Opera House v West Kowloon Cultural District

Compromise

The Opera House is a piece of great architecture.

Great architecture can't be compromised, a landmark can't be compromised - indeed it is the very opposite in Hong Kong, I am very doubtful as to the so-called efforts poured in so far. To identify Hong Kong in a different way, elaborate collaboration between the Government and the people is very essential. The peoples' thoughts have to be heard and money is thus wisely invested into the building of the West Kowloon Cultural District.

Sometimes, I really do not appreciate how the Hong Kong Government set up those booths in City Halls to explain about the prospective cultural facilities. There were pamphlets sticking onto the sides of the booths and how clever, there were even collection boxes for people to put in their filled in forms with comments. How passive can it be?! I really doubt whether a person will pick up a form, fill it in and place it into the box!

The Government was not able to get the people, ie. Miss Chan or Mr Chan who walks on the street, to speak for themselves, I did not feel that it was an agenda for the city to debate vigorously on that the government at the same time responded with promptly. Those official forums are only a one-sided communication ineffective in gathering the dreams of the Hong Kong people.

If it is prepared to create this district at such a high cost, wouldn't it worth to instill people with the minds for appreciating art and genuinely seek their opinions?

Something can't be compromised!

Magenta Bright

plenty of you
laid on the ground
i treaded on
magenta bright
caught my sight
those looked at you
busily walked by
so i decided
to pick you up
to take you home
and lay you in a cup
so i can smell
and dwell in
appreciation

Days

a day | a cycle
it starts | it ends
a flexible measuring unit
both short | long
in the eyes of the beholders

The photos are taken on my last day in Sydney before I took a flight back to HK in July ... they were the things I saw at Botanical Garden, Sydney with my family who visited me before my wonderful trip in Europe

I realised there were so many photos that I have taken in the past year ... recording what I treasured as valuables in memories, still I must say, there is still a substantial amount unrefined to its best quality!

kindness and generosity

A friend said, 'You are, as always, too kind!'
I replied, 'Well, I am kind, am always proud to be kind and generous'

AUS$3

on 1st July 2007 at 16:59 i was on 73 George Street inside Ken Duncan Gallery at the Rocks, Sydney, New South Wales i bought 2 postcards of Southern Dreaming, Twelve Apostles, Victoria and Hardy Reef, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland at AUS$3 inclusive of GST believing that they will remind me of the lovely country.

i bought them because i have never been to those places, they are to lure me into visiting the actual places in future.

Tentacles

[Elizabeth Bay House, Sydney]

with your fainting tentacles
liveless though seemingly elegant
fragility doesn't give you value
rarity pulls me away from you
it's yours, if it's yours

Steering

Steer my friends and relatives to You
Open their hearts and minds
with the Roads You have laid
direct them through Your Words
let Us utter them wisely
and show them Your Way
Amen.

Birthday cards

well, haven't been making birthday cards for friends for a long time already, and i made one on Friday for one of my study mates at uni. i used 15 minutes in the morning to cut the papers, colour them in the right way and sticking things together. everything look well on the card ... and friends thought i bought them and was taken aback when i told them i handmade it. the card made of weighted white paper with a small paper 'sculpture' with long slips of orangy-red paper tied together, resembling a piece of artistic sashimi at one corner.

i personally keep a lot of cards in a tin box ... the oldest birthday card is the one with a lovely rabbit holding onto a basket for my birthday in 1991. I met that aunty who travelled all the way from Canada for dinner in Hong Kong just on Thursday night. I got another forever friends' birthday card when i was in primary 6 well-kept and stuck on my wardrobe.

cards do mean a lot to me, perhaps because of the tangible quality, the memories that flood in with a few words left on the paper, the relationship it symbolises and the thoughtful care behind.
Christmas is around the corner, last year i printed out some photos and used them to say 'Merry Christmas'. i will definitely think of something different this year!

Terminal

[Overseas Passenger Terminal, Sydney]

I didn't realise the composition and tone of the photo was that appealing not until recently when I pressed it into grayscale. This is a terminal not for airplanes but for cruise liners as a berth. I still remember walking to the deck and took photos of its surrounding areas as it overlooks the harbour. Terminal is a place where journeys begin or end, being transient. The structure itself bears this fluid concept, always in the dilemma of saying welcome and goodbye. Anyway, this is a good place to get hold of some nice shots. (Got some shots done earlier this year and a few shots done back in 2004)

Lindt

[Lindt shop, Martin's Place, Sydney]

I need cups of nice chocolates to keep me in spirit! Chocolates are wonderful! This photo was taken when Miss Laihiu visited me in late June this year ... the chocolate drink tasted better than the cake! Drinks and friendship somehow always fall together, haha!

Jessica's prayer with me

The Bible says that when two or three person pray in agreement, God will hear our prayers and answer it. Let's pray in agreement that and God will show you the way. We pray in agreement that God will show you the way he prepared in Jesus name we pray you will get the wisdom

to see what God lies ahead of you
to cast away all the confusion
to cast away all human thinking
but a heart totally dedicated to the lord
and obedience
and trust that God have the best plan for you
in God there's no curse but only blessings
God is so oooo good
the more you trust in him, the more blessings you will find in him
this world is not reliable
it's not
but God who create this universe, nature human being, everything
knows it all
and you are his dear daughter
only the heart of belief can please God
read his promise
and experience his love
try not to depend on yourself but him~~
amen

God loves you
He is watching over you
He forgives all your sins
He will carry you through all things in your life
I pray that He will become more than a reality in your life!
I pray that He will guide me in such times to have angels like you around me
I pray that God will speak to you daily
and when you read the bible, you will see he's speaking to your heart
so that i won't get frustrated with what i am doing
I pray that when you pray
you will hear his voice
and I pray for you to have a heart to rely on him
and to seek him earnestly
a passion to seek his face
unstoppable until you find him
the answer of your life is in him



More photos from the walk to Lai Chi Woh in Hong Kong with my friend, Christina, what can one describe God's creation when you are out in the wild ... out of words

The Rocks, Sydney

Well, before December rushes by and am strangled by exams ... I have sorted out some photos from the lovely area of Harbour Bridge near the Rocks. I think most of my photo shoots done in Sydney revolved around the Harbour Bridge or the Opera House, because they are just stunning functional structures. The different times of the day and the weather adds to the flavour of photos. For obvious reasons, this restaurant was one of those I wanted to try, unfortunately I didn't have the chance.

Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Photography

"Photography can provide us with more than just the confirmation of what we already knew. Of course, the temptation is great just to opt for a stable view of the world. That provides a clear sense of order and everything looks so beautiful. A false reality, blocking out the intentions and emotions of the photographer, who wants to provide us with a possible key to help us orient ourselves in this labyrinth of the world.

The unique possibilities presented by the medium of photography are comprised precisely of this dialogue with the outside world and the ability to continually question the perception of it according to one's own criteria, in order to expose it, transform it into a visual experiment. The key to the quest for order in photography, involving the interplay of bodies, objects, signs and spaces transforming them to a legible structure, to a comprehensible composition, is not to lose sight of chaos. It is precisely this chaos that gives photography its unlimited liveliness.

Normally, we would hardly take notice of many of these objects, which appear insignificant and banal to us. Torn away from their purely functional context, in fragmented form, visually compact, they take on such a highly sensual aura, that they develop deep associations for the observer. We don't look at things. Things look at us."

quoted from Wolfgang Zurborn
p. 62 from Views of Brand Culture - Leica


You will surely agree with me that this is a barren tree in winter

but you may not know that it was taken outside the Central Library in the busy Causeway Bay

You will also agree with me that this is a tree, but the lighting is somehow different from what I use to perceive, something is different

but you may not appreciate it as an alternative way of reading a tree

you might say this is a bunch of green colours, with some occasional details of trees

but you may not find its bouncy green colour attractive

you might vaguely notice the ambiguous shapes of leaves

but you might question whether they are really leaves, or is it something wrong with the camera's focus

When I am vigorously trying to ask you to imagine and show you the possibilities of the movement of trees that you might not have thought of

you might complain that this is merely a patch of pastel with no subject matter at all

Magnolia

I wasn't writing because I found myself stuck in a lot of emotions ... though I might appear fine for a minute but I can hear the piling grumbles within me. I was feeling quite sad this afternoon, I stood in front of the window of the dining room, stared at the bamboo construct for renovation, I didn't speak a word ... I wanted to play Brahms to air myself but I couldn't.
I was editing the Magnolia photos last night and decided to look at the ultimate effect of placing them together tonight ... seems the full circle of flowers cheered me up a bit ... perhaps the colour, the extended branches of warmth.

a cross of mirrors
blown a full circle
spun from branches
dipped in ends of pink

Angels in Europe

When you are thinking how to pose for a photo, I suddenly came to realise that 'angels' is a pretty good source of inspiration! Having met many angels in Europe ... I show you one that I particularly like first, will show you more after my mitigation exercise tomorrow!

Perhaps, we should model upon her graciousness!

impressed

[Tai Tam Reservoir, Hong Kong]

light imprinted the water
wind rippling the impressed
surface imprinted finger

here are more photos taken at Tai Tam Reservoir!