Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Missed opportunity

A missed opportunity is like none others. Unlike a scheduled bus or a worldwide concert tour, missed opportunity will neither resurface nor repeat. We strive for opportunities, from the very first opportune love to a market opening, a job position, opportunity gives people hope, a chance for improvement and to quench the very insatiable appetite. Unfortunately, a miss often means disaster, deprivation, elimination, and loss. Any normal person may see it as a dead end and would often resort to self blame and depression. But, a logical person would see it as an open door to the endless, but tangible and bountiful opportunities.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Living in the danger zone

Sizzling heat, looming skyscrapers, dashing pedestrians, snaking motorcycles and speeding vehicles, that was my first impression of Taiwan after almost fifteen years abroad. Indifferent to my last childhood memory, Taiwan has changed to accommodate the overwhelming population explosion, for better or for worse. Particularly Taipei, a city of sleepless nights and mutating landscapes, its transportation infrastructure is one-of-a-kind. Except for the metro, railway, and high-speed rail, virtually every other transportation system is either owned or co-owned by multiple contractors, intertwined in a web of redundancies. Of course, demand comes with supply, hence, a competitive, yet affordable and abundant resource, for all its residents. However, redundancies also produce waste and mismanagement, and, for a global-village-to-be city like Taipei, where its international recognition weights heavily on efficiency and greenness, this could be a devastating and ugly truth, one which can't be covered by skyscraper debacles.

Besides having to endure the inhumane weather and traffic, dinning and livelihood come in direct conflict with health and well-being. A good and modest living may save you years off the infirmary is a true proverb in a metropolitan city like Taipei, where high stress, coupled with cheap food and liquor inadvertently make liver care one of the most popular off-the-counter medicine available, and a Rolex on your wrist symbolizes the admission to a society that values looks and fashion more than substance, innovation and advancement.

To solute to the inhabitants of Taiwan, I hereby dedicate Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone to my brothers and sisters, whom can disregard health and well-being in pursuit of the ultimate, superficial prize.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

機會

看到台灣這人口眾多, 自己才能深深體會到以前所作的傻事. 其實機會眾多, 何必為這小事跟自己過不去呢? 在此這裡為朋友來首詩. 哈哈, 我看還是不要寫好了, 真的沒有天份.
一生路長 千伐萬里
人口眾多 機會廣大
何必苦惱 破而心碎
花片滿林 經挑千選
人到境界 愛機抵懷
心想事成 滿足赴鄉

變化

回台灣的第一個感覺就是亂, 尤其當適應慣加拿大美好規律的我, 剛來這真的是不習慣啊. 台灣是不錯, 不緊消費便宜, 交通方便, 據有繁榮的夜生活與充分工作和學習機會, 並且社會服務效率又高, 真是對一位以賺錢為中心之人, 很恰當的地方. 錢是不錯, 可惜好中有壞, 不為滿全. 比如治安和污染方面, 台灣就是差. 不過差也是有原因. 以我才剛來這幾天的經驗, 原因初入為光說不作, 作變推棄. 怎麼說呢? 像環保這事, 講是講, 可是因為財政方面的需要而張眼閉眼, 造成濫用物質與資源, 變成能省不省, 不該省而省. 像那些過份搭配與裝飾的台北公車, 過份到沒有關切到殘障人的需要, 豈有此理. 還有就是這論唇的可愛環保. 大家都在作, 可是還是髒亂, 還是濫用與浪費 (露邊攤濫用), 真可悲啊~ 不過人多就亂, 這是理所當然啦~