From a poster “KEEP CALM & STAY TOGETHER” seen in Mong Kok. Photo by Jason S Polley. The people involved in the Umbrella Movements have been called many names by those who disagree with them. They were described as being ignorant, provoked, misinformed, and manipulated. In the eyes of the opposition, the protesters, who wore…
Category: diaries
“The Rainbow Award for Honours Project on Social Justice” by Lian-Hee Wee
Source: Umbrella Creation (via.) “I repeat , I’m only representing the donors who called themselves ‘the anonymous teachers from HK’. And no, the donors do not represent HKBU or the English department. The gesture signals disgust at corporations that forget their social responsibilities. The prize may be small but it is intended as a reminder that…
“Auricles and Oracles — Lessons in Character” by Douglas Berman
. Lord only knows the reasoning behind the paths we take. Why this fork and that fork and this ravine and gorge? Letters diverge by one syllable, bifurcate once, twice, and then all at once a riot of unknowns. The event in question occured around one year ago. I was wandering through South East Asia,…
“Bamboo in Repose” by Tammy Ho Lai-Ming
Photo by Sammy Wan These pictures, taken by Sammy Wan and posted by Real Hong Kong News on Facebook, show a group of construction workers building a bamboo ‘matrix’ at Admiralty, replacing the iron barricades that the police had cleared earlier this morning (Monday 13 October 2014). Hong Kong has long been known as a forest…
Umbrella Uprising — What We Think
. I have run out of umbrellas to lend to my students, braving all weathers, all scorn, for a future they no longer have any option but to believe in. Now it is my heart I would shelter them with. I do so happily, without reservation. They were the first, and will be the last,…
The Interrogative Mood: Questions with Suying Yang
The following questions are taken from Padgett Powell’s The Interrogative Mood. Was there ever enough time? . No. There was never enough time for what I wanted to do. . What are the top three things in your life you wish you had not done, or done differently from the way you did them? . I…
The Interrogative Mood: Questions with Jason Eng Hun Lee
The following questions are taken from Padgett Powell’s The Interrogative Mood. What are the top three things in your life you wish you had not done, or done differently from the way you did them? Probably I wish I had not been so stubborn, and clung to some of my ideals so much, as they prevented…
The Interrogative Mood: Questions with Vinton Poon
The following questions are taken from Padgett Powell’s The Interrogative Mood. What for you are the characteristics that make a person extremely likable? For me, extremely likeable people are those who know who they are and are happy with who they are. These people have nothing to hide or be ashamed of, and they will not…
The Interrogative Mood: Questions with Jason S Polley
The following questions are taken from Padgett Powell’s The Interrogative Mood. If you could be instantly fluent in a language you do not now speak, what language would it be? I have two answers. Cantonese, both as a means to develop a deeper solidarity with the majority of my fellow Hong Kong residents and as a…
The Interrogative Mood: Questions with Heidi Huang
The following questions are taken from Padgett Powell’s The Interrogative Mood. If you could emigrate to any country in the world and support yourself there, which country would it be? Germany – for the good beer and the way German children are taught. Is there a particular odour or situation guaranteed to nauseate you? People squabbling…
“Dr. Doom: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Flying Toaster” by Holden Liang Qichao
The technology scare is not a recent phenomenon. Way back in the age of antiquity, Socrates warned against the use of letters because written words “can neither speak for themselves nor teach the truth adequately to others.” In the 15th century, there was panic over the printing press because it threatened to put the monks…
The Interrogative Mood: Questions with Douglas Robinson
The following questions are taken from Padgett Powell’s The Interrogative Mood. What are the top three things in your life you wish you had not done, or done differently from the way you did them? I wish I hadn’t had so many regrets. … let us say then on an island all by your own self…
The Interrogative Mood: Questions with John Wakefield
The following questions are taken from Padgett Powell’s The Interrogative Mood. Are boys meaner than girls, or vice versa? I think both sexes are equally capable of both good and evil. Are you more troubled by a lie or by a theft, or are they the same metaphysically? I don’t think they are the same metaphysically;…
The Interrogative Mood: Questions with Lian-Hee Wee
The following questions are taken from Padgett Powell’s The Interrogative Mood. Can you list the things you are afraid of, or is it easier to list the things you are not afraid of, or are you afraid of nothing, or are you essentially afraid of everything? It’s hard to say. I can’t guarantee that I won’t…
“The Lens and the Modern Self” by Magdalen Ki
Image source: The MET Museum (via.) 20/20 vision indicates good eyesight, but this is impossible without our built-in crystalline lens. As we age, we demand more lenses and thus discover a new world with the use of the camera lens. We are often taught to see the world through sexist, racist lenses and we are further…
“Haunted by Ghosts: Recollection of a Recent Field Trip to Indonesia” by Hans Ladegaard
Eyes that I last saw in tears Through division Here in death’s dream kingdom The golden vision reappears I see the eyes but not the tears This is my affliction —T.S. Eliot I could see it in her eyes when we first met that she was unhappy. I didn’t know how bad it was, but…
“A Night on the Platform” by Liu Yuwei
Photo by Oliver Farry. A girl friend of mine went on a trip to Rehtaeh Mansion years ago. To save on transport, she purchased an 80-percent-off railway ticket online. The train arrived at its destination before one in the morning—that was why the ticket was discounted. She, lingering on the platform, had nowhere to go…
“Alone. Together.” by Holden Liang Qichao
Photo from Shutterstock. For a while in my high school, carrying your diary to school and sharing it among selected individuals was all the rage. It was not only embraced as an effective way to set your true besties apart from those less deserving, but bonus points also went to its perceived potential for relieving…
“The Guess Who Quiz” by Heidi Huang
Click image to enlarge. From left to right: Florence Leung, Jason S Polley, Douglas Berman, Heidi Huang, Tammy Ho Lai-Ming, Jason Lee, Julia Wang, Ruth Hung and Stuart Christie. This “Guess Who Quiz” is actually ‘stolen’ from our students’ inspired descriptions of each teacher during our farewell dinner held on 2 May. When perusing the joyful photographs of that…
“Reading for What?” by Liu Yuwei
“That Streak of Sunlight on the Books” by Tammy Ho I once joined an English writing course because my English writing could not be any worse. If there is any way I can make it better, I would go for it. A way to improve writing, according to my writing adviser, is to read and…
Department of English, Hong Kong Baptist University 