行政立法關係: 演變與挑戰 (Lecture 3)

The lecture 3 of General Education and Public Affairs Certificate Course (通識及公共事務證書課程) was held on 25 September 2010. I would like to summarize using Chinese below.

第三課 (25 September 2010)
行政立法關係:演變與挑戰
方志恒先生(Mr. Brian Fong)主講 – 城市大學社會科學學部講師 / 新力量網絡副主席)


首先, 方先生介紹了兩種行政立法關係的模式 – 總統制和議會制.

總統制有兩個選舉及政黨政治比較鬆弛 (如美國). 以下是總統制的模式圖.

議會制是兩權結合, 而不信任動議可推翻政府(如英國, 德國, 意大利). 以下是議會制的模式圖.

方先生跟著回顧97前香港的行政立法關係. 在1983年至1984年, 行政立法權力給合, 因為議員全是委任制. 但在1985年至1997年, 民主化改變了行政立法關係. 當年是共識政治, 行政主導 (Executive-Led Government).
可以看到在1985年前是偏向議會制; 之後開始偏向總統制 (因為行政立法分家).

方先生介紹了97後的憲制設計. 中方是希望有強勢特首.
姬鵬飛金句: 行政立法關係既制衡又配合.

中方是希望維持行政主導體制 (圖是一國兩制總設計師 – 鄧小平)

所以在基本法下的權力分配如下圖.

在基本法中第72條有關議員私人條例草案及附件二中的分組點票 (原來功能組別的分組點票是記錄在附件二!)都是傾向特首的.

方先生總結如下:
i) 行政主導落空. 我們急需改革管治體制, 重建政府管治能力.
ii) 行政立法分歧難免. 建立制度化的溝通機制(如立法策略小組) – 本來副局長及政治助理可作咨詢橋樑, 但人選沒有政治經歷及人脈.

最後我和講者合照作留念.

Reference:
講者的網誌 – 大政治家: http://brian-fong.blogspot.com/
「新力量網絡」立法會研究報告: http://www.synergynet.org.hk/legco_09_10/default.html

閱讀殖民地: 透視港英政府的管治策略 (Lecture 2)

The lecture 2 of General Education and Public Affairs Certificate Course (通識及公共事務證書課程) was held on 18 September 2010. The summary was shown as follow.

第二課 (18 September 2010)
閱讀殖民地: 透視港英政府的管治策略
王慧麟博士(Dr. Max Wong)主講.
Dr. Max Wong is the speaker and his topic was “Reading Colonial Hong Kong – The Politics of Control”.


Firstly, he explained what is Colonialism (殖民主義). It was separated into Classical View and Modern View.
For classical view, it included:
· Political control / domination
· Economic exploitation (Imperialism – 帝國主義)
· Social control
· Cultural domination (e.g. White man burden)
· Religious mission
For modern view, it included:
· Colonization without colonialism (新殖民主義)
· Puppet government with democratic face
· Neo-imperialism (新帝國主義) (e.g. oil politics and dependency theory)
· Economic control / International trading system (e.g. IMF/World Bank, WTO etc.)

The he briefed “Decolonization” (去殖) that is a process the British withdrawn from the colonies, in which “Handover” of political power to a new sovereign state.
However, “Bomb” theory was famous in this period of time but it was found the theory was not logical. There were two types of preparing decolonization: i) Political decolonization and ii) Administrative decolonization.

After that Dr. Wong mentioned Nostalgia in Hong Kong. In general, Hong Kong people considered that the goodies/precepts included:
i) Efficient and effective civil service
ii) Rule of Law
iii) Economic prosperity
iv) Social mobility (Job security) and the rise of middle class

Dr. Wong concluded that colonial nostalgia meaned:
i) Loss of self-esteem
ii) Loss of economic prosperity
iii) Loss of social mobility
iv) Loss of judicial independence

We have a book named “閱讀殖民地” which write by Dr. Wong.

I got Dr. Max Wong’s sign in the book.

以下是一些有趣的記錄:
現在的佳叔(劉兆佳)可以不理, 但年輕佳叔的英國非殖民化研究是很精闢的. 研究這方面的人非看不可.
王博士說起當年參與示威, 和警方對峙的一些經驗. 原來記者鏡頭只能影到上半身. 人們常以為示威者擁向前很激. 原來在對峙時, 鐵碼往往向上升, 示威者的腳(上五吋下五吋)常給警方踢到, 所以在鏡頭上擁向前了.

Reference:

新力量網絡SynergyNet 的網誌 (Facebook):

http://zh-hk.facebook.com/notes.php?id=250164765864

普選之路: 政制改革的回顧與展望 (Lecture 1)

I attended the General Education and Public Affairs Certificate Course on 11 Sep 2010. I would like to summarize the interesting things of this course for sharing. Since some topics were localized, some discussions were recorded in Chinese.

為了進一步豐富大眾對公共事務的認識、提升公民意識及社會參與，「新力量網絡」與香港教育學院合辦「通識及公共事務課程」，以推動實現「將學術知識普及到社會各界」的目標。

第一課 (11 September 2010)
普選之路：政制改革的回顧與展望
張炳良教授把30年的改革歷程說了一遍．由80年代，90年代到97回歸的重要改治事件，張教授和我們回顧了一次。

在他的展望中，記了他的個人看法如下：
· 香港民主化是中國民主化過程的有機部份，香港民主化先於中國內地，但是‘尾巴搖不了狗’。
· 如何在‘一國兩制’下實現中共一黨領導下的民主‘港人治港’？
· 普選之路既具‘歷史契機’，也是‘歷史妥協’
· 悲情vs信心，繫於一念之差？

其中有一句是說‘真民主’vs‘假民主’是偽命題。 我是非常同意的。 跟據李天命的語理分析，首先釐清論題的意思．什麼是民主？這裡的民主是指以何種方式產生？什麼是真／假民主？
要注意‘民主’這個概念沒有很清晰的界定，所以人們比較容易犯偷換概念的毛病。


Reference:
http://www.synergynet.org.hk/b5_m9_detail.php?id=1035

Political Drama (十大9官) during Mid-Autumn Festival

Tonight, my wife and I saw political drama entitled “Top 10 Bad Officer” (十大9官). The drama had many fun themes to criticize or satiric the government in Hong Kong. The show was produced by 進念．二十面體 in Hong Kong Cultural Centre from 23-26 Sep 2010.

The agenda of the show was below and some interested points were remarked.

i) Ceremony of Top 10 Bad Officer (十大9官頒獎典禮)
改編國歌用起錨
改編歌 – 紅色小巴, Form 5 歲月及達明一派糖之石頭糖

ii) Inception (東宮西宮 Inception)
改編電影Inception – 政改可以通過因為民主黨要員被潛植.

iii) Anti-implant (反潛植)
反潛植 “辭職“ 到高官及特首的深層意識

iv) i-xxx
Steve Jobs presented new i-product using GraveBook: i-骨灰龕 & i-墳
Your grandfather could make friend with Michael Jackson and Bruce Lee.

v) Super "Act Now" (升官無敵掌門人 – 起錨!)
八十後 NoBody (Nobody Nobody but shit! 嘆冷氣 官body官body is me, 嘆廢氣 Nobody Nobody is you. …)

vi) Octet (八重奏)
Introduced the democrat in Philips and compared with Hong Kong

vii) Hong Kong Family Book (香港家書)


I brought a Tarot for memory.

Tonight was also a Mid-Autumn Thematic Lantern Exhibition 2010 - “The Rhapsody of Hong Kong Memories”. I took some photos for sharing.

Litter Bug (垃圾蟲) near Policeman

Artist sings a song and ladies dancing

Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Reference:

進念．二十面體 (www.zuni.org.hk)

LED Technology and Products Design Seminar

The seminar entitled “Cutting Edge LED Technology and Products Design” was organized by Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks (HKSTP) and supported by Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) and Hong Kong Solid State Lighting Industry Consortium (HKSSLIC) on 17 September 2010.

The first speaker was Mr. Percy Lam (Vice President, APT Electronics Ltd.) and his topic named “High Brightness LED Chip and Module Lighting Source Technology for Solid State Lighting”. APT Electronics Ltd. (广州南沙区成立晶科电子（广州）有限公司) established their LED production line in Guangzhou since 2006.

A LED device was shown as follow.

The second speaker was Mr. David Ng (Design Manager of IC Design Group, ASTRI) and his topic was “LED Driver Technology”.

Mr. Ng introduced the LED Driver Design and their AC-DC Controller for LED Lighting.

LED Driver Advantages were discussed below:
1) Total Components count is just a few
2) Save Spaces, can adapt to size limited LED lighting
3) Isolated solution, provides safety solution

The final speaker was Mr. Sun Tam (Director of R&D Dept., Optiled Lighting International Ltd.) and his topic entitled “Essences of Quality LED Lighting Products and the Applications”

Mr. Tam compared the traditional lighting and LED lighting. It was found LED lighting was more efficiency and more focus light effect.

Then the features of LED lamps were described. It included LED light source, Heat Sink, Power Supply Unit, Diffuser and Casing.

LED light source

Heat Sink

Power Supply Unit

Diffuser

Casing

Mr. Tam mentioned the product quality and safety below:
1) Workmanship, QC process (Robustness)
2) Thermal Management (LED life)
3) Circuitry (Safety and Reliability)
4) Certification and Specification (Safety and Function Guarantee)
5) Production (Life Tests)

Mr. Tam remarked “In Hong Kong Law it is permissible for the product manufacturer to self declare compliance with safety requirements. Justification is to be produced only when required by EMSD.” Therefore, responsible manufacturers would only state CE or any other safety compliance after having their products formally tested by a recognized laboratory.

Finally, some applications of LEDs were shown.

Reference:
APT Electronics Ltd – http://www.aptelectronics.co.uk/
晶科电子（广州） – http://b2b.ofweek.com/Showroom/6f1a66fd3f8c4dc1/companyinfo.html
ASTRI LED – http://www.astri.org/main/?contentnamespace=technologies:mpt:led:led_lighting
Optiled Lighting International Ltd. – http://www.optiled.com/
Exchange @ Science Park Seminar – http://www.hkstp.org/HKSTPC/onlineForm.jsp?lan=en&id=OF_0000118

China Business Strategy with Internet

Today, I attended a seminar entitled “China Strategy: The Underestimated Power Doing Business with Internet in Mainland” which organized by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corp on 17 September 2010.

The trainer was Mr. Mark Lee (Center for Advancement of e-Commerce Technologies, CUHK) and his topic included “The Rise of the Middle Class”, “Embrace of Internet”, “Segmentation of Internet Market”, “7 Guidelines for Strategy Planning” and “Group Discussion”.


The Rise of the Middle Class
Mr. Lee said that the growth of middle class was much larger than GDP. Middle class was defined the income reached RMB 60,000 (US$9,000) per household.
The following table showed the definition.

Moreover, the Lower Affluent was predicted to be increased 4 times within ten years (from 2010 to 2020).

It was obviously in Nike case. The headquarter office was changed from Hong Kong (Asia Pacific) to Shanghai (Greater China) in 2010. Another example was BSI that Hong Kong office reduced the size and reported to Shanghai.

Embrace of Internet
Mr. Lee introduced the Breath and Depth of China Internet Market. Number of internet users in China was 384 million which was more than US and Japan combined. Moreover, further growth opportunity and mobile internet opportunity were observed.
User of the internet in China spent average 2.7 hour online per day in 2009.

Some examples were showed such as Taobao.com. It was observed consumer-to-consumer (C2C) transactions were far more developed than business-to-consumer (B2C) sales in China.

Segmentation of Internet Market
The major user segment was found 75% in aged 35 & under; with 80% online hours.
Six Chinese internet user segmentations were briefed. They were separated into two classes. For Middle Class, they were ‘Young professionals’, ‘Active middle-age’ and ‘University students’. For Average Class, they were ‘Young gamers’, ‘Teenagers’ and ‘Passive middle-age’.

The following table analyzed the characteristic of the Middle Class.

7 Guidelines for Strategy Planning
Mr. Lee mentioned the 7 guideline below.
1. Allocate Sufficient Funding to Internet Marketing
2. Understand China Specific Behavior and Preference
3. Never Under-estimate of User Advancement in China
4. Align Internet into Buying-Decisions Process
5. Use Multiple Sources to Gain Customer Trust
6. Leverage on the Mobility Hidden Potential
7. Develop Localized Innovation


1. Allocate Sufficient Funding to Internet Marketing
It was because internet became to the most important medium in the lives of consumers. They were reached through social media (Web 2.0), online advertising, web properties and search management (Search Engine Optimization).

2. Understand China Specific Behavior and Preference
It was very interested findings that the highest online service activities percentage in China was instant messaging and then was online music. Why? It was because cheap mobile technology and free music download (MP3 format).

3. Never Under-estimate of User Advancement in China
Chinese user jumped into Web 3.0 using internet on mobile phone. They were more advanced but were early adopters. Moreover, they felt most strongly about incorporating online research into the decision.

4. Align Internet into Buying-Decisions Process
Internet was an important and reliable research and communication tools. Search engines were critical to the online decision-making process. It was because search engines served as the link between users and blogs, company web pages, government-sponsored sites or social networking tools.

5. Use Multiple Sources to Gain Customer Trust
Chinese users would look at many sources when seeking information and they did not rely on one source (Self-assembly of information).

Mr. Lee used Obama Election Website as example. One page was Obama Everywhere that included Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Flicker, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc. However, the most important thing was message consistency on each source.

6. Leverage on the Mobility Hidden Potential
Smart Phone was mainly for telephone call. The gap existed and the adoption level on many features of smart phone remained low. But more and more customers were relying on their mobile devices to communicate, gather, and manage information in their lives.

7. Develop Localized Innovation
It was observed many localized companies success in China. It must have deep understanding of Chinese consumers by innovative approaches to meeting their needs.

During Discussion Session, Mr. Lee asked us to pick two of the most important and one of the least important within 7 guidelines. Then summary was written down on the board for further discussion.

For more information:
The Centre for Logistics Technologies and Supply Chain Optimization, CUHK: http://www.logitsco.cuhk.edu.hk/