My youngest son Jack, is 7 years old this week.He is still our baby, and always will be, but at 7 he is now a young boy, albeit a small one. Joseph will be 10 years old in the coming year, time is slipping away, so I thought it was time to take a look back.
Monday, 11 October 2010
Thursday, 26 August 2010
Jackie Chan's Tweets on Manila bus deaths draw ire
Filipinas
HONG KONG – Jackie Chan's Tweets about the Manila bus hijacking have drawn a barrage of Internet attacks in his native Hong Kong, which lost eight residents in the tragedy.
An armed former police officer seeking reinstatement commandeered a bus carrying a Hong Kong tour guide and 20 tourists in the Philippine capital on Monday. He released several children and elderly hostages early on, but later opened fire on the remaining hostages after a daylong standoff with police, killing eight before being shot by a police sniper.
Outraged Hong Kongers have criticized the Philippine government for acting too slowly.
But Chan, Hong Kong's most famous celebrity, has taken a more diplomatic tack, suggesting in comments through his Twitter account that the Philippine police faced a tough dilemma.
"If they killed the guy sooner, they will say why not negotiate first? If they negotiate first, they ask why not kill the guy sooner? So sad," the veteran action star wrote on Wednesday.
He also urged Hong Kongers not to direct their anger at Filipinos living in Hong Kong. Tens of thousands of Filipinos work as live-in domestic helpers for Hong Kong families.
The comments did not go down well with his compatriots. Facebook users quickly set up three groups called "Jackie Chan doesn't represent me" and drew a slew of sharply worded attacks.
"Shut up! Hong Kong people don't need you. You side with outsiders and not your own. You will face karmic retribution for your disrespect for the victims," Iris Yau said.
"He just doesn't understand the pain of Hong Kong people," Violet Wing wrote.
Edward Tang, a publicist for Chan, didn't immediately respond to an e-mail from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Chan has a history of making controversial comments.
He caused an uproar last year by saying at a business forum it may not be good for authoritarian China to become a free society, saying freedoms in democratic Taiwan and Hong Kong _ which enjoys some free elections _ made those societies "chaotic."
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/ap/20100826/ten-as-people-hong-kong-jackie-chan-5e343d7.html
Monday, 23 August 2010
Indecisive police
'Indecisive' police under fire
Manila police came under fire for being "indecisive" and taking more than half an hour to get inside the bus to rescue hostages after the last gunshots were heard.
Diana Lee
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Manila police came under fire for being "indecisive" and taking more than half an hour to get inside the bus to rescue hostages after the last gunshots were heard.
Hundreds of Hong Kong residents expressed disbelief and disappointment in discussion forums and on Facebook, saying the police officers were overcautious, if not slow, to storm the bus.
"Is there only one ax in the Philippines?" "Why didn't the police shoot the gunman earlier?" and similar comments were posted in the forums.
Dennis Wong Sing-wing, associate professor of the department of applied social studies at the City University, said the Philippine government is to blame for allowing the situation to get out of control.
He said the hostage taker's earlier actions, including releasing children and elderly people, showed he hoped his demands would be heard.
A bloody end to the standoff could have been avoided had the authorities shown they were willing to listen to him, Wong added.
"Yet there was no senior official from the government, no negotiator was sent to negotiate with him. The authorities failed to handle the crisis and they had no power tools to assist in the police operation, not to mention the failure to storm the bus immediately after gunshots were heard," Wong said.
"The police appeared to be in panic and indecisive. They spent more than 45 minutes breaking the window.
"They disappointed Hong Kong people and the world as well."
However, Steve Vickers, a former Hong Kong police senior superintendent and now the president and chief executive of risk mitigation organization International Risk, said rescue operations in kidnapping situations should not be underestimated.
"Clearly from the point of view of an operation it was not successful. The situation is not ideal when the police tried to get into the bus without success and it appeared to be an equipment issue. Yet we don't know at this stage why the Philippine police made such a decision," Vickers said.
If its intelligence found out that the gunman had started to kill hostages, the police had to act immediately, he added.
Vickers believed such a tragic incident could not happen in Hong Kong, where the best equipment and the finest anti-terrorism squad are available.
Holiday in the Philippines
Chris How to screw up a hostage situation. Swat team take half an hour and over 5 attempts to get into a bus! And they are still not in!
- Chris"A serious kidnap incident happened in the Philippines. Hong Kong residents should avoid all travel to the country," a government spokesman said in a statement.
2 hours ago · LikeUnlike · - Chris
Hong Kong's leader Donald Tsang'
Calling it a "major tragedy", he expressed some disappointment with the handling of the incident by Filipino authorities.
"The way it was handled, particularly the outcome, I find is diappointing," said Tsang.... See more
2 hours ago · LikeUnlike · - Chris
Sky News Foreign Affairs editor Tim Marshall said: "The operation was pretty unimpressive, to be hitting it with a sledgehammer without a ladder did not seem to be the best way to get into the bus.
"They tried in five places to get in and they failed on each ocassion and that means they didn't have the proper kit."
Eight Tourists Killed In Bus Hijack Battle
6:44pm UK, Monday August 23, 2010
Eight tourists have been killed and two seriously injured after a sacked policeman hijacked a tourist bus in the Philippines.
The deaths on the hijacked bus, which carried 20 tourists and five staff on a three-day visit from Hong Kong, were confirmed by President Benigno Aquino.
The gunman, identified as 55-year-old ex-police captain Rolando Mendoza who was armed with an M-16 assault rifle, had stopped the bus in a sprawling park.
He pasted a handwritten, signed note to the door of the bus which read: "Big deal will start after 3pm today."
Mendoza had earlier threatened to kill the hostages in a live telephone interview with a local radio station if police approached the bus.
"I know they will kill me, I'm telling them to leave because anytime I will do the same here," Mendoza said.
Police storm the bus carrying tourists from Hong Kong
The gunman allowed a family with young children to leave the bus before police approached the vehicle.
Police commandos tried to storm the bus but they struggled at first with a sledgehammer to smash side windows, door and windscreen.
Sky News Foreign Affairs editor Tim Marshall said: "The operation was pretty unimpressive, to be hitting it with a sledgehammer without a ladder did not seem to be the best way to get into the bus.
"They tried in five places to get in and they failed on each ocassion and that means they didn't have the proper kit."
Police Colonel Nelson Yabut said: "The hostage-taker was killed. He chose to shoot it out with our men.
"On our first assault, Captain Mendoza was sprawled in the middle of the aisle and shot one of our operatives.
Gunman Rolando Mendoza's brother GregorioHe was disappointed that he did well in police service but was dismissed for a crime he did not do.
Colonel Yabut said a woman was seen moving at the back of the bus during the first attempt, and on the second assault 30 commandos had used tear gas and flash bombs.
Mendoza moved to the bus door, where snipers shot him.
"On our second assault we killed him," Colonel Yabut said.
"We did everything to negotiate and end this peacefully, but he gave us no choice."
Police could be seen removing the body from the front of the bus before entering the vehicle and minutes later a number of hostages were helped off the bus.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Tsang, citing China's Foreign Ministry, had earlier said seven Hong Kong residents were killed, two severely wounded with the remaining six hospitalised in the "major tragedy".
"The way it was handled, particularly the outcome, I find is disappointing," Mr Tsang told a news conference in the city.
One survivor, who identified herself as Mrs Leung, told reporters that her husband was killed as he tried to stop the gunman from attacking other passengers on the bus.
The woman was still in shock as she was carried out from the bus following a 12-hour standoff, but demanded to know why Manila police came to their rescue so late.
"It's too late. Why were there no one to help us after so many hours?" she said at the scene of the siege, in comments broadcast on Hong Kong's Cable TV.
"There were so many people on the bus - no one came to our rescue. Why?
"We were in fear for so many hours. I find it really cruel."
A hostage negotiator talks to foreign tourists as they are freed
Afterwards President Aquino expressed his deep sympathy for the incident.
"With the rest of the Filipino people, I wish to offer our deepest condolences to the families of the victims whose lives were lost in the hostage situation," he said in a statement.
According to newspaper reports from 2008, Mendoza was among five police officers who had been charged with robbery, extortion and threats.
A Manila hotel chef filed a complaint alleging the policemen falsely accused him of using drugs to extort money.
Mendoza's younger brother, Gregorio, also a policeman, said his brother felt that "injustice was done on him".
"He was disappointed that he did well in police service but was dismissed for a crime he did not do."
Saturday, 23 January 2010
Sunday, 2 March 2008
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
Thursday, 31 January 2008
Monday, 28 January 2008
update
Freedom and technology
It appears that it was October the 4th since I actually wrote anything-in the blog that is. My Laptop had a hardware problem and I couldn't get it repaired until about 10 days ago. I have been rebuilding it since then and backing up all the pics etc(see below).
I have been here for 6 months now, and I tell you time flies very quickly indeed here.
It is a challenge.It is a challenge paying for the kids' school fees. I accepted a job which I thought was quite reasonably paid,which was okay as long as I topped it up with some extra hours elsewhere. This has proven wrong on two fronts- with the travel that I am expected to do for my job, I have not had the time for any other work, and on the other, with the depreciation of the US dollar, the cost of living here has risen very steeply.
I have enjoyed the work that I do, I have written a whole English 1 year course for 6 primary levels, all with worksheets, multimedia-videos, powerpoints and detailed lesson plans.As well as this I have also put together a 4 level phonics programme, and observed and trained new teachers.
I am now job hunting again, 'my work is done here' as they say.
Despite the 'struggle' life is good here, on the island. You don't need any money on the beach! Except for the weekend just gone we have been 'out' either on the beach, cycling or hiking every single weekend since we arrived in Hong Kong. Generally we meet friends on the beach on a Saturday afternoon/evening, enjoy the sunshine and leave the beach around 9-11pm, sometimes to sit outside my house until the early hours.
I have only drank in the city twice in the last 3 months!
The kids love it here, their school, and extra-curricular stuff(football and Taekwondo)-Joseph scored 10 goals in his last footie match, the only scorer!
My parents came over for 3 weeks at Christmas and will now come for 3 months in the Autumn, they loved it so much.
We are in a cold snap right now, you may have seen the snowstorms causing chaos in China in the news. We are on the very far fringes of that, which means it is 13c as I write this, which considering I got sun burnt last week, is chilly. It should only last for a week or so though, I hope.
Now that everything is up and running again, I will post more-which may not be so good, as I bore the shit out of everyone I have ever known, blogging is really an extremely arrogant thing to do really.The idea that people actually read what you write.At least an author knows the truth when he doesn't sell bugger all, and the letter writer is told quite bluntly to stop sending letters if they are not wanted.I digress!
More later
Follow the link below(Mercers on the move) to see new pics and videos.
It appears that it was October the 4th since I actually wrote anything-in the blog that is. My Laptop had a hardware problem and I couldn't get it repaired until about 10 days ago. I have been rebuilding it since then and backing up all the pics etc(see below).
I have been here for 6 months now, and I tell you time flies very quickly indeed here.
It is a challenge.It is a challenge paying for the kids' school fees. I accepted a job which I thought was quite reasonably paid,which was okay as long as I topped it up with some extra hours elsewhere. This has proven wrong on two fronts- with the travel that I am expected to do for my job, I have not had the time for any other work, and on the other, with the depreciation of the US dollar, the cost of living here has risen very steeply.
I have enjoyed the work that I do, I have written a whole English 1 year course for 6 primary levels, all with worksheets, multimedia-videos, powerpoints and detailed lesson plans.As well as this I have also put together a 4 level phonics programme, and observed and trained new teachers.
I am now job hunting again, 'my work is done here' as they say.
Despite the 'struggle' life is good here, on the island. You don't need any money on the beach! Except for the weekend just gone we have been 'out' either on the beach, cycling or hiking every single weekend since we arrived in Hong Kong. Generally we meet friends on the beach on a Saturday afternoon/evening, enjoy the sunshine and leave the beach around 9-11pm, sometimes to sit outside my house until the early hours.
I have only drank in the city twice in the last 3 months!
The kids love it here, their school, and extra-curricular stuff(football and Taekwondo)-Joseph scored 10 goals in his last footie match, the only scorer!
My parents came over for 3 weeks at Christmas and will now come for 3 months in the Autumn, they loved it so much.
We are in a cold snap right now, you may have seen the snowstorms causing chaos in China in the news. We are on the very far fringes of that, which means it is 13c as I write this, which considering I got sun burnt last week, is chilly. It should only last for a week or so though, I hope.
Now that everything is up and running again, I will post more-which may not be so good, as I bore the shit out of everyone I have ever known, blogging is really an extremely arrogant thing to do really.The idea that people actually read what you write.At least an author knows the truth when he doesn't sell bugger all, and the letter writer is told quite bluntly to stop sending letters if they are not wanted.I digress!
More later
Follow the link below(Mercers on the move) to see new pics and videos.
Tuesday, 22 January 2008
Monday, 3 September 2007
the mercers on the move
the mercers on the move
termtime
As you can see from the pics below we have all been reunited. Joseph started at his new school today, Jack will go next week.We have all acclimatised and I think the kids and Teosdee are really starting to enjoy Island life. We moved into our new place about a week ago-completely unfurnished, so we are still sleeping on the floor. We went up to the Big Buddha yesterday and met some friends(see pics). We went to 2 barbecues last weekend, and caught up with some good friends. The village where we live is very picturesque and Chinese, it has a village square with a nice temple, in the midst of streams, fields and mountains, and only 5 minutes from the beach...........(follow link above to continue)Wednesday, 4 July 2007
do not stand
" Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there,I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die!"
(Mary frye 1932)
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there,I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die!"
(Mary frye 1932)
Sunday, 1 July 2007
Heading East
I have just returned from a month in Barcelona,where I took a CELTA-certificate in English teaching to adults.This should help in my quest for a better job in Hong Kong(for now), or anywhere(in the future). I missed the family very much whilst in Barcelona, and it has been nice being home this weekend.Unfortunately I will leave again on Friday, and return to Hong Kong. Teosdee and the kids will follow 5 weeks later. Teosdee is busy filling up the biggest box in the world to send to the Philippines, where we can pick up the stuff later this year.
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