Cathay pilots union tells Hong Kong-based members not to sign new pay-slashing contracts

Posted to SCMP (23/10/2020) on 23/10/2020
Commenting on “Cathay pilots union tells Hong Kong-based members not to sign new pay-slashing contracts” https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3106702/cathay-pilots-union-tells-hong-kong-based-members

Do not make the same mistake like the Australian domestic pilots that went on strike for pay rise back in 1989. All the pilots were the losers and the Union was decimated.

Back then, Australian domestic airlines were a duopoly.

The strike went on for months, costing over a billion Australian dollars. During the dispute the government called a national emergency and deployed armed forces and planes to fly commercial routes. Hundreds of scab pilots from overseas had their visas fast tracked, and their wages paid by the government in an attempt to undermine the union’s campaign.

In September, the pilots offered to return to work keeping all previous awards and conditions, but the employers turned down the offer. Instead, new contracts were drawn up which removed many rights and protections, and reduced working conditions. During good times, Cathy staff were treated very well. It is time to reciprocate to get the company stay afloat. Without the company, there is no employment, and therefore no pilots will be required. Thank you for reading.

Cathay pilots union tells Hong Kong-based members not to sign new pay-slashing contracts

After surviving massive lay-offs, remaining Cathay staff face dilemma over new contracts offering lower pay, fewer perks

Posted to SCMP (22/10/2020) on 23/10/2020
Commenting on "After surviving massive lay-offs, remaining Cathay staff face dilemma over new contracts offering lower pay, fewer perks" https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/3106693/after-surviving-massive-lay-offs-remaining-cathay-staff

This pandemic is like no other recessions and financial crises. Not only does it create a great deal of physical and psychological health problems, but also affects free movement between countries, resulting in the demise of the aviation industry. Unfortunately, the sharp rise in unemployment is worldwide, and so be wise and hang on to your job.

Those being targeted for retrenchment, or asked to sign a much less attractive contractual package, are likely go through the same stages of grief experienced by people who have lost someone dear to them.

There are five stages: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. Different people deal with their situations differently. This is not the time for contemplation, because time waits for no one. It is important to get their spirits up, get back on track, and move on. Should one sign a contract even though the pay cut is painful and conditions reduced? They should thank their lucky star if chosen. Unless one is near retiring age, and wants to retire sooner than later, hesitation only clouds one's decision.

There is a Chinese saying, "ride a cow, find a horse". It is always easier to apply for an internal or external position if one is in employment.

As for long term consideration, those remain in the company will be at the best seat to get promotion when flying returns to normality.

Thank you for reading.

After surviving massive lay-offs, remaining Cathay staff face dilemma over new contracts offering lower pay, fewer perks

Women’s rights: why Singapore wants to change the way we think about gender equality

Posted to SCMP (17/10/2020) on 19/10/2020
Commenting on "Women’s rights: why Singapore wants to change the way we think about gender equality"
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3105675/womens-rights-why-singapore-wants-change-way-we-think-about

Motivation comes from within, and therefore it is important for women to change their mindset for gender equality to work. This means women must have the Can Do attitude first, and pursue their dreams.

I never believe in a quota system, whether it is in a private or public organisation. Neither should this happen in the parliament nor the High Court. Put it simply, it is about meritocracy.

There were tokenistic women movements for years, songs sung and books written promoting the image of women, and empowering the women to fight for their rights. Fight is not a good choice of word because it has a connotation of confrontation, which causes barriers to be put up, creates resistance and separates both genders further. No one likes losing, and loser will think of a way to bring the winner down.

Successful women are not just those glamorous images portrayed in the glossy magazine, or those dressed up like men in suits, They can be experts underneath the cars fixing and tuning them to run like a charm. They may be those in hard hat at construction site or graphic artists producing computer games or animating games.

Given the right training, many women from a food court cooking in the kitchen can be just as successful and entrepreneurial to expand from a single store to become franchisors.

Thank you for reading.

Women’s rights: why Singapore wants to change the way we think about gender equality

Hopes of city retail reopening look dashed as Premier preaches caution

Posted to The Age (11/10/2020) on 11/10/2020 (not published by the newspaper)
Commenting on "Hopes of city retail reopening look dashed as Premier preaches caution"
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria-records-12-new-covid-cases-and-one-death-as-premier-urges-melburnians-not-to-lose-hope-20201011-p563xh.html

The opposition leader, medical professionals, and ordinary public have been complaining about and knocking the lockdown and the 5-km limit travel, and yet I have not heard or read anything constructive from all these people. How will they handle the situation and the anti-lockdown and anti-mask protesters?

What should be the travelling distant limit be? It is likely that no matter what the limit is, the whinging public will still have the “give an inch and they’ll take a mile” mentality.

Looking abroad, UK, Spain, Italy, France, Sweden, etc, some previous COVID-19 epicentres, are once again experiencing big rise in daily infection cases, rendering shortage of hospital beds for the treating the serious cases. Even Malaysia statistics is horrifying during the past week, with Sabah, Kedah and Selangor as new epicentres.

I am not defending Daniel Andrews’ tough stance. No one likes to stand at the podium delivering only bad news day after day. If only some minority take heed of the warning of the deadly virus, and “obey” the rules rather than flouting them, Kilmore would not have fallen victim, and the manager of Butcher Club would not have to spend time in ICU.

Thank you for reading.

Hopes of city retail reopening look dashed as Premier preaches caution

Britain may boycott Beijing Winter Olympics over Xinjiang abuses

Posted to The Age (7/10/202) on 7/10/2020 (not published by newspaper)
Commenting on “Britain may boycott Beijing Winter Olympics over Xinjiang abuses”
https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/britain-may-boycott-beijing-winter-olympics-over-xinjiang-abuses-says-raab-20201007-p562n8.html

The satellite photo of the the Xinjiang detention camp taken in September 2020 looks like any industrial park taken from above during a weekend. It has no trucks, no cars, no human and no sign of life.

I believe many people can still recall the satellite photo of the location where Saddam Hussein was alleged to manufacture weapons of mass destruction WMD. It was a witch hunt that led to the mass destruction of the Iraq by the accusers!

Should leaders of countries be so naive to repeat another mistake by not investigating and scrutinising thoroughly before jumping into the bandwagon and creating suspicion and conflicts that might lead to unnecessary bloodshed?

UK is benefiting enormously from big increase in student enrolment from China, due to diplomatic tension created by the US and Australia with China. By boycotting the Winter Olympics in 2022, the international education industry in UK will suffer the same fate like the US and Australia in due course. History tells us that it will not hurt China a bit, but only those athletes who train so hard for the occasion.

Four decades since the boycott of Moscow Summer Olympics, most international sports officials and many political leaders have fought to discourage Olympic boycotts, arguing they merely sacrifice an athlete’s right to compete and make a living, and don’t lead to changes in policy.

Thank you for reading.

Britain may boycott Beijing Winter Olympics over Xinjiang abuses

Global deaths from coronavirus pass 1 million

Posted to The Age (29/9/2020) on 29/9/2020 (not ye published by the newspaper)
Global deaths from coronavirus pass 1 million
https://www.theage.com.au/world/asia/global-deaths-from-coronavirus-pass-1-million-20200929-p56084.html

Numbers no longer mean much to people these days, whether it is coronavirus fatality, unemployed, homeless, or road toll. In a world when money is no longer expressed in simple dollars of currency, government debts are in the trillions, and the wealthy are known as billionaires, and trillionaires, instead of millionaires.

Authorities are too soft in their messages in the advertising campaign, which lack the wham-bam and shocking graphics that get stuck in the mind of the restriction breakers. Many of the messages are very confusing, and probably Einstein would find them difficult to understand, e.g. "staying apart keep us together".

Social distancing of 1.5m and travel radius of 5km have not been explained graphically, and logically, that lead to a lot of objection, and even some law abiding people are unhappy of the arbitrary numbers.

It only takes one fatality of a loved one to wake the non-believer or objector that the evil of this coronavirus is real and deadly.

Why are the governments doing something about this - show the public the real sorrow, not just the number!

Thank you for reading.

 

 Global deaths from coronavirus pass 1 million

Household hoppers blamed for growing Casey cluster

Posted to The Age (18/9/2020) on 18/9/2020 (not published by newspaper)
Commenting on “Household hoppers blamed for growing Casey cluster”
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/victoria-records-45-new-cases-as-motorists-face-traffic-chaos-at-ring-of-steel-checkpoints-20200918-p55wu5.html

I have messaged to most TV stations, posted comments to The Age, and written to some politicians that use of jargons and the lack of more graphic advertisement will not stop many from breaking the restriction and will result in possibly another wave of outbreak. None taKe any notice.

Messages must be concise and precise, and playing with catchy captions does not make sense to many. What is the meaning of “keeping apart, keep us together”. It sounds totally illogical. Try to explain the phrase to kids with parents going through divorce, or have been divorced.

Authorities and many “educated” overestimate large proportion of the population understand what a curve mean precisely in the present pandemic context. To many, a curve may just mean not a straight line, or a bend in the street, and it is meaningless to flatten the curve.

Many people do not really know how much they get fined for breaking the restriction or curfew, because each state has different amount. Further, is that all the penalty one has to pay for breaking the law? What if one refuses to pay the fine or has no money to pay?

Do hard core objectors really pay attention to all the subtle messages? These are only good for the converted. Ads similar to the first HIV campaign with the Grime Reaper and human bowling pins stuck in the minds of many, including my simple and humble brain.

The TAC billboards along freeways, and similar ads on television showing dying victims covered in blood resulted from speeding and “bloody idiots” that drive with blood alcohol level exceeding .05, are shocking enough to make many think twice not to drink before they hit the road, thus help to reduce road toll.

One more example is WorkSafe ads showing a child / wife waiting for his dad / husband to come home safely. These are subtle but powerful enough to play with human emotion.

There are a lot of real life footage to make into ads that make many audience to pay attention, even the sceptics, eg mass burial, hundreds of holes dug in graveyards, and coffins lined up to be buried. There are victims in ventilators on their last legs, and health workers dressed in PPE like astronauts, are scenes unseen in a normal world.

I am an advertisement junkie. I believe that most ads on television, YouTube, Facebook, etc are complete waste of money. If you do not believe in what have written, conduct a survey to prove that I am wrong!

I bet this comment will be censored like many of my others.

Thank you for reading.

Donald Trump could win the US election for the same reason he won last time

Posted to The Age (1/9/2920) on 2/9/2020 (not yet published by the newspaper)
Commenting on "Donald Trump could win the US election for the same reason he won last time”
https://www.theage.com.au/national/donald-trump-could-win-the-us-election-for-the-same-reason-he-won-last-time-20200901-p55r6r.html

Biden will not win this unlosable election. Trump is a fantastic marketer, and he understands the psychological needs of his followers, while Biden keeps missing the opportunities to hit hard on the key issues.

Trump has a good chance to win, and he will make himself the peace maker after the election. He has to rely on China for supplies, as well as a customer. Out of the blue, bilateral relationship will improve, and he will come out the winner not only in the US, but also the world. Along the way, Trump will leave a trail of economic disaster for the blind followers.

Australia, the lap dog of the US will be the biggest loser, and most of our key exports will be replaced by the US’ and other countries’. There will be plenty of barley to feed our stomachs and enough wine to drown our sorrow.

Thank you for reading.

Donald Trump could win the US election for the same reason he won last time

Chinese embassy explains hurt

Posted to Facebook on 27/8/2020 at 3:26 PM
Posted to The Age (25/8/2020) on 27/8/2020 (not published by the newspaper)
Commenting on “'Australia Brutus to China's Caesar': Chinese embassy explains hurt”
https://www.theage.com.au/world/asia/australia-brutus-to-china-s-caesar-20200825-p55p84.html

Diplomacy is not the strong point of most Australian PMs and MPs. They seem to suffer from the foot in the mouth disease, or obsessive-compulsive disorder in targeting at China.

Language used by the Morrison-Dutton-Payne clique towards China has been unfriendly and fairly aggressive; in fact, more like the language used by bullies asking for a fight.

Australia and its allies expect China to change from Communism to Democracy, or conform to their system. However, how would all these do-gooder countries react or respond if China tells them to change their political system to Communism? Very likely, Australia and the rest will ask China to go jump, and bugger off!

Australia Commonwealth government has problem getting the state governments to agree on issues such as border closure and reopening. How can it tell other sovereign countries how to run their affairs. Put it bluntly, stop telling China how to suck eggs?

Thank you for reading.

Man in his 20s among Victoria's latest COVID-19 victims as state records 372 new cases

Posted to Fcebook on 14/8/2020 at 2:28 PM
Posted to The Age (14/8/2020) on 14/8/2020 (not published by the newspaper)
Commenting on "Man in his 20s among Victoria's latest COVID-19 victims as state records 372 new cases"
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/victoria-records-372-new-covid-19-cases-14-deaths-20200814-p55ln6.html

Expect the unexpected. Test the children. They are exempt from social distancing and from wearing mask. Adults carry the children, hug and kiss them, and take for granted that they are low risk as backed by local and international statistics. Unfortunately, the less of the children being tested, the lower number of infected cases.

Children are easily infected by cold and flu, small pox, measles, polio and whooping cough. Why is SARS-Cov-2 so different, not infecting children in larger number? Are children the asymptomatic spreader of unknown source?

Thank you for reading.

A nation divided harks back to the bad old days of the 1970s

Posted to Facebook on 13/8/2020 at 12:00 PM
Posted to The Age (17/7/2020) on 20/7/2020 (not published by the newspaper)
Commenting on "A nation divided harks back to the bad old days of the 1970s"
https://www.theage.com.au/national/a-nation-divided-harks-back-to-the-bad-old-days-of-the-1970s-20200717-p55d4m.html

Sad if we have to return to the 70s, when I first arrived in Australia.

If Australians can't live in a united Australia, we can forget about multiculturalism, nor live harmoniously in this great nation we call home.

In my opinion, it is of utmost importance to have a day mutually agreed by all Australians and First Nations People to celebrate together as the Australia Day.

Thank you for reading.

A virus cluster at an Auckland school has Australian parents worried. Should they be?

Posted to The Age (30/4/2020) on 3/5/2020 at 9:34 AM
Commenting on "A virus cluster at an Auckland school has Australian parents worried. Should they be?"
https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-virus-cluster-at-an-auckland-school-has-australian-parents-worried-should-they-be-20200430-p54orw.html

It is a numbers game, the more people tested, more cases discovered.

The question is whether the number of children tested is in the same proportion as the total number tested so far.

From overseas researches so far show that infected children are asymptomatic, which means they can be carriers to infect the teachers and others instead of the other way round.

Thank you for reading.

The money or our sovereignty: China leaves us no choice

Posted to The Age (1/5/2020) on 1/5/2020 at 8:47 PM
Commenting on "A virus cluster at an Auckland school has Australian parents worried. Should they be?"
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-money-or-our-sovereignty-china-leaves-us-no-choice-20200501-p54p57.html

The world is getting more and more dangerous to live in, and is facing complete destruction caused by aggressive, undiplomatic, self-centred, power hungry politicians.

Australia, with reasonably low fatalities in this pandemic, unless the second wave strikes hard, can become the world leader of peace and humanity, but its government chooses to be the Deputy Sheriff and know-tow not to China but to the US.

Printing money or keep borrowing are not the ways to get Australia out of financial wows after the pandemic. Australia is not the Gilligan’s Island, and needs injection of foreign investment and having other countries to buy its coal, iron ore, wine, education and tourism.

India has more coal than Australia and Russia holds the second largest reserve. As for iron ore, Brazil is still a very large exporter despite its production has fallen to 4th place in the last quarter.

If schools are allowed to reopen

Posted to The Age on 27/4/2020 at 9:44 AM
Commenting on "If schools are allowed to reopen"

The rate of infection in children is small, because the number of testing on children is small.

Statistically, children tend to be asymptomatic but that does not mean they can’t be carriers or spreaders / transmitters.

School children do take home “library books” to read as after school activity. Books cannot be disinfected easily, and there is a chance that books can become a medium for transmission.

If schools are allowed to open to all, then the rest of the community should be able to go on their daily activities. Teachers and students should not be the only one exempted from physical distancing.

Thank you for reading.

'Not illegal': Liberal official defends Chinese language signs

Posted to Facebook on 12/8/2020 at 10:15 PM
Posted to The Age (7/2/2020) on 8/2/2020 (not published by the newspaper)
Commenting on "'Not illegal': Liberal official defends Chinese language signs"
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/not-illegal-liberal-official-defends-chinese-language-signs-20200207-p53yva.html

The sign is DEFINITELY misleading and deceptive, because it actually says in the heading, "The accurate way to vote", follows by the rest of the content that, "on the green voting form, mark 1 next to the Liberal candidate, then mark in the squares with number from a small to large sequence".

The point that is challengeable is - "The accurate way to vote ... mark 1 next to the Liberal candidate". I strongly disagree that the content was correct in context when read by a Chinese who could understand the written language.

In addition, the Liberal logo was missing, and therefore further misled Chinese voters that was an official How to Vote instruction.

The matter should be submitted to some Chinese academia for proper translation to prove that the incorrect content did have an impact on the Chinese community when casting their votes!

Thank you for reading.