One Night in the Desert

As a break between 2 courses in Dubai and AbuDhabi, I went for a desert safari trip yesterday. The excursion started at 4:30pm. Well, you can't do it sooner as the temperature reached 40+ around noon. A team of 4WD Toyota Landcruiser's was on the way. If I paid more, I could try the Hummer. US$100 was just too much so I sticked to a cheaper Toyota option.

The exciting part started early when we were climbing up and down the sand dunes. It's the normal G version of the roller-coaster. But it's good enough to make you throw. The advice would be: don't eat too much before you go for a desert safari. Regreted not to bring my video camera. I managed to take a couple of photos but missed the most spectacular part.

Just before sunset we reached the camp site in the desert. I met two cabin crew of the Singapore airline. They had a two-day-break in Dubai, before flying to Moscow. The Singaporean guy was also using Nikon so he took some photos for me.

There was a camel range at the campsite. Obviously this was for tourist. 20 dirhams for a brief ride and photo-taking. 50 dirhams you can drive the quad (a small 4WD bike) for 15 minutes. I passed. A Bangladeshi worker invited me to feed and take photos with the camels. At the end he hinted for some money. I gave him 5 dirhams. Definitely not bad for a worker in Dubai.

After sunset, dinner was served. It was a simple Arabian BBQ buffet. After the "cruising" through the desert, you won't have much appetite for good food. Inside the campsite, the food, soft drinks, water, traditional costumes for photo-taking were included in the fee you paid.

There was a fine hawk for you to take photo with. She was not aggressive and not afraid of human. Seemed that she was quite used to meeting strangers.

After the dinner it was a belly dance performance. Frankly speaking, it was not as good as the one I had seen in Cairo. She dressed like a belly dancer but was not doing the dancing. But people seemed to be enjoying. The night ended with a all-light-out for 5 minutes. A quite time for everybody to watch the stars. The Singaporean broke silence by playing "Vincent" with his mobile phone. "Starry Starry Night...." There was a very bright star. It was the satellite as it was not blinking.

Fortunately, we didn't need to go through the sand dunes very much on the way back. What a night.

The Price of Prosperity

According to a local report, huge hike in prices made living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) unbearable for both expatriates and nationals. It has been affecting lower income groups and forcing many residents to return their families to their country of origin.

Some people believed that this domestic inflation is partly blamed on the UAE dirham's peg to the US dollar. Prices of commodities, food stuff, rents and garments have hit the roof with 300% increase in the last two years.

This has indeed resulted in creating family conflicts as many children were abandoned just because they were separated from one of their parents. Salary increase was thought to be a key factor that has enticed the traders to raise prices taking advantage of the absence of monitoring and oversight mechanisms. From time to time there were news about an increase in the prices of major items. For instance, the price of rice increased by 20%. Indian mouton price has increased by 50%. Local people condemned that the daily hike in prices has become a burden on the their shoulders but the government is still turning a deaf ear to all these problems.

Jumeirah Mosque

Normally non-muslims are not allowed to enter the mosque. The Jumeirah Mosque in Dubai is an exception. The Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding organized guided tours for those who are interesed to understand more about Islam.

Visits are every Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, at 10:15am and last for over an hour. Registration is required (from 10:00am to 10:15am) and the entrance fee is 10 Dirhams. Appropriate dress must be worn, i.e. visitors must have arms and legs covered. Trousers and scarfs are available to those who need. Photo or video taking are allowed inside the mosque.

The guides (a man and a lady) were volunteers. They explained that Islam is founded on five principles (Five Pillars): declaring that there is no God but Allah, praying five times a day, charity, making a pilgrimage to Mecca (the Ka'bah) and fasting during Ramadan. For me it's too much emphasis on behaviours.

Then the guy demonstrated a prayer. He also explained a prayer in Arabic. There are horizontal lines on the carpet. The lines are used to guide people where to kneel, so as to optimize the use of space.

Prayer at ten thousand metres

I sat next to a serious muslim on the flight to Dubai. Even before take-off, he was reading the Koran. After flying for 4 hours, he anxiously asked me to open the window shield. He needed to find out when the sun set. And that’s time for his prayer.

Prayer is “Salat” in Arabic. Actually “Salat” means connection or communication literally. This is a very good description of prayer. When you pray, it’s a two-way communication between you and God. For muslims, the prayer times are in accordance with the position of the sun starting with:
(1) pre-dawn (Al Fajr);
(2) between noon and mid afternoon (Al Thuhur);
(3) between mid-afternoon and sunset (Al Asr);
(4) between sunset and darkness (Al Maghrib) and
(5) evening (Al Isha)

Right after sunset, the guy sitting next to me retreated to solitude. The Singaporean flight attendant seemed to understand his needs. She guided him to the back where he could pray.

Muslims believed that regular prayer could restrain a person from doing shameful and wrong actions. Although it sounds like rituals, this is something Christians need to learn. Never stop praying. We simply do not pray enough.

上海

差不多有一年沒有來上海了，這次是為了MCE的任務。客戶沒有安排接機，他們覺得在蒲東機場找出租絕不是問題。今天的上海確實像個大城市了，只是出租車的質量好像停滯不前。沒有安全帶、充滿泥塵的車廂、空調不能惠及後座；還停留在十年前？

這次夥拍的是一個比利時人，年紀跟我差不多。這個課程首次在中國舉行，以前都在巴黎舉行的。客戶指明第二名導師不能從歐洲飛過來，所以找了我來做。比利時人表現一般，大概還沒有適應時差。他是第一次來中國，下周還和他的女兒到香港旅遊。可惜我要去阿聯酋，否則可以帶他四處逛逛，為香港宣傳一下。

反面“溫柔的夜”——重播再重播

前幾天出發去上海，在香港機場的禁區內遇上一個自稱從東北來的女士。她說自己丟了錢包，問我可否給她一點錢。天啊，老千的手法真是十年如一日。說不定警訊已經介紹過。

記得十多年前我在上海虹橋機場（那個舊機場）也碰過類似的情況，一個拿回鄉證的女人用同樣的理由問我拿錢。我第一次是給了她，我當時是受三毛作品“溫柔的夜”所影響的。“溫柔的夜”是三毛在西班牙的親身經歴，當時也是有一個小子用類似的理由問三毛拿錢，三毛覺得他是騙人，但最終也給了他。後來她發現那小子原來沒有騙她，所以她非常後悔自己用了一種歧視的眼光來看他。幾個月後，我在虹橋機場又再見到那女子在問其他人……。

大概八、九年前，我在北京的建國門附近又遇上同樣的情況。那次是幾個自稱來自哈爾濱的年輕人，我還是給了他們。我想，百分之九十九他們是騙我的。但萬一他們是那百分之一，他們就很可憐了，大概沒什麽人會相信他們的。可笑的是（笑我自己），第二天我在同一地點再遇上他們，他們竟然忘了我，再用同一個劇本來問我。我怒斥了他們一頓，便走開了。之後我也在香港及內地再遇上這種情況，我再沒有給錢那些人。

我已經忘掉“溫柔的夜”了。

人十年，我也十年……

今天電視重播十年前香港回歸當天的情況。

十年前我還住在上海，只能從中央臺收看香港回歸。當時已經決定搬到北京了。

這十年我做過什麽？現在想起來也真的經歷了不少……。

目睹香港工業的衰落，也親身體會過（所服務的公司關閉了香港的廠房，搬到勞工成本比較低的國家）。
從商務客位到經濟倉，然後又回到商務倉。
從百分之八十在中、港、臺出差到不用出差，然後百分之八十在東南亞及中東出差。
經歷了收購合并、擴充業務、裁員。裁一次、兩次、三次，最後由執行者變成受影響者。
渡過高薪職位的日子，也熬過創業初期的艱難歲月。
從百分之八十說普通話到百分之八十說英語。說廣東話的機會越來越少。
二人從香港移居內地，回來時變成三人。
搬了四次家：香港——上海——北京——香港（新界）——香港（港島）。
做過MENSA副主席、內地BBS的版主（搞腦筋）、擡過兩次轎（明德醫院的籌款活動）。

變化多多，但我仍記掛神給我的異像。
但願十年後，我已經落實做了很多……

HK Disneyland is the best?

No, I have never been to Hong Kong Disneyland.

Rabeau, one of the participants in KL last week, is a Libyan who had worked in Shenzhen a couple of years ago. He visited Hong Kong Disneyland. He said it's the best. (He'd been to the ones in Paris and the States.) All the other parks are in an open area, wheras the one in Hong Kong is surrounded by greens and mountains. The view is more spectacular.

Having said that, our immigration officers almost rejected his visa. It was just after the London bombing when he applied the visa to Hong Kong. The officers were very suspicious, especially when he said that he wanted to visit Disneyland.

This week in Kuala Lumpur

I am staying in KL until Friday. Well, the weather is better than expected. Just some shower today.

This time we are more cautious as a rather senior guy from the client is observing the course. This is the first time we really follow the timetable strictly. Got a bunch of funny guys. The gentleman from Syria didn't like MBTI. I think he's a bit confused. An Indonesian is totally lost and didn't follow the personality type thing. We have a very serious Muslim this time. The young lady from Indonesia refused to shake hand with me. An Indian was very late this morning. That's the usual problem in KL. The hotel is too closed to the bars area. The night life is a big temptation for them.

如何爲正邪定分界？

女兒快八歲了。我今天看到一則駭人聽聞的新聞：

兩小學男生疑非禮同校女生被捕

在紅磡，一名10歲女學生懷疑被男同學多次非禮，警方拘捕兩名男學生。消息指，事主在紅磡區一間小學就讀，上月多次被同校的男同學非禮，警方接報調查拘捕兩名男學生，懷疑他們跟案件有關，兩人暫時獲准保釋候查，案件轉交九龍城重案組調查。（http://hk.news.yahoo.com/070615/60/29l8s.html）

性教育可否解決這個問題？我不知道。這個世界太多自以爲是專家的人發表意見了。人類文明進步帶來的信息泛濫本來是正面的，可惜人也利用這些信息工具來滿足自己的欲望——一種影響別人的欲望。小孩還沒有判斷的能力便要接受這些信息了，能怪他們麽？不少人用“藝術”、“文學”等借口來散播那些可以挑起情慾的信息，小孩能理性地欣賞麽？另一邊廂，衛道之士全面否定這些信息。世人真的很奇怪，難道這世界只有0與1？爲什麽一定要贊成或是反對？爲什麽不可以互相欣賞，取一個平衡點？

老餅廣告測驗

最近在 M記的 MSN Group 做過這個測驗： http://www.daihung.com/blog/adquiz

我 93分。老人院資料提供：

• 美國運通：顧嘉輝唯一拍過的廣告：“你識唔識得我呀？”。
• 人人搬屋：不知那個豎起手指公的老伯還在不在。
• 奸人糖：石堅唯一拍過的廣告，條橋據聞是林振強在廣告界的成名作。
• 7-11登陸香港的Jingle：“7-11，梗有一間係左近，半夜三更都可幫襯。”
• “不在乎天長地久，只在乎曾經擁有。”市場研究說公衆記得梅豔芳多過鐵達時。
• “人頭馬一開，好事自然來”及“維他奶，維他奶，點只系汽水咁簡單”均爲廣告界才女紀文鳳大作。她本來寫“唔只系汽水咁簡單”，後來經黃霑提點，改爲“點只系汽水咁簡單”，成爲當時的流行用語。
• “大家樂，為你做足一百分。”當年對手曾有針對性的說：“大快活精神，挑戰無限分。”
• Mohawk挑戰自己，挑戰別人；找呂良偉來拍廣告，結果……。後來改了名，叫Mofork，仍然找呂良偉，結果仍然……。

我覺得這些廣告也應該上榜：

（1）“逐漸變黑亦得，即刻變黑亦得，得咗！”[美容用品]
（2）“美國制XXX，由細飲到老。”[健康食品]
（3）“唔出奇吖，當你試過XX的好煙味。”[香煙]
（4）“你估我送咩比你？”“飛機大炮？”[香煙]
（5）“常備XXX，有病唔駛怕。”[成藥]
（6）“系咁咳呀，系人都怕咗你啦。”[成藥]
（7）“同我鬥威？系咁先！”[洋酒]
（8）“時時食？XXX。時時食？XXX。……”（重複多次）[小食]
（9）“少莫少於水滴, 漸成大海汪洋，細莫細於沙粒, 漸成大地四方。”[銀行]
（10）“When you need the power, power to the music,飲XXX！”（Rock Music）[營養飲料]

理解與溝通

真人真事三則：

（一）前天秘書來電（並非我的私人秘書，是商務服務中心的行政助理），說收到我的銀行信及一份叫“The Elec-Comist”的雜誌。我只訂閱了一份雜誌，名爲“The Economist”，暗裏笑了一會兒。晚上聽女兒的英文朗讀練習，不笑了，努力的提點她。香港人有時被譏諷爲中文不行，英文也不行。要證明自己的實力，還得努力點。

（二）昨天擠上地鐵後，車門又關又開的好幾次。站在我旁邊的一位東南亞女士（聽到她跟家人交談，估計是馬來西亞人）向我揮手說“Excuse me”，示意我站進一點。我不會說馬來語，但我很想告訴她說這裏不是升降機，沒有電眼感應裝置的。我堅守著陣地，終于門關上了，證明了我的想法。不知她現在明白了沒有。

（三）昨天中午到蘭桂坊後面的鴻星酒家吃午飯。我們沒有預訂，服務員問我們可否在一點前結帳。當然可以，反正我們也趕時間。我們在十二點四十五分結帳，然後吃過贈送的甜點，還只是十二點五十分。在我去洗手間的時候，那個經理已經來催促我太太走了，還非常不客氣的說：“優惠時間已經過了很久了！”香港人確實善忘。我們前幾年有SARS，也曾經經濟不景氣。經理先生，你忘記了麽？我們走到大道中時離下午一點還有五分鍾。很久沒有去http://www.openrice.com/ 了，今天晚上去寫寫評論。

日光之下無新事

最近靈修時用了已故靈糧堂創辦人趙世光牧師的著作，看看寫作日期，原來是五、六十年代的作品。但他描述一些極端信徒的情景，和現在的也差不多。他說當時有一些過分熱情的基督徒，到訪親友家便叫人拆掉祖先神位。趙牧師笑罵他們這樣怎能勸人歸主。

現今我們也有不少熱情的基督徒。最近鬧得熱哄哄的中大學生報事件據說就是由明光社發起的。明光社一直在社會上發表言論，明確的反對足球賭博、同性戀。他們通過一些機制，例如淫審處來發揮他們在社會上的影響力。明光社的原則就是以基督的教義，做社會的“明光”。他們的英文名稱也是“真理之光”的意思，目標非常明確。但我有一些不同意他們的地方。

其實我也不認同中大學生報情色版的做法，更不認同同性戀。但我經常想，假如主耶穌在，祂會怎樣做。假如主耶穌今日在香港，祂必定會很哀傷，暗中流淚。祂會到中大勸勉那些學生。祂也會與同性戀者坐席，與他們閑聊。祂也會爲他們向父神祈禱。但祂一定不會公開地責罵這些人。如果你看聖經的描述，祂就是這樣的。祂與當時被人標簽爲罪人的稅吏、妓女同桌吃飯，祂不定世人的罪。祂公開責備的，就是那些自以爲義的法利賽人、文士和教師。祂鞭打的，是在聖殿做買賣的以色列人。祂勸我們不要定他人有罪，因爲我們中間，誰沒有錯？

明光社，你要做法利賽人，還是主耶穌的樣式？

Beckham's last game in La Liga - good omen?

There is only one more week for La Liga but the top three are still not settled. Real Madrid and Barcelona are tied on top (Real Madrid is better based on head-to-head results), while Sevilla is only 2 points behind. Anything can happen in the last game.

The second last game of this year, played last night, could be decisive. Messi's double helped Barca leading Espanyol for almost the entire match, including a handball which was compared to Maradona's goal against England in 1986. Meanwhile Real Madrid was chasing a 1-2 deficit at Zaragoza. May be this is their year. Ruud Van Nisterooj made it 2-2 while the Barca - Espanyol tie was level in the final moment of the games.

There is a good omen too. David Beckham screwed up in 1998 World Cup and he helped Manchestered United to the unprecedented Treble in the following year. In 2003, his final season in Manchester, the Red Devils as an underdog also catched up Arsenal in the final games of the season. Well he flopped again in the World Cup last year and he will play his final game in Bernabeu next week (provided he is match-fit). Roberto Carlos is playing his last game in Spain and Ruud Van Nisterooj is one goal short of the European Golden Boot. They made a narrow escape in Zaragoza. They are in good shape and have great motivation into the last game at home. A win over Mallorca will make sure they regain the La Liga title, no matter what happen to Barcelona and Sevilla.

周末在香港……很累

星期四晚上完成了在迪拜的任務，乘夜機回港。

中東地區的周末是在周五、六，這是因爲回教的傳統。加上四個小時的時差，回到香港已經是星期五的下午。國泰在這條航線真的不如阿聯酋，座位不能完全平放，但票價又比較貴。可能是這個原因，阿聯酋的航班一般都爆滿。若不是要累積飛行哩數，我一定選阿聯酋。

星期六的早上又要到牙醫接受折磨了。這次應該是最後一次用刑——牙周病手術。過程是先進行局部麻醉（半邊臉沒有感覺），然後切開牙肉，清洗牙床….不用說下去了吧？

Joy 的三級鋼琴考試成績回來了，112分，算不錯吧。星期五她也參加了芭蕾舞三級考試，不知結果怎樣。其實成績對我們來說絕不重要，當初讓她學是要給她有一些紀律的訓練。（因爲她真的是一個Happy-go-lucky 的人！可能也是一種恩賜？）考試後她想拍一些照，但星期五的天氣不好，拍出來的沒有去年好。

23 participants, 19 nationalities

We have 23 participants this time. Among them, they come from: Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Kuwait, Philippines, Parkistan, PNG, Iran, Egypt, Algeria, Oman, Syria, US, Gabon, Sudan, UK, France, Bangladesh and India. The big guy from Gabon (a country in Western Africa, south of Cameroon) is very interesting. He told us that he had a romantic relationship with his instructor in University and he got good grades from her. We also have a small 24th participants. The lady from Malaysia is pregnant. The guy from PNG is another huge man but with a friendly face. He said he doesn't eat human being and has been living in Australia for many years.

It's good that we don't need to get outside. The weather is very hot and humid. May be it's caused by Cyclone Gonu, which has just "attacked" Oman and is heading for Iran (Oman is the neighbour of UAE). This is very unsual for Middle East to have cyclone. The world climate is really under red alert.

El Qasr Hotel

Last night we had our course dinner at the El Qasr Hotel. "El Qasr" means "the castle". The hotel was built as a Arabian Palace. The decorations inside really looked like a palace. There is a river (looks like the river separating the enemies and the castle) around the "palace". We had a boat ride to get to the restaurant.

We dined at the Khaymat Albahar Restuarant. Literally it means "tent by the sea", according to our Arabian participants. The food was good but not rich in terms of variety. It was a traditional Arabian cuisine. One of the participants dressed up liked a Arabian Prince. Everybody wants to take photos with him.

From the retaurant, we could also walked towards Persian Gulf. Along the bridge, we had a great view of the hotel as well as the 7-star-Burj al Arab.

Minaret

Most Arabs are Muslims. Their religion plays a vital role in their lives. The public place of worship is the Mosque, which is attended mainly by men. Women either pray at home or use the special place in large Mosques.

On entering the Mosque and before praying the Muslims remove their shoes and washes their hands, face and feet.

Friday is the holy day of the week. A Muslim must pray five times every day at dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset and evening. Daily prayers could be said in any places.

When they pray, they always face the direction of Makkah. Inside a hotel room, you can spot a sign on the ceiling with an arrow pointing the direction. (That's taken from my room)




The call to prayer is chanted by the Muezzin from the Minaret (the "towers" of the Mosque). Nowadays loudspeakers are quite often installed in the Minaret for this purpose.

This week in Dubai

This is the third time I visit United Arab Emirates this year.

I have been impressed by the Dubai International Airport. They have the same efficiency as Singapore and Hong Kong. And you can't imagine how many people use it everyday. Interestingly, there are more people after midnight than daytime. The lounges, especially the Emirates ones, are very crowded. The cashiers in the dutyfree shop are always busy at night. Someone told me that there are more flights at night due to the heat at daytime. The heat (could reach 40-50 degree) creates dangerous air current for the planes.

I had a brief walk in the morning to shrug off my jet lag. It's 40+ degree. There are constructions everywhere, reminds me about Shanghai in the 90's. Real estate has been going crazy. It was AED682 per sq ft in 2002 and reached the AED1,000 mark in 2006. It is expected to rise 20% in 2007. With more and more people migrating in for work, it's unlikely to slow down for a couple of years. I have no doubt about it. The flights to Dubai, Cathay or Emirates, are always full.

偉大發明

有人說，很難察看親人的變化。這是因爲你和他們朝夕相對，慢慢適應了彼此的改變。照相機和攝像機真是偉大的發明，這種科技使我們可以客觀地比較，也讓我們可以記錄一些回憶。如果說人與人的關系是靠回憶堆砌出來，那麽照相機和攝像機就是維系人際關系的偉大工具了。最近翻看女兒在兩、三歲時的錄像，慶幸當時還拍了不少。看了好幾次，每次我們全家都樂翻天。

客觀的看看JOY 有什麽變化：

2000年的小寶貝














2001年的可愛泳手














2002年…期待上學














2003年…歎世界














2004年……那沒有說出來的得獎故事














2005年水世界














2006年的芭蕾新星

還有，先別驚呼…
2007年的小模特