Autumn

My first article in this blog is about typhoon. And the weather I love most is here now. I am happy autumn has arrived. It is my favourite season of the year. I love the weather in Autumn in Hong Kong. The temperature is around 25°C (it is higher in the afternoon). There is a bigger chance to see the blue sky. It is cool both in the morning and the evening. It is not that cold like winter and not that hot like summer. It is also the best weather to go hiking or running. However, good things never last long. Autumn is the shortest season of the year here.

Free congee Vs fruit money

Believe it or not! An owner of a 'Tai Pai Dong' in Oi Man Estate gives free congee and stuff to the old people every morning from Monday to Friday. What a nice piece of news that cheers me up. The owner is, no doubt, a very kind man. He is happy to see the happiness on the faces of the elderly while they are eating. He had been helped by others when he was in a difficult situation. Now he can afford to contribute to society and he does it. He is not rich like Lee Ka Sing. He had just won a prize and used the money to help the poor. He sets an example to those who are wealth off. Hope there are some rich people follow his generous virtue so that more poor elderly can benefit from it.

Donald Tsang finally declared to postpone the means test for new applicants of the old age allowance and the allowance would be raised to $1000. In his announcement, I could feel his arrogance attitude. He claims that emotional choice overwhelms rational analysis. Although he accepts the will of the majority of society, he still thinks that the decision is not right. He makes the excuse that the government needs to concentrate on fighting against the financial tsunami instead of arguing about the 'fruit money'. It seems that Mad Dog's bananas work :-)

HongKongers never feel bored

There is bad news everyday. People in Hong Kong worry about when the bad luck comes to them. Since the malemine was found in the milk in China, we are alert of any new found malemine on food. It gives you surprise from time to time. You don't know when there is malemine found in the food you always eat. Now eating in the Chinese restaurants is another threat after the discovery of malemine in the sponge cake.

Then followed the Lehman Brother's derivatives. Thousands of 'victim' lost a great amount of money. Then the close down of U-right and Tai Lin. Now what, the Citic Pacific shares dive 55 percent. If you have bought the shares, you will lose a lot of money. The whole chain of unhappy events, one follows the other. It involves the rich and the poor. The rich lose money while the poor lose their jobs. Everybody is in danger. Everybody worries when the misfortune will come to them. The financial tsunami has started in the USA and it is spreading out rapidly, to Europe, to Asia. You will not feel bored because there are surprises day after day.

Credit card Vs Cash

Tai Lin Radio Services - one of the oldest appliance chains, closed down amid the financial turmoil. Those who had ordered electrical appliances worried that they could not get their deposit back. According to the Consumer Council, the deal can be terminated if you paid by credit card. But if you paid in cash, you cannot get the money back.

To be safe, it is better to pay deposits by credit card. If you are asked to pay in cash only, there must be something wrong with the shop.

Settlement of minibonds

'The first Hong Kong investors in Lehman-linked derivatives reached a settlement with a bank...' it was quoted from the SCMP today. The first investors are an 84-year-old woman and her mentally ill son. According to the younger brother of the family, the sales person in the bank had already known his brother was mentally ill. I am not interested in Lehman Brothers minibonds. I just hate someone who cheat people especially the weak for a living.

This incident reminds me of the crafty sale people who sell insurance. I always receive call from people selling insurance. They tell you how good the insurance is for you. They try to persuade you buying the insurance before you put the phone down. If you want to see the black and write first, they insist on convincing you to agree on the phone before they mail you the agreement. They say if you do not like it, you can withdraw it in seven days. Once you receive the agreement, they will make sure you keep it.

If you ask them to mail you the terms and agreement before you make the decision, it is impossible. Do not buy anything on the phone. It may not always be what you want. Do not be tempted by any kinds of privileges they offer you. Just to say 'no' if you do not want it and be firm. If they are confident in their product, they should not be afraid to let people see the terms first.

Be a smart consumer :-)
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More about autism

In my last post, I mentioned six characteristics of autistic children that I noticed. Here there are a few more, vii) autistic children are sensitive to sound, they are allergic to loud voice or high pitch. E.g. One boy hates songs, he covers his ears with his hands, closes his eyes and feels extremely anxious whenever people are singing hymns during the assembly; viii) some write very neatly and some write in very big letters or Chinese characters; ix) they always show gestures of different patterns, moving their fingers is an obvious example (like the boy in 'Shining').

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Autism

I have quite a few students who are autistic or having autistic features. They are lovely kids and living in their own world sometimes. Most of them are good looking children. There are more autistic boys than girls.

The common characteristics found in them are i) they are insistent, once something is stored in their memories, it is very hard to delete especially their unhappy experience, ii) they have their own routine, e.g. walking in circle on their own in the playground during recess or lunch time. You can see that they are enjoying it, iii) some are very good at drawing, once they saw something they are particularly interested, they can draw it precisely on a paper, e.g. the routes of the MTR or the setting of a particular room, iv) they say to you the same thing every time they see you, they won't go away if you do not give any response. But whatever response you give, it won't bother them :-)
v) they are not adaptable to changes, once there was a girl sticking to her seat when she was asked to go to another classroom, vi) some have never smiled in their lives. These are some of the characteristics of the children with autism.

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