Two men charged with stabbing Gardaí in Dublin were Chinese. Is it a norm now? I thought it was just the usual robbery, but was shocked to find out that they were Chinese! I am disappointed, but also I need to be realistic. There will always be a small number of scumbags for every normal person out there. And on a lighter note (well, sort of)... Chinese Information Centre helped raise over €30K last week for the parents of a Chinese student who died when their house was burgled.
This is fantastic news! Bank of Ireland are providing Chinese (Mandarin) as well as Polish and Russian staff and literature for migrant workers. Wish they have someone who speaks Cantonese as well.
(Discuss at the IBC messageboard)
High score students, don't party too much (these are Chinese students now), now what do people think when they read that title?
Well, I misread it. Since everyone knows that students in the China, Hong Kong studies like no tomorrow, the top of the class students pretty much don't have a life. Well, was I surprise to read the article giving out about students to hunker down, and not to party too much. But I do agree, you don't treat them like celebrities, it's hard enough with the competition to get into college, you don't want the ego to go with it. It's just a progression to next step up the education ladder.
Except for some rare cases such as this 10-year old who will be staring college soon .
The overview background to this is kid is interesting. In this case, his parents did do alot to get him through all the stages of school. The pressure must be huge.
So all those going in to college, don't party too much. Now that was just too funny to say. Have a laugh anyway, that is where all the best fun is at. For those who are at college... I'll leave that to yourselves. And for the grads... heh, remember the good ol' days.
But anyone that has been to Hong Kong knows that even though it's over 30 degrees, you still need to bring some sort of light jacket with you. For those who don't know, Hong Kongers love cold air-condtioning. Well, ok, probably not love, but expect, but it's the norm, walking in from hot, humid outdoors to fridge-like indoors of plazas, offices, restaurants, buses, trains... you name it.
Recent news has picked up on this:
* Beeb's HK aircon is too cold
* CNN HK cold war heats up
* The HK Standard's conned by air-con
* Yahoo News
Even Friends of the Earth has a press release about it. But anyone who goes to Hong Kong instantly notice the pungent smells, the hot sticky humid air clinging to you as instant as walking out of the air-con room. It's an experience, and not a pleasant one at that. The air feels thick, and hard to breathe sometimes. It feels hotter as you get closer to the city, because of air-cons.
I know my grandparents who live in the New Territories, will not turn on air-con at all, and let the breeze come through the windows and doors. It's also rather noisy (well, if you get the expensive ones, they are not as noticable), and suck up electricity. I notice it when I go to Hong Kong, I cannot stick the heat, and it's understandable to have them, but not freezing temperatures. It's a great way to get a cold, and having a cold in that weather is not fun, especically if you are on holiday!
If a law is brought in to restrict how low the temperature is, I would totally be behind it. Making yourself comfortable is one thing, but this is just too extreme.
Other sites :
* ordinarygweilo's Cold as Ice
* Big White Guy's Just don't get it
* http://www.cleartheair.org.hk/aircon.htm
Heh, found this entry on a person's view of how local papers are getting more multi-cultural. It's a good sign.
Follow-on from my post... Came across this article about Chinese tourist group offically visiting Ireland later this month.
Found the following 2 articles:
* China to Boost Software Industry
* Is China the next R&D superpower?
It's great to see China progressing so much. And so fast! 
There is a long way to go yet. When I see software in China, it's like Ireland in the 80s. What I meant is, the labour is cheaper in China. China has been one of many places companies are outsourcing to. (Some very good people I use to work with who was based in US was recentyl laid off in my last company. That particular team was part based in China, so cost comparitively, it just made sense to transfer the work back to office in China... and other less expensive locations.)
Apart from that, many, many talented grads are coming out of Chinese universities, and even when they are in uni, most folks would notice them going on exchange programmes abroad. Alot of unis here in Ireland have many Chinese exchange programmes now.
In such a short period, so much was gained, it will be interesting to see what it will be like in 5 years time.