《竊聽風雲》

從來沒有見過這麽多中人在同一個場合出現（敝校商科畢業典禮除外）。
無人派吃的，也無人派女性個人用品。
不想做什麽深入的技術分析，只談個人觀感。

一、很不幸，也很無奈地，法律似乎還是為有錢人服務的。
而炒股票這類的投機（資）方式，似乎並不怎麽適合我這種害怕風險的人的。
我還記得國際金融課上，教授的名言——"the only way to get rich, is to be rich to start with"。
財富累積大約就是滾雪球這樣來的，而我，不幸地，是一輩子也不會發家致富了。

二、再次見證了無需開機也可施行的竊聽技術在此片中被證明之後，我越來越害怕。
雖然我這種害怕是無由來的——m說，你一年連1000塊都賺不夠，誰要監聽你？
（我也只是有時候把自己看得太重要了，但怕還是繼續要怕的。）


三、據m說，張靜初的廣東話似乎有了進步。
我不能作評，只記得她在《孔雀》裡，騎著一輛拖著降落傘的單車，神經兮兮的。
m說她長得像章子怡，我覺得她氣質還是有點北。
有時候，很無奈的，無論如何高貴地裝扮，有些人不可避免地總是會讓華服或者絢麗奪目的珠寶搶走了風頭，她就是有點這個缺陷。
當然，看戲主要是看情節，我則不能免俗地要觀察別人的長相……

四、這部電影裡有很多張在《畢打》出現的臉，讓我頓生親切感。

五、當差也真的不容易，人工不高，工時又長，還有生命危險。
認識了有錢的女友還要被對方看不起。一哥年薪竟然連他們公司保安總監（有無記錯？）也不如，難怪他們要遊行要求加人工了。
也難怪有高官退休之後要去做世界地產公司打工了。
這一切都是錢作怪吧？
雖說一個人一生可以吃多少穿多少都是注定的。
如果懂得知足常樂倒是好的。
怕只怕眼高手低，愈來愈鑽牛角尖，愈來愈自我折磨，愈來愈痛苦。
這些都要靠後天修為了，得道的卻並不多。
相比之下，退休之後只在報紙寫專欄的前一哥，真正「中通外直，不蔓不枝，香遠益清，亭亭淨植。」

六、月薪兩萬的警察攀上了豪門親事，新家的廁所比他以前的寓所還大，每週逢單日還要陪岳父大人去粉嶺打球……
家中有身患疾病的兒子，自己又被診斷出得了肝癌，剩下一年的命，拼死拼活也要留點錢給老婆孩子。
在這種情況下，給你一個貼士，一夜賺1000萬，但要冒生命危險，你做不做？

主動失業

今日我提交了辭呈，主動失業了。
在這樣的經濟環境之下還要求主動失業，一定有人覺得我很不正常。
但是，事實就是這樣的，忍受不了了，就離開。
僅此而已，十分簡單。
不贅述細節了，總之就是不適合，不喜歡。

離職之後我會回到學校修讀法文和心理學。
將來會怎樣？
暫時仍是未知數，但總好過一直留任現職鬱鬱寡歡。
世界上沒有一個人是無法替代的，何況我這樣初級的研究人員。

sans titre

「我們這個時代是常識稀缺的時代。」剛在大陸推出新書《常識》的梁文道在各大學的講演並非是高頭講章的學術言論，反倒是平易而切近事情的常談。作為專職評論員，在他看來，相較一個直捷簡單的結論，思維的方法與角度更其要緊。而面對台下眾多為就業所困擾的大學生，梁文道的一番話說得復旦七百餘人的會場安靜無聲。

「我知道大家這幾年也許會很辛苦，可千萬不要灰心。我不想說什麼無濟於事的風涼話，但是我又想告訴大家，大家要學會接受無常，接受失敗。不要把整個人生都投注在一件事上，否則比起你得到的，你失去的其實更多。希望大家開心！」話音剛落，全場掌聲如雷，不少女生還顧不及抹淚。

原文出處: 《東方早報》·書評

financial tsunami

well, financial tsunami, my a*s.
as i was trying to find the hocc charity exhibition at harbour city yesterday...
weaving through the crowds seemed like an impossible job.
there were gazillions of people standing around, queueing up to pay for their new purchases...
and...of course, needless to say... the famous... mainland travellers.
i promised myself to get my mandarin up to speed so i would sound like a true peking person (is that noun pekinese? sounds a bit weird though), but that was a complete failure.
although i had fun mocking some when walking towards metro station with my friend in central.
the point here is that it's only okay if u mock them in central...
cos there are gazillions of them in TST, which then becomes just IMpossible to do without being beaten up (maybe to death)...
and i swear to _______, i will never ever try to "catch up" with friends in TST... it was simply too crowded.
though, such a small world it is, i ran into my friend from auckland in the kook*i shop at harbour city.
anyways, i took a walk after dinner along conduit rd, and saw quite a few vacant cabs driving around, they all looked excited when saw me walking around, thinking i might get one...but sorry, no...
i guess that is a sign of the tsunami?
and couple of victims of the lehman bros mini-bond were protesting in front of some banks along qcr were quite loud... another sign?
maybe the 3rd sign is the availability of tables at agnes b le pain grille? we stayed there for almost 3 hours, though all the tables were booked out, there was no 2nd rounds.
other than that, everywhere i went was packed!
maybe it be michelin starred restaurants (they bound to have more customers?), or just random restaurants... or just shopping malls...
god, for the first time, i saw so many people at jo*ce!
what is wrong with this world? or maybe it's just me...
having lived in the remoteland for too long.
now i'm in shanghai for family business/commitment, i hope i will see something different.
(for a start, it's so friggin cold up here! i was wearing singlets walking around all day, and people stared me like i'm an alien... rolling eyes...)
(damn it, i left my camera/phone connection cable behind in wellington... no pictures then...apologize in advance, though will post up them later upon my return...heaps of them.)
(also apologize to those who do not like reading in english, i haven't a clue how to work on this computer... there's no t/chinese input system... >.<)

金融海嘯中的希望

低下階層，總是站在金融海嘯衝擊最前沿的。
然而，這條新聞，確實無比令人振奮的。
紐西蘭最大的家電製造商，正準備裁員的時候。
這4個人，贏了100萬的六合彩！
哈！
現在輪到他們劈炮唔撈了！
真心替他們覺得開心。

而他們對於突如其來的「巨額」獎金也很平淡而實際地面對。
他們只想儘快還掉房貸，然後換車，接著去旅行，剩下的錢可以享受半退休生活。
微不足道的小人物，意外之財降臨的時候，仍舊是真實的。
換作我中了25萬的六合彩，我會做什麽呢？
應該會買很多個手袋吧？
可惜25萬，因爲匯率插水，已經連一個價值百萬的鱷魚皮鑽石愛瑪仕也買不到了。

so you wanna become an IBer?

as i was opening up tNYT, this comes up first, headlined.
After Frantic Day, Wall St. Banks Falter.
i'm totally speechless.
so after all the glamourous (or not) stories about working in those IB's...(plus the fact that one has to work over 100 hours per week...)
this is the other side of the coin?
so i guess getting a bare pass in finance course (which in turn, led me to an entirely different world of economics, read: pure maths) actually saved me?
otherwise, i'd easily walk down the path and become an IBer working overtime all the time, which as we all know, means that if i'm not up at 6 in the morning and be at work by 6.30 i should be ashamed of myself...
and if i'd already gone home before 1 in the morning, i should be ashamed of myself, too.
...
i guess for most IBers (or anybody in general), my life as a researcher is entirely a waste of life.
i sometimes get up around 11 and work till 9pm and sometimes i start at 9 and finishes around 6...
this also means that i wouldn't get paid enough to afford lots of things, exotic and luxurious holidays... blings and blahs...
but all those "cool" stories of flying on business/1st class if long haul, and staying at 5-star + hotels on business trips according to my flatmate (rolling eyes) are in fact just the plus side of being an IBer?
my IBer friend once told me that he works his ass off in this job -- he gets up earlier than farmers and goes to bed later than those hookers.
so it's the matter whether you want to earn lots of money within a short time whilst trading in your youth and private time.
i guess if someone's really into it and is highly risk-seeking , it'd be absolutely fascinating.
but for me, as a typical highly risk-averse person, i'd just slack off and suffer from being poor for longer.
whether to join an IB is a tough decision, but one is too lazy to sell herself for so much money.
not only am i risk-averse, but also am i a classic example of lack of consistency.
i never wanted to become an IBer, i guess i wouldn't in the future, either.
at least not after reading this piece of news.