Malcolm & Tibetan Antelopes - Part 1

In a two part article, Malcolm Au tells his story of how a once-in-a-lifetime journey to the Arijin Mountains in Xinjiang from 19 June to 7 July 2006 shooting close-up pictures of Tibetan antelopes has turned out to be...

The purpose of my trip was to find pregnant Tibetan Antelopes and hopefully have a chance to take a close photo shot of them.

These poor animals are listed together with the ‘Giant Pandas’ as two of the top endangered animals found in China. The other non-listed top endangered animal in China is the “capable government official with integrity”. The Tibetan Antelopes are famous and endangered because of ladies around the world are fond of the shawls made from their fur. The shawls are called Shahtoosh and they are so fine and so soft that one can put a large shawl through the center of a wedding band.

Xin Jiang is big, it occupies one sixth of China’s land area. I had no idea how big the province is and how tough the roads and weather conditions are until I got on this trip. It took us five days to drive from Urumuqi, the biggest city in Xin Jiang, to the Antelope breeding ground in the Arijin Mountains.

The trip was not a comfortable ride; it took four Land Rovers, one Land Cruiser and a large supply truck to get us there, by crossing rivers and 7,000m mountains. The Arijin Mountains reserve that we went to is huge – 45,000 sq KM – and is normally not open to just anybody. The exploration team that I went with has sponsored Tibetan Antelope research at the reserve for ten years, so I got this rare chance to sneak in with the rest of the team.

The trip was very good for me. The hardship I encountered made me feel appreciative of what I already have. Living in a single tent at our base camp at 4,700m above sea levels for eight days is not easy. To put a perspective on the altitude, lots of people would have high altitude sickness at Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which is at 3,600m above sea level. The air is very thin at base camp, containing about half the amount of oxygen as normal air at sea level. The wind was blowing hard and it snowed every night. There were twenty people in our group and a few of us had to be put in compression chambers to alleviate them of the high altitude sickness otherwise they could have turned into ‘vegetables’. I was lucky that I did not feel much of the high altitude effect. They say older people are more adaptable to this kind of conditions and I am well qualified. The condition was so harsh that one did not have the spare energy or mood to count the days one went without a shower. The biggest decision I had to make was, while in the middle of the night, whether I should leave the warmth of the sleeping bag and the tent, put on all my weather gears, to brave the wind and snow and walk fifty steps from the tent to answer the call of nature. The food and drinks were also no consolation. We drank cooked muddy water and ate a lot of prepared food. Fortunately our group brought two chefs so we did not need to do the cooking and dish washing.

For Part 2 of this article, please click here. For a full set of photos accompanying this article, please click here.

Eat Another Mongkok

銀龍茶餐廳 /邱立本

在旺角的樓上書店逛了幾個小時，拎著一大袋書走在西洋菜街上，但見人潮，慌忙躲到對面的銀龍茶餐廳，在角落的桌子坐下，叫了一杯凍的「鴛鴦」(咖啡加奶茶)，冷眼觀察旺角週日下午的風情。

銀龍茶餐廳就有旺角獨特的風情。這兒煙霧瀰漫，人聲鼎沸，似乎是《旺角卡門》、《旺角黑夜》等港產片的場景，混雜江湖人物、各路英雄好漢，當然，也少不了普通話的聲音，顯然是來自大陸的自由行旅客。隔座的桌子，卻是一對年輕夫婦，似乎在講泰文，音調很尖，最後用英文向跑堂點了一碟咖哩牛腩麵，一碗魚蛋粉。

這兒的跑堂也很國際化，普通話、英文都可以對付。我突然發現這茶餐廳的管理也很現代化，跑堂全部用電腦下單，有一位大堂經理戴著耳機，與廚房緊密聯絡。那些過去為人詬病的粗野服務作風，已脫胎換骨，每個「企枱」都结了領結，衣冠楚楚，不會再一邊工作一邊聽馬經的廣播，也不會再把手指插在茶杯內端茶給你喝。

但茶餐廳那種庶民和草莽的氣息，仍然在空氣中飄盪。這兒每個人講話和吃東西都很無拘無束，毫不客氣。我再喝一杯絲襪奶茶，又濃又香的港式風味，再吃一碗牛雜河粉，享受旺角「與時俱進」的風格。

A World of Their Own

How do our next generation think and live? We may be near to them, but can we say that we understand them well?

Nicam, Tang Hing Lin's son, and Robin, my son, have nicely agreed to share with us their views of the world through their blogs. I have therefore included them in our Links. I hope you'll click onto them (匡時空 and Robin's Blog) to see if these blogs are able to help you understand our next generation a little bit better.

If you have other suggested links to add, please let us know by a comment to this post.

A neat trick

I received the following message recently as a chain mail. It is the best attempt to produce a chain mail in my opinion - enjoy:

This is one of the many tricks to speed reading. They teach you to look at the frsit & lsat letetr of a word and your brain will fill in the rest. Pretty cool. If you can read this, you have a strange mind too. Can you raed tihs? Olny 805 plepoe can to this point. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it.

ONLY FORWARD IF YOU CAN READ THIS...Update the number on top too.

The Days We Kicked

Looking forward earnestly to the France vs. Italy final of the World Cup, I am posting an earlier article our premier writer classmate Yau Lop Poon sent us reminiscing the playing of the little red plastic ball in the old days, which, to many, was just as indulgent as watching the World Cup is to us today.

初中歲月的絕響 /邱立本

接到老同學莫國欽的電話﹐談到當年在銀禧中學念初中的情景﹐不禁憶起昔日踢「膠波仔」的往事。

那時候下課﹐就會在九龍塘附近踢球。踢的是一個紅色的膠球﹐比正式的足球小一點﹐也更輕盈﹐但卻更有利盤球。龍門往往就是用下課的書包築成﹐我們就在這個小天地踢自己的足球﹐幻想自己總有一天會變成球王比利。

我們誰也沒有變成球王。但這個紅色的膠球卻成為我們記憶中的重要意象﹐那小小紅球﹐不但是六十年代塑膠製品崛起的象徵﹐也代表這種新產品所帶來的經濟動力與希望。紅色的膠球很便宜﹐但折舊率也很高﹐因為打了不久﹐就會漏了氣﹐變成扁扁的沒有彈性﹐不能再用﹐而必須再買新的。

我們在初中歲月踢了很多場刺激緊張的球賽﹐也不知打扁了多少個紅色的膠球﹐也鑄造了一段深刻的情誼。幾十年後﹐大家回憶這段特別的日子﹐發現我們這特別的遊戲已經成為時代的絕響﹐因為今天的初中生﹐不會再玩這種遊戲。他們沈迷在電腦虛擬遊戲中﹐忘卻了現實世界的汗水與淚水。

In sending the article , Yau Lop Poon remarked, “This is the piece I wrote on the column of "World Journal" in North America. It was published on April 15, 2006, coincided with the reunion we had in New York. What an affinity . It recorded the days we were, if not the days we kicked, kicking off a brave new world in the years to come.”

In response, Mok Kwok Yum enquired, “Are you sure we couldn't get hold of a red, plastic ball anymore? Otherwise, we could at least play one more game on the BHJS playground in next year's reunion, perhaps as a gesture--futile, no doubt--of trying to hold back our fading youth...”

An Age-old Debate of Ages

邱吉爾的母親 /邱立本

男人和女人的年齡如何相配？八十二岁的楊振寧與二十八岁翁帆的「老少配」曾經觸怒不少女性，她們抗議這是「老牛吃嫩草」，是違反人倫，是不道德的行為。

但如果是「女大男小」的老少配，不知道會不會引起女性抗議？最近讀有關英國最偉大首相邱吉爾的傳記，發現他在二十六歲那年，面對四十六歲的母親要嫁給一位二十六歲的朋友時，心中卻是坦然；他所關心的，是母親會不會幸福，而不是媽媽在「老牛吃嫩草」。

不過邱吉爾的母親詹妮夫人總是不斷帶來驚奇，這位二十歲就嫁到英國貴族家庭的美國富豪小姐，到了六十歲那年還是和他的第二任丈夫離婚，旋在同年與一位三十七歲的「俊男」結婚。邱吉爾同樣也是坦然面對，並私下和這「俊男」會面，確定他的確真心愛她。「老少配」的傳奇，豈足為外人道也。

A Juicy Party in Toronto

Irene Tsai Yan Ying sent us the following journal written in her excitement at 3am on July 2 after a mini-reunion in Toronto with teachers Mrs Peggy Wong, Mrs Lorraine Leung, Ms Irene Fong, Mr Wong Hin Shing and Mr K K Wong attending. Fiona Wong was there visiting from Calgary. Please enjoy Irene’s write-up of the gathering.

Guys, check it out!!!! This will kickstart things in here! I just got back from a fun BHJS dinner party with Mrs. Peggy Wong & Mrs. Lorraine Leung in it!!! Boy, was I ever so glad I made it there. Oh, three other teachers dribbled in tonight as well, but I don't think I need to reintroduce them to you. Can you imagine that LAING NUI, Mrs. Peggy Wong was talking and joking with us in a friendly and bubbly voice? And the whole time she was speaking to us in fluent Cantonese?! She's very upbeat and looking more than good in real person. We stuffed our faces with sumptuous Chinese food and laughed our heads off all night, rolling back 40 years, obviously. Man, oh man, we were all on high tonight.

Anyway, it's almost 3 a.m. now, I'll sign off here to look for CHAU GUNG. But, let me pass the shots from my digital camera to you before I go. Hey, don't lie, I know you're all dying to see Mrs. Peggy Wong again after all these years, especially the boys who had dreamed about her during Jubilee days.

Ciao,
Irene TSAI Yan Ying

While not an official Canada Alumni event, the alumni banner shown in the above photo had just been received from HK and the gathering took a first look at it. All present really liked the banner, which was done by Nicam Tang, Tang Hing Lin's son. Please click here or Our Photos in Links to find a photo taken by Irene of Mrs Peggy Wong with May Ho and Stephen Lau, current and past chairperson of the Canada Alumni.

A Roll of Embarrassment

一捲廁紙 /邱立本

不少外來遊客發現，香港人是全世界最實用主義的，只要快、省、好、有效率，就不會在乎其他考慮。他們觀察的切入點，是不少餐館桌上的一捲廁紙。

從低檔到中下檔的香港餐館，都常常會發現餐桌上有一捲廁紙。外來的遊客往往嚇了一跳，怎麼用來處理排洩物的廁紙，會擺到吃到嘴巴裡的餐桌上？但一些香港人會很實用主義的說，方便啊，都是乾淨的，衛生的，用廁紙來作餐巾，有何不可？

這也許是文化的震撼。那天和幾個來自美國的朋友到西貢的海鮮酒家吃飯。這裡生意特好，擠滿了人，價錢是中等價位，絕對不是低檔的廉價餐廳，但每張桌子上面都放了一捲廁紙，白色的，質地不是最低劣的那種，很多食客在大啖海鮮之際，拿起那一捲廁紙，轉了幾個圈，撕下一團廁紙，擦在染滿了油漬的嘴巴上，就好像他們在廁所內的動作，很自然的，也很衛生的，但卻讓這些美國客人面對一頓文化震盪的盛宴，然後也不猶疑，學香港人那樣，撕下廁紙擦在自己又肥又油的嘴巴上。

July First

July 1 is a special day.

We in Hong Kong celebrate the 1997 handover. The borrowed place was returned to its rightful country ending the borrowed time with the beginning of a new phase. Today, we commemorate it with a parade, a demonstration or a day out with the family.

In China, the date marks the 85th official birthday of the Communist Party. From its clandestine beginning at what is now known as the Xintiandi in Shanghai, it has emerged as one of the most powerful political parties in the world. Will it ever allow another party to rise strongly in China? We will wait and see.

People in Canada celebrate the Canada Day. Home to many of our teachers and classmates, Canada is a multi-cultural and peace-loving country of the aborigines and immigrants. All Canadians can be proud of their nation as it epitomizes the ideal of mutual acceptance.

It is also Ho Kit May’s birthday. May is the chairperson of our Canadian Alumni Association. She initiated the reconnection of all 1962 – 67 teachers and classmates and spearheads our 40th anniversary reunion in August 2007. She always reminds us to treasure a 40-year-old friendship and to live fully everyday of our life. We wish her a very very HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

The Letter That No Longer Sent

不再寄出的信 /邱立本

很久很久沒有寫信了。不是電郵也不是短訊，而是把郵票貼在信封上寄出去的信，在信封上一筆一筆寫上那種纖細的、期盼的、私人的感覺，親手把信放到郵筒，聽到那種墜下去的聲音，帶著自己的希望與感情……。

然後是等待回信的心情。怔怔的，一天又一天的在算日子，他或她在收到後會怎麼看、怎麼想？會不會認不得我潦草的字跡？會不會把信拿給別人看？會不會看完信之後笑起來，還是流下了眼淚？還是最後會點一根火柴，把信點燃，看這一頁又一頁的文字與感情灰飛煙滅？

這種思念就像放得很遠很遠的風箏，已經看不見了，以為那根感情的線已經斷裂，但突然又迎著風飛揚起來。就在一個下雨的午後，突然在信箱看到回信，那些熟悉的字體，那些陌生而遙遠的郵票，厚厚的一疊信紙，我迫不及待地就在樓梯的角落坐下來，一頁一頁的讀著，看到字裡行間的光影，嗅到字裡行間的氣味。我把這些光影與氣味放在胸前的口袋，讓它一直溫暖我的心房。很多年很多年之後，我還記得它的溫度。在今日電郵、長途電話、短訊、MSN的年代，我永遠忘不了這些生命的絕響。