I recieved a good news from my housemate back in Waterloo, he had just passed his thesis defense and becoming Dr. Ha. Congradulations! This year, I have two friends graduating from their doctoral degree. Dr. So I know back in Lasalle and this friend. Both of them do research in engineering, and both of them joined research lab of big companies. I guess only big companies can afford research lab, and only the cutting edge works of the research labs need Ph.D. Think about the work in my company, it is simpily a waste of talent for a Ph.D. I know a few Ph.D. at work, their work is pretty the same as everyone else. I bet if they didn’t go to grad school but join the workforce instead, they would have climbed higher in the coperate ladder by now. The market for Ph.D. is quite small in engineering, either research lab or teaching. I really admire those who have the courage and determination to studying Ph.D. I want to have a Dr. title too but this is really a stretching goal for me.

Independent Media HK is a non-profit organization aimed to voice alternative point of views in the society. The source of information of HK public are mostly controlled by big media companies. These companies increasingly assert self-censorship to control opposite opinions bowing to political pressure. A group of intellectuals create this internet platform trying to keep the spirit of free speech and let the journalist interact with the publics. The site is running as a meta-blog with dedicated columns by different ameture writers. There are many good quality articles providing a different point of views other than the ones from the big newspaper. Some writers are quite famous and have articles published by traditional media. When we read a piece of news, don’t just accept what is told as the fact. We should apply our critical thinking skill try to understand the right and wrong behind the news.

Their website of Independent Media HK is at http://www.inmediahk.net

I learnt balloon twisting from Vancouver school board many years ago and never used the skill once. Tonight finally I can apply what I learnt, so the couse is not totally useless. Tonight WCCCLC has 10th anniversary reunioin dinner and fund rasing. Somehow someone knows I learnt balloon twisting, so they ask me to help out. I also donated the bag of balloon I have bought for years, it is sitting in my closet anyways. I had forgot how to twist the more complicate things, but simple stuff is good enough for this kind of event. I reviewed a few designs before the dinner, the easier one such as doggy, bear, flower and hats. A friend came to the dinner early and found it very interesting. So I taught her the few easy and she help me out at the counter. I gave balloons to all kids coming to the dinner, the parent are free to donate whatever they feel like. Usually people pay $2-$5 per balloon. I found flower is the most popular design, espeically to little girls. Actually, the balloons are quite attractive to the not-so-young girls too. Many friends ask for one, they even request it in the colour they like. I have a good mood tonight, since I share happiness to everyone in the dinner through ballon twisting.

Tonight I went to visit a church friend to have some sharing about Taize. Taize is the retreat in France I visited last year before going to World Youth Day in Germany. This friend is one of the pioneer to Taize in our church community and helped promoted this form of prayer meeting. He is interested in our experience, so he inivited over to his place to chat. I had filed those memory in my brain, so I have to digged up the archived experience and feeling. I don’t have much to share since that’s not my style. Actually I won’t mind visit there again, one week is fine, an additional totally silience week is ok too. The only problem is I have limited vacation days and there are more attractive places I want to visit. At least I know I do not repulsed visit Taize once again. One thing I found quite surprising is this friend is a dedicated fans of “Storm Riders”, a HK comic. He has lots of figures and miniature weapons from the comics, he still keep adding to his collection these days. It is interesting to see the human side of a very spiritual person, as least I think he is very spiritual. A faithful Catholic doesn’t have to be a boring person, he can have normal hobbies just normal people.

My little cousin decided to quit her job and study MBA. I guess she must shared the same smart gene running in the family because she got admitted by both York and HKUST. York suppose to be the number one business school in Canada, although I remember it used to be Western. She is going to Toronto at the end of this month to check out the new school, so she called me tonight to ask for some advice about living in Toronto. It would be quite an interesting experience for her since she had been living at home all the time. It is hard to imagine my little cousin will become a “she-boss” after graduate from her MBA. Somehow I always has the impress she is a little girl studying high school. My other cousin is getting marry this week. To be exact, just having the banquet, where she had registered last year. I was surprise her dad didn’t bother to tell my mom she is married. Oh well! Complicate family business. Since I am not that good with this cousin, I am happy to save the money spend on air ticket and gifts. I guess I am getting old, although I don’t want to admit that. My age is reflected indirectly by things happens to my younger cousins. This is the disadvantage of being the oldest cousin in the family.