戴紹曾牧師榮歸天家

今天在教會主日程序單得知戴紹曾牧師(James Hudson Taylor III)榮歸天家，享年80歲。

http://www.gospelherald.com.hk/news/min_1813.htm

My Great Grandpa 我的曾祖父

這張1912年加拿大政府簽發的"人頭稅"文件是我的曾祖父花了500加元拿取的.
This is the "Head Tax" document issued by the Canadian government in 1912. My great grandpa paid CAN$500 for it.

Pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49585&l=c655c&id=725674997

This is the only picture that we can locate which shows my great grandpa as a young adult. He actually came to Canada in 1910 or 1911 - before the establishment of Republic of China - that means it was in the last years of the Qing Dynasty!

This document also shows several interesting things:
1. It says "Dominion of Canada".
2. It lists my great grandpa as a native of "Chee Kai, Sun Wui" (新會縣, 慈溪鄉), with no mention of Guangdong (the province). It's very interesting.

Though none of my (direct) family ended up in Canada, his stay in Canada made a great impact on my grandpa's family.

This is history.

無四肢鬥士 - 轉自香港明報

我剛在明報讀到這段新聞, 版權歸香港明報所有。

【明報專訊】「在艱辛的日子堅持面對是很困難的，但如果經常埋怨失去什麼，你便會忘記自己所擁有的。」生於澳洲的力克(Nick Vujicic)雖然先天殘障，沒有雙手，卻可擁抱數以萬計聽眾；沒有雙腳，行蹤卻遍佈24個國家。他昨日在本港出席兩場佈道會，向4萬名觀眾打氣及示範如何沒有手腳也能「跌得低、爬得起」，感動了無數觀眾的心靈。

當觀眾得悉這名25歲的殘障年輕人，原來不但擁有財務規劃及會計兩個大學學位，還懂騎馬、游泳、駕車時，不少人都流露出驚訝神情。在台上的他說話時雙眼充滿神采﹕「若神沒有賜你一個你想要的神蹟，其實是想你成為別人的神蹟。」

力克倒下後，一面用頭頂聖經，一面出盡腰間力氣「彎腰」，再利用僅有的兩隻腳趾，使自己「彈」起來重新站立，他以此向觀眾展示堅強意志是面對困難的最佳方法。
（尹錦恩攝）

同樣於金融海嘯損手

金融海嘯席捲全球，本港不斷有人投資失利、欠債尋死，擁有自己房地產投資業務的力克，平日也有股票投資，他說﹕「我來港參加佈道會，知道金融海嘯令許多人損失了三四成投資金額，其實我也是！但我不會跟你說『我明白你』一類安慰說話，我只想告訴大家，我怎樣面對難關。」

這場「Give Up Get Up佈道會」是由中國基督教播道會同福堂(教會)與樂苗基金舉辦，遇上困境，力克認為許多人都會想過放棄(Give Up) ，然而他選擇面對(Get Up)，背後的勇氣源自神。

「在8歲的時候，我以為自己不能結婚、不能工作，即使結婚了，甚至連妻子的手都牽不到！」穿上藍色衫、黑色西裝，力克用有限的腿部肌肉挺起身子，面向在場超過2萬名觀眾說，天生的缺陷令他思考很多問題﹕「我一直問神為何我會這樣，是否父母做錯了？還是醫生出錯了？每天也不知道明天會怎樣，原來，在生命裏，最大障礙是源自恐懼。」

學懂欣賞自己 可跑可游泳

他漸漸學懂了欣賞自己的身體，即使他人初次見他時感到恐懼，他仍學懂笑面對，更不時戲弄別人。他曾試過在沙灘玩，大腿肌肉陷在沙裏，小女孩誤以為他花了很多時間故意挖沙埋雙腿，表示羨慕，結果他趁小女孩離去時站直身子捉弄她﹕「她立即嚇得大叫！」現場笑聲頓時此起彼落。

他說罷露出左邊一小截大腿肌肉說﹕「看，平日靠這根『小雞槌』，我便可以走、可以跑，甚至可以游水。」雖然他平日以輪椅代步，但仍可靠僅餘的兩根腳趾運動。自出生已知道人生路途崎嶇的他，談及將來時，突然「跌倒」在桌子上，令觀眾嘩然。

俯臥的他，卻隨即抬頭笑說﹕「即使面對難關，信靠上帝，讓我學習笑面對！」然後，他把頭頂桌子上的聖經，許多觀眾都探頭看他，接，力克嘗試用腰力慢慢撐起身子，觀眾以掌聲激勵，數秒後，他在熱烈掌聲中再次站起來，超過2萬名觀眾深受感動，氣氛推至了高潮。

「雖然我未有對象，未有拍拖，但我相信神會為我預備，我雖然不能牽她的手，但要抓住她的心，沒有雙手也可以！祝福大家！」兩個半小時的佈道會臨近尾聲，熱愛擁抱的力克，吸引現場300名觀眾走近台前，向他以深深的擁抱作道別。

明報記者 彭碧珊

花了數秒力氣，天生沒手沒腳的力克終於靠自己重新站起來，感動了全場觀眾。 （尹錦恩攝）

Recollection

Recollection - Edward Chiu

It has been a while.

"All by myself" has become a rarity. I remember this as part of the
lyrics of a pop song. Sometimes when I am alone I am actually
surrounded by "stuff" - random thoughts, bizzaire flashes, noise. It
has become more and more difficult to find real seclusion.

The Prince of Peace Abbey is an interesting place. It is a Catholic
monastery meaning monks live here. It has been quite an experience to
spend time here as a retreatant. I expected that this place would be
complete solemn and quiet. Contrary to my thoughts it is not. Perhaps
it's proximity to a small airport there are times that noisy engines
would cause disruptions. Some retreatants would converse fairly loudly
- in Korean! I was a bit shocked to see a lot of Asian faces. "Welcome
to California!"

I was shown around by a lady after getting here at around 9:30am. She
was friendly and courteous. The monastery is located on a hundred plus
acre site! Later on I put stuff in my room. I was told that my room
and the adjacent ones are newly built. The room is clean.

I started my adventure shortly afterwards and I went to the library.
It does not have a huge collection.

I attended a Mass (Eucharist) at 11am. As I am not a Catholic I felt
a bit out of place. I did not follow all the standing and kneeling. Of
course I did not participate in the Holy Communion. In fact, after
attending the Mass in the morning I thought I would not be going to
more services because I did not feel the spirit and joy at all.

After the Mass I went to the cafeteria where the snacks, coffee, tea,
cereals, etc are served 24 hours. The meals however are served at
fixed hours - 7:30am, 12noon, and 6pm. Each meal starts with prayers.
At lunch they served green salads, lettuce, tomato, two flavors of
cheese, turkey, and bread. People are welcomed to have seconds.

After lunch I went for a walk. I strolled through the cemetery. The
lady who gave me a tour told me that the monks spend their entire life
here and when they die they are buried right here. It is a garden
setting. They do not have tombstones. Instead each buried has an
erected wooden cross with the name, year born, and year passed away -
and no more information. Nothing about their hometown or what they
did. I was a bit disappointed. But now I think it makes sense because
each of them followed the calling and disposed of their past long time
ago. So the hometown is a non-issue. As for what they did, they all
committed their lives to Christ. Writing them out would seem to be
redundant and a bit silly.

There is a "prayer walk" next to the cemetery. It is actually a huge
back country setting with unpaved walkway and trees. I tried to pray
to God while walking. I asked God for directions in my life. I then
started to confess my sins. I recollected the 37 years of my life and
how God guided me for each major milestone. I realized that I am not a
lovable person. As I recalled how God love me without reservations, I
broke down in tears. I could not stop crying. I am still not sure if
these are tears of joy or guilt. But I loved it. It was like a lovely
father embracing me. It was the Holy Spirit that woke up my soul. It
caused thunders within my mind and the tears were like heavy rain
drops. I was not fast enough to wipe them off. I prayed for
forgiveness. I prayed for His guidance so that I could be a better
person - one with God's image, shepard's heart, and full of love and
patience. I find myself too self-centered. I want to love God more. I
want to love my wife more. I want to love my kid more. I want to love
my parents and sisters more. I want to love my extended family members
more. I want to love my brothers and sisters more. I want to love my
friends more. I want to love people more! How can I serve the Lord if
I don't love? How can I serve if I don't have patience? How can I? I
suddenly found myself not worthy to serve. But I know He wants me to.

I wanted to look up to see my path ahead but could not. Perhaps due to
the tears or the bright sun, I had to put my head down. I saw
footprints on the trail. It seems that God wants me to follow Him step
by step. Though the path is unclear, I just need to follow his
footprints as the path would eventually lead me to His destination.

The walk was a powerful experience.

I went back to my room afterwards.

After dinner and a long walk, I decided to attend the Compline
(another Mass or service). I bowed my head down and tried to listen to
the organ music and chanting. I purposefully did not follow any
rituals. I sometimes even closed my eyes. That experience overall was
better. It was soothing and relaxing.

Today's experience was more than "all by myself". Indeed I had a walk
with God. I look forward to more walks like this.

For the pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=46604&l=9dff9&id=725674997

Google I/O San Francisco Part 3

After dinner we headed back to Moscone West. The room where the keynote address took place was transformed to a huge "multi-purpose" room. There was a DJ playing rock (?) music. Spotlight everywhere. Some people were dancing - no, wait, they were just jerking their bodies following the rhythms. Bottomless alcohol was served - full bar selection: red & white wines, domestic, foreign, and microbrewery beers. Full buffet with cooked-to-order pasta, sushi, chow-mein in Chinese takeout boxes, and many others.

Besides music, food, and drinks, there were many free arcade video games, Nintendo Wii games, pool tables, air-hockey tables, etc.

A few random thoughts:

1. This is truly a 'geeks' conference. Have you ever been to a disco where laptops are popped open and back-packs are still on shoulders?

2. We found out why we have to pay $300 a pop to sign up for this conference.

3. I really enjoyed the arcade games!

4. Stephen and Kevin left early. I stayed longer. I had a glass of red wine and an MGD. At one point I was just sitting on a sofa with a beer in my hand enjoying the music and people watching. (Well, with 95 to 5 ratio, there wasn't much "people watching").

I'm back in my hotel room now and again watching the Cantonese news on the LCD HDTV.

Google I/O San Francisco Part 2

Don't let this pic fool you. In less than 10 minutes this huge room was packed and people sat on the floor. Anyway, we were already sitting comfortably on this "exit row" after having a pretty good breakfast provided by the conference.

We went through the keynote address together. It was a good overview of what Google has been busy with. A highlight was the demo of Android: http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/28/google-demos-the-htc-dream-at-i-o-conference/. (I later found out the phone was HTC Dream. Check out the URL). Everybody said "ah!" when the guy was showing off the "compass" mode with Google Maps StreetView. In a nutshell, the orientation of StreetView changes when the phone is moved around. COOL!

Kevin and I went on to a session on AJAX. It was a good overview. Nothing too exciting. Stephen attended a session on Maps. After lunch, we went to a Code Lab on Google Maps API. Pretty cool.

A few random thoughts:

1. I expected a lot more Microsoft-bashing but the Google folks were quite nice. There were still a few funny Microsoft references. In an attempt to make a case that user-experience is more important than the inner-workings of software, after giving an example on the lack-of-attention on the user-experience, they pulled up a slide showing Windows Vista as an example that went "too far" on user-experience.

2. Attendee Male-to-female ratio: 95 to 5 according to Eduardo Chewy International.

3. I haven't seen so many iPhone in a convention before.

4. I haven't seen so many Macs in a convention before.

5. Kevin wasn't sure why we had to pay $300 a pop for this conference. (We found out later why).

6. There are definitely pros and cons for Open Source. Pleasantly surprised to see so many vendors out there. Microsoft has a lot of competition.

7. Like Microsoft, Google is a giant. Unlike Microsoft, Google is liked by everybody. Why? Because consumers don't write checks directly to Google? Or because Google acts a big brother/moderator promoting collaboration from vendors?

8. Google brought bean-bag chairs, pool-tables, air-hockey tables, M&M's, unlimited snacks and drinks, and many more to the common areas. Google really has a friendly culture.

9. Breakfast: 9 points (on the scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best). Lunch: 4(!!). The burgers were cold. Many lunch choices however.

10. It's cool to attend a non-Microsoft event. Helps me think more.

After 5pm:

Since we wanted to have a breath of fresh air after a day long conference, we trekked to Chinatown for dinner. We took Stockton which was mostly an uphill walk from Market Street. We needed to turn into a tunnel which was littered with trash and urine smell. So we knew we were close to Chinatown(!). Actually we knew where we were because (a) I had checked Google Maps on my phone with GPS before, and (b) some of us have been to San Francisco Chinatown numerous times before.

I picked this Chinese restaurant because this was the one I frequented when I was still attending college in Reno (we on average drove to San Francisco Chinatown about once a month!). The meal was delicious. We ordered a $300-a-bottle wine, lobsters... JUST KIDDING! We did order a plate of "abalone-shaped" mushrooms with vegetables in season. Yum! (Just for the kick of it, we ordered a dish of "fish heads".)

On the way back we visited an Apple store. We checked out the Macbook Air. Really thin! Stephen and I checked out a few Macs too. I LOVE the 20+ inch Macs! Kevin gave us a lecture on Macs as well.

We decided to head back to Moscone West and check out what Google had planned for us.

Google I/O San Francisco Part 1

Stephen, Kevin and I finally arrived at the Moscone West in San Francisco for the 2-day Google I/O conference. Look at the long lines! All of the geeks (including us) gathered outside as 'door-busters' slightly before 8am on 5/28/2008 Wednesday.

According to the keynote speaker, they did not stop the on-site registration. The effect? The whole place was packed! Some people needed to sit on the floor.

A recap of the trip on-route from San Diego last night:

It was a wonderful journey. Virgin America is simply excellent. The plane was clean and the seats were great looking. Their top-notched touch screen multi-media system (named "RED") provided *live* TV (such as CNN), movies, radios, and if you're really that hungry, you could order your meal and swipe your credit card. (The non-alcholic drinks were free.) This system reminded the touch-screen system project that we (now defunct MassHysteria/EchoLink) did as a sub-contractor for Intel Corp in Madison Square Garden, New York. It was a very challenging project. Good times? Perhaps. Because I got to see a lot of "free" New York Knicks (NBA) and NHL games. (Ok, there were WNBA games as well, but who cares?)

The multi-media system in the Virgin America flight had a few good surprises. There were taped TV programs from Hong Kong (TVB) which occupied Kevin's and my time. I saw 2 Cantonese game shows. One of which was similar to the "Iron Chef" but featuring female artists instead of real chefs. It was fun to watch. (Yes, I can easily be entertained!) But at one point I wasn't sure if I should change my channel when the "chefs" were chopping up fish heads. I knew the gals sitting next to me had funny looks on them.

The map system was actually Google Maps. They tuned it so that you couldn't zoom in at the street level.

After deplaning I realized that we were at the SFO International terminal. Huge 747s were "parking" next to us. We walked to the BART station which wasn't too far away. The trip to downtown San Francisco took us half an hour and $5.35 each. We got off the train at Powell station and the Marriott was only a few downtown blocks away. The lobby layout of this hotel, again, reminded my countless number of nights I spent at the Marriott in New York when I was on the Madison Square Garden project. I believe both hotels were built on the same blueprint.

Soon after I got into my room, I realized that the Internet connection was NOT free! It's $12.95 a day - from noon to noon. What a rip-off. Boo! Fortunately I have my AT&T Tilt which acted as the 3G modem for my laptop - and I was still able to make phone calls. NEAT! Kevin wasn't that lucky because he needed Wi-Fi. Thanks to Kevin, he went back to Walgreens and picked up a huge bottle water for me! He said he picked up sanitary items but I am still not sure what.

I didn't go to bed until slightly after 1am because there was a huge LCD HDTV in my room. I was able to catch the late-night news in Cantonese (KTSF 26). Cool!

夜"訓"

夜晚看中文電視, 竟然是在直播香港奧運火炬傳送接力, 不其然地便坐下看, 見證了祖國和香港一個歷史盛事. 在過程中, 雖然夾雜了政治和商業味道, 但始終這件事是令中國人振奮的.

上回聖火到港, 是1964年的事, 那時是香港漸漸起飛的年代, 40多年後的香港是那麼的不同. 記得97年前香港人追求居英權, 怒罵那些"左仔", 把"文匯報"讀成"文匪報", 而現在在公仔箱看到的, 是一片紅海. 亦記得在中學畢業禮中"奏"英國國歌(其實是播帶)時,台下沒有一人識唱,也可能是沒有人願意唱,但在火炬傳送接力閉幕禮中, 銀樂隊奏出"義勇軍進行曲"時, 不少人都會唱.

轉轉話題. 不知何時殺出"港大女生陳巧文展示雪山獅子旗". 雖然我對於西藏事件有一個看法, 但若果有不同意的, 尤其是出自一個中國(香港)人, 我當然有興趣查個究竟. 但似乎陳巧文在很多方面都有不足, 當被問到她是否支持西藏獨立時, 她的回答是"我其實不是完全支持藏獨, 但每一個民族都有他們的自主權, 所以要站出來為他們說話" 試問陳巧文的立場是甚麼? 時事評論員李怡在他的Blog(http://www.xanga.com/plutobreakfast/654614123/item.html)上說陳巧文是香港大學生中的小數, 她的敢言"為大學生挽回不少面子"和"值得鼓勵與珍惜". 若果陳巧文真的"有備而來", 做足功課, 立場清晰, 我會認同李怡的講法. 我只恐怕她成為建制派所謂"為反對而反對"的一分子.