未完的小說 An Incomplete Novel

Couple of days ago, I received the first draft of a novel from a long lost friend, and I couldn't help myself but burst into tears in the office.

To be a writer (and also a painter) was one of my childhood dreams. Unfortunately, I still haven't found a way to start yet. Probably it's one of the reasons I started the Facts and the Myths of the Tse Family. I am so happy for my friend who has taken a lot of effort and squeezed the time in between busy schedules to finish something he treasures.

I haven't started reading the novel yet, but I promise I will, after 3 Dec.

P.S. 《未完的小說》 is my favourite song.

In the office......

Please check your watch, this is 9:29pm, Saturday, 24 Nov, HK time, and I am still in the office working on the project to the right :~

9:29pm is actually quite early, comparing to my departure times during the past few days -- from 12:20am to 1:10am. Fortunately and unfortunately, this still hasn't broken my record yet.

So this is an exhibition on the development of women in HK from 30 Nov to 3 Dec at Hall 5B, HK Convention and Exhibition Centre. Make sure you drop by and say hi, while I am stationing there starting 28 Nov.

For details, please click.

District Councils Elections 2007

I woke up at 4:30am (not what I wanted nor planned) this morning, and figured out that some of the people I know or some of the people I wanted them to win had lost their seats in the District Councils Election yesterday. I was quite upset and couldn't fall into sleep again for a while.

However, I am also proud that one of my friends had run her campaign beautifully. Although she lost, at least she got enough votes to have her deposit back :P

加國大學排名榜 維多利亞居首?????!!!!!

I find the following coverage from Mingpao today quite ridiculous.

For those who haven't been in schools in Canada, it's already the 17th year the Maclean's does similar ranking of Canadian universities. It usually has three categories (as universities can be quite unlike), (1) medical doctoral (those with medical schools and grant PhD; usually the bigger and older ones), (2) comprehensive (those in the middle; also grant PhD with with limited programmes), and (3) primarily undergraduate (very self explanatory; usually the smallest). Most of the universities you can easily recall their names are in "medical doctoral", with a few exception in "comprehensive". Sometimes, the Maclean's might provide a ranking that combines the three together, but not very often or seldom. When a Canadian news medium wants to report the ranking, they almost always put the No.1 college in the "medical doctoral" category in the heading.

So you know what I want to say.

When I read first the heading, my first thought was "What? U. Vic.? Never heard about it."

加國大學排名榜 維多利亞居首

【明報專訊】《麥克琳》(Maclean's)雜誌公布今年加拿大大學的評選排名，維多利亞大學和麥吉爾大學分別獲綜合類別及醫學院類別的第一名，斯高沙省的阿卡迪亞大學和紐賓士域省的阿利森大學，則並列本科生類別的首位。

在 綜合類別中，維多利亞大學由去年的第三位，躍升為今年第一；卑詩省的西門菲莎大學今年則前進兩位，佔據第二名；滑鐵盧大學下降一位至第三。醫學院類別，麥 吉爾大學保持第一的位置；卑詩大學及皇后大學則並列第二。多倫多大學排名第四，該校在1994至2005年間，曾長期高踞榜首位置。

P.S. Apology to those in U of V. Not offensive. Just try to illustrate how ignorant HK news reporters can be.

Powerpuff Girls Christmas @ Heng Fa Chuen?????

I thought it was. But when I turned around:















It's actually the Incredibles!















With the super heroes around, we will have a safe Christmas this year!

P.S. More The Incredibles Christmas decorations are still being set-up in the mall tonight. More pictures next time.

The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince

I am listening to the OST of the 1st Shop of Coffee Prince these two days. It's much better than I expected, and it seems especially good for a sunny Sunday morning, quite stress relieving after another busy week.

I am the type of persons who have to listen to music with vocal. However, when listening to songs that you can't understand any one single word, it becomes quite down to earth that you have to use your heart to feel the music/song. It's something very different.

BTW, the TV drama is good too, although I am only on the 5th episode. You may want to have it a try.

My latest Facebook status

Ida is busier than you can imagine as someone don't know how to use their brains...if they have one...

The Tse's "Quick Dating" Agency

My sis said if we had had a "quick dating" agency instead, we should be rich long ago.

The younger ones in the family shouldn't know that we used to have a garment factory. It experienced the same ups and downs as the HK light industry, and it was long gone by now. During different periods of time, Dad, Uncles 2, 3, 4, 5, Aunt 7 and Uncle 10 had all worked there before, and more of us had helped doing packaging and cutting stitches during peak seasons.

However, the factory was only a mask to hide it's true identity. Its true self was "The Tse's Quick Dating Agency". Dad, Uncles 3, 4, 5 and 10 had all met their wives there. The only exception was Uncle 2. Uncle and Aunt 2 met each other else where. Nonetheless, the Consultant of The Facts and the Myths of the Tse Family said Aunt 2 had also worked at the factory. After Uncle and Aunt 2 were married and before Aunt 2 moved to Edmonton, someone said it would be easier for Aunt 2 to find a job there if she knew how to sew. Hence, Aunt 2 came to learn sewing and worked there for a year or so before she moved to Edmonton.

That makes a complete set of my grandparents' daughters-in-law, who had all worked in Dad's factory.

Mom and the Aunts came in two very different stages. During the first stage (Mom, Aunt 2, 3 and 4), there were really sewing machines in the factory and they all know how to sew. During the second stage (Aunts 5 and 10), however, the "production" part of the factory had already moved to the Mainland, and the factory sort of became a trading film. Hence, unlike the other daughters-in-law, I don't think Aunts 5 and 10 know how to sew and they worked on some paper works kind of things in the company.

Originally, I wanted to add that all the "sewing expert moms" had helped their daughters to do needle work homeworks, except Aunt 3 who only has a son. However, Rose and Di told me that they didn't have needle work class those days, which made my generalization fell :( However, I want to stress that I did all my needle work homeworks myself and thought myself quite gifted. So you know whom Mom had helped :P

P.S. Special thanks to Sara who had contributed a topics. Others should throw me some ideas too or the series will end soon!

Iron Ring

Everyone who received engineering education in Canada wears an iron ring on the little finger of his/her working hand (the one who hold the pen or pencil). It reminds us our obligation and responsibility to the society being an engineer. We have to attend an Iron Rings Ceremony during graduation year to receive the Ring, and we are not supposed to share the details to whom who had not attended the Ceremony :)

Although I have not been in the field for a long long time, the Iron Ring still gives me courage and strength at times of difficulties.

How do you eat your oranges?

I eat oranges only by peeling off the skin. That is, not by cutting them into pieces with skin, but by peeling off the skin only.

Yes, I only eat oranges this way. (Well, except drinking fresh orange juice, I guess.)

I don't know how the younger ones in the Tse Family eat oranges nowadays. But for most of the older ones, peeling off the skin is the only way we eat oranges :)

When Uncle and Aunt 10 were just married (or before they were married), Aunt 10 saw me peeling orange skin and said "all those in the Tse Family eat oranges by peeling off the skin." I said "it's because when I was little, Grandma and Aunt 7 peeled the orange for me so now I peel it myself and for the younger ones too." I remember when Ed was a small kid, he would put an orange and a knife on the dining table after a meal without saying anything. Then, I would peel one for him, may be one for Di and one for myself. It usually took quite a while.

I suddently remember that when Aunt 7 was still in HK, after dinner, she would peel oranges for herself too. Not only she would peel off the skin, but she would also separate each orange into 10 pieces, and line them up on the dinning table one by one before she ate it. (Count it! There're 10 pieces in each orange.) But with five older brothers and one younger one and also Baby Ida, you could easily imagine that she could hardly eat any of them every night :P

There's also one time when my sis was still a baby (really a baby, those that don't know how to speak yet), Aunt 7 gave her oranges. She had one piece of orange per hand, one in her mouth and eyed on the fourth. This was how my sis ate 20+ years ago.

And this is also stories of the Tse Family about oranges.

P.S. I remember this when I saw "thick skin" oranges in grocery store tonight. Why "thick skin"? It's because unless you are very "skillful", your orange will become orange juice if you choose a thin skin one. So, I only eat "thick skin" oranges :>

Recess + Burma Protests

I would like to call a break for The Facts and the Myths of the Tse Family this week, as I am too busy lately to write something good and also starting to run out of topics. I need some times to gather more information.

In the mean time, we may switch our attention to the protests and democratic movement in Burma. As part of the international community, I believe it is something that worths our attention. It is especially the case when China plays a rather crucial role in the development.

BBC Special Report on Burma Protest:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/asia_pacific/2007/burma/default.stm

Asian Human Rights Commission's Page on Burma People's Protest:
http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/burmaprotests/

The Odd Number Kids VS the Even Number Kids

There's some magic related to the Tse Numbering System.

Somehow, for some unknown reason, the "odd number" uncles/aunts look like Grandpa, while the "even number" uncles/aunts look like Grandma. It won't work if you try to number the siblings by the conventional numbering system, and you have to see "zero" (Goo Ma) in the Tse System as "even" number and "da" (my dad) as "odd" number. (Hey, another difference between the two numbering systems!)

Even when I was a kid, I noticed that Aunts 7 and 9 looked more or less the same, while Aunt 8 looked completely different from the two sisters. Uncles 4 and 10 also looked like twins, especially with their relatively "big" sizes comparing to the other brothers.

The magic passes to our generation as well (except those who look like their mom or dad originally not in the family). I (belong to the odd number group) looks like Aunt 7. Grandma and Mom even say we share the same personality. The younger twin of Uncle 5 looks like Aunt 9. She looks like Aunt 9 even more than the twin sisters look like each other, or Aunt 9's daughter to Aunt 9! I remember when I last saw the twins (when they were 4!), the younger twin was as quiet as Aunt 9 while the older twin was a super talkative baby :)

The magic doesn't just stop there. Daughter of Aunt 7 looked very like me when she was a toddler. Our "degree of resemblance" was to the level that I was so shocked when I first saw her picture. Mom would keep saying that she looked EXACTLY like me when I was a baby if Mom saw her. Even cousins who have only seen Baby Ida in pictures would say, "Wa! Aunt 7's daughter looks the same as Da Kar Jie."

When my sis saw Goo Ma's wedding picture, she commented that Aunt 7 looked the same as we did when we were around the same age. I answered, "Of course. We are all Odd Numbers Kids!"

So this is the magic of the Tse Family.

Quiz 5
The picture this time was taken at around my parents' wedding (1971). Every one should be easily identified by then. Can you figure out who're the Odd Number Kids and who're the Even Number onces?

The Tse Family Numbering System

The Tse Family has our own numbering system.

The System

My father has nine brothers and sisters. Including himself, that makes up 10.

The eldest in the line is my Aunt (姑媽 or "Goo Ma"), and the siblings call her "Gar Jei" (家姐 or "big sister"). Goo Ma moved to Australia since she's married, and I have only seen her twice, one at Uncles 2 and 4's wedding, and the second time was at Uncle 5's wedding. Goo Ma is not a frequently show up character in the family. One time she called my house from Australia and my dad picked up the call. Goo Ma said, "Kwok Sui (國穗, my father's name)? It's Gar Jei." Then my dad replied, "Gar Jei? What Gar Jei?" He had seemingly forgotten that he had a bigger sister.

Next is my dad. The younger brothers and sisters called him "Lo Da" or "Da Gor" (老大 and 大哥 respectively, meaning the eldest brother), and the nieces and nephews called him "Da Bor" or "Da Kor Kor" (大伯 and 大舅舅 respectively).

Then, it came Uncles 2, 3, 4 and 5.

After having five sons in a row, Grandma wanted a girl and her dream soon became true. We then have Aunts 7, 8 and 9. The last sibling is a brother, our Uncle 10.

Quiz 4
Comparing to the "conventional" numbering system, why is the Tse Family Numbering System so special?
...
...
...
Yes, number 6 is missing. (The answer is already included in the previous comments so I reveal it right away.)

But you are only partly right. According to my sis, there are at least two more differentiations. She said, for other kids, they count "1, 2, 3, ..., 10". But for the Tse Family kids, we count "zero (for Goo Ma), 'da' (大, or big, or the eldest, for my dad), 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10"!

The Hypothesis

Consultant of The Facts and the Myths of the Tse Family (i.e. my mom) tried to hypothesize the Tse Family Numbering System. She said the System was actually invented and first used by those who worked and knew my dad (i.e. outside the family). Cause they knew my dad is the eldest son in the family, they called him "lo da" (老大, or the big brother). Later on, they knew our Uncles 2 -5 from work as well, so the numbering continued. It was only later that we also adopted the numbering system to the family.

It sounds quite reasonable, and matches some of my fading childhood memory. However, when I "cornered" the Consultant and asked "then why Aunt 7 isn't Aunt 6 or Aunt 2 (with the boys and girls in different lines)? She also worked at dad's factory.", she got stuck.

So the Tse Family Number System remains a mystery.

The Fall

The Tse Family Numbering System had tried to survive another generation but failed. The reason behind is quite obvious as we are scattered in different places at different times. We can't even figure out who's who sometimes, not to mention our birth dates.

The only one in my generation who carries a "number" is probably me. Like my father, others in the line called me "Da Kar Jie" (大家姐, or the eldest sister, used by my brother, sister and cousins of the Uncles) or "Da Biao Jie" (大表姐, or the eldest girl cousin, used by cousins of the Aunts). Also like my father, strictly speaking, I am not the eldest in the generation. There are 19 of us and I am only the third in the generation, with children of Goo Ma both older than me :)

So, this is a very unique characteristic of our family.

P.S. One of my former colleague was "college-mate" of my sis, same faculty, same department, same programme, same class. The fact was quite well-known in the office. One time, another colleague asked how many sisters I had. I said, without much thinking, "one, with the same parents."

I fell the silence in the air.

Then I added, "the others are 'tong sai mui' (堂細妹, younger female cousins of the uncles)". I thought I heard a deep breath.

For me, as they all call me "Da Kar Jie" since they know how to speak, it comes quite natural to me that they are all my younger sisters and brothers rather than cousins!

Answer of Quiz 3

Before we proceed, let's find out who's who in "the quest for your mom or dad......in the picture".

On the front row from left, they were Uncle 4, Aunt 8, Aunt 7, Uncle 5 and Uncle 3.

On the middle row, starting from the third person from left, they were Grandma, Grandpa, my dad and Uncle 2. Grandma's holding Baby Uncle 10 and on Grandpa's lap was Aunt 9.

On the back was Goo Mar and father of Cousins Polly and Arthur. (When my sis first saw the picture, her first remarked was "Goo Mar was not in the picture". It's only after she identified from dad to Uncle 10 that she figured out it's Goo Mar's wedding.)

All of the contestants got the younger ones right as you can easily differentiate them from their sizes :> One of them got assistance from someone in the picture and hence got everyone right! Not only that, she even challenged us with a new question -- name of the restaurant in the picture.

From the picture, you can see that Uncle 2 was almost identical to his son now. Uncle 4 looked almost exactly the same all his life, and Aunt 9 in the picture also resembled herself nowadays very much. My sis said when we two were kids, we looked very like Aunt 7 in the picture (I will explain why later), and of course, daughter of Aunt 7 looked very like her mom and also me and my sis at around the same age.

The iron workers strike had finally come to an end... ...

... ...tonight, after 36 days in the picket line.

The ironworkers had finally gotten their eight-hour work days. However, instead of a salary of HK$950 per day, they only won a salary of HK$860. Workers and employers are far from standing on a level playing field.

Here's a record of what happened:
http://strikers.wordpress.com/

P.S. It's only because of the strike that I had finally known how the steel reinforcements were put inside the concrete. It's an art, and lots of experiences, skills, and intelligences in it.

Elmo loves the earth!

Presents from my two lovely cousins. They are of different sizes, fitting me at any time :)

The quest for your mom or dad ... ... in the picture

First thing first. The answer for Quiz 2 of the previous post is Uncle 3 was missing. Mom said Uncle and Aunt 3 were in Edmonton and didn't return for the wedding. Others might supplement more information. That was year 1976 :) Other people in the picture are pretty easily identified so I won't repeat here.

I didn't mention in the previous post that the last time the siblings were all together was at my parents wedding! 36 years ago!

Here comes the (may be) most challenging question in "The Facts and the Myths of the Tse Family" series.

Quiz 3
Again, can you find your mom or dad in the picture?

Other not in the family might take a wild guess to see who's my father. (It should be easier after I write about the Tse Family Numbering System next week.)

Hints: The two in the left of the middle row should not be in our family. The two in the middle were of course Grandma and Grandpa.

Not very useful hints: I have to say I am not 100% confident that the 10 siblings were all there. Some were not that "recognizable", while some looked almost identical to their sons!

P.S. I think I will try to post on "The Facts and the Myths of the Tse Family" once every week and around weekend. That will be easier for the interested readers to follow and give myself less pressure to keep writing. Next week will be on the long waited "Tse Family Numbering System".

P.P.S. May be I should advertise in Facebook :)

The Facts and the Myths of the Tse Family

This is getting more and more interesting (or "mo-liu", I should say). One of my cousins put up a Tse Family Trivia to challenge us about the "facts" of our parents.

Well, I initiated all these things and I have to confess that I also screwed up first.

I had mentioned the last time the ten brothers and sisters were together were at Uncles 2 and 4's wedding. I found out the wedding pictures tonight, but oops, one of them was missing!

Quiz 2 --
This is the picture of the "wedding of the century". See if you can find out who's missing and if you can find your mom or dad.

To give you some tips. I was the girl wearing red dress in the middle, and Nobel was the baby in blue on the right. Cousin Polly was the beautiful girl standing on the left end and Cousin Arthur was the boy to the right of Baby Nobel. This was the first and last time I met Polly and Arthur. (I wanted to write "the only time in my whole life", but well, never says never.)

The Tse Family Re-union 2007

There's no need to look for me in the picture. I wasn't there.

This was the Tse Family Re-union 2007 in Edmonton couple of weeks ago, with representatives from seven of the ten children of my grandparents. This was the biggest event in the Tse Family history since my cousin Rosanna's wedding a few years ago. Last time when all ten of my grandparents' children were together, it was my Uncles 2 and 4's wedding, which was before my sis (who ranked the fifth among the 19 in my generation) was born.

My family is scattered around HK (HK Island, Kowloon and New Territories, to be precise), Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Melbourne, and also Beijing after mid-September, with the biggest number in Edmonton. It is not easy to have so many of us together all at once, and interesting enough, there's no special reason this time (in the sense of something to celebrate). I think the next big turnout should be at one of our weddings.

Quiz -- for those not in the Tse, Lam and Anderson families
Two of the people in the picture are twins. See if you can find them.

P.S. I plan to launch "The Tse Family" series in my blog. Stay tune.

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