure such compensation. “I’m falling apart,” he said as his wife tried to calm him. “We are in the lowest class. So I still don’t know if it’s the highest compensation. I still wonder, because a life, a young life, is only worth $22,000?” He added, “He was my only son, and he’s the only grandson to my father.”
(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/business/global/23labor.html?pagewanted=1&ref=world)
May 7, 2009
Somaly Mam by Angelina Jolie
Somaly Mam survived the notorious Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and decided to stand up and deal with problems left behind by the genocide. She wrote books, set up Somaly Mam foundation, and started a non-profit organization called AFESIP to work with local authority to raid brothels and reintegrate the trafficked women into society. Looking into her life, we can see how Cambodians fight for their justice and their right to live freely and happily. To read more, here are the links to Somaly Mam Foundation and Wiki's introduction of Ms. Mam.
Apr 22, 2009
Words for the Earth Day
"We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost's familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road - the one "less traveled by" - offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of our earth.
The choice, after all, is ours to make."
- By Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962)
Apr 20, 2009
四川之體驗
數天前筆者才從四川回來，此 "復活團" 是一個名為 "災後心理輔導協會" 的香港 NGO舉辦的，主要目的是到當地作探訪。五天的行程中，本來是要做點 "心理輔導" 的工作，縱使不是專業的，也正是此團的賣點。可是遇到的問題還真不少，為大家留下難忘的回憶，包括預早三小時在上水集合，也竟然趕不上深圳的飛機!!! 第一次趕不上飛機，於是換來第一次坐頭等 ...
第二天一大早出發往映秀鎮，原來一小時左右的車程，竟足足塞了五小時的車才到達!!! 這一種堵車，是久得要熄掉引擎，然後整條車隊的人都走到路上去抖氣。至於為何會出現這樣的堵車 (上一次的 "新春團" 並沒有出現的) ，大概是因為 512 一週年將至，各單位的各大小工程都在趕工，務求在一週年時有一番新面貌去面對世界各地的報導。映秀的房子都是一排排整齊的板房，居民沒有工作，於是有不少 "自救飯店" 之類的住宿或食店的出現，以賺取一點的收入。
後來聽成功入了村的團友說當地的情況，探訪的家庭甚至願意帶我們的團友到家中不幸遇難的死者墓前拜祭，可是由於當地公安的阻攔，在往墓地途中亦要折返。筆者雖然沒有機會入村，聽團友分享時無不感到萬分惋惜無奈，因為我們都相信這是死者家屬釋放情緒的好方法，因為從某些團友以往的探訪經驗得知，有的死者家屬根本面對不了親人遇難的事實，於是就不敢獨自去墓地拜祭，我們都希望可以陪有需要的他們一起走這一小段路...
第四天到了金花小學，跟那裡的老師上了一課 NLP 課程....然後到金花鎮，也同樣遭到公安阻撓，可是當我們拿著之前作探訪時拍下的照片，村民圍攏過來認出照片中村民時，公安態度竟又一百八十度轉變了，最後大家一同鼓掌，浩浩蕩蕩地進村，場面可算感人。雖然每組幾乎都有公安跟著，可是有時他們又幫我們做翻譯，可見在大陸做事，其實還是離不開人情兩字。金花鎮情況比映秀要差，村民住的地方就在沙塵滾滾的路邊，房子是用帆布和木材搭建，雖然居民說沒有漏水，可是看著這樣的居住環境，而他們卻好像已經習慣了，完全沒有投訴，反而有點難過。後來聽 我們的 leader 阿Tim 說，當地居民說房子不會漏水，其實是因為他們不久就要再建過另一個"家" (與其說房子，還不如說 shelter)，所以每次去這地方也會有不同面貌，那根本就不是一個長期的居所。
第五天到了遵道學校，一所花了 so-called 二千萬建成防震達十級的學校。那些連香港也沒見過的高科技螢幕白板、閉路電視，還有那防震技術的展示館，又是一片好景象。可是跟其他學校，例如是昨天才到過的金花小學那些只是用板房建成的課室實在有太大對比了。我們在這裡除了參觀之外，也看著同是香港來的兩名大學生替全校學生拍攝 "感恩的心" 這歌的 mv 並帶回香港讓更多人知道這歌及關注這裡的情況。
可是當聽到現職校長的團友分享時提到這十級防震的遵道學校，她卻看到了希望。因為學生非常自律 (拍完片後很快回課室，連上廁所也很有秩序及迅速)，願意對外接觸 (看到香港來的我們也不怕陌生)，懂得回應 (跟她之前到訪過其他大陸學校相比，那些學生不敢回答她的問題)，校長開明的作風 (合照時有些學生擠過來，校長也沒有嚴厲叫他們走開，當然還少不了讓全校學生跟我們拍片，擾攘了半個上午) ...
當初只著眼這所學校建造費太貴，如果可以攤分來多建幾所學校更實際。才發覺自己看事物太片面了， 一間學校最重要的並不是硬件，而是學生及教職員本身的素質。其實遵道學校的學生很多也是很貧困的，給他們一個較好的校園沒甚麼不好，如果不是這些 "門面功夫"，他們就沒有這額外的大禮；再者如果這二千萬不用來建這學校，真的會有更好的用途嗎?
還記得海星的故事，幫得一個就一個，這些孩子已經得到他們應得的，我們應該為這而感欣慰，而餘下需要幫助的就讓大家一起努力吧!
整個行程最感動的是聽著當地孩子唱 "感恩的心"，歌詞和動作都很有意思，回來後這首歌也不斷在腦海中播著。
一年了，他們大都不希望再被看成是"災民"，life goes on.
Mar 31, 2009
African Bloggers Conference This August
What impacts can blogs make on a society? Can bloggers improve social development in places like Africa? Here is a chance to find out: the African Bloggers Conference will take place in Nairobi this August. And they are looking for donors.
Mar 28, 2009
LAU KIT GEE wrote: The Book of Law (Iran, 2009) (HKIFF: Film Review)
LAU KIT GEE wrote:
Director: Mazizr Miri
Official webstite: http://www.bamdadmedia.com/book%20of%20law.htm
Holy War, Holy Peace?
I am always asked why I am so interested in Middle East politics, especially the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is because my mind was obsessed with the same question as the director of the Book f Law, why some people break the world's peace in the name of their religion. This question becomes much more difficult when the religions involved, Judaism, Christianity and Islam believe the same God--the God of Abraham--the Lord.
The Book of Law is a film about truth-seeking, religions, clash of civilization, and above all, what love is and how much you could sacrifice for love.
Rahman Tavana, a 40 year old engineer, born in a religious, traditional Iranian family is not married yet. According to an old tradition in Iran the husband's family should choose wife. He goes to Lebanon on a mission, helping Lebanese to set up a NGO concerning women’s welfare in South Lebanon, which was heavily attacked in the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006. He gets to know a French girl name Juliet, who is beautiful and speaks Farsi (Persian language, ie Iran’s official language) and studied Persian Literature. She is a Catholic. They fall in love at one sight and they get married there and come to Iran. Before coming to Iran Juliet had studied about Islam and became Muslim.
Juliet is a devout student of the Book (the Qur’an) and ever ready to throw it to anyone committing any small acts as sins, by reciting God’s words from the Book. She even criticizes a group of female guests, including Rahman’s old mother who believes in Islam for over 60 years, for gossiping others. Everyone in Rahman's neighborhood, his family and even Rahman himself is so frustrated by her “condemnations” and are driven crazy.
Rahman and his family decide to fire back by condemning Juliet’s past (like wearing shorts when she was in the high school basketball team) and other trivial acts (like she is left-handed). They justify their unreasonable condemnation simply by re-interpreting the words of Qur’an. Juliet misses her days of ignorance, when she could be who she is, when she fell in love with Rahman.
Later, Juliet is pregnant but the doctor suggests her not to have the baby due to great risk of miscarriage. When Rahman’s family knows about that and they decide to find another wife for Rahman, describing Juliet as an alien. Juliet feels so lonely, alienated and heart-broken. She leaves her beloved Husband, leaves Iran and goes back to Lebanon without leaving a word. Rahman’s family, especially the little sister, then appreciates this foreign lady’s effort in following strictly to the rules of their religion, trying to respect and adapt to Iranian culture, loving everyone in the house, just because she loves Rahman so much.
Rahman goes to Lebanon to find Juliet but he couldn’t. He decides to take the risk to South Lebanon. On his way, the taxi driver told him that he has been driving different people from different parts of the world to South Lebanon. Most of them are working for UN or other NGOs as a group. To the taxi driver, Rahman was different as he goes to South Lebanon alone with a clear purpose, to find his wife. Other people who travel alone to Southern Lebanon are those with no purpose and hope, just like him, who is a Palestinian and loses his wife and children in the Israeli-Palestinian war. The taxi driver realizes that although these passengers have different cultural and religious backgrounds, religions all are to establish and develop the peace amongst people, just that they have different behaviors for religious practice.
In the destroyed town, Rahman found Juliet in a shabby school, who is teaching Muslim kids (probably orphans left after the war in 2006) to read Qur’an. They look at each other, with tears and love in their eyes.
What is your Book of Law? What should be our Book of Law?
Looking at the Marathon like Homosexuality Debate
In the Book of Law, the Book was Qur’an. So what about yours? What is your Book of Law? The Bible? The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights? Capitalism? Liberalism? Socialism?
There has been a long debate on the issue of homosexuality world-wide. Recently in Hong Kong, Christians have been voicing out their concern on the reform of the Domestic Violence Ordinance, which might be extended to cover same-sex couples, and hence would adversely affect the concept of family. Christians have been quoting their Book of Law—the Bible—to condemn homosexuals. Nonetheless, aren’t we all sinners? What are the differences between sinners that could justify one to condemn another?
We are living in a world with diversity, with different people having different books of law. Far from avoiding it, we should try to cherish this diversity, to learn how to appreciate the differences we have and to respect everyone as a person with dignity.
Here I would like to share with you some quotes from the Bible: My Book of Law:
1. If you judge; for in the thing in which you judge another, you condemn yourself, inasmuch as you that judge practice the same things.
Romans 2:1-41
Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are, if you judge; for in the thing in which you judge another, you condemn yourself, inasmuch as you that judge practice the same things. 2 Now we know that the judgment of God is, in accord with truth, against those who practice such things. 3 But do you have this idea, O man, while you judge those who practice such things and yet you do them, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and long-suffering, because you do not know that the kindly [quality] of God is trying to lead you to repentance?
2. Love your neighbor as yourself, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.
Romans 12:8-108
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet,"[a] and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 10Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Are there REAL RELIGIOUS WAR??
Looking at the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
In the Book of Law, why do Juliet and Rahman’s family could not live together peacefully even though they are all Muslims? How does each party make use of the SAME BOOK to justify their condemnations? Similarly, why did the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict last for so long? Was it a “religious war” fighting for the “Holy Land”? Why is it so difficult to bring peace and end the Conflict? In both cases, different religions (or Books), or even the SAME BOOK seem to be used by different parties to conceal their hidden agenda in order to justify their actions and to mobilize other people’s support.
Let’s look at the facts: The State of Israel was built on78% of the Palestinian land, based on the old biblical symbols and legends and the notion that God had given the land to the Jews. The “occupation” or partition was authorized by the UN and the international community in 1947, which resulted in over 4 million Palestinian refugees in the Middle East where nearly 70% of all Palestinians are refugees. Since 1967, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have lived under Israeli military rule, suffering from the checkpoints and blockades policies, not being respected as an equal citizen or even a just a person, and seeing their homeland occupied by more and more Jews through illegal colonies/settlements.
To me, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict was not religious in origin, but then the element of religion was utilized or abused by different actions to frame the Conflict as a means to achieve political ends. The Americans successfully framed the conflict as one between “Judeo-Christian” against Islam to justify the unusual American-Israeli relationship. The Israelis justify their “war-crime-like” colonization and occupation of historic Palestine by the Judaism notion of “chosen people-promised land”. The HAMAS used Islamic values of Jihad to mobilize Palestinians to join the active resistance to the occupation. With the reemergence of religious identity among Palestinians and Israelis, the Conflict was perceived in a zero-sum term where all issues tend to become existential and this created serious obstacles to conflict resolution.
I agreed with the Director of the Book of Law who believes that ”religions all are to establish and develop the peace amongst people so I made the Book Of Law to show and prove one can be religious yet respect others' believes. Also one can be a religious Muslim and a calm person living in the world.” Long term peace is likely to be achieved through a new relationship based on mutual respect for their national and religious identities. Instead of a two-state solution with separate Muslim state and Jewish state, the one-state solution, with a secular democratic state based on equality for every single human being in Palestine-Israel and justice, seems to be the way forward.
Mar 23, 2009
Music to change life--El Sistema
Have a look at Mr. Abreu's talk at TED, which moved me and alot of other people to tears. His passion and courage are definitely one of the reason why this organization succeeded.
Mar 16, 2009
WWF Advertising Campaign
Here are some environmental protection advertisement created by WWF. You can check out more of their work here, or a blog that shared even more ads from other organization here.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization for the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in the United States and Canada. It is the world's largest independent conservation organization with over 5 million supporters worldwide, working in more than 90 countries, supporting around 1300 [4] conservation and environmental projects around the world. It is a charity, with approximately 9% of its funding coming from voluntary donations by private individuals and businesses.The group says its mission is "to halt and reverse the destruction of our environment". Currently, much of its work focuses on the conservation of three biomes that contain most of the world's biodiversity: forests, freshwater ecosystems, and oceans and coasts. Among other issues, it is also concerned with endangered species, pollution and climate change.
Mar 14, 2009
The Girl Who Silenced The World For 6 Minutes
This was 16 years ago, at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Rio Summit, Earth Summit (or, in Portuguese, Eco '92), a major conference held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to June 14, 1992. the UN international Environmental Conference.
Did anybody listen?
Mar 8, 2009
Movie lovers team (Feb 09) - Slumdog Millionaire
What I would like to share after watching Slumdog Millionaire,
This movie vividly depicted the life of slum children in developing countries. Besides, it showed the extreme of religion beliefs; systemic and inhuman use of children labor, social inequality and injustice, etc. What in short is that how development created opportunities as well as different social problems in parallel.
I remembered clearly many scenes of this movie. If I have to choose one scene that is the most touching, I will pick the one when Jamal Malik gave US$100 to his former friend, whose eyes had been taken away by the guardian previously, in the tunnel. Several feelings incidentally blinked in my mind,
How cold blooded the guardian was, he did it so systemically and without any guilty. He only used several minutes to ruin the sight, the trust and the dream of the children, damaging the children’s physical and mental health permanently. Does the extra money earned really more important than the children’s future? And can you see how vulnerable and helpless the children were? Even though you know it was him who hurt you so much and only treat you as a tool for earning, you still need to work for them for life.
Meanwhile Jamal was the one who escaped from the guardian and work hard by himself for living. This scene has a very clear contrast when the two actors confronted. And I start to agree this sentence, “what you are now may depend on your luck, but depend more on what you have done”. Jamal may be unlucky as he can sing well and being picked up by the guardian. But if he did not struggle to escape and work hard, he may end up worse than the boy that he was facing in that scene.
I also have deep impression of Jamal’s brother, who loved Jamal so much but sometimes commit crimes and hurt Jamal unintentionally even though he knew those were sinful. Indeed, it is difficult to live in the real world with everything satisfying your will. We need to know how to scarify and compromise. But in critical situations, you will know who is good and who is bad, just like Jamal’s brother. After all, the reason behind why people commit crime is just for living, if not to satisfy their illimitable desires.
It is good that more people concern with the slumdogs nowadays after watching this movie. Recent news also reported the post filming life of the little actors and actress. In fact their lives are exactly like themselves in the movie, becoming rich and famous in one night from slumdogs. Many people want to give them a new life, opportunities to go to school, play in Disneyland, travel around etc. So how about the other children who are also living in slum areas in India? How about those in other developing countries? Will they also benefit from the “Slumdog Millionaire effect”?
I just hope people will still remember there are children suffering in the other side of the world everyday after this tidal. You know virtually no one remember what had happened in Sichuan now.
Feb 22, 2009
Just the perfect and frustrating example of globalization......
Sylvia Earle: Protect the Blue Heart of the Planet
Here is another fantastic talk from TED. The speaker, Sylvia Earle, has been a pioneer of deep ocean exploration for more than forty years. She not only has led more than 50 undersea expeditions but also has been an active advocate for our oceans and the creatures who live in them.
- Watch the talk on TED.com here
- Sylvia Earle's website about her books and research
- Sylvia Earle on National Geography
- As mentioned in Ms. Earle's speech, Google Earth has upgraded to enable viewer dip into the ocean around the globe. Here and here are some further introduction of the new feature, and download Google Earth here.
Feb 18, 2009
Bill Gates Talked about Malaria and Great Teachers
Bill Gates just gave a talk at TED this February about two major issues, Malaria and education. The presentation style was quite different from the ones he used to gave when he still worked in Microsoft. This speech is an excellent example of how to analyze social problems and how to deliver them in public.
- The Gates Foundation
- The book recommended by Gates in his talk: Work Hard. Be Nice.-- How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America
- An Academy Award-nominated 2008 film, talking about how a literature teacher in an inner city middle school in Paris won trust from his students : The Class
Nov 29, 2008
About Nick Vujicic: A Touching Story
Nick's biography
Nick graduated from college at the age of 21 with a double major in Accounting and Financial Planning. He began his travels as a motivational speaker, focusing on the topics that today's teenagers face. He also speaks in the corporate sector, although his aim is to become an international inspirational speaker, in both Christian and non-Christian venues. He regularly travels internationally to speak to Christian congregations, schools, and corporate meetings. He has spoken on four continents (Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America), in over twelve countries, and to over two million people face-to-face.
By the age of 25, Nick hopes to become financially independent. He wishes to promote his words through shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show, as well as by writing books. His first book, planned for completion by the end of 2009, is to be called No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!
A DVD, Life's Greater Purpose, is available on the Life Without Limbs website. Most of the DVD was filmed in 2005, featuring a brief documentary about his home life, and how he does regular things without limbs. The second part of the DVD was filmed at his local church in Brisbane, and was one of his first professional motivational speeches.
His secular DVD "No Arms, No Legs, No Worries" is available online through his corporate motivational speaking company "Attitude Is Altitude."
Nick's first worldwide television interview, featured on 20/20 (ABC) with Bob Cummings was aired on March 28, 2008.
I just want you to know that it's not the end. It matters how you're gonna finish. Are you gonna finish strong? You'll find that strength to get back up, like this."
Nov 3, 2008
The Future of Phnom Penh
Remember the tall buildings we saw in our second visit to Phnom Penh this summer? It seems that there are some people with even wilder dreams for the future of Phnom Penh than we do. There are many new construction projects going on in the capital. For me, it is shocking simply to imagine that there will be buildings like these that stand on the land of Phnom Penh (picture on the left). What a big transfermation that will be.
Some may argue that it is a bad thing to turn this city into another modern financial center, destroying all the beauty of its original culture. There are some truth in it; however, let us be realistic for a moment--how can a culture that hardly feeds its own people manage to beat the power of capitalism? In this cause of reducing poverty and transforming countries, developed countries seem to take the lead for the time being.
This new construction plan is still appealing in that it attracts the neccessary foreign capital for Cambodia to continue its development especially in the time of global financial crisis. Nonetheless, let's first wait and see how these all develop and which country has the final word.
Further information
- More information on the construction of the plan
- The credit cruch reaches Phnom Penh somehow - Korea building projects delayed
