在《中國人站起來了》一文中，我這麽寫道：
日本沒有核子武器，經濟走下坡，又面對人口老化問題，更加不能衡抗中國。
Samuel Huntington 在The Clash of Civilizations 裏指出，穆斯林近年來涉及許多軍事衝突，其中一個因素是他們平均年齡比較輕。日本人口嚴重老化，年輕人已成爲“稀有品種”，你想日本政府會輕易讓他們上戰場嗎？
可笑的是，大馬許多華人，仍然相信日本軍事主義復活論。這在很大程度上是中文媒體煽動反日情緒所造成。如果要有較平衡的世界觀，還是多看英文書報或上英文網站吧。
The International Table Tennis Federation got so alarmed about the number of Chinese-born players representing other countries that it had tightened its rule. After the Beijing Games, anyone aged over 21 will be banned from ‘jumping nation’ and those aged between 18 and 21 will have to wait seven years before they can play for other countries.
Question: Do you think it is ethical for an athlete to switch nationality and play for another country?
Before you make judgment, you may want to read the story of Chire Koyama.
Chire Koyama
Born He Zhili (何智丽), she was a Chinese table tennis player. In the 1987 World Table Tennis Championship, she faced her compatriot Guan Jianhua in the women's singles semi-final. In another semi-final match, a North Korean player was expected to win. He Zhili did not have good track record against the North Korean. So eager to secure a trophy for the nation, the Chinese coach told He Zhili to “give way” to Guan Jianhua. He Zhili refused to follow instruction. She beat Guan in the semi-final and went on to win the championship.
Unfortunately, He Zhili was dropped from the 1988 Olympic squad. The reason given by the coach was that she was ‘overage’. (She was 24!) The distraught He Zhili migrated to
In the 1994 Asian Games held in
Chire Koyama (far side) vs. Deng Yaping
The 2008
This is the best Olympiad ever. It is near perfect, save for a number of controversies.
I have one minor gripe: the organizing committee has selected some of the most charming women in the country as ushers and cheerleaders. (Remember this is a nation with 1.3 billion populations.) As an avid photographer, I wish I could fly to
We have witnessed a very memorable opening ceremony on August 8, 2008, and an equally memorable closing ceremony on August 24, 2008. Former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch always, at the closing ceremony, praised the games as “the best ever”. The one exemption was
As the Middle Kingdom rises from a hundred years of humiliation by foreign powers and the peril of Great Cultural Revolution, the Chinese are nearly as confident as the Americans were in 1996. The spectacular opening ceremony was not meant to welcome the visitors, but to showcase their new-found prowess. Do you still remember the fake “ethnic minority kids”? The Britons who performed in the closing ceremony were truly multi-racial.
London can never match Beijing in terms of sheer scale. (North Korea probably can.) However, sincerity was something lacking in Beijing 2008.
There are many soccer leagues in
There are many factors which contribute to the popularity of EPL, but I think one of them has to do with timing. EPL matches are played early. In summer, soccer fans can watch some matches as early as 7.30pm in
The
中国是北京奥运会的大赢家，但田径巨星刘翔却是赛会最失意的选手。
8月18日我恰好休假，所以有机会观看到在早上举行的110米跨栏赛预赛。刘翔一下场，我就觉得他有点不妥。他一拐一拐的，并不时抚摸大腿。比赛开始时，另一位选手起跑犯规，刘翔只跑出几步，就因伤痛退出。看到他一人走出体育场，我为他感到难受。
很明显的，刘翔在赛前就已经受伤，或许他根本不应该下场。但是，当中国十三亿人都期待这位田径巨星摘金时，刘翔又怎能令他们失望呢？
中国奥运选手，名气最大非刘翔和姚明莫属。但篮球是团体赛，中国人原本就不预算姚明能带领篮球队赢取金牌。相比之下，他们对刘翔的期待和要求就大得多。
与此同时，中国人也念念不忘新仇旧恨，他们忘不了“百年屈辱”和几个月前奥运圣火在巴黎传送时被阻挠之耻。刘翔参加奥运，不仅是“为国争光”，还是“为国雪耻”，以让中国人能够“站起来”。他所承受的压力，我只能用“恐怖”二字来形容。
无论如何，刘翔还年轻，他还有机会亮相2012年伦敦奥运会。到那时，希望他能够为自己而跑。
In a badminton match, players swap side after each game is played. They also take this opportunity to drink water and probably wipe off their sweat. The interval lasts just 1 or 2 minutes. Such a short interval has two implications.
First, players do not have ample time to rest, and tired players don’t perform well. Second, corporate sponsors may want to shy away, because the interval is not long enough to air their commercials in a live TV broadcast.
Badminton badly needs sponsorship. But to attract sponsorship, there has to be commercial breaks.
Have you ever wondered why NBA basketball matches have so many time-outs? This is because corporate sponsors like them. OK, maybe there are so many time-outs that they break the flow of the game. For a badminton match, perhaps a 3-minute break after first set and a 5-minute break after second set are just nice. As an audience, I hate time-outs.
A side note:
I believe many Chinese Malaysians were happy to see
The former
Despite its fame, the nationalist government of
In one of my posts, I noted that Packet One, a Malaysian firm, was about to roll the country’s first WiMAX wireless broadband network. Blogger Neo immediately said that he would stick to his existing ADSL (wired broadband) service.
Packet One would roll out its service first in
Which makes me wonder: why doesn’t it launch the service outside
Blogger Anne who lives in Perak complained that her area had no broadband service at all – neither ADSL nor 3G. Should Packet One launch its service in Perak first, I am sure a lot of people would sign up. Of course, market for Perak is no match compared to that in
All major communication firms in
奧林比克運動會在北京舉行，我相信很多中國人都驕傲的說：“中國人終於站起來了！”
終於站起來了？如果我沒記錯，毛主席當年也說過類似的話。數年前，中國太空人升空，中國人也覺得他們站起來了。如果有朝一日中國舉辦世界盃足球賽，她的子民恐怕還是會說：“中國人終於站起來了！”
中國有核子武器，是聯合國安全理事會常任會員，擁有否決權。她是世界第二大的經濟體，並預料在2025年前超越美國。世界上沒有一個國家，包括美國在内，是不害怕巨龍的。日本沒有核子武器，經濟走下坡，又面對人口老化問題，更加不能衡抗中國。
盡管如此，中國人仍然認爲，他們受全世界的人欺負。這種心理，造成他們民族主義高漲。
中國過去是東亞大國，許多中國人都相信，他們的祖國，會再次領導世界。但要領導世界，不能僅僅靠強權。中國人必須熄滅他們的民族主義之火，並進一步為全人類著想。美國藝人Angelina Jolie 和Madonna領養了亞洲和非洲的孩童，中國人辦到嗎？北京奥运的主题是 One World One Dream，但中国人想得却是 One China One Dream。
中國早已經是強國。我希望北京奧運能改變中國人。我希望中國人永遠不會再說：“中國人終於站起來了！”
Unlike the networks of Celcom and Maxis, which are based on 3G/3.5G standard, Packet One’s network runs on the newer WiMAX technology.
3.5G has a peak downlink speed of 14.4Mbit/s and peak uplink speed of 5.76Mbit/s. WiMAX, on the other hand, has a theoretical speed of 70Mbit/s for both downlink and uplink. But don’t get too excited. Actual speed depends on distance from the base station as well as total number of users.
For now, price of the WiMAX modems could be the biggest barrier. Packet One sells them at RM999 each. (But they are given away free if you subscribe for 2 years.) They are also bulky. If you are a road warrior, you probably won’t like them.
Will WiMAX be a threat to 3G/3.5G? WiMAX’s proponents claim that this technology is cheaper to implement. However, 3G operators in
Whatever the scenario will be, competition is good for consumers. Exciting time is ahead!
Will
Several years ago, I was on a business trip to
Physically, Hui people look similar to the majority Han. Being Muslims, they don’t eat pork. But like most northern Chinese, they eat noodle and mantou. My favorite Hui cuisine was deep-fried mutton with onion (葱爆羊肉).
Once I left my bag in a Hui restaurant. The next day, when I returned to that place, the restaurant owner had already sent my belonging to police station. The cash inside the bag had not been removed. Just as we thought Chinese were materialistic and cunning, the kindness and honesty of the Hui people touched me.
Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my camera to
Many airlines have imposed fuel surcharge on their flights. AirAsia, the Malaysia-based budget airline, is charging passengers RM5 for every piece of checked baggage. If you think that is too much, American Airline is charging US$15 for the first bag and $25 for the second bag. (Read stories here and here.)
Starting from Aug 4, 2008, JetBlue Airways stopped supplying recycled blankets and pillows for its passengers. Instead, it now sells travel blanket and pillow kits that can be purchased for $7. (Link)
AirAsia X has denied charging passengers according to how much they weigh, but don't be surprised if Tony Fernandes changes his mind. (Link)
Maybe before long we will have to pay for using the lavatory. Do you think wearing adult diaper is a good idea?
马来西亚的“华教斗士”，老爱抱怨说华人忽略母语教育。但在这里，国文决定“生死”，英文决定未来。虽然热爱中文，还是得花一些时间进修另外两个语文科。
后来有机会到中国的广州市去。在那儿，我发现原来我讲的华语，居然比许多广州人讲的普通话来的标准！为什么华教斗士还是像深宫怨妇那般不停发牢骚？
How good is good enough 
Related post: 标准华语
The crude oil price has dropped in the past few weeks. In
Let’s make the thing clear: Inflation is caused mainly by the rising commodity price, which in turn is caused by rising transportation charge and fertilizer cost. Trucks and buses run on diesel, not petrol. Taxis run on either diesel or natural gas. Airlines don't buy jet fuel from your neighborhood petrol kiosks. You won’t save a lot of money even if the government reduces the petrol price from RM2.70/liter to RM2.50/liter.
Should the diesel price be reduced? When the government hiked the diesel price in June, truck firms jumped on this opportunity to raise their transportation charge. However, I seriously doubt they would respond should the diesel price go down.
For that matter, I prefer to see the petrol price remains high. It may also be pointless to reduce the diesel price unless the government can force the truck firms to also lower their charges. We should, instead, do something to save the environment.
