"A rollercoaster ride with some hellish dips along the way"

That's HK Financial Times correspondent Tom Mitchell's assessment of HK's economic progress since the handover in 97. I wasn't quite expecting such, shall we say, candid remarks when I spoke to him. Nevertheless, its turned into my most memorable interview yet. Please see below for more pearls of wisdom from Tom, who's been based in the territory for 15 years. Take a bow, Mr Mitchell.

1. "In terms of bilateral trade, does HK affect the mainland more, or vice versa?"

"Well, we certainly import many things from the mainland that we need to keep things running here. Every once in a while, we import things that we wish we hadn't, like SARS."


2. "What does Hong Kong need to focus on in the years ahead in order to stay competitive?"

"It needs to do something about the pollution that blows over from the mainland, because its a big deterrent to investors setting up shop here. Investors who don't want their kids to get asthma won't come here. There are some days I look out the window and I can't even see the river, and I wish I was in Singapore."

"It also needs to do something about education, because language standards here are just abysmal."

Totus Tuus

Learned this Latin phrase on TV (from where all my knowledge stems). Simply, it means, "totally yours".

It's what Pope John Paul II prayed as he was being rushed to hospital, after he had been shot by a would-be assassin. He prayed, Lord, if it is Your will that I should live, then from this day forth, I will be totally Yours. It's also worth noting that after he had recovered, he went to the jail cell where his assailant was being detained, and forgave and prayed for him.

Anyway, it's a restless, boring Sunday, and I am stuck at work. I'm cold, hungry, tired and XIAN. And the biggest news story is about some Indonesian maid in Malaysia who tried to escape from her(abusive)employer by climbing down an improvised rope from the 15th floor. Who then got cold feet at the 12th floor and had to be rescued by firemen.

Probably going to have to put in OT this week. Features galore to finish. And I still need to find another interviewee!!!

the sound of music

I have succumbed to temptation.

Went out and bought a new mp3 player to replace my Creative Zen. Once, it faithfully played music upon command. Today, it can best be described as residing in a persistent vegetative state. When you shine a light in its eyes, the pupils dilate, and its hands and feet respond to touch. But the trail of drool leaking from its mouth tells you all you need to know.

I'm sorry, Creative. In the words of Air Supply, though it's gonna hurt us both, there's no other way, than to say gopodbye. It's time to pull the plug (literally) on you and let you go to the big Creative scrapyard in the sky. Located right next, and looking remarkably similar to, the Apple scrapyard.

Anyway, I've gone and bought a *quelle surprise!* an ipod nano. I know, I'm about 25 years behind everybody else. But hey, you can't beat the classics. Besides, I have never been a 15GB man. The 2GB in this one is more than enough for me. Good timing too, consider that the damn GST increase is less than a month away. It's small, it's lightweight and it's easy to use, just the way I like it.

So there's music in my life again. Will there be more to come?